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I have an unanswered question on the "Cook your way through your freezer" thread here so I thought to rephrase the question more generally (and widely). Reading on eGullet and elsewhere, it seems that meat frozen before cooking lasts 12-18 months, after cooking it lasts 12 months. Why is that? I mean, why not 5 years? Many recipes for baked goods (like bread) say they're good for 3 months. What happens to bread in the freezer which doesn't happen to a cut of meat? There are many soups in my freezer which have not been vacuum sealed which have been there a long time. I don't think there has been a degredation in flavour. But I admit, I'm not expecting one, so it's not so surprising that I don't find one. (I do recognize a big loss of flavour after about 3 weeks, but not so much between 3 months and 23 months).

Please explain, rotuts.

Paul, you realise that you're being tantalising with your descriptions, doncha? 🙃 C'mon, fess up, what's in it?

Paul, looks interesting. What is it?

Ha! @chefmd. Here's mine: Marinated buttermilk for 24 hours. Mine, however, was awful (really chewy). Not sure why.

@Okanagancook, I guess I didn't phrase my question well. What I really want to know is why not 5 years? Why is the cutoff at 12 or 18 months? Note that many recipes for baked goods (like bread) say they're good for 3 months. What happens to bread in the freezer which doesn't happen to a cut of meat?

I've not caught up with this thread (still have several pages to go), so I hope this question has not been resolved already. Many sites/writers state that a food will last 12 (or 18) months once frozen. Is this just a commonly held "wives-tale" or is there a basis for this "expiry date"? I ask because I have vacuum sealed cuts of fresh meat, some of which have I've not used for 12 (or quite a few more) months past the "1 year expiry date". There are many soups in my freezer which have not been vacuum sealed which have been there a long time. I don't think there has been a degredation in flavour. But I admit, I'm not expecting one, so it's not so surprising that I don't find one. So what's the story? And if anyone knows, surely it will be the folks on eGullet! 😀

Looks delish. What's in it?

Well, I now have more questions than answers! Any suggestions where I could go to read about hams? (I haven't heard a peep from Edwards Virginia Smokehouse, though a wonderful smelling ham showed up via UPS today). 🙄

Thanks, @heidih. What's the difference between juicy, Smithfield or country ham?

@kayb, what's in the salad?

@ElsieD, how long for? And do you put anything else in the bag?

From my local university meat market (they raise the meat), I've bought a Valentine's special cooked Ham For Two (2.25 lbs) for about $7. From Edwards Virginia Smokehouse, for President's Day, I bought a special (50% off) Cooked Boneless Wigwam Ham (4.5 to 5.5 lbs) for $80. I like ham a lot and intend to do some testing. However, searching the internet (and eGullet) produces instructions to roast ham for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a 350F oven or so (coated with honey or mustard or other interesting stuff). Should one even be roasting a cooked meat? My experience with sous vide suggests that reheating meat tends to dry it out. What gives?

@Ann_T, did you use dried or fresh currants?

Can you please say how the currant and port sauce was made> It looks delicious!

Actually, @Thanks for the Crepes, I find you pretty inspirational myself. 😀

Sorry for delay, I've just caught up with this thread. My experience has been that power outages are fairly common in California SF Bay area (where I was). They also have two UPS there -- so I know what to do for next time!

@dcarch, you are incredibly charming. Please say more about sous vide fish. 😀

I have recently begun with Bella Viva Orchards which (I think) I heard about on eGullet.

I was reading a post yesterday from someone who had googled a question, and discovered a several-year-old eGullet post where she had posted the same question. So it was for me as I was looking to find time/temp to sous vide corned beef, and found this post! 60 hours at 135F produced a corned beef that was moist and luscious. Easily cut with a fork. 😎 Edited to add that I did not brine the roast. It had been frozen though.

@robirdstx, your tacos look great! Original post here. Are those holders for the tacos? They look like a brilliant idea! Are the holders used for cooking the tacos, or just presenting them? Where does one get these holders?

Thanks to @shain's wonderful saga of his trip to Georgia, I tried my hand with bialys. These were in furtherance of my attempt at sourdough and involved two days at room temperature (with periodic feedings of white whole wheat flour), kneading the dough in the bread machine, and then overnight in the fridge. As a San Francisco ex-pat, I have to say my sourdough's not even close! The onions were done in slow cooker for 3 days at 165F with nothing but a cube of butter.

@liuzhou, how do you unfreeze it? Toaster?

@Okanagancook, so the bread is frozen after it's fully baked?

@Anna N, back on November 8, in 2015, you said " Well, Patrick S, you have inspired me to give the challah a go! The recipe calls for only 1 pound of flour and yet makes two loaves which tells me that for singletons one loaf should be perfect. The other loaf can be frozen. " Post here. My question isn't about the original topic, rather, I would like to know how bread bakers think (go) about freezing bread. Do you freeze the bread unbaked? How is the bread wrapped? Presumably, you freeze the bread because you think it will be just as good as the original? I ask because I really, really love bread. Fresh bread is about as divine as food gets (I M not so H O). I've had a bread machine since the early 90s. I'm now trying to understand the ins & outs of sourdough, so I'm reading a lot of eGullet posts. 😀