It seems so simple to just freeze something. You get meat
really cold, it lasts a long time. But, we all know it is not that simple. Lots
of questions arise with freezing. Questions about packaging, timing, size of
cuts, type of freezer, how to thaw it and what it does to quality, all come up
when freezing meat. So, let’s talk about them.
Air is the enemy when you are freezing foods. Air allows for oxidation and freezer burn. You want to keep air away from the surface of the cuts in any way you can. For meat, the best packaging method when freezing is vacuum. Some butchers use vacuum packaging, and you can buy vacuum packaged cuts in the store. At home, you can buy a small vacuum packager and package cuts yourself. If you freeze lots of meat cuts at home, that may be a good investment for you.
Ground cuts that are packaged in chubs are essentially in
vacuum, but you may get a little spoilage in the edges, near the opening, but
most of the meat is protected from air.
The wax paper wrap that butchers use also works well in the
freezer. It keeps the air away from the cuts pretty well, but those packages
don’t last as long as vacuum. If you are buying a whole or half beef, it will
take a long time to go through it all. The packages will likely be in your
freezer for several months.
At home, you may want to try those freezer bags that zip
closed. Make sure that you squeeze as much air out of those as you can before
you close them. I try to fold them over and create a kind of seal around my
cuts. Packaging like that won’t last as long as vacuum or wax paper.
The worst way to package meat for the freezer is the foam tray
and overwrap like you see in the grocery store. That wrap is designed to allow
oxygen through (that’s
what makes the meat red), so freezing meat in those packages is just asking
for freezer burn.
Timing
The USDA guidelines state that you should consume frozen steaks, chops, and roasts
within 4 to 12 months of freezing. After that, it’s not as much a safety
issue, but eating quality. Juiciness, flavor, tenderness may suffer some if you
wait longer than a year. In vacuum packaging in a chest or stand up freezer,
whole muscle cuts last months and months.
Sausage, ground beef, and cooked meats don’t fare as well.
Grinding, cooking, and adding ingredients like salt are all things that make meat
oxidize more quickly and that can even happen in the freezer. USDA suggests
ground beef only be stored frozen for 4 months. Cooked meats, even less than
that (2-3 months).
Sizing
When you are putting fresh meats in the freezer for the
first time, you want them to freeze as quickly as possible. So, smaller cuts
and packages work better than large ones. If you like to buy things in bulk,
its best to repackage meats into portion-sized packages and freeze it in
smaller packages. Then, you can just take them out as you need them, rather
than having everything frozen together. I like to flatten ground beef packages
out so they will stack, and they will freeze faster.
Placement
Keeping with the concept of freezing meat as quickly as
possible, you want to make sure that you spread non-frozen things out in the
freezer when you first put them in there. Don’t put it all together in one
place. It will take a long time to freeze, and I’ve even seen things spoil in
the middle when they don’t get frozen completely.
Hopefully if you buy a large quantity of meat, it will come
frozen and you can put it all in the freezer at the same time, but if you need
to freeze a large quantity all at once, you may consider freezing it over
several days. Put some cuts in the
freezer and spread them out, let them freeze, and put in a few more cuts the
next day. Whole muscle cuts are ok for a few weeks in the fridge, so just be
aware of how long they’ve been stored. If you have to freeze cuts over a few
days like this, freeze the ground cuts first.
Which freezer is
best?
If you are planning to store frozen meat for several months,
its best to do so in a chest freezer or an upright freezer that is only a
freezer. The freezer in your fridge is ok for short term freezer storage, but
think about how often it is opened and every time the door opens, it loses cold
air. It’s best to have your meat stored in a specified freezer, even if it’s a
small one.
Thawing
A few years ago, I wrote a whole
post about thawing frozen meat, and in short, it’s best to thaw meat in
cold water or in the refrigerator. Cold running water works best. The microwave
is ok, too. You shouldn’t set meat on the counter to thaw. You don’t want it to
spend too much time in the danger zone of temperature where pathogens have a
chance to grow. Also, you can always
just cook your meat from frozen.
Can I thaw and
refreeze?
Yes. Some people are concerned about meat that has been
frozen, thawed and refrozen. As long as it stayed below 40°F
when it was thawed, food-safety wise, it should be fine. It may lose some
juiciness or have flavor issues from being thawed and refrozen, but chances
are, you won’t even be able to tell.
Whole muscle cuts like steaks, chops and roasts take this
treatment better than ground and processed cuts. Also, you don’t want to thaw
ground beef and leave it thawed for very long at all if you decide to refreeze.
At refrigerated temperatures, oxidation happens and it will be accelerated in
meat that has been previously frozen.
*If for some reason, your freezer loses power, don’t open
it. That will just cause you to lose the cold air that’s in there. The meat
will stay frozen for a while without power. When you get power back or get a
new freezer, check the temperature of the meat. Is it still frozen? Is it
thawed, but still cold (below 40°F)? If these are true, its probably ok
to just refreeze. If the meat is at room temperature or its been over 40°F
for 4-6 hours or more, you need to discard it.
What does freezing
do to quality?
The answer to this question is complicated. It depends. Some
aspects of quality may actually be improved with freezing. Researchers at South
Dakota State found that freezing beef actually improved the tenderness of beef
steaks compared to non-frozen. The ice crystals in the beef acted like tiny
little tenderizers.
For the most part, in whole muscle cuts under ideal
conditions, freezing doesn’t have much effect on other aspects of quality like
flavor and juiciness. Leaving something in the freezer for long periods or poor
packaging may result in flavor issues and loss of juiciness, though. Ground
beef and processed meats are more prone to flavor problems when they have been
frozen, but under good conditions (packaging and fast freezing), the benefits
of storing meat in the freezer out-weighs the problems.
I hope my post is helpful in answering your freezing
questions. Like always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
