Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Learn to butcher

Will definately get Eileens new book as well. A grinder is a really nice thing to have if you do much sausage or hambuger. Used a table mount hand grinder that was a 40+ year old family hand down last year, actually worked quite well, but not for much more than 15 pounds or so. A decent powered one can be had for about $100 and will come with the sausage tube attachments. Had over 70 pounds this year in sausage and hamburger the powered grinder was really nice to have. After using both butcher wrap, freezer wrap, and meat that was vacuum sealed I bought a vacuum sealer. My vacuum sealed meat from the year before had no freezer burn after 1 year in the freezer, the butcher or freezer wrapped meat was hit or miss, some had freezer burn some did not. All of the vacuum packed meat was moist and after thawing basically looked the same as it did when sealed. Some of the butcher wrapped meat was drier and had a slight color change. To me the sealer was worth the money. It would depend on how long your meat would be frozen.

Pete....im thinking we do agree on most of the principles.....my initial post was basically if you understand basic kitchen cleanliness to the point you arent getting sick of the salmonella rich supermarket chicken you can pretty well handle the cleanliness required to butcher a critter without real worry.....

as to the wrapping.......easier to stack wrapped meat in the freezer versus vacuum sealed......aint going to argue tha vacuum sealing is a great thing, i do use it on occasion, but its more space friendly to wrap, atleast from what i have personally experienced....both can and do work well but where space is an issue wrapping tends to work better...

Curly,

When you order the book, there's a place to ask for whatever autograph you want. I am sure Eileen would be happy to inscribe it to "My friend Curly," or whatever you want!

There is a bunch of info on wrapping, vacuum packing, various knives, grinders, etc. too. She has tried about everything as many manufacturers send her stuff to test. She also keeps up on the latest in meat science, too.

rattler,

I was trying to compare wrapping in saran and or butcher paper to using plain jane freezer bags (a bit like ziplocs) rather than vac-pacing..I think butcher paper is avialble to the trade over here, I don't ever recall seeing it on sale for domestic use..

Freezer burn seems to be a concern for a lot of the guys who use saran/butchers paper, but I don't think I've come across a case using freezer bags..I'm not sure if thats luck or just me being unobservant...

Part of this question is down to convicing myself I will see a noticiable improvement if I buy a vac-packer and although the lure of a new toy is strong, the $150 cost (here in the UK) is making me think "freezer bags are ok" lol!

Regards,

Peter

You might want to check out a product found in some supermarkets. GLAD "press n seal" freezer wrap. I use that to wrap my meat, and find it better than butcher paper, and zip lok bags. Venison does not stay in my freezer for much more than a year, and I have not found a piece that was burned. Really good stuff-just make sure you get the "freezer" variety.

Pete, i can buy butcher paper at the grocery store here. i havent used the bags your talking about though i have seen them so i guess i cant comment on them.....i have always had satisfactory results with saran wrap and butcher paper if im careful and pay attention to what im doing.....opened up steaks that got over looked a year later and they have been fine with minimal to no freezer burn.....the more oddly shaped the object though the less likely it is to work but the roasts and such(least my roasts tend to be odd shaped) are generally eaten rather quickly so its of little concern....

corporal cleg,

Cheers for that and will look out for it...

How does it differ from ordinary saran wrap?

The most common stuff we get over here is "clingfilm" which I assume is the same as saran wrap?

Edited to add Wikipedia again springs to the rescue!

Types of plastic wraps

I also found a good explaination for Freezer Burn which is probably relevent to this thread..

Regards,

Peter

Pete, yeah cling wrap is the same as saran wrap.......

Which is easier on the gutting. After you get him open do you work from the windpipe down or from the tail up towards the head?

i work from the windpipe down when field dressing......things seem to come out easier.......

Pete E- It is different in that it does not "cling" like Saran wrap, but actually sticks together. Basically, you rip a piece out, put your food on top, fold it over the meat and push it together. Then you kind of use your hand like an iron against the wrap, which makes it seal together. It is really nice because you can rip off a piece and custom fit it to the size meat you are wrapping-unlike zip loc bags. Much less waste, and as I said earlier, does a great job keeping freezer burn at bay.

Pete E:

My justification is to prevent freezer burn (basically freeze drying as moisture moves from the meat to the sides of ones freezer). If my family could go through a carcass in 2 or 3 months, I wouldn't bother with wrapping either. I'd maybe just dip each cut in water and place them on cookie sheets to freeze.

There are infrequent times though were our family of 3 may score 3 deer, 2 elk, a pronghorn, 1 moose, and 1 caribou in a single 3 month window. Being selfish, we don't share out much of our booty. Hence the need for at least two 25 cu ft freezers. In those instances, well wrapped meat can endure storage for several years.

A similar cut wrapped solely in butcher paper would not go in front of company after more than 6 months storage.

Hmm. We generally put the same amount of meat into the freezer(s) every year. We have three 15-cubic footers, and wrap most of the meat in plain old butcher paper. Often we are eating 2-3 year old meat, and have almost never find any freezer burn on it. (This is big game meat, not birds or fish. We use a vacuum packer on those, or wrap in something like Saran beforehand.) We have found that if you double-layer tightly in good butcher paper (AND trim the fat) then wild game is good for 2-3 years at the minimum.

I only have one freezer, shared with game and other items. I think the fact that my freezer is opened and closed at least twice a day makes a difference. In the past we have had a dedicated "game" freezer that was only opened occasionally, and held only game and fish. Items seemed if memory serves not to freezer burn much at all. In the daily use freezer things do not seem to last as long. The vacuum packed meat did much better than the butcher wrap packed meat.

Pete- It does date back as you suggest.

I've never taken an animal in to be professionally processed in the last 40 years- and I've about 20 moose, maybe 50 caribou, a few black bears, sheep, goats, and assorted other game under my belt (literally). Not to mention I catch and process my own salmon, halibut and clams.

Vacuum packing is THE way to go. Use the heaviest grade plastic bagging you can get. If it shows any sign of leakage at all before freezing, double bag/seal it. Last night we had '07 caught sockeye salmon for dinner (about the last of it). Not as good as this year's, but still PDG - too good for the dogs, anyway! The taste was off a bit, but no freezer burn.

Before I got my vac-packer, I would use the "zip-lock" bags, and eliminate all air inside the bag by sealing them underwater, with as much of the extraneous water squeezed out as possible. I always freeze my fish skin side up, so any remaining water/juices help seal the raw flesh on the other side...

Third best way is to thouroughly wrap your meat in "Saran"-type wrap - several layers, then wrap in waxed butcher paper to protect the seal of the cling-film. Be sure to get rid of as much air inside the film as possible- oxygen and moisture leakage is what causes freezer burn..

I no longer "wrap" meat at all in paper- tho it would provide a bit more of "contact" protection for pieces already properly vac-packed. Not infrequently in the freezer, moving, banging around, etc will spring a leak in the frozen plastic cover - especially with any bone present, fish or meat.

Another tip- when vac-packing, fold a paper napkin or paper towel up and place it between the meat and the seal- this will soak up juices during the vaccum/seal process and ensure a good seal and way-slow down mess in the machine... Of course wipe the mouth of the bag clean and dry before sealing.

Some people I know freeze their salmon fillets first, before vac-packing to eliminate the "juice" problem - could be done with red meat also, I suppose.

Another thing- when processing a large amount, I layer the unfrozen stuff with frozen stuff to promote quicker freezing- I can sort it out later. Otherwise, several hundred pounds of product just stacked in the freezer may take several days to freeze all the way through.

Press N Seal has a weak adhesive on one side, about like Post It Notes. (Sticks to itself, not to the food.) It comes in two grades, regular and freezer which I assume is thicker. I've used it on meats for a couple of years. Venison gets wrapped in Press N Seal, squeezing all the air out, then over wrapped with standard plastic coated freezer paper. The primary purpose of the freezer paper is to keep irregular packages from sliding out of my upright freezer when I open the door. Plastics are too slippery.

Venison keeps at least a year so wrapped though it begins to loose quality after six months or so whatever you do. I found a three year old package that got lost in the back of the freezer last month, didn't eat it but no freezer burn or other visible damage.

------

On rereading posts, I will defer to Mule Deer (and Eileen) on the quality of frozen meat over time, but venison tastes better to me if it's frozen no more than a year.

Got that right on the slick plastic vs freezer wrap

First freezer manufacturer to put in front slide-out prevention barriers to their racks is gonna make a bundle!

I sometimes use plastic crates to better stack stuff - don't ask where I got them. Certain soft-drink mnfcters won't like it...

I should invest in Electrolux stock then! My Electrolux upright freezer (made here in Sweden) has flip-down wire bails that stops stuff from sliding out and they work great!

I used to live in both Canada and the US so I know the upright freezers that you speak of and how they effectively hold less than a chest freezer of the same volume. Well, this Electrolux with these hinged bails can be crammed 100% full and without worrying about a can of frozen orange juice sliding out to land on your toes!

When I came to Sweden and saw this feature on my upright freezer I just assumed that it was more modern than the ones I had in North America -- and that all new ones had this simple addition. Maybe Electrolux has a patent or something? Seems like it should be too simple an idea to patent!

John

A lot of great ideas.

I will look at the knives, and probably start with the Kitchen Aid attachment.

Then I can determine if I want to continue. I will also look at the press-n-seal, and my local Costco for the commercial size wraps, including paper.

Should be able to practice this spring and summer with fish.

One question, are the game meats wrapped in saran wrap, Ziplok, or some other comparable plastic wrap, then wrapped in paper?

Thanks again,

Curly