Freezer burn.

[Meat Hunter]

Vacuum sealers are the only way to go. If the vacuum is not violated, the meat or other food items will remain good for several years.

However, vacuum sealers are not without their unique problems. When the vacuum is applied:
(1) The liquids from inside fresh meat can travel under the sealing strip and prevent sealing
(2) The stuffing inside link sausage may seep out of the casing

Both of these problems can be easily remedied if you:
(1) Place your meat and sausage inside the unsealed bags
(2) Place the unsealed bags in the freezer and allow the meat or sausage to freeze
(3) Remove the bags from the freezer, vacuum seal and then return the bags to the freezer
__________________________

Another trick regarding the vacuum sealing soups and/or cooked vegetables is to:
(1) Place the item in plastic containers
(2) Allow the contents to freeze
(3) Remove the frozen contents from the plastic containers
(4) Place the frozen contents in a vacuum bag and then seal

[Meat Hunter]

bstout is correct on every point. The better the quality that your vacuum sealer is, the less sealing problems that you will have.

I have an up-market vacuum machine. But, being the all consuming pessimist that I am, I do not take a chance and I double seal both ends of my bags. It only takes a moment with my machine and better safe than sorry.

The only problem that I have ever had with violating a vacuum was when I dropped a frozen package on the floor and found out months later that the frozen mass had punctured to plastic bag.

If months later, you ever see ice crystals forming inside of a bag, you can be assured that either one or two things have occurred -- You either;
(1) Did not get a proper seal
(2) Somewhere along the line you have dropped the frozen bag

If I see ice crystals forming inside of a bag, I immediately remove the contents and re-seal them in a new bag.

You will never regret the money that you will spend on a quality vacuum sealer.

[Cossack]

I USED to have that problem. Now vacuum pack nearly everything, freezer burn is no longer an issue. Best thing, no more freezing fish in water (yuck), tasteless to avoid FB. With a bit of care when opening, and soap, the bags can be reused several times making it far less expensive.

[Keating]

you mean people actually let meat sit in their freezer long enough to get freezer burnt? weirdo's

There's 9 months between the end of Dec and the beginning of Sept. You need enough venison to get you though till next season.

[Dereck]

Vix made a comment about putting fish in water to freeze.
I know someone who did the same with venison and had the same the same results.
No freezer burn

Have not tried it myself but hope to this fall

[vixenmaster]

I knowed yer about freezing in freezer but you may wish to do what some of us on here are doing. Thats canning yer deer meat in qt. or pint jars no worry about freezer or power!

[Keating]

Agreed. My family has been doing it for years.
We just pack the jars tight, stuffing it down enough that the sealer will sit on the rim of the bottle. add in a good spoonful of finely diced onion, a couple half inch cubed of salt cured pork belly and a pinch of ground black pepper, seal and process.
I've usually got lots of bottled moose on hand. Makes for super quick stews and meat pies.
You can have a super quick dinner just warming up a bottle and pouring it over steamed potatoes.

It takes a lot of bottle to process a moose, but we usually fill all the bottles we have, then freeze the rest. When there's enough bottles emptied to run the canner, we pull a bunch of roasts and any meat that has questionable packing, or cuts we're less likely to eat "as is", thaw them, and process.

I knowed yer about freezing in freezer but you may wish to do what some of us on here are doing. Thats canning yer deer meat in qt. or pint jars no worry about freezer or power!

[bob1961]

once again i was at the stores looking at sealers and there cost compaired to using plastic wrap and butcher paper and there cost, i just walk away again saying "ok i'm doing the right thing still" when i never have any freezer burn issue's ...........bob

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[lscha]

I have had a FoodSaver since they first came out. During our annual pig butchering get-together as many as 4 of them will be going at the same time. This last March mine pooped out around 9PM after 10 hours of operation. It was just hot and it recovered but the new gamesaver is built to be used for hours and never overheat. It's not the most expensive one but is all we need. Soooo.....I have a gamesaver for the butchering and venison and my old one will be used in fishing camp for salmon.

I've pulled out some forgotten venison after 4 years and it was still good and believe me I was looking for any off taste. I usually put meat in a food storage bag (not zip kind), then vacuum it.

[bigbuckonly1]

Vacuum pack.

[beehunter]

let's go back to milk in bags?! I assume that is not the bag on the cow? Different. Vaccum sealing works great to prevent freezer burn. Freezers that self defrost increase the risk of freezer burn from my experience-especially meat toward the front or door. Mostly meat doesn't last very long at our house!

[Keating]

Geez, it's been a while since I've bought bagged milk, but I believe, it was 3x 1 1/3 Liter bags (the smaller plain clear or white bags) in one large marked bag, sold as 4 Liters.

bag.jpg (42.28 KiB) Viewed 4182 times

Here's the standard milk jug. It holds the milk bag upright once you've cut the corner off so that you can pour it.

jug.jpg (84.39 KiB) Viewed 4182 times

let's go back to milk in bags?! I assume that is not the bag on the cow? Different.

[whateverworks]

Hey hikerman, nothing against the vac. sealers, they do work great, but there has to be something up with your sausages. IF, it's wrapped properly, they should last from one season to the next without freezer burn. The heavy brown paper works great, that's what we've allways used and we butcher all our own stuff as well as sausage, burgers etc. If it's wrapped loose or you use cheaper paper there will be problems. We ran out once a couple years ago while cutting up a couple deer and the the only paper we could find was small rolls at the local grocery store, it was white, seemed kinda thin and didn't work as well as it should have.

[hikerman]

Whateverworks, the butcher said that the paper should be find. These are made by Mennonites the pork added is organically grown.

Think next year I will seal them.

[Keating]

Frost free freezer, by any chance?