OT - House Renovations are nearing completion, need ideas!

GuitarEC

Well, it's been a long 5 months or so, but our home renovations are nearly done.  The end result being a larger kitchen with island (picture of that coming soon once things are unpacked and put away) as well as a proper pantry with upright freezer!



Now - it's only a 5.7 Cu Ft upright, but more than enough to keep a decent supply of frozen meat on stock for the family.  What I need ideas for is what kinds of meat to keep on hand.  Of course, there will be various steaks, chicken, seafood, and pork.  But I'm looking for more specific ideas - should I keep some vac-sealed marinated pork chops?  A few 1 pound vac-sealed bags of pulled BBQ?

I'd like to hear everyone's opinions.

Thanks,

Eric "GuitarEC"
Metro Atl., Ga.

logchief

Always have a few vacced sealed portions of pulled pork in the freezer for quick meals

SkinnyV

Pretty nifty idea. We just opted for deep full size fridge which seems to be enough so far but I like your style.

Davec433

We have a full sized deep freezer full of breast milk. Can't wait till SWMBO stops pumping so I can use the freezer.

I have a buddy at work who vacuum seals portion sizes of pulled pork for his kids. They get home from school and just heat it up. In our freezer we keep vacuumed packed for when we have friends over for BBQ's.

ksmyrl

I always keep salmon and sea bass in the freezer. It thaws quickly and is ohh so good when egged. I keep huge slabs of salmon and individual fillets.

Lit

I have pulled pork, pulled chicken, and frozen raw burger patties. The rest I like to buy fresh.

GuitarEC

What is everyone's opinion of freezing meat with marinade or seasonings?  For instance, if I've got a some ribeyes I want to vac-seal with a light coating of olive oil, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper, will that present problems if it's in there a month?

Thanks for everyone's input,

Eric "GuitarEC"
Metro Atl., Ga.

northGAcock

Well let me first say Let, it rain is one of my favorite EC tunes.....that said, I have found most fresh hurbs freeze well. Not a big marinator myself, but give it a shot. No need to fear trying. What I can tell you is marinating is intended to sit at a cold temp and permeate the meat. To accomplish this, you will need to have the food sit in a thawed state. I would think it would make the best sense to do on the backside. Others may have a more scientific response. In case you are wondering (prob never crossed your mind) She's Waiting ranks as my most favorite.

Focker

Lots of options, pretty much depends on what you and yours like to eat.  I've learned to keep dried chiles, dried herbs, rubs, butter, 00 Caputo flour in the freezer.  As others have mentioned, salmon, berkshire, pulled pork, pulled chicken, diced turkey, lard, venison, chicken stock, smoked cheese, are some of the current frozen inventory.  

Most important, I like to catch things on sale and stock up.  Like $.99/lb butts, $1.50/lb loins.  And always have one berkshire belly on standby.

Got real close to filling up my freezer with a shooter doe today.  Couldn't call one of the three in close enough for a shot.