Freezing meats for long time

[Guest guest]

At 06:15 AM 11/28/04 -0800, you wrote:

>

>Greetings,

>

>I have often wondered - how long is too long when buying meats in bulk and

freezing?

>

>Usually grocery stores have sales on meats when their " best by " date is

coming closer.

>Is it ok to purchase such meat and freeze it beyond its " best by " date?

>

>We have friends who buy in bulk and freeze for several months - I am not

sure whether it

>is the right thing to do or not.

>

>Any opinions?

>

>Thanks,

>Pratick

I'm still working on meat I got last fall. It's all in the packaging.

Most of what I got was vacuum-packed, with the exception of stuff from one

particular farmer. HIS stuff is showing a bit of freezer burn at this

point, but it's not bad by any means.

However, I DO keep my meat freezer at zero degrees, so that might have

something to do with it also.

MFJ

Yeeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! ~Hammond of Texas

[Guest guest]

> Greetings,

>

> I have often wondered - how long is too long when buying meats in

bulk and freezing?

######### I've frozen stuff for several months. I use a food saver

to vacuum package the meat. It keeps beautifully, with no freezer

burn. Depending on the cut, you can keep it frozen from a month to a

year, but not beyond that I don't think. I can try and locate the

directions from the food saver to give you specifics.

>

> Usually grocery stores have sales on meats when their " best by "

date is coming closer.

> Is it ok to purchase such meat and freeze it beyond its " best by "

date?

######### I think so. I " ve done it myself.

>

> We have friends who buy in bulk and freeze for several months - I

am not sure whether it

> is the right thing to do or not.

########## I think it's okay as long as meat is pretty fresh (I

know, this is vague), frozen immediately and vacuum packed.

HTH,

Magda

[Guest guest]

>>I

am not sure whether it

> is the right thing to do or not.

########## I think it's okay as long as meat is pretty fresh (I

know, this is vague), frozen immediately and vacuum packed.

HTH,

Magda<<

~~~It seems like there must have been some studies on this somewhere - what

nutrients are lost over time in a freezer, because otherwise, we're just

guessing or going by what looks good or tastes good. I can't imagine food

scientists doing that.

Carol

[Guest guest]

Pratick-

>We have friends who buy in bulk and freeze for several months - I am not

>sure whether it

>is the right thing to do or not.

It's perfectly OK as long as the meat is good and it's wrapped properly. I

have frozen vacuum-sealed sausages I made over a year ago which are still

delicious. Of course fresh is always best, but it's not always possible to

only eat fresh.

-

[Guest guest]

> Greetings,

>

> I have often wondered - how long is too long when buying meats in bulk and

> freezing?

>

> Usually grocery stores have sales on meats when their " best by " date is

> coming closer.

> Is it ok to purchase such meat and freeze it beyond its " best by " date?

>

> We have friends who buy in bulk and freeze for several months - I am not

> sure whether it

> is the right thing to do or not.

>

> Any opinions?

>

> Thanks,

> Pratick

Grocery store meat is by no means as fresh as local raised when you buy it

especially if its received in already cut up. How far its transported,

wheather its frozen in between determines this. If your bulk source is a

smaller operation that cuts on the premises its fresher. We buy quarters of

beef twice a year from a local raiser. Taste of that alone tells how unfresh

store beef is excluding different feed methods. If you want to buy in bulk,

break it down to meal size packages and freeze you can either get a vacuum

sealer, which is costly or go to a local feed store, farmer's supply and buy

freezer paper and tape for freezer wrapping. The paper is white on one side

and waxed on the other, wrap and tape like a holiday gift waxed side in.

Ground beef we get packaged this way, a year later (which isn't the usual)

will taste as fresh as the day it went in the freezer. Burger refrigerated

till next day will be better tasting than any store bought.

Wanita

[Guest guest]

>######### I've frozen stuff for several months. I use a food saver

>to vacuum package the meat. It keeps beautifully, with no freezer

>burn. Depending on the cut, you can keep it frozen from a month to a

>year, but not beyond that I don't think. I can try and locate the

>directions from the food saver to give you specifics.

When you buy meat from a butcher in bulk, they package it so

it lasts pretty much forever. I've had some that was 3-4 years old,

that someone tossed because it was " too old " but there wasn't

a hint of freezer burn on it.

What the butchers do is wrap it in a sheet of plastic and then a sheet

of " butcher paper " . Their wrapping job excludes the air, and the type

of plastic, I think, keeps the moisture in. They use large sheets of plastic

so the meat actually gets wrapped several times.

I've also gotten meat from butchers that use vacuum sealing. They

use ultra-heavy bags ... and their sealer doesn't care about moisture,

I have a hard time using ours because I manage to get the juice into

the machine.

Anyway, if I had to package my own, I'd get lessons from one

of those butchers ... the paper they use you can get in bulk pretty

cheaply (a lot less than food saver bags) and the process is, I think,

much faster (at least for me, who is food saver impaired).

Also ... NEVER store stuff long term in a " frost free " freezer. Those

thaw the stuff slightly in their thaw cycle, and food goes bad MUCH

faster. Food in a cold freezer though, never goes " bad " in the sense

you will get sick from it. The texture can get weird, mainly from

moisture evaporating (freezer burn). But keep in mind that when the

Russians found some mammoth frozen in the ice ... they ate it!

Grocery store meat is *very* poorly packaged and it doesn't keep

well in the freezer at all. Or in your fridge. Drips all over everything,

and it is packed in really thin plastic. Don't use it as an example of

what to expect for good bulk meat.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

>>What the butchers do is wrap it in a sheet of plastic and then a sheet

of " butcher paper " . Their wrapping job excludes the air, and the type

of plastic, I think, keeps the moisture in. They use large sheets of plastic

so the meat actually gets wrapped several times.<<

~~~Maybe it has something to do with the quality of the freezer too, because

I've had things extremely well packaged and they still end up with freezer burn

in just a few months. (I have a cheap, apartment dwelling

refrigerator/freezer.)

Carol

[Guest guest]

>~~~Maybe it has something to do with the quality of the freezer too, because

I've had things extremely well packaged and they still end up with freezer burn

in just a few months. (I have a cheap, apartment dwelling

refrigerator/freezer.)

>Carol

Definitely. Esp. if it is " frost free " ... they melt and refreeze, which kills

the food.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

You can usually find that butcher paper at a very good cost at

discount warehouses like Sam's club. I think it is actually harder

these days to find the butcher! LOL

And you can get a really decent commercial quality upright freezer for

about $300 at Lowe's. And if you plan to buy in bulk, it is well worth

the expense of it. And if you can afford to buy a side at a time, you

can afford the expense of the freezer to keep it well (eventually)!

Make sure you get the ones that the shelves are the freezer coils...

that's commercial grade, and the food stays so much better.

Catz

> Anyway, if I had to package my own, I'd get lessons from one

> of those butchers ... the paper they use you can get in bulk pretty

> cheaply (a lot less than food saver bags) and the process is, I think,

> much faster (at least for me, who is food saver impaired).

>

> Also ... NEVER store stuff long term in a " frost free " freezer. Those

> thaw the stuff slightly in their thaw cycle, and food goes bad MUCH

> faster. Food in a cold freezer though, never goes " bad " in the sense

> you will get sick from it. The texture can get weird, mainly from

> moisture evaporating (freezer burn). But keep in mind that when the

> Russians found some mammoth frozen in the ice ... they ate it!

>

> Grocery store meat is *very* poorly packaged and it doesn't keep

> well in the freezer at all. Or in your fridge. Drips all over everything,

> and it is packed in really thin plastic. Don't use it as an example of

> what to expect for good bulk meat.

>

>

> Heidi Jean

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I found some chickens and hams from 3 years ago in the very bottom of

the chest freezer. I called county extension and she said as far as

them being SAFE to eat, they were fine as long as they'd been frozen

all that time (which they had). They probably just wouldn't taste as

good as they might. She said making soup out of them was the best

option, so that's what we did.

Lynn S.

------

Lynn Siprelle * web developer, writer, mama, fiber junky

http://www.siprelle.com * http://www.thenewhomemaker.com

http://www.democracyfororegon.com * http://www.knitting911.net