PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Thanksgiving is over, but you now have a refrigerator full of leftovers. How long will they last?
"I would say by, like, the fourth day," advised Philly chef Jennifer Zavala. She suggests by the time Monday rolls around, you should be cleaning leftovers out of your refrigerator. However, not all fridge storage is equal.
"It really depends where you’re keeping it in your refrigerator," she said.
"If you have the door continuously opening and closing, I would say definitely by the third day. If it's in the back of your refrigerator, it's sealed in some sort of container, you have until the fourth day at least."
If you know you won't go through it all by then, the time to think about freezing it is right now.
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"What we like to do is break your turkey down all the way, divide it down into Ziploc gallon bags, and into the third day realize, 'You know what, I overshot, I'm definitely not going to eat this,' then by all means put it in your freezer," said Zavala.
The earlier you freeze it, she said, the fresher it will be when you defrost it — and she says make sure you get everything in the pan.
"There is a lot of the fat from the Turkey — you can definitely have that turkey juice in there when you freeze it. That will keep your turkey moist for when you unthaw it," she said.
Zavala added turkey will last for about six months in your freezer, so you should make sure to label it and put a note on the container to use it by May.
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