Freezing venison?

[bluemoonrising]

Over the years I have been lucky to have harvested quite a few animals. During that time, I have had zero problems with freezing the meat, even longer than a year. My old freezer is still working but it too is getting old. I do hate the de-icing part. New frost-free freezers sound like the way to go. But...I have heard some people say they don't work as well on meat products. Any ideas/thoughts?  Thanks

[dirtguy]

Its not a problem.  If your venison is wrapped properly it will last just fine.  I accidently had some stew meat buried away for a year and it was fine.

[David M. Mathis]

Vacuum seal the way to go.

[4dogs]

Originally posted by David M. Mathis:
Vacuum seal the way to go.

[Pryor]

We have been harvesting cow elk since I was little, when you have two elk in the freezer it usually lasts all year.  Always used a first wrap of plastic followed by a paper wrap.  Two years ago my father bought a vacuum sealer.  The vacuum wrap seams to be working great, but it costs about $ 50.00 to wrap one elk.  We never had problems with our old wraps, and it was considerably cheaper.  That being said, we have two upright freezers, and before hunting season, we transfer leftover meat into one freezer and de ice the other.  Kind of a pain in the butt.

[bluemoonrising]

Pryor--we too have used "saran wrap" and then butcher/freezing paper and have had zero problems with the meat. I also fish a lot and use freezer bags and water to care for the gills and eyes with zero problems. The vacuum sealer's wrap and bags would probably be too expensive for me. The real question I have is about the freezers. Do I go with frost-free or manual? Thanks

[RedShaft]

I wrap mine in Saran Wrap also. Works great for me.

[ChuckC]

I put 1-2# of ground, or a roast or other cut into a Baggie 1 gallon bag ( they make a longer style that I like best), wrap it then wrap that in regular plastic coated ( one side) freezer paper.  

I have had deer in my freezer for well over a year that ate up just fine when I found it.

ChuckC

[longbow fanatic 1]

I just watched an episode of Meat Eaters. Rinella recommended wrapping the meat in Saran Wrap tightly, then wrap again in freezer paper. He said doing it this way will allow your meat to stay good for a year or more. If my memory serves, I think he said he's had meat stay good for up to two years. I can't help you,  though, on how good the new freezers are.

[calgarychef]

I had a moose tenderloin wrapped in plastic wrap and then coated brown paper and I somehow forgot it in the bottom of the freezer.  Flash forward three years and I found it, cooked it and it was still fine.  Not even a hint of freezer burn.  He plastic prevents freezer burn and the paper protects the plastic.  No offence to the vac packers in the crowd but it's way cheaper to wrap a large quantities of game this way.

[amicus]

I have an older frost free fridge and have no problems with freezing meat. I double up on the Saran wrap and place in freezer zip lock bag.

I have a frost free freezer, and my meat is vacuum sealed (except the burger which is in LEM bags), and I have no problem leaving the meat in the freezer for 1+yrs.

Bisch

[stagetek]

I double wrap with freezer paper and have had zero issues. No problem with the meat easily lasting a year.

[Bvas]

Poor boy vacuum for me.

Place cut meat in freezer bags then submerge in a large pan of water until only the zipper is exposed. Zip shut while bag is in water.
Not quite as good as an actual vacuum sealer, but more convenient.

[JamesV]

I use large leaf bags for my meat. Don't put the meat "IN" the bag, lay it on the bag and wrap it up. I use masking tape to get the bag tight. Cheap and will keep your meat fresh with no freezer burn.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I have a  frost free freezer above my refrigerator.  

I have not had any issues for things that were properly wrapped and stored.

For venison, I was gifted some that was wrapped in freezer paper then in vacuum seal bags. There is no doubt in my mind it can last several years like that with no issue, however in my house it usually only lasts at most several weeks so probably overkill on the wrapping.

[shedhunta]

If you do not mind defrosting the freezer I would go with manual defrost.

[LC]

It's typically believed a frost free freezer is not meant for long term storage of anything. The problem is it periodically (with a preset timer  goes in a defrost time). Basically a set of heaters is energized to melt the build up of ice. Ice build up depends on lots of factors, amount of openings, amount of thawed material added, etc. There is a heat sensor that shuts off the heaters if there isn't enough ice build up to justify running the entire defrost cycle.

All this means is in frost free freezer everyday the temp rises up enough to melt ice! Now a lot of folks eat frozen stuff often enough not to notice damage. It's most noticeable in ice cream where you see ice crystals that has been stored any amount of time. Sometimes you get ice cream out and it's soft while other times it's hard as a rock as it depends on if your getting ice cream out that just came out of a defrost cycle or close to it.
For long term storage you generally will have better luck with a manual defrost freezer. However like most things in life they are getting harder and harder to find as everyone wants the easy way out.

[Steve Kendrot]

I much prefer paper over vacuum bags. A traditional butchers wrap will result in 2-3 layers of paper (more on the folded side) and I have pulled out meat 2-3 years old and had minimal freezer burn. Much better to consume quicker though. Vacuum bags are a paint pack into the freezer (I have a stand up) because of their irregular shapes and slick surface. Maybe fine for a chest freezer, but given the expense, not worth it to me.

[non-typical]

Any freezer burned venison I find gets thawed then ground into burger.