Meat spoiling in freezer

[zloomis]

I'm new to hunting and have only shot two deer at this point. The first one I processed myself and put the individual cuts and the ground meat (uncut) in freezer bags and threw them in the freezer like that. After about six months or so any meat left over turned grayish and picked up a smell so I threw the last of it out. After that I picked up a vacuum sealer and the fancy ground meat poly bags. The second deer I processed and vac sealed the cuts and used the poly bags to store the ground, this time I cut the ground with beef ahead of time. The vacuum sealed cuts seem fine but the ground meat turned color and picked up a smell. Can someone explain the issue and how to prevent it so I don't let any future meat spoil?

 

[Wrench]

You are using a frost free freezer.....that's the negative. If you go traditional deep freeze, you can keep it for YEARS without issue.

 

[Kootenay Hunter]

Are you just using poly bags and that's it? Unless I'm using vac seal bags, I wrap freezer bags with freezer paper. This is also what my local butcher shops do. Don't seem to have issues with anything ground.

 

[Wrench]

Agreed. I use ziploc brand freezer bags and poly back paper. We collect a fair bit of meat.

 

[Tod osier]

the term is freezer burnt. The better Sealed the meat is and the more frozen the meat stays the better.

I'm new to hunting and have only shot two deer at this point. The first one I processed myself and put the individual cuts and the ground meat (uncut) in freezer bags and threw them in the freezer like that. After about six months or so any meat left over turned grayish and picked up a smell so I threw the last of it out. After that I picked up a vacuum sealer and the fancy ground meat poly bags. The second deer I processed and vac sealed the cuts and used the poly bags to store the ground, this time I cut the ground with beef ahead of time. The vacuum sealed cuts seem fine but the ground meat turned color and picked up a smell. Can someone explain the issue and how to prevent it so I don't let any future meat spoil?

 

[glass eye]

Air needs to circulate around the meat in the freezer. When you stack a pile of meat in the freezer the packages in the middle will not freeze right away and will spoil. The meat on the outside of the pile will act as an insulator to the inner packages. Spread them out next time.

 

[Wrench]

Air needs to circulate around the meat in the freezer. When you stack a pile of meat in the freezer the packages in the middle will not freeze right away and will spoil. The meat on the outside of the pile will act as an insulator to the inner packages. Spread them out next time.

I'm gonna have to disagree. My freezer typically sees a couple of deer and elk every year. In the last 25ish elk I've yet to encounter this.

Air on meat causes the greif. Frost free freezers have heating cycles that cause trouble.

 

[5MilesBack]

Air needs to circulate around the meat in the freezer. When you stack a pile of meat in the freezer the packages in the middle will not freeze right away and will spoil. The meat on the outside of the pile will act as an insulator to the inner packages. Spread them out next time.

I grind most of my elk directly into Ziplock Freezer bags and squeeze the air out as I flatten the meat inside them. Then ziplock them and stack them on the shelves. I've got ground elk from three different years in the freezer and it's all still good.

 

[Stid2677]

One way to get better use if you process yourself is to freeze the meat in large pieces and when you want some ground meat, thaw enough to cut into strips and grind while still soft frozen and then make your meal from the freshly ground meat. This exposes less surface area to get freezer burnt.

 

[glass eye]

I'm talking about air around properly packaged meat, not exposed meat to air. It's the same principal as hanging meat in the shade and not stacking it in a pile.

 

[BCSojourner]

Local butcher advised me to wrap meat in Saran wrap first and then in freezer paper. It will keep for at least 3+ years.

 

[Wrench]

I understand, but the 24 hours the meat takes to freeze isn't going to make any difference. Most people cut and wrap several days to weeks before spoilage is eminent.

 

[5MilesBack]

I understand, but the 24 hours the meat takes to freeze isn't going to make any difference. Most people cut and wrap several days to weeks before spoilage is eminent.

Ya, and the meat that comes out of my cooler is so cold that it hurts my hands to work with it. So it's already cold when it goes into the freezer to start with. I've never had an issue stacking the bags tightly and filling the freezer up.

 

[Wrench]

Ya, and the meat that comes out of my cooler is so cold that it hurts my hands to work with it. So it's already cold when it goes into the freezer to start with. I've never had an issue stacking the bags tightly and filling the freezer up.

Thank god. I thought I was a pussy because my hands hurt from the cold too!

 

[Tod osier]

I'm gonna have to disagree. My freezer typically sees a couple of deer and elk every year. In the last 25ish elk I've yet to encounter this.

I've seen people make the statement about spoilage and not taken it seriously (and still don't really), BUT try this next time you grind an elk. We do our grind in 3 pound packages flattened out and stacked nice so they stay together and stay neat in a freezer (if you keep them in the same stack). Anyway if you make a 25# stack, break the stack in half the next day the middle won't be even close to frozen and it will take a day or 2 more. With an elk with 75 pounds of grind or a moose with a couple hundred pounds of ground all stacked neat I could see it taking a week or take a week to freeze to the center of a big neat stack. If the meat was old and real warm when it went in, I could see it souring in that time. Not a real concern for me, but my observation with just a 25 pound stack surprised me.

 

[Tod osier]

Thank god. I thought I was a pussy because my hands hurt from the cold too!

Wife keeps insulated gloves by the freezer. My hands used to tolerate the cold really well, but as I've aged, I've become a wimp too.

 

[muddydogs]

I have 3 year old ground elk in 1 pound poly bags in the freezer that are just fine along with chunks of meat for steaks wrapped in plastic and paper that are fine. I would wonder if your freezer is frost free if the defrost cycle is to long and warm? Maybe put a quarter on a frozen cup of water and let it set for a couple defrost cycles to see just how warm the freezer is getting or better yet get a temp sensor that records temps so you can see what the actual inside freezer temp is over time.

Like posted above keep the packages spread out in the freezer for a few day to make sure they all get frozen well before stacking them up. Even 2 layers of poly bags in the freezer is enough for the center bags to be unfrozen 24 hours after put in the freezer. When I'm freezing a large quantity of meat I stir the packages every 12 hours or so for a couple days to get everything frozen completely.

 

[rayporter]

yesterday we defrosted the freezer and low and behold in the back were 3 packs of burger from 2017.
they happened to be wrapped in freezer paper but we usually use Ziplocs. we have a sealer but don't used it.
no problem -we had burger last night.

if freezer burn is always a problem I have heard of guys filling the Ziploc with water before freezing.

 

[journeyman713]

OP - sounds like your freezer is not getting cold enough.
Defrost type may contribute to a problem but... Got a thermometer to confirm temp?

 

[zloomis]

OP - sounds like your freezer is not getting cold enough.
Defrost type may contribute to a problem but... Got a thermometer to confirm temp?

You may be right. I'm hunting whitetail so the freezer I'm using is the one on my fridge. The ground was stored on the shelves on the door. Maybe that area isn't cold enough.