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How do you package your meat to store in the freezer?
I double wrap the meat in the butcher's paper and then put it in a zip-lock freezer bag.
For ground meat I wrap it in aluminum foil and then put it in a zip-lock freezer bag.
All my meat are consumed within 6-8 weeks at most.
I'm not sure what I'm doing right or wrong by this method.

How do you package yours?

Ziploc vacuum seal bags. Comes with a little hand pump. I retired my vacuum sealer after discovering these

After IL2H posted about those bags I switched to them also. If I keep a large ham that won't fit in the bag then I Double wrap in butcher paper and then Saran Wrap. If your eating it all in 2 months then you're good.

I have a chest freezer, not an upright. I think the uprights with the air flow around the shelves causes freezer burn sooner. I only single wrap all the roast like cuts and tenderloins. Making sure to fold the center seam many times and squeeze out the air spaces when doing the ends. All the rest is put in ziplocks. I have pulled out meat from over 6 months and had no freezer burn.
Sounds like what your doing is just fine. I spread the new stuff out in the freezer so they can drop in temp quickly. If you put three bags on top of each other the center one will not freeze for quite some time.

If you use just regular ziplocs, here is a trick. Fill a sink up with water. Put your meat in the bag and slowly submerge the bag as you zip it. As you get to the very last corner, you should have forced all the air out of the bag. It will look just like it was vacuum sealed. Just use quality bags. the cheap ones will not hold a seal and will allow freezer burn

Iluv2hunt wrote:Ziploc vacuum seal bags. Comes with a little hand pump. I retired my vacuum sealer after discovering these

Well don't hide the secret lets see it...

Bossman wrote:

Iluv2hunt wrote:Ziploc vacuum seal bags. Comes with a little hand pump. I retired my vacuum sealer after discovering these

Well don't hide the secret lets see it...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ziploc+vacuum+seal+bags

We also use the ziploc quart vaccum bags for our venison chops (backstrap cut about 1 1/2" boneless) and regular quart ziploc freezer bags for the fry meat(muscle boned hams) and then the gallon and 2 gallon freezer bags for the meat that will be ground. Smoked sausage is cut to 6 inches and 6 "links" fit a quart freezer bag. Ground venison and bulk sausage are put in the 1 gallon freezer bags and flattened to about an inch, then folded to create a crease that will yeild the right amount of meat for most of our cooking for 2 of us. Freezer burn will happen quicker in a frost free freezer when compared to one that needs to be manually defrosted. Treefarmer

For ground meat or loose, patty type sausage I grind it directly into poly meat bags (I order them from LEM). I have the tape machine to seal them. It really works easy for one person
http://www.lemproducts.com/product/3772/bags_tape

Maybe it's time to invest in a small chest freezer.

We use a vacuum packer for our venison, bear and wild pigs, should we get an elk then its normally only in freezer paper from a processor somewhere. I have both a chest and upright, the chest is not frost free so we put anything not vacuume packed in it and the rest goes into our frost free upright, being as we rarely buy meat throughout the year we try to preserve it as long as possible. A freezer just helps things rot slower and a frost free removes moisture out of the meat over time. The best wrapped job we ever had was done by an elderly couple, I'd shot a bull elk and dropped it off to have butchered and they used the styrofoam trays with absorbent pad then wax paper between steaks, freezer paper and finally wrapped it in Syran Wrap, that meat held for a long time.

all that need to be done is keep the air out. I have had 3 different vacuum sealers there no better than using a vegetable bag and butcher paper. Take A veggie bag thin clear plastic bag place meat in roll it to get air out then wrap in butcher paper. Now they say it supposed to be good for about a year in the deep freezer. I have opened packages that were 3 years old and there nothing wrong with it.

If you just zip locking it. fill sink with water hold bag under water - this will help remove most of the air.


I Have process over 50 deer this way with the veggie bags it the only way i do them anymore.

I like the idea of forcing the air out of the bag in the sink full of water.
Thanks