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Freezing meat

whats the best method for freezing meat? 

Comments

  • XLentEGG
    XLentEGG Posts: 436
    I wrap bone in and cut meat in plastic wrap and then vacuum pac it. For ground meat, I weigh it into a plastic bowl and freeze it , then vac pac it. make sure your bowl portion will fit into the vac bag when you pop it out. I puncture the plastic wrap at the far end ( bottom ) of the vac bag to let the air out , with minimal juice flowing the sealer area.
    More meat please !! :-)
  • Shiff
    Shiff Posts: 1,835
    I don't wrap the meat in plastic wrap but I do use a Food Saver to vacuum seal it.  I used to just use Ziploc bags with no vacuum but the meats keeps much better now with a Food Saver.
     
    Large BGE
    Barry, Lancaster, PA
  • I always have good luck with the Food Saver.  I like your avatar.
    Flint, Michigan
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    What are you trying to do? Freeze fresh slaughtered, or re-freeze already cut meat. Bulk, I presume. Or just more than you can use from the market.

    The faster you can freeze meat, the better. Thin masses do best.

    As the meat freezes, the water molecules begin to form ice crystals. Slow frozen meats have ice crystals big enough they break the muscle cell walls. When defrosted, the water leaks away.

    For most people, this means the meat needs to be 1st bagged and immersed in ice water. Kitchen freezers are not very good at dropping the meat down to ice temperatures. They depend on cold air. Get a bunch of packs of "colder than ice" usually blue liquid packs. Have those frozen, and surround the chilled meat packs with those in the freezer.

    Commercial freezing in the US appears to most often be "blast chilling," where very dry cold dry air is blown around the meat. That chills well enough that tissue damage is acceptable.

    If you have a source for dry ice, solid carbon dioxide, those work well. Again, the meat must be sealed so the cooling doesn't cause freezer burn.

    My reading says that liquid nitrogen is the best. It acts so quickly that the water between the muscle cells freezes before the chemical-water solution in the cell can freeze and expand. No tissue damage. Unfortunately, the insulated flasks to hold liquid nitrogen are "spendy." Not to mention, you don't want to have an adult beverage accident when pouring liquid nitrogen.
  • NonaScott
    NonaScott Posts: 446
    I put the meat in a ziplock freezer bag and stick a straw down the side of the bag and zip right up to the straw. Then I suck the air out of the bag with the straw while pulling the straw up with my teeth and zipping the rest of the way closed as straw comes out of the bag. Works great. Then into the freezer.
    Narcoossee, FL

    LBGE, Nest, Mates, Plate Setter, Ash Tool. I'm a simple guy.
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    gdenby said:
    What are you trying to do? Freeze fresh slaughtered, or re-freeze already cut meat. Bulk, I presume. Or just more than you can use from the market.

    The faster you can freeze meat, the better. Thin masses do best.

    As the meat freezes, the water molecules begin to form ice crystals. Slow frozen meats have ice crystals big enough they break the muscle cell walls. When defrosted, the water leaks away.

    For most people, this means the meat needs to be 1st bagged and immersed in ice water. Kitchen freezers are not very good at dropping the meat down to ice temperatures. They depend on cold air. Get a bunch of packs of "colder than ice" usually blue liquid packs. Have those frozen, and surround the chilled meat packs with those in the freezer.

    Commercial freezing in the US appears to most often be "blast chilling," where very dry cold dry air is blown around the meat. That chills well enough that tissue damage is acceptable.

    If you have a source for dry ice, solid carbon dioxide, those work well. Again, the meat must be sealed so the cooling doesn't cause freezer burn.

    My reading says that liquid nitrogen is the best. It acts so quickly that the water between the muscle cells freezes before the chemical-water solution in the cell can freeze and expand. No tissue damage. Unfortunately, the insulated flasks to hold liquid nitrogen are "spendy." Not to mention, you don't want to have an adult beverage accident when pouring liquid nitrogen.
    This is technically true. But freezing at home is fine 99% of the time. It's refreezing previously frozen meat that is the problem. The more times you freeze as you said, the more water loss from cell damage. 

    We don't bother refreezing previously frozen foods. But I don't know of any beef, lamb, chicken, sold that is typically thawed from previously frozen. 

    freezing fresh meat in a home fridge shouldn't require much in the way of hoop jumping. Vacuum packaging and into the lowest part of the freezer and you should be fine 
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  • DesertSnow
    DesertSnow Posts: 67
    I guess I should have clarified...I'm buying in bulk...I guess I'll have to invest in a vacuum sealer...thanks everyone 
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I find temperatures below the freezing point of water help freeze meat.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..