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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Freezing meat and those vaccuum gadgets
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
I've just bought a small freezer( the size of a bar fridge). I bought it for left overs and because all the local supermarkets pack what they call 'family sized' meat trays and I am sick of eating the same food several days in a row.
What have you found to be the best way to freeze meat? Are those vacuum gadgets necessary to prevent freezer burn and do they really allow you to keep frozen food safe for longer??
I know about making sure frozen meat is totally defrosted, but is there anything else I need to know so I don't kill myself if food poisoning?
Huia - not bright, but willing to learn.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
Huia, we found the little pumps very difficult to use, and did not bother. We either put the food into a freezer bag, and squeeze almost all the air out, or use a suitable plastic container and press baking paper of cling wrap onto the top of the food (usually a casserole etc).
Cool a hot dish then freeze as soon as you can after cooking it. Say you make a full serve of osso buco, as it's getting to that time of the year. Serve your meal and at the same time serve the extras into containers (they cool more quickly that way). By the time you've eaten your main course, the others should be ready to have the cling wrap pressed onto them, lids closed and labelled, then into the freezer.
Label and date everything you freeze. Remember that freezing does not last forever and try to use things in 6 months at the most. Very sweet things don't freeze terribly effectively and use in a much shorter period.
Enjoy the ability to cook several meals in one go. A larger casserole/stew/curry is not much more work than a small one and often gives better results. It will also give you a chance for more variety.
Thaw completely in the fridge and reheat thoroughly but gently.
Halve bread rolls with a double thickness of greaseproof paper between each - they separate more easily and can thaw on the bench during the morning (no need to thaw them in the fridge. The same for particularly sinful cakes.
[ 29. April 2016, 23:43: Message edited by: Gee D ]
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
I would not bother with the gadgets either. Just something else to find storage for and not really all that worth it for result.
If you buy a larger tray of meat, make sure you divide it up promptly on return home. I find that is the worst bit as I hate doing that.
Soup handy in frozen serving sizes is wonderful and being liquid, you can heat gently to defrost, then bring temperature up. Just the thing for those days which turn out colder or wetter than anticipated.
I buy little meat from supermarket these days and a proper butcher is happy to sell me smaller quantities of a good variety. Yes, it is dearer, but better quality.
Even buying from butcher, I often freeze meat. Always have something on hand that way.
I also buy from a butcher online and have used this firm for around twenty years. He sells to clubs,hospitals, restaurants etc. meat is very good, extremely well vacuum packed and delivered by a friendly driver right to my kitchen bench. Free delivery with an order of over $100 which is not hard to reach at all.
[ 29. April 2016, 23:55: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
I'd echo what Loth said about gadgets - we've never found the need for them.
There's just the two of us, and we have the standard North American fridge/freezer combo (about two parts fridge to one part freezer). A single recipe will often be enough for four, so we'll eat half, and put the other half in a bowl and freeze once it's cooled.
We buy most of our fresh meat in quite large bulk from Costco. Minced beef gets divided into four portions of about 1¼lb each; a pack of assorted sausages into bags of three or four; and steaks (which I like but D. doesn't) into individual bags, cut in half if they're too big even for my appetite. Sometimes I'll cut a steak (or parts of two bigger ones) into bite-sized pieces for making beef casseroles.
Either way, I just press as much air out of the zip-lock bag as I can, seal it and put it in the freezer and we've never had any trouble with the quality of the end-product.
PS We also make French sticks in batches of three, and they freeze beautifully, just wrapped in cling-film and then thawed at room temperature.
[ 30. April 2016, 00:11: Message edited by: Piglet ]
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
When I freeze something, I wrap it in several layers of plastic. The first layer is cling wrap. I make sure it makes contact everywhere with the item to be frozen. Then I put it in a plastic sandwich or storage bag, and get rid of as much air as possible before I seal it. Then I put it in a plastic freezer bag, and again get rid of as much air as possible before I seal it.
Things stored this way keep a very long time.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Further to what Moo has said. You can use a fresh container and put the plastic wrap into that. Freeze, remove pack from container and wrap further. That gives you fairly uniform packages which are easier to pack into freezer than irregular bumpy packs.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643
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Posted
We also will buy large packages, especially boneless chicken thighs / breasts, and sometimes steaks or pork. We typically break out single-meal portions into individual sandwich bags, then put them all in a large freezer bag marked with the description and date. That keeps all the pieces in one place in the freezer, and it is easy to pull out and thaw just the amount you want.
Other than squeezing as much air out as possible, and using the heavier freezer bags rather than thinner types, we don't do anything special and haven't had any issues with freezer burn, etc.
Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005
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bib
Shipmate
# 13074
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Posted
I'm disappointed to read such negative reportings about using the gadget to seal food for freezing. For years I had used the traditional way of wrapping food for the freezer. When my husband was given two whole sheep from a farmer we purchased a machine in order to deal with that much meat for the freezer and haven't looked back. I've found that meat will last very much longer when treated in this way. Of course there is no need to do this for anything that isn't going to be in the freezer for very long, but for anything that will be there longer it is marvellous and very easy to use.
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"My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring"
Posts: 1307 | From: Australia | Registered: Oct 2007
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by bib:
I'm disappointed to read such negative reportings about using the gadget to seal food for freezing. For years I had used the traditional way of wrapping food for the freezer. When my husband was given two whole sheep from a farmer we purchased a machine in order to deal with that much meat for the freezer and haven't looked back. I've found that meat will last very much longer when treated in this way. Of course there is no need to do this for anything that isn't going to be in the freezer for very long, but for anything that will be there longer it is marvellous and very easy to use.
Bib, perhaps things have changed. My husband was a Joe the Gadget man type of person and bought everything going which he could find. Over the years, he bought several of these, as he discovered i had thrown out the previous one. I found them fairly useless. Even early in our marriage we had a large chest freezer and without using such a gadget, meat kept just fine for a long time. No freezer burn either.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
What have you found to be the best way to freeze meat?
Flash-freeze in liquid nitrogen.
If you don't happen to have liquid nitrogen, you'll do just fine by wrapping it and shoving it in the freezer.
Given that your starting point is a "family-size" meat tray, I would:
- Separate into individual portions (whatever size you want to use at once)
- Wrap in cling-film
- Place in heavy-duty zip-lock bag and squeeze air out (one bag per portion)
- Label bag with contents and date (everything tends to look alike in the freezer)
- Shove in freezer and call it good
It's best not to put too much unfrozen food in at once (you don't want to heat up the stuff that's already in there) - in your case, just don't buy an entire freezer-full of meat in one go.
The only reason I'd buy a vacuum sealer is if I wanted to play with sous vide cooking.
Around here, you can buy a large sack of frozen, individually-wrapped chicken breasts, salmon fillets and so on. That's convenient because it saves you all the faffing around and freezing.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
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M.
Ship's Spare Part
# 3291
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Posted
We often cook double and freeze half in those flat boxes you get with Chinese takeaways. They fit into the freezer tidily and are just about the right amount for two. Makes things very simple during the week - take out of the freezer in the morning before work, heat up and eat when you get in.
I also stew and freeze loads of fruit from the garden for the winter; and make simple tomato sauces out of tomatoes and onions when we have a glut of tomatoes in the summer. You can then dress the sauce up as required when used.
I've never bothered with a pump.
M.
Posts: 2303 | From: Lurking in Surrey | Registered: Sep 2002
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anoesis
Shipmate
# 14189
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Posted
Also, remember that a freezer the size of a bar fridge is highly unlikely to be a deep freeze (ie: the temperature is not as low as a deep freeze in these little ones), and that does mean you can't keep meat for as long as you can in a deep freeze. Also, if it's anything like either of my two small bar-fridge type freezers, it will start to ice up if it is over-filled (which would seem to be anything over about 3/4 full).
Still, better than nothing - as I keep telling myself.
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The history of humanity give one little hope that strength left to its own devices won't be abused. Indeed, it gives one little ground to think that strength would continue to exist if it were not abused. -- Dafyd --
Posts: 993 | From: New Zealand | Registered: Oct 2008
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Celtic Knotweed
Shipmate
# 13008
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Posted
We tend to use old ice-cream or takeaway tubs to freeze anything liquid like pasta sauce, soup, etc. No clingfilm required, just fill, lid, label, leave to cool, freeze. Meat does fine in normal food bags if being portioned up before freezing. Don't think I've ever known anyone who uses gadgets to vacuum-pack before freezing!
One very useful thing we have is a kitchen thermometer which reads from +20C to -50C. Since the standard for a freezer round here is -20C, every month or so I put the thermometer in the freezer for a couple of days to check that it's still OK. (We have an elderly standard UK under-bench size freezer, which was second-hand from a friend when we moved 7 months ago, hence the frequent checking).
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Posts: 664 | From: between keyboard and chair | Registered: Sep 2007
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lily pad
Shipmate
# 11456
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Posted
I've often thought I would like one of those gadgets but the plastic that goes into them always seems so expensive. I make do with sandwich bags for individual portions and then put several down into one large freezer bag. I also use the small Tupperware-like containers for soups.
When I buy larger portions of meat, I cook it and then freeze it. I find that if I freeze raw meat I tend to use it only when the cooked ones are all used up. Lazy? Maybe!
If I buy ground beef, I'll cook one large portion as it is and make meatballs or individual meat loaf portions with the other. I do the same with pork chops by cooking them in at least two different coatings or sauces and then packaging them up. I figure I only have to turn the oven on once and clean up once. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
[ 30. April 2016, 11:24: Message edited by: lily pad ]
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Sloppiness is not caring. Fussiness is caring about the wrong things. With thanks to Adeodatus!
Posts: 2468 | From: Truly Canadian | Registered: May 2006
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Given the resentment I feel when I have to haggle meat out of a vacuum pack, I doubt if I would package my own stuff thusly. In fact, before this thread, I wouldn't have known such a gadget existed. Freezer bags, squeezed and knotted, has been as fancy as it's got.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ferdzy
Shipmate
# 8702
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Posted
Huh! Surprised to read the negative reactions to vaccuum sealers. We *LOVE* ours. <3 <3 <3
We freeze vegetables from our garden and when we first started off using zip-loc type bags they just didn't last until next season because we could not get enough air out and they ended up a nasty mushy mass of ice crystals.
The bags are expensive; we make them a bit larger than we need, wash them carefully after cutting them open and removing contents, and pin them to the freezer door with a magnet to dry. We generally get 3 or 4 uses out of each bag (it shrinks each time you open it) with pesto cubes being the last use.
We have found that for some items that have a lot of liquid we need to either: put them in the bag, freeze them, then seal them (watermelon chunks, for example), or freeze them loose on a tray then put them in the bag and seal it (steamed Swiss chard rolls, for example), or put them into little zip-loc bags, then put them into the bags and freeze them. (The pesto cubes, sometimes. Depends how oily they have turned out.)
We also freeze a fair bit of chicken, beef, and pork in vaccuum bags. However, whenever we have ordered meat directly from the farmer/butcher and it has come wrapped in the traditional brown paper, it has lasted just as well that way.
Posts: 252 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Oct 2004
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lily pad
Shipmate
# 11456
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Posted
Hi Ferdzy, I completely agree with the gardening things. If I had a vegetable garden, I would use the sealer too. Glad to hear there is a way to reuse the plastic. I wasn't aware of that.
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Sloppiness is not caring. Fussiness is caring about the wrong things. With thanks to Adeodatus!
Posts: 2468 | From: Truly Canadian | Registered: May 2006
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Ferdzy
Shipmate
# 8702
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lothlorien:
Frizen watermelon? What do you do with that? Slushies or other drinks?
Slushies it is. Usually combined with strawberries or blueberries. I'm breeding watermelon, so we have A LOT.
Posts: 252 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Oct 2004
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Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
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Posted
For me it's about easy dinners for one.
I have a standard fridge-freezer. I made sure I got one with freezer at the bottom – for goodness' sake, you go much oftener to the fridge.
Freezer's rather crowded at the moment with quince, crab-apple and japonica juice waiting to become jelly (it's okay, Huia, I have yours ready for you).
Since I don't have a huge appetite, I get a six-pack of Hellers' Angus meat patties (I think just under $10), and freeze them individually in sandwich bags, move one to the fridge in the morning and grill it in the bench-top oven with a small potato sliced and add some salad.
I also get chicken drumsticks when they're cheap in bulk, and freeze them in twos, sometimes only $1 for two and modern chickens can have pretty big drumsticks. But I wish they wouldn't sell them 7 or 13 in a pack.
Neither of these takes up much space.
(Like a chocolate bar with seven squares: how can you share it with a friend? Or two friends? And Tim-Tams come illogically in packets of 11.)
GG
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The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
GG, you could make a small amount of stock for a winter lunch soup from that one spare drumstick, or save it up till you get another one to make a pair. A bit of soup can make a good lunch in winter.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Galloping Granny:
... I wish they wouldn't sell them 7 or 13 in a pack ...
I don't understand the logic of some packaging at all - for some reason Costco's assorted sausages come in packs of 26, so no chance of equal division. I usually end up splitting it into five packs of four and two of three, as my paella recipe only really needs three, and most of our other sausage recipes need four.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
I don't either. I was thinking that yesterday morning as I bought a packet of 7 rashers. I don't think I've ever bought bacon in sevens before.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lothlorien:
GG, you could make a small amount of stock for a winter lunch soup from that one spare drumstick, or save it up till you get another one to make a pair. A bit of soup can make a good lunch in winter.
I could – but I have a lovely neighbour who makes huge pots of lovely winter soup and brings me enough for several lunches. I'm very lucky! She often shares some of her other cooking, too, like a couple of freshly-baked muffins.
GG
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The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
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