Meat Lifespan in Freezer

[Doc Holliday]

I have some vacuum sealed sheep (a roast) and caribou (2 backstrap sections) from 2018......now that reinforcements are coming in the form of a 2020 elk, I plan to eat the sheep and caribou between now and the end of the year.

Curious if anyone has any beliefs around how long is too long?........I seem to recall an episode of Meateater where they basically said as long as it was packaged properly, there is really no shelf life, and that alot of people toss out perfectly good meat because of the beliefs that they have or were taught to them about how long meat is "good for" in the freezer.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

I'd certainly have no qualms about eating 2 year old meat. In fact, I just ate the last of my 2018 cow elk (self-processed and wrapped in plastic wrap plus butcher paper) yesterday and it tasted just fine.

 

[adventure907]

It should be just fine.....I've ate 7 year old freezer meat before and it was excellent.

 

[Grumman]

Should be fine, I routinely eat meat from that time period from my freezer.


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[4ester]

Just ate a 2018 elk tenderloin. Tasty


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[cnelk]

Im thawing some elk burger from 2015 to make some breakfast sausage in a couple days.
Double wrapped = no prob

 

[Ucsdryder]

Depends on how it was wrapped.

 

[Baddog]

Bear goes bad I’ve found in less time than that. But have kept deer/elk a lot in the 2 year range

 

[Quin]

2 years is easily fine. Ive found stuff buried in the bottom of my freezer thats 5 years old and nothing seemed amiss about texture taste or smell. I'm not sure where the line is but its probably alot longer than most would think.

 

[Jn78]

I've had plenty in the 3-4 year old range and it was fine. The only issue I have run into is vacuum bag failure = freezer burn. Plastic wrap and butcher paper works better for me.

I think it is more tender after its been in the freezer for about a year.

 

[30338]

I'll typically can stuff that hits the year mark. That stuff is always good for another 2-3 years after canning, probably longer.

 

[2ski]

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

 

[Opah]

as long as the Vacuum stays I believe the meat will stay

 

[butcherboy]

2 year old meat isn’t very old. It should be fine. If the vac bags released then there could be some freezer burn but it’s unlikely. If there is freezer burn then just cut it off and cook the rest. I wrap everything in plastic then freezer paper. Even if I vacuum seal it’s wrapped in plastic first. Ground is stuffed into poly tubes. I’m still eating elk from 2013 I find and it’s still as good as the day it went into the freezer.

 

[couesbitten]

As everyone else has said, it should be great. I just ate a piece of tenderloin from an elk I shot in 2016, it was better than any steak I've ever eaten in a restaurant.

 

[wind gypsy]

All my plastic and then paper wrapped stuff has been good up to 3 years old (oldest I've hit). I don't typically let burger in the poly tubes get to 2 years but I'm curious if folks are more concerned with that lasting as long as double wrapping? It seems my poly tubes get dinged up a bit more are more likely to have little holes or cuts.

 

[jspradley]

I've eaten 5 year old venison that survived a partial de-thaw about 2 years ago. The outside layer was a little oxidized and unpleasant smelling (not rotten just...old...) so I cut off the outer 1/8" and the inside was perfectly red and smelled great, tasted just fine. I wrap mine in a few layers of heavy duty saran wrap, never had any problems with freezer burn from it

That and a 4 year old feral pig leg were the oldest I've eaten...

 

[WCB]

I think it would take a very long time to actual be useless...seal breaks or just wrapped in paper with no plastic wrap inside it will freezer burn rather quick.

Other than that don't have too much experience. I was actually super surprised this past week when I cleaned out and organized the freezer for this year. I found two roasts from 2018...no wild game sits in our freezer that long. We go through 5 or six deer a year plus the random antelope and all the birds she kills.

2018 roast went to the processor with our trim meat for some snack sticks, summer sausage, and burger. Not sure how meat gets past a year much less 5,6, 10 in some peoples freezers.

 

[peterk123]

Should not be an issue at all. I am told that the nutritional value begins degrading within a few months, so given that logic, 2 year old meat has zero nutrition. Dunno about that one though because it still tastes great.

 

[Brendan]

One good use for older meat, freezer fossils, or cuts you're just not using: Once a year, take them all out, grind them, make sausages. Helps me clear out the stuff that gets neglected, and a bunch of spices and 30% pork fat makes pretty much anything taste great

I have some sausage in my freezer that has a small portion of 2014 Elk in it....