Plastic free meat packing

[<cascadehunter>]

I process all of my own stuff from start to finish. Most of it ends up as grind that gets stuffed in 1.5lb chubs. Anything other than grind is vac sealed.
Lately I have been trying to purge some of the plastics from my life. I have no delusions of being 100% plastic free, but I am wanting to hit some low hanging fruit and the highest impact items.
Those plastic chubs seem like a good candidate. Anyone have a good solution? Obviously I could wrap in paper by hand but I’d need to commit several weeks of my life to it. Something that can still be used with a stuffer would be excellent. Does such a thing exist?

 

[Poser]

The closest thing I can think of to a drop-in solution that still utilizes your stuffer is switching from plastic sleeves to large-diameter fibrous (cellulose) or collagen casings, then wrapping the finished product in freezer paper. You should be able to source the casings from any butcher supply retailer.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

BPA free vacuum seal bags.

 

[SDHNTR]

Even freezer paper is plastic lined.

 

[bm-55]

The risk seems way overblown but I’m going to follow along, interested in learning. The type of plastic you’re using, amount/type of contact, etc. probably matter more too. Glass jars, silicon resealable bags, etc. would also be reusable but hard to beat vac sealing or chub bags.

We use stashers for kid snacks and stuff, they work fine and can go in the dishwasher. Haven’t put meat in them. https://www.consumerreports.org/hea.../best-silicone-food-storage-bags-a9831141508/

I am sure we’ll find out how bad silicon is too in a few more years.

 

[1000yards]

I'm looking forward to this discussion. I don't have a specific answer to your question, but I've taken a couple steps to limiting plastics in my process:
-wrapping meat in parchment paper before vacuum sealing.
-using all stainless parts in the grinder.
-wooden cutting boards.

 

[<cascadehunter>]

The closest thing I can think of to a drop-in solution that still utilizes your stuffer is switching from plastic sleeves to large-diameter fibrous (cellulose) or collagen casings, then wrapping the finished product in freezer paper. You should be able to source the casings from any butcher supply retailer.

That’s a good idea. I assume freezer paper would still be necessary to keep the moisture in

 

[Poser]

That’s a good idea. I assume freezer paper would still be necessary to keep the moisture in

I think the meat would freezer burn pretty easily without a bit more protection then the casings would offer.

 

[R boar]

I think this is interesting, and not trying to discredit the effort or derail the thread - but I wonder how much plastic leaches into ground meat that goes into a plastic bag while cold, and is then frozen, compared to rehydrating a meal with boiling water in the same type of polyethylene bag (which people here regularly do with ziplocs, not to mention all the mylar bagged meals).

Are you phasing out plastics because of concern with ingesting them, or because of production/disposal issues?

I haven't used them, but Vesta makes compostable vacuum seal bags. They aren't chubs, so you have to stuff the meat in them yourself, but that's what I do anyway (with 4 mil plastic bags).