Meat Lifespan in Freezer

[stonewall]

Does it ever really go "bad" where its unhealthy to eat?

no. but the freezer burn will smell and tastes bad (tho not bad for you). as stated above, cut off the freezer burned portion and eat.

 

[Scopebite65]

Thaw it and throw it in the crockpot. Those things could tenderize an old shoe.

 

[Sekora]

This is exactly what I do. All the meat I have left over going into a new season gets ground up and made into snack sticks. Tastes great and never lasts much longer after that.

 

[Glory]

well trimmed will last a long time. Unless you have a -40 freezer, fat will turn rancid and it will start tasting like something not as good. Same applies to fish.

A good vacuum packer really helps.

 

[huntineveryday]

I've had deer that was wrapped in plastic, then butcher paper, and 2 and 3 years later it tasted fine. I used to write the date on everything, but the wife balked at 3 year old deer a little. So now I just mark what it was in color code...each year has a different marker and only I know which year was what color! It's rare for anything to get past a second hunting season in my freezer though. For what it's worth, I've had beef steaks that fell through the cracks and got a couple years on them, they didn't taste as good. The fat didn't age well. After that I tend to trim stuff pretty well before it goes in the freezer.

 

[Duck-Slayer]

I consume mostly wild game that we harvest during a season. In 16 years of marriage only 2 years we had to supplement. We now have 2 children of hunting age also. So usually 4 deer, 1 or 2 antelope if we draw, than at least 1 elk. This past season we got 1 elk and 3 deer.

That being said, we process all our own meat. Steaks and Roast’s get frozen in gallon/quart freezer bags full of water, to get all the air out. Also all of our fish we catch is frozen the same way.

hamburger is frozen in 1.5 lb quart freezer bags with all the air squeezed out. We usually eat all the burger in 1 year and never have had a problem with getting freezer burn on it.

Any extra we freeze in chunks in Gallon bags to thaw out later for other stuff like brats and sausage.

Matt

 

[Gentleman Harvester]

The meat won’t spoil. The fat might, but it’s unlikely.