Expert: Keith Patton - 5/16/2009

Question
Is it safe to use food that has been freezer burned ?

Answer
Donna:

It is save enough to eat, but if it has been in the freezer long enough to get that way, it probably tastes funky.  Plastic is not impermiable as most people think.  It on the microsopic level looks like a chain link fence, plenty big enough to let water molecules and other molecules through, over a long period hence the freezer burn.  That is why helium party balloons go flat and they have taken to aluminizing them.  The Helium simply over time, passes through the rubber of the balloon.

I cleaned out my parents freezer and found meat that was anywhere from 2 to 10 years old.  It all had a universal funky smell and taste.  Almost a musky taste.  That made me wonder if a lot of the gamey taste people complain about in wild game meat wasn't from being in the freezer too long.  

I have heard the story over and over where somebody was given some venison or elk by a friend.  I dawned on me that the giver was probably cleaning out his freezer in preparation for the coming hunting season, and the person getting the meat was probably getting a piece of meat that was a year or more old.

So yes you can eat it, but it might not have the same texture or taste it did when it was fresher.  I usually toss it and go for something fresher.  Try cutting out the burned portions.