Freezing venison?

[fujimo]

we have been vac bagging all our fish/sea food( crab, clams, salmon , halibut and cod etc ) and venison( deer, goose) with no problems on longevity, easy to see thru the bag- all clearly dated etc- we regularly eat seafood and venison well over a year old. ate some gueduck and razor clams easily 3 to 4 years old- no problem. unpack everything from the upright about every 18 months- leave it in totes- de frost freezer- repack and go- - we're still alive. have sent seafood all around the country via air- never a problem. i think as modern humans we have all become a little neurotic about a lot of things!
 speaking of neurotic, i personally worry about the use of plastics. i dont like it.
 both from a health and an environmental perspective. i want to change how we handle our meat. have been canning more and more- but the plastic coating on the inside of the jar lids worry me too- especially as you are" cooking " in it. in the old days they were just plain metal lids with a separate pure ,natural rubber flat O ring- wish i could still find those.

[Michael R]

Originally posted by 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.

LC here is right on the money - I'm a steamfitter service (hvacr) apprentice and that is exactly what happens.

Most defrost timers are set to defrost 3-4 times a day at the most, usually depends on compressor run time.

Manual defrost freezers are the way to go for long term storage.

1st no defrost
2nd no fan typically

[bluemoonrising]

Thanks Guys--I guess I'll buy another manual defrost freezer.

[LC]

I'll add one final thought, just my two cents worth. IF your OLD freezer is still working I'd keep working it till it dies! It will most likely out live two new freezers you can buy now adays! Like most things now days new stuff is absolute JUNK! If you want to invest in something invest in a freezer alarm to warn you of warm temps can save you a lot of heart ache, especially if you buy new and replace your old reliable! lol

[bluemoonrising]

LC-thanks for the advice. My current freezer has worked really well for 20+ years. Supposedly, the new ones are insulated better, but you're probably right about the overall quality. I may have to look into the alarm. Thanks again!

[Bill Turner]

Frost free freezers have worked fine for me for some 30 years. Prepare your meat for freezing, wipe off any surface moisture. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, forcing out all air bubbles. Then double wrap in freezer paper and seal with freezer tape. Just pulled and cooked a roast dated 2011. Don't usually keep them that long, but this one was hiding. When unwrapped no freezer burn what so ever. Passed the smell and taste test as well.  

[easyup]

Depending on whether we draw elk tags we can take as many as 5 or 6 deer/antelope a year.  I have an upright frost free and a chest manual, long term storage is in the chest not the upright.

[Black Hills]

For freezing anything, meat in particular, the biggest culprit in freezer burn is air entrained with the contents.

Vacuum packed meat will keep easily for two years (or more)in a decent freezer.  I have also found an "overlooked" package or two.  Vacuum packed stew-meat from 2010 looked, smelled, cooked, and tasted just like it did five years ago.  I think that one was a new household record for us.

Meat products like sausage are a bit tougher, depending on how it's processed.  Some folks add ice to the grind to keep the meat cold, reduce the amount of suet trim required, and to help blend in seasoning, but the problem with using ice is a reduced "shelf" life in just about any freezer...  At least, that's my experience with some ground meat products.

Started out butchering critters on the family place when I was old enough to wrap & tape.  Worked a butcher shop through Jr. High & H.S.  The reason so many shops use the butcher wrap is strictly economics - speed and convenience - not necessarily food preservation.  One of the best things to happen to home meat processing was the vacuum sealers, IMO...

[Tim Finley]

Might not be cheap but its the best ...vacuum sealing . I have had fish several years old and it was still good. Fish don't keep as long and hogs are the worst, pork can get rancid in a few months but not when vacuum sealed. I store all my deer and other game in vacuum bags.

[bowcrazybrad]

I used a vacuam sealer for a couple years. Bags are very expensive. Went back to double wrapping ven. with freezer paper and using good zip locks with the ground meat. Freeze fish in water. Never had an issue. My freezer is old school. Defrost a couple times a year and put contents in my large salmon cooler while it defrosts. Works for me and yes I am cheep!

[reddogge]

Double wrapped in freezer paper. Two + years no problems.

[RickE]

We vacuum pack all our game meat. Not cheap but worth it. I think wrapping in saran wrap and then freezer paper would work just as well for deer/elk but not as good for pheasants and fish. Because we skin our pheasants they freezer burn easily but when vacuum packed they'll last much longer.  Fish too.  I'd also recommend sticking with your old freezer if it's still working.

For freezer burned venison it's not necessarily ruined.  About once a year, usually just before hunting season I have a 'freezer cleaning' dinner and invite my non hunting friend over who is a real carnivore. I search the bottom of the freezer for all old packages and any that have leaked or ripped open (usually roasts, backloin, etc).  Once thawed I carefully inspect every piece of meat and trim all freezer burned meat away with a very sharp knife. Usually only the very outer edges are burned if at all and there usually isn't much waste.  Once trimmed I'll usually marinate it and make a mountain of kabobs, etc. and grill everything medium rare.  

Having had to eat too much freezer burned food as a kid, I can tell you that I'm very sensitive to it and can smell it from 30 feet but by doing this I can't tell anything and neither can my buddy or wife.  He knows what he's in for when he get an invite near the end of summer and he keeps coming back so it must be alright.