Originally Posted by saddlesore
Originally Posted by MILES58
There is no way you can get the certainty and storage life of vacuum packed fish and game without vacuum packing it. Some brands of bags are better than others. If you have to wrap, tightly wrap in Saran Wrap (not all plastic wrap is created equal) then wrap tightly in good freezer paper.


Very true. I have found that any plastic bag will get holes in it if move around in a freezer.

Another variable is a frost free freezer vs a non frost free freezer.The non frost free will keep meat lot longer in terms of freezer burn.

Some cuts,I wrap in plastic and then freezer paper ,which also has a plastic side.Some only get freezer paper. Then when I put it in a freezer ( non frost free),I place 7-8 packages in a 2&1/2 gallon zip lock plastic bag. So most meat has three layers of plastic. If the outer bag gets a small hole in it from moving around, I still have very good protection.

The big bags make it a lot easier to manage meat instead of fumbling around all those single packages.

I presently have part of a moose, two elk,two deer and two antelope in my chest freezer. Past experience has shown me that the meat is good for 4-5 years so packaged.


^^^ What those guys said.

I'll add two things.

For short term plastic wrap and then aluminum foil works very well. It's way better than plastic and zip loc bags.

If you all you have is a frost free freezer putting the packages in a cardboard box or plastic tub will help prevent freezer burn and greatly increase the longevity.

At one time I'll I had was a refrigerator/freezer and after years of experimentation I found that vac packed fish in a 12 pack beer box would keep as long as I needed without freezer burn.