How long bone broth keeps, and how to store it
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Broth is a low-acid, high-protein liquid, which is a polite way of saying bacteria like it. Most of the storage advice you will find online is vague about this, so here is the practical version.
Homemade broth in the fridge
Three to four days, kept properly cold.
What matters more than the number is how fast it got cold in the first place. A stockpot of hot broth sitting on a counter spends hours in the temperature range where things grow. Decant it into shallow containers so it chills quickly, and get it into the fridge rather than leaving it to cool to room temperature first.
A layer of fat that solidifies on top acts as a seal and will buy you a little time. Break it and the clock speeds up.
Homemade broth in the freezer
Three to six months with good quality intact. It stays safe longer than that, but it starts to taste like the freezer.
Freeze it in portions you will actually use. A single enormous container means thawing all of it to use any of it, and repeated thawing and refreezing is one of the things that makes broth taste off.
Our frozen pouches
They arrive frozen and belong in the freezer until the day before you want them. Thaw in the fridge overnight rather than on the counter.
Once thawed, use within four days.
Our shelf-stable pouch
Twelve months or more sealed, at room temperature, no freezer required. That is the point of it.
Once you open it, treat it like any fresh broth: refrigerate it and use it within a day or two rather than leaving it in the door of the fridge for a week.
How to tell if broth has turned
Smell it. Fresh broth smells like meat and vegetables. Broth that has gone smells sour, faintly sweet, or like nothing you want to drink, and your nose will tell you before you have finished thinking about it.
Cloudiness that was not there before, bubbles in a cold container, or a film that is not the firm white fat cap are all reasons to stop. Fat solidifies into a firm pale layer and that is normal. Anything slimy is not.
When in doubt, throw it out. A pouch of broth is not worth a bad night.
A note on gelling
Cold broth that has set like jelly is doing what good broth does. It is not spoiled and it does not need rescuing. Heat it and it will go back to liquid. If it does not set, that is worth knowing about too.
Common questions
How long does bone broth last in the fridge?
Three to four days for homemade. Four days for our frozen pouches once thawed. A day or two for the shelf-stable pouch once opened.
Can you refreeze thawed bone broth?
Better not to. Each cycle costs you texture and taste, and repeated thawing is a food safety risk as well as a flavour one.
How long does bone broth last in the freezer?
Three to six months before quality starts to fall away, frozen in portions and well sealed.
Does bone broth need to be refrigerated?
Frozen and opened shelf-stable broth, yes. An unopened shelf-stable pouch keeps at room temperature for twelve months or more.