Did you notice that most families’ grocery carts are always not without frozen pizza? It’s become a staple of family dinners, but how do they handle expired frozen pizza?
Before, the protocol is when Mom is not in the mood or too busy to cook, the family calls for pizza delivery. Not anymore.
Frozen pizza is now the go-to option. That is because the choices for frozen pizza are practically unlimited.
Have you visited the frozen pizza section at the supermarket? Who wouldn’t choose frozen over delivery with selections so good?
Additionally, you can be creative and customize your frozen pizza from your refrigerator however you choose.
Unfortunately, in all the excitement, you tend to overbuy. And the question in everyone’s mind is the shelf life of the pizza.
Does Frozen Pizza Expire or Go Bad?
It’s a lazy Sunday. You lounge around as the day winds down and think about what to have for dinner.
You reach deep into your freezer, and voila! There is still a small-sized pizza you can have all to yourself.
But you suddenly remember that you bought it a couple of months ago. What if it’s gone bad?
Is expired pizza still safe to eat?
In a nutshell – yes!
But please note that although frozen pizzas are always safe to consume, their quality and freshness deteriorate as time passes. A frozen pizza in your freezer that has passed its expiration date is still safe to consume, but it won’t taste as nice as it once did.
If you properly store pizza in the freezer, it can typically keep its edible quality for another 18 months or more.
Commercially available frozen pizza will frequently have the following warning date labels:
“Best By”
“Best if Used By”
“Eat by Date”
“Best When Used By”
But this is not a safety date; instead, it is the manufacturer’s prediction of how long the pizza will maintain its peak quality.
How to Know if the Frozen Pizza Has Gone Bad?
It might be safe to eat, but if you would like to be “safer” than “sorry,” you can check for the following signs that the pizza has gone bad:
1. Freezer Burn
This situation occurs when the meal loses its moisture and ice crystals on the outside. If the pizza has been sitting in the freezer for an extended period of time, the taste becomes stale.
2. Bad Smell
You would know that the pizza has gone bad if you open the box or airtight container and you get a whiff of that offensive odor.
It could be the cheese or other ingredients. Since it has been so long, they have begun to spoil.
3. Presence of Mold
You will find the mold and dry spots inside a spoiled pizza. If you do not know what mold looks like, you can look for green patches in the item.
Watch out for them!
4. Foul Taste
Nothing is more evident than that awful taste as you take a bite of the leftover pizza. One bite and you want to vomit!
5. Crust Texture
The old pizza dough is probably past its prime if, upon removal from the fridge, its texture has changed. The pizza crust feels extremely dry and has a crusty appearance.
It would help for you to rely on your senses to determine if it is still all right for you to eat the frozen pizza.
Can You Extend the Freshness of Frozen Pizza?
Yes, you can. But you need to take extra steps to achieve this. Here they are:
1. Let it cool for an adequate time
When you don’t allow the leftover pizza that you have heated to cool down, and you store it in the freezer, condensation occurs. This can damage the product.
2. Place in the right temperature
Temperature plays a huge role in food freshness. Freezing food and leftovers at the right temperature prevents germs from developing.
You can maintain frozen foods at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. To make sure, you can purchase a thermometer and check if the temperature is just right from time to time.
If you left your frozen pizza out at room temperature for longer than two hours, you should throw it away since bacteria grow quickly between the temperatures of 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Use portions
If you are not going to eat the entire pizza, freeze the slices separately. This way, you only take out the one you’ll consume, and the remaining ones stay fresh and protected.
4. Wrap the pizza properly
Use plastic wrap, whether piece by piece or whole. Wrap another layer for extra security.
5. Use containers
Using containers on top of wraps is an extra precaution. Placing your wrapped pizza in an air-tight, freezer-safe container ensures no germs can enter.
Additional Details
A frozen pizza’s purpose is to have a longer shelf life than a fresh pizza. This extended shelf life enables you to store numerous items at once, or you may simply rest assured that if you store your frozen pizza properly, you can enjoy it at a later time.
Knowing more about the product will help you decide how long frozen pizza will keep in the freezer. You can always check the instructions that come along when you purchase frozen pizza.
Many ask if frozen pizza causes food poisoning. Let me ease your mind.
Freezing food is one of the safest ways to ensure food safety at home for future use. This situation is especially true when you compare it to home canning, which, if done wrong, can result in tainted food due to the toxin that causes botulism.
Final Thoughts
Giovanni’s Frozen Pizza, Pizza Hut, whatever the brand, frozen or fresh – pizza is the best. Always get those cravings satisfied.
But be a wise consumer. Always make sure that your frozen food is still up to standards.
Don’t worry much about expired frozen pizza.
There are many ways for you to ensure frozen pizza’s freshness. The most important thing is you remain aware and knowledgeable of your food choices.
