Deep Freeze Meat Shelf Life

fishlessman

FarmerTom said:

Ok, I understand it's been in the freezer - it's safe to eat.  However, that does not answer the question - "Will it still taste good?"  I have bought great looking ribeyes, only to not be able to grill them right away. Into the freezer they go.  Then they get shuffled around, lost and forgot about until digging deep into the freezer abyss.  And instead of those beautiful ribeyes I bought, I have a package of almost black briquets. 
   So what I am wondering, is there anyway to know if they will still taste decently, or will they be like fishlessman's rawhide rabbit, or is there something to be done in the thawing/cook prep that will help revive them?  Short of thawing and trying them, is there any indicator that they have become dog food?

you can revive them in soup, stew, chili which is what i would have done if i still had that second rabbit in the freezer

Darby_Crenshaw

@FarmerTom

look for breached packaging, loss of vacuum, frost, etc.

if you vacuumed it and sealed it into a thick, tear resistant 'foodsaver'-like bag, and it is still tight, then you are good to go.  you may notice some small amount of difference from being perfectly like 'fresh' meat, but there should be anything obtrusive

if you wrapped it in saran wrap, or kept it in the foam tray it was in from the grocery store, or it's in foil only... well, it will be low quality

any chart that says "one year" or "two years" is totally useless.  they don't know how you wrapped it.  and if you wrapped it well, then it is good for, seriously, many years.

is it a big occasion, boss is over for dinner, anniversary with the wife? then you shouldn't probably cook a five year old frozen chicken anyway.

but dinner on a tuesday night? a roast beef you found from two years ago, and you stored it properly?  cook the friggin thing up.  it can't possible kill you, even if it was thrown in unwrapped entirely.  but if the wrapping was done poorly, then it will have quality issues

johnmitchell

I am surprised that your Dad has not done some kind of experiment regarding the "Deep Freeze Meat Shelf Life" backed up with all the applicable graphs.. Or maybe he has..

nolaegghead

If you remove all the air from the frozen food (or displace with water or syrup or fat) -- you will have very slow quality degradation in the freezer, provided your freezer is cold enough the food doesn't melt in cycles (ya know, when you stand there with the door open and a hangover deciding what to take out for supper). 

If you have a steak sitting in a zip loc balloon of air, the ice will sublimate and recrystallize in an endless cycle thereby desiccating the food to the detriment of taste and texture - AKA "quality".   In other words, air f*cks up the steak.

PS - F**K Steven.

Jeepster47

A non-frost free freezer will yield better food quality than a frost free.

nolaegghead

@Jeepster47 Good point.  If you have a frost free, run it as cold as you can.

Chubbs

I stir fried some chicken breast last night that I found in the freezer. They had been there a year and were still in grocery packaging. Had some freezer burn but the wok burn won the burn contest 

FarmerTom

I have recently bought a Food Saver and am using it religiously on new meat purchases, but I am cycling through previous purchases that are still lurking.  I love my dogs, but it really pains me to see some previously wonderful cuts of meat getting discarded because they now look sh|tty.  Perhaps I have been culling too closely.  I appreciate this thread.  

Darby_Crenshaw

can always use it in stews....

Canugghead

to be SV'd for tonight's dinner ... made a few of these 'grenades' using favourite Chefstep's recipe with surplus gobblers...  

Ozzie_Isaac

johnmitchell said:

I am surprised that your Dad has not done some kind of experiment regarding the "Deep Freeze Meat Shelf Life" backed up with all the applicable graphs.. Or maybe he has..

I ate his experiment on accident.