With deer season getting near and hopefully plenty of venison to be packaged I would like to get opinions on packaging. We will debone and grind before packaging for the freezer. I have a 15" vacuum sealer that I am sure will preserve better than the poly bags, however the poly bags are cheaper and much faster and easier when dealing with a lot of meat. I guess my question is how much longer would vacuum sealed meat last vs the poly bags?
Poly bags are good for a couple of weeks at the most before frostbite sets it. Vacuum bags will last a year or more. I've eaten hamburger meat dated Nov 2012 couple of weeks ago after we forgot it was in the freezer.
X2. If you're gonna get to it soon, weeks verses months, zip bags are fine. I always added a layer of freezer paper though. Still freezer burned after a few months. This year, it will be all vac bags. Then I won't have to keep track. To me, it's worth the extra cost.
I guess the reason for my confusion as to how long the poly bags last is because we had a cow processed and all of the burger came in the poly bags taped shut. I would hope that it would last at least six months or so. If not I better start eating a lot of hamburger cause I have a bunch of it. :o
vacuum bags also remove the air which helps to keep the meat fresher longer even if it is frozen,, along with what others have stated,, keep frost bite down
I vacuum bag everything now, even when I pick up family packs of meat at Sam's on sale I vacuum bag them down to 2 person meal sizes. I used to use the poly bags for everything and it didn't seem to last as long as things do with the vacuum bags. Also when I thaw in warm water in the sink it works much better than the poly bags did. I would also start eating a lot of hamburger in your case so you don't have a lot of freezer burn waste.
Bagman
As for your hamburger that is already packaged from the butcher you could always just slip the poly bags into a vac bag and vac seal the whole thing. I sometimes will put stuff into smaller zip bags and than vac seal 4 or 5 and just cut the top off the vac bag and reseal as needed.
Well it seems to be a consensus to use the poly bags only for short term storage. Will start using the burger more and vacuum pack the ones I cant use in the next few weeks. those bags concerned me but are so easy and cheap I thought I would trow it out there to see what everyone thought and the jury has spoken, Thanks to everyone you all have probably saved me a lot of meat.
Bagman, in my experience, there are two elements to the how long can I freeze it equation. One is whether you use a zip lock style bag or whether you vacuum seal the product. Vacuum sealed will last much longer. But, the more important element is whether or not the product will be stored in a frost free freezer.
A "frost free" freezer is frost free because the freezer is allowed to warm up on a regular cycle. This prevents the build up of frost and ice because any frost or ice that has accumulated melts during the warm up cycle and drains into the catch pan under the freezer so it can evaporate. During the warm up, whatever you have stored in the freezer starts to defrost. This means that whatever you have stored in your frost free freezer is being repeatedly frozen and defrosted all the time it is in the freezer. If possible, I'd always vacuum seal if I was doing long term storage in a frost free freezer so that I wouldn't have air trapped in my storage bag that would oxidize the food a bit more every time the freezer warmed up.
With a manual defrost freezer, what you freeze remains solidly frozen until you remove it from the freezer. When I was a kid, 50 years ago, my folks bought half a steer and a hog once a year. These could be kept, wrapped in butcher paper, for more than a year without freezer burn appearing.
That said, received a shipment of wild silver salmon from my brother-in-law in Anchorage. His technique to ensure the longest freezer life possible is to wrap the fish in plastic wrap, then vacuum seal. Both a belt and suspenders.
Quote from: Saber 4 on October 29, 2013, 06:17:07 AM
I vacuum bag everything now, even when I pick up family packs of meat at Sam's on sale I vacuum bag them down to 2 person meal sizes. I used to use the poly bags for everything and it didn't seem to last as long as things do with the vacuum bags. Also when I thaw in warm water in the sink it works much better than the poly bags did. I would also start eating a lot of hamburger in your case so you don't have a lot of freezer burn waste.
i vac bag most, when i hit costco though, its vac for 5, which breaks it down to 2 meals from there lol.
Quote from: Snoopy on October 29, 2013, 09:03:24 AM
Quote from: Saber 4 on October 29, 2013, 06:17:07 AM
I vacuum bag everything now, even when I pick up family packs of meat at Sam's on sale I vacuum bag them down to 2 person meal sizes. I used to use the poly bags for everything and it didn't seem to last as long as things do with the vacuum bags. Also when I thaw in warm water in the sink it works much better than the poly bags did. I would also start eating a lot of hamburger in your case so you don't have a lot of freezer burn waste.
i vac bag most, when i hit costco though, its vac for 5, which breaks it down to 2 meals from there lol.
It is nice when they grow up and the numbers dwindle for daily meals, at least it saves a lot of money. :)
Quote from: Saber 4 on October 29, 2013, 09:11:14 AM
Quote from: Snoopy on October 29, 2013, 09:03:24 AM
Quote from: Saber 4 on October 29, 2013, 06:17:07 AM
I vacuum bag everything now, even when I pick up family packs of meat at Sam's on sale I vacuum bag them down to 2 person meal sizes. I used to use the poly bags for everything and it didn't seem to last as long as things do with the vacuum bags. Also when I thaw in warm water in the sink it works much better than the poly bags did. I would also start eating a lot of hamburger in your case so you don't have a lot of freezer burn waste.
i vac bag most, when i hit costco though, its vac for 5, which breaks it down to 2 meals from there lol.
It is nice when they grow up and the numbers dwindle for daily meals, at least it saves a lot of money. :)
It saves money unless they come home for a visit and clean out the freezer ;D
Quote from: tskeeter on October 29, 2013, 08:44:48 AM
Bagman, in my experience, there are two elements to the how long can I freeze it equation. One is whether you use a zip lock style bag or whether you vacuum seal the product. Vacuum sealed will last much longer. But, the more important element is whether or not the product will be stored in a frost free freezer.
A "frost free" freezer is frost free because the freezer is allowed to warm up on a regular cycle. This prevents the build up of frost and ice because any frost or ice that has accumulated melts during the warm up cycle and drains into the catch pan under the freezer so it can evaporate. During the warm up, whatever you have stored in the freezer starts to defrost. This means that whatever you have stored in your frost free freezer is being repeatedly frozen and defrosted all the time it is in the freezer. If possible, I'd always vacuum seal if I was doing long term storage in a frost free freezer so that I wouldn't have air trapped in my storage bag that would oxidize the food a bit more every time the freezer warmed up.
With a manual defrost freezer, what you freeze remains solidly frozen until you remove it from the freezer. When I was a kid, 50 years ago, my folks bought half a steer and a hog once a year. These could be kept, wrapped in butcher paper, for more than a year without freezer burn appearing.
That said, received a shipment of wild silver salmon from my brother-in-law in Anchorage. His technique to ensure the longest freezer life possible is to wrap the fish in plastic wrap, then vacuum seal. Both a belt and suspenders.
tskeeter, thanks for the insight, I had never thought of it like that. Since I have one of each I will keep that in mind in the future and move around some things that are in them. The bags I am referring to are not ziplock but the ones below; probably better than ziplock but not near as good as vac seal!(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/31/3ynapyhu.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)
Check out Cabelas, they are running a special right now on their vac sea bags. The premade bags come in different sizes, but I use a lot of the smaller ones and right now they are $7.49 per 100 of the 6x10". I ordered 500
oops that should be vacuum seal not vac sea!
I would like to jump in here a little.
The vacuum seal bags are great but not fool proof. When items are moved around in a freezer and in vacuum bags when they are banged against each other and are frozen solid they can bang into each other and be nicked and released the vacuum.
Some of the poly bags have micro holes in them to facilitate the filling as they will vent off the air. It helps the butcher fill the bag but it allows very rapid freezer burn. I have seen hamburger that is less then one year old that has freezer burned almost 3/4 on an inch into the surface of the burger. If you look closely at the packages you can see the holes.
Others are just hole free and they do a better job of providing protection.
We have always wrapped our meat first with plastic wrap. Paying special attention to getting all the air out of the package. The air space it the killer to the product. If the meat has air space the moisture from the meat will soon start to dry out of the surface of the meat. [Freezer burn] If done right all the meat is against the plastic. I then wrap the package in freezer paper to protect the plastic wrap from getting nicks in it from moving the packages around in the freezer. I have had meat that is over three years old and had no freezer burn. It is just like I put it away. I always wrap meat that I intend to make sausage out of in 5 pound packages and in as large of chunks as I can. This minimize the air exposure to the meat. I pay special attention to make sure that there is no air between the meat and the plastic wrap. I find the larger rolls of plastic wrap from Costco is very economical. We also buy their large rolls of paper.
By the way frost free freezers do not cause all the product in the freezer to thaw every time they defrost the freezer unit. They just heat up the evaporator unit to get the collected frost off of that part and the rest of the freezer and product in the freezer remains frozen. This water is collected in a tray the drains the water out of the freezer unit and drains it into a evaporator pan that blows air over the water surface to evaporate the moisture in the tray.
Quote from: tailfeathers on October 30, 2013, 04:33:59 PM
Check out Cabelas, they are running a special right now on their vac sea bags. The premade bags come in different sizes, but I use a lot of the smaller ones and right now they are $7.49 per 100 of the 6x10". I ordered 500
Thanks much for the heads up on Cabelas. Although Cabelas is usually my go to place I have been using Weston bags for the price and quality. After comparing the Cabelas bags are less than half the price and have received very good reviews. I use the 15"x18" bags for putting up my venison and they are on sale and at the best price I have seen. It says limited quantities so I better get back and get my order in. Thanks again!
Well I was late to the party, out of stock and no back order. Drat! Anyone else seen good deals on the big bags?
Quote from: pikeman_95 on October 30, 2013, 08:55:09 PM
By the way frost free freezers do not cause all the product in the freezer to thaw every time they defrost the freezer unit. They just heat up the evaporator unit to get the collected frost off of that part and the rest of the freezer and product in the freezer remains frozen. This water is collected in a tray the drains the water out of the freezer unit and drains it into a evaporator pan that blows air over the water surface to evaporate the moisture in the tray.
BAGMAN..
Please note this part of the reply. It is correct. Frostfree Freezers DO NOT repeatedly freeze and defrost your food items. It is only the frost on the evaporator it eliminates,
Steven
Like Pikeman, I wrap meat in plastic wrap & then vacuum seal it.
Other food items I just vacuum wrap.
If it is going into the fridge I just use baggies, but if it goes in the freezer it gets vacuum packed.
I regularly keep all kinds of food (including meats) for as long as 4 years or more with no degradation.
I just found out about this source of vacuum bags with what seem like good prices and free shipping in the US from Marvin at Rodak's Coffee and Grills in Ft Worth.
http://www.thesweetattack.com/page/page/1617042.htm
Thanks to standles and pikeman for the clarification on the frost free freezer and to Saber for the link to the vac bags, just another example of the help and knowledge one can get from this forum!