Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Deep Freeze Meat Shelf Life

2»

Comments

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,580
    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 ;)
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    @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


    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • johnmitchell
    johnmitchell Posts: 7,362
    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..
    Greensboro North Carolina
    When in doubt Accelerate....
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    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.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    A non-frost free freezer will yield better food quality than a frost free.

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    @Jeepster47 Good point.  If you have a frost free, run it as cold as you can.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
    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  B)
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • FarmerTom
    FarmerTom Posts: 685
    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.  

    Tommy 

    Middle of Nowhere, Northern Kentucky
       1 M, 1 XL, a BlackStone,1 old Webber, a Border Collie, a German Shepherd and 3 of her pups, and 2 Yorkies

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    can always use it in stews....
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 13,684
    edited February 2016
    to be SV'd for tonight's dinner ... made a few of these 'grenades' using favourite Chefstep's recipe with surplus gobblers...  

    canuckland
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 21,659
    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.

    I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories