Venison, duck and goose, and variety meats: storage times
These are the less common meats that both charts still cover, and for all three rows they print the same numbers.
Variety meats (liver, heart, tongue, kidneys) behave like ground meat in the refrigerator rather than like whole cuts: both charts give them the short window.
| Food | Refrigerator | Freezer |
|---|---|---|
| Venison, raw | 3–5 days | 6–12 months |
| Duck or goose, raw | 1–2 days | 6 months |
| Variety meats (liver, heart, tongue) | 1–2 days | 3–4 months |
✓ 2 sources checked per row A single figure means both charts print the same time.
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, Food Storage: Refrigerator & Freezer (HGIC 3522) (revised March 31, 2020) — checked 2026-09-27
- Pacific Northwest Extension (University of Idaho, Oregon State University, Washington State University), Storing Food for Safety and Quality (PNW 612) (revised March 2023), Table 2, p. 14; Table 2, p. 15 — checked 2026-09-27
Good to know
- Pacific Northwest Extension’s duck and goose line is for whole birds; Clemson’s line does not say. Pieces are not covered separately by either chart.
- Clemson’s venison line covers roasts, steaks and chops. Neither chart lists ground venison separately.
Both charts give these times for best quality and call them guidelines, not hard limits. How the rows are matched: our method. Spotted a row that does not match its chart? Tell us and we will recheck the original.