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For me, I feel like a good rule of thumb is to take a break from freezing foods every so often and just focus on emptying the freezer and eating what I already have a little at a time. I don't see the point of freezing so much stuff that I don't even know what's in there. I don't want to find a piece of meat that's ten years old and have to wonder if it's going to taste disgusting and either wind up wasting it or force feeding it to myself/family.

One way I avoid forgetting what I have is by keeping a running list, which serves as an inventory of both my freezer and deep freezer. I write down the date it was frozen, what was frozen, its location, and whether it was cooked before freezing it. This helps me to know what to eat and in what order. Also, writing directions on the packaging for reheating casseroles and such really helps save time. I don't want to dig out various cookbooks each time I need to check the directions for the cooking times and temps of various dishes.

I've always been super weird about eating food past it's "date" or whatever... I just recently learned that it really is okay and my parents weren't just lying to me so food wouldn't get wasted! anyways I ended up here because I was going through the freezer for dinner possibilities. we've got a thing of ground turkey, and a large piece of pork. I don't know much about pork, no idea what kind of 'part' it is... it's large, and the label just says "natural pork" (I think it's organic or something). I can't remember which is which but one is approx. 4 years past sell by date and the other around 6. normally I would be like no way, BUT- they were both frozen in their original, unopened, vacuum-sealed packages; both packages still fully intact and neither has been exposed to any air at all; the entire time they've been stored in our full size upright deep-freeze, and though I forgot to peek at the actual temp that freezer has been turned down as low as it will go ever since we first turned it on... it's as cold as a freezer can get. the ground turkey came in a hard plastic package with thinner flexible plastic sealed across the top. it's seal is very sturdy, but because the meat doesn't reach quite all the way to the top, the small gap between meat and plastic has allowed a layer of frost to form and block my view of the meat. I won't know if it still looks good or not until (if) I open it. the pork on the other hand was shrink-wrapped in a super thick, entirely clear (besides a small square of label) plastic, and provides me with a fantastic view of the meat... and to my surprise (since I'd already seen it's date) it still looks great. still completely pink/red, no discoloration whatsoever. not even a tiny spot of frost bite forming. it looks as if it was frozen very recently, and only the sell by date on the label gives away the fact that it wasn't. so, the turkey still needs to be inspected of course (I'm not sure of the effects that frost can have on meat in general... I'm still fairly new to cooking as well) but other than that I'm good to go right? I've thoroughly read this whole page and it feels like that will (at least mostly) be the general consensus based on the info I've got about the meat. I'm still pretty insecure about my cooking skills though so I did want to ask and make sure.
and if I AM good to go... what the hell do I do with it?! the only pork I've ever cooked in my entire life (besides basic bacon, sausage and country ham) was pork chops. I cooked them once. over a year ago.... and I don't even know what kind of a 'piece' of pork this is. all I know is it's huge... if I placed it in my crock pot as is there wouldn't be any room left for anything else. lol I'm lost... helppp!

I found some pre-shaped hamburgers in my freezer. They have been there for approx. 5 years. Could I still safely make Bar-B-Q out of them??

I think these guidelines must be for freezers attached to fridges that don't get too much colder than freezing, for items in store packaging. I have two full-size, frost-free upright freezers that are kept at or below 0 degrees. I use vacuum seal bags, Tupperware intended for the freezer, and in some cases like freezer jam and pesto, glass jars. Kept at zero or below, and in airtight/vacuum sealed packaging foods will keep much longer than these guidelines. There is a possibility of textural degradation over time, depending on the food and packaging, especially prepared foods and fruits and vegetables that by their lumpy nature have some air in the packaging, but as long as the food has been kept frozen it should be safe to eat. If I run across veggies in the freezer that have freezer burn I use them in my next batch of stock - fruit ends up in sorbet. After removing all the store packaging, I vacuum seal all my meat heading to the freezer, and it does not get freezer burn. I have used it, with no noticeable difference in texture/taste, after it's been frozen 3 to 4 times longer than these guidelines. I garden, and have learned that I can grow things that hog space like tomatillos and basil every other year, prepare and freeze the harvest and it will keep until the next harvest of that crop, two years on. Carefully prepping food headed to the freezer and maintaining a very low freezer temperature makes all the difference.

This is something that I have been researching for many years now. I can tell you that most of their times listed here are wrong. At least double all their times listed and on some of those add half of that to the doubling and you'd be closer; without affecting the taste. Stored at freezer temps it will be safe indefinitely.

green beans, blanched and frozen in a zip lock bag (sandwich size)-put 2 of them in a large zip lock bag and we use them for up to 1 year since they need to be cooked after being unfrozen. We routinely use the 2 zip lock bag approach with zucchini bread and have found no issue with eating it up to 1 year after freezing. We do try not to wait so long, but you know large freezers.

Your article, How long can you freeze food?, would be more accurate to ask, How long is frozen food good for. Food can be frozen forever, but at what point is it unsafe to eat.