…… Frozen Food Products In The Deep Freezer

L.A.B.

L.A.B.

Goodness before greatness.
Next week sometime I will be placing an order for a deep freezer. Something that will live in the garage over the next year.

I intend to store meat, frozen soups of chicken or beef, and some seasonal vegetables favorites like Okra, and possibly fresh berries frozen.

I have no idea as to frozen shelf life's or special temps for various commodities.

Any experiences would be helpful.

Thanks
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
I also suggest a chest freezer, although they take more organization. I also STRONGLY suggest NOT getting "frost free"- while it relieves you of the yearly chore of defrosting the freezer, it shortens the frozen life of everything by a LOT. The very short times on "official" charts are based on "normal" (read: poor) packaging and frost free freezers.

Hamburger, for example, has a "three month" freezer life, according to USDA. We've used FIVE YEAR old hamburger, in plastic chubs (as packed by our butcher from our beef) and it was perfect. Kept in a regular chest freezer set at 10 below 0F.

Plan on buying either extra freezer baskets, or simply heavy duty plastic baskets from Walmart for keeping "like things together", and so you can- for example- lift all the frozen berries out at once to get at the meat underneath. It works.

As for vacuum sealing it DOES extend the life of a lot of things by a long time. I strongly suggest vacuum sealing boneless chicken breasts, good steaks, pork roasts and chops (otherwise the fat can start to go rancid even in the freezer). Basically your "high value" items. Other stuff, unless it's very important to you to be able to keep those strawberries for three years, just plan on using them up by just before the next year's crop comes in.

Summerthyme
 
L.A.B.

L.A.B.

Goodness before greatness.
Thanks for the info everyone. Summerthyme, for the indepth info.

For a family of four to five what size makes more sense. The 8 cu ft. or the 14.7 cu ft?

Growing up in So-Cal, we never had a freezer that wasn't the top portion of our fridge. Now I'm looking at the ability to stay out of the grocery stores just in case down the line. I'm also looking at eating healthier with homemade soups put up like Mom would bring me while I was a bachelor.

Does wrapping the meat in a wax craft paper, then taping it up help, or should the meat product less the fat just be placed in a heavy zip lock freezer bag?
 
Last edited:
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Absolutely, the bigger one! If you get a chance, you can buy beef or pork right of the farm, and while it's a good chunk of change upfront, it saves a ton over decent supermarket prices. And the quality will shock you, especially if you're used to buying meat from Wal-Mart or Sam's Club.

I have customers who will go without chicken or beef for a couple of months waiting for ours to be ready, rather than "going back" to commercial meat.

A bigger freezer will let you take advantage of deals you'd otherwise have to pass up on, too. And if you don't have enough good to fill it at any point in time, just put jugs of water in to maintain top efficiency, as well as give you a good bit of stored water, or a quick source of ice for a cooler.

Summerthyme
 
D

Deemy

Veteran Member
Chest type freezers are great but not if you are short like me....I have both kinds and will use the upright one every day while chest remains empty until I have the other full. I also like the fact with the upright that I can sort chicken, beef and pork on different shelves. It depends on what you want. Either will make your life easier along with the mental state I am prepped!
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Deemy- I hear you. I'm not short.

I just use heavyweight Sterlite plastic baskets from WalMart (they're perforated white plastic) to sort different food types into "sections". Works really well, and we store a LOT of frozen food (I have 45 cubic feet of freezer space in the house and another small 7.5 cf chest freezer in the barn for when we butcher a beef or chicken for sale)

The big advantage of chest freezers- besides stuff not falling out on your toes if it's really full!- is that if the power goes off, the door stays closed without needing to use a bungee cord or something, and the cold stays IN (heat rises, cold falls) a long longer.

The only thing I want an upright for is for flash freezing chicken on trays when I'm butchering... right now it's a three dimensional balancing act to get it all into the chest freezers at one time. I wish our Craigslist was worth anything, but down here it's almost all overpriced stuff from appliance dealers. I hate to impose on my kids, but I'm probably going to have to have them find me one- they have uprights for like $50 all the time up where they live (much richer area, and people just want to get rid of their older appliances fast when they buy "newer and better")

Summerthyme
 
C

CVORNurse

Contributing Member
I wanted to add to the thread that I sort my meat into the reusable shopping bags. LIke they offer for 50c to 1.00 at Walmart and the local groceries. You could use any sort of sturdy cloth bag though. I will put all the ground beef in one, roasts in another, chicken in one, etc. Easy to pick up if I need something from the bottom.
And I agree with getting the biggest one you can afford. We grow our own beef, pork, and goat. That freezer has more than paid for itself in the 4 years Ive had it.
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Oh, and in answer to your question about packaging, LAB- the key is EXCLUDING AIR. The old fashioned waxed paper "butcher wrap" certainly can work, but the person doing the wrapping needs to know what they're doing. *Heavy* freezer bags are good, but you want to squeeze/remove as much air as possible before closing. When I'm packing chicken for customers, I use a straw and suck as much air as possible out of the bags. This is especially important on things like boneless/skinless chicken breasts, which freezer burn easily.

For LONG term storage, vacuum sealing really is the way to go. Because of the issues of potentially sucking water into the sealer, you might want to "flash freeze" stuff on trays and then, as soon as it's firm, vacuum seal it. This is how I do chicken. I also freeze most fruits and vegetables (that are being frozen dry- obviously, not stuff like strawberries in syrup!) on trays (I use the flexible plastic cutting "boards" they sell cheap as liners- stuff pops right off) and then dump them in gallon ziplock freezer bags. This lets me take out (for example) anywhere from 1/2 cup to several cups of peas, rather than having to use a pint of peas because I had to defrost them all. It works really well for things like berries, peas, corn, broccoli and cauliflower, etc.

Summerthyme
 
L.A.B.

L.A.B.

Goodness before greatness.
Thank you each and every one for the replies. I bow to the experience here at TB2K.
 
SquonkHunter

SquonkHunter

Geezer (ret.)
From my experience, the money you would spend for a Foodsaver unit is a very wise investment. The basic cheapest model will do unless you get ambitious and want to do more than just a simple vac-pak & seal. I regularly use meat that I have had frozen for several years and it is still just as good as fresh. The key is immediate vacuum packing and using a non-frost free freezer. I've been doing this for well over ten years now and haven't had anything go bad yet. Just make sure you get a good vacuum and a good seal to hold it. Good Luck on your new project.
 
Melodi

Melodi

Disaster Cat
Two things - double bag your meat if you can (most of our meat buys come this way but if they don't, get a bunch of zip top bags and add another layer) and if you don't have a sealer, you can use a straw to suck the air out of the zip top bag. It is not AS effective as using the sealer but it will help a lot, especially if you are just adding another layer of protection to your meat. These "over-bags" can be reused for something else if you take the meat out to thaw and there are no meat juices on the bag - if there are we tend to use them for the disposal of chicken bones or other bits of garbage we are not using for anything else, so we can throw them in the trash.
 
M

Muad'dib

Senior Member
This information I found, with a web search. It is a detailed reference chart, including precautions and changes in frozen foods during storage.
A shorter version is printed on the Reynolds wrap box, but this chart is much more complete.
The website of Reynolds corporation is useless, but I think their "Freezer Paper" is the best product out there.
Off brand freezer paper is a false economy. Experiment with several different freezer tapes, what is sold as freezer tape is not very good
For the last 2 years DW and I have been using the type of blue painters masking tape, sold as "non stick" to a window.
It seems to work very well for us.
Here is the chart.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/FreezerChart.htm

Food Storage Chart - Food Storage Guidelines
Shelf Life of Food - Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart


Home | Recipe Indexes | Dinner Party Menus | Food History | Diet - Health - Beauty

Baking Corner | Regional Foods | Cooking Articles | Hints & Tips | Culinary Dictionary | Newspaper Columns


Search What's Cooking America


The following safe storage time limits will help keep refrigerated foods from spoiling or becoming dangerous to eat. Because freezing keeps food safe indefinitely, recommended storage times are for quality only. Storage times are from date of purchase unless specified on chart. It is not important if a date expires after food is frozen.

Storage does not improve the quality of any food. The quality of a food will also not decrease significantly during storage as long as the food is stored properly and used within the recommended time frame. Maintaining a food’s quality depends on several factors: the quality of the raw product; the procedures used processing; the way the food is stored; and the length of storage. The recommended storage time takes these factors into consideration.

Since bacteria frequently get into food through careless food handling, keep everything — hands, refrigerator, freezer and storage containers — clean
Good Luck
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
See, that good storage chart drives me crazy! It's a mishmash of good info, along with absolutely ridiculous numbers. Butter-9 months? I routinely store butter (in the carton, in heavy freezer bags) for 3-4 years, with NO loss of flavor. Hamburger stores AT LEAST 3 years in the heavy plastic "chubs" as they come from our butcher.

Bacon stores for at least a couple of years in its original packaging, in heavy freezer bags.

Basically, I'd say ignore their numbers for fresh meats. The rest is fairly accurate, although you can double or triple most times with vacuum sealing.

Summerthyme
 
E

Emilys

Contributing Member
Melodi said:
Two things - double bag your meat if you can (most of our meat buys come this way but if they don't, get a bunch of zip top bags and add another layer) and if you don't have a sealer, you can use a straw to suck the air out of the zip top bag. It is not AS effective as using the sealer but it will help a lot, especially if you are just adding another layer of protection to your meat. These "over-bags" can be reused for something else if you take the meat out to thaw and there are no meat juices on the bag - if there are we tend to use them for the disposal of chicken bones or other bits of garbage we are not using for anything else, so we can throw them in the trash.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I do.
 
J

john70

Veteran Member
summerthyme said:
See, that good storage chart drives me crazy! It's a mishmash of good info, along with absolutely ridiculous numbers. Butter-9 months? I routinely store butter (in the carton, in heavy freezer bags) for 3-4 years, with NO loss of flavor. Hamburger stores AT LEAST 3 years in the heavy plastic "chubs" as they come from our butcher.

Bacon stores for at least a couple of years in its original packaging, in heavy freezer bags.

Basically, I'd say ignore their numbers for fresh meats. The rest is fairly accurate, although you can double or triple most times with vacuum sealing.

Summerthyme
Click to expand...
I second Summerthyme on all of her posts.
BUT.........Ihave a large CHEST FREEZER....NOT FROST FREE...the bottom half stays at -10....the top gets up to 0 deg F

FREEZER BURN is something that happens in a FROST FREE FREEZER......THE TEMPERATURE goes up above 32 deg F several times each day.....................the outside surface of EACH AND EVERY PACKAGE in the freezer melts and drys out

I have 20 sq. buckets in my freezer..............10 on the bottom..........and 10 on the top
draw yourself a chart of what is in every bucket
ANYTHING you want is in a top bucket............OR you must pull 1 bucket out to get it
YOU have to keep a chart..............or have a very good mind..............i have a chart
BESIDES a chart lets others find stuff easy

IMHO.........i think all of this double wrapping.......is because of FROST FREE FREEZERS
I DO NOT DOUBLE WRAP...........butter goes in in the box it comes in ...........meat in the one layer it comes in

ALMOST anything at 0 and below will last forever ...........I KNOW it will last for years!!
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
john70 said:
I second Summerthyme on all of her posts.
BUT.........Ihave a large CHEST FREEZER....NOT FROST FREE...the bottom half stays at -10....the top gets up to 0 deg F

FREEZER BURN is something that happens in a FROST FREE FREEZER......THE TEMPERATURE goes up above 32 deg F several times each day.....................the outside surface of EACH AND EVERY PACKAGE in the freezer melts and drys out

I have 20 sq. buckets in my freezer..............10 on the bottom..........and 10 on the top
draw yourself a chart of what is in every bucket
ANYTHING you want is in a top bucket............OR you must pull 1 bucket out to get it
YOU have to keep a chart..............or have a very good mind..............i have a chart
BESIDES a chart lets others find stuff easy

IMHO.........i think all of this double wrapping.......is because of FROST FREE FREEZERS
I DO NOT DOUBLE WRAP...........butter goes in in the box it comes in ...........meat in the one layer it comes in

ALMOST anything at 0 and below will last forever ...........I KNOW it will last for years!!
Click to expand...
I agree... mostly. My NON-frost free freezers are all set at -10. Chicken breasts will still freezer burn over a period of months, unless vacuum packed (or heavily double wrapped). It's a function of drying out, which happens no matter how cold and steady the temp is. However, it happens a LOT slower at steady, cold temps.

One thing that did surprise me... I buy a few whole pork loins on sale every so often... the local supermarket will cut them however you want for free. I vacuum pack them, and therefore well for several years. But... a couple packages lost their seal, and although they were only 2 years old, the fat on the chops was *very* rancid. Once trimmed clean, the meat was fine...

Summerthyme
 
1911user

1911user

Veteran Member
I'll add a vote for a large chest-type freezer (not frost free) and a good vacuum food sealer. I buy sealer bag material in 50 foot rolls in 8" and 11" widths to make custom size vacuum bags. Make sure to leave room around the outside of the chest freezer for air to naturally flow and draw the freezer heat away.
 
KMR58

KMR58

Veteran Member
We have two chest freezers. I buy the plain white dish tubs at Walmart to keep organized and ease of getting to the food at the bottom. I keep like food together ie; beef, chicken, veggies, fruit, etc. The tubs were a huge game changer for me. And I use a large black sharpie to label bags with dates. Anything in boxes gets taken out and put in freezer bags instead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top