Longevity of Frozen Deer Meat

[Omega]

What is the longest you have had frozen meat stored? What method did you use and what results, taste, texture etc, did you have?
This "experiment" was not anything planned, it just happened to be a period where I was not allowed to hunt for a year and I had meat left over during that time frame. Usually it only lasts the year, and both methods I use seem to work fine for that. I was just reading an article about meat storage and linked to the government food safety page which listed 12 months for beef steaks so it started me wondering what some of your experiences were. I have also seen new products with additives to keep food fresh so any info on that would be great as well.

The longest I have had deer meat is three years, I first used saran wrap then freezer paper making sure I took all the air out. I also used a vacuum sealer for the same deer(s). They both stored real well for the first year, no freezer burn or ice crystals; taste was not affected at all. The second year, there was a bit of ice crystals in the saran/freezer paper meat while no noticeable difference in the vacuum sealed meat; taste was not noticeably affected. The third year, the saran/freezer paper wrapped meat had many ice crystals, some freezer burn and though you could still eat it, the taste was affected a bit. The vacuum sealed meat had some ice crystals forming in the areas where air was trapped inside (stew meat) with a bit of freezer burn in the same areas. Not as bad as the other meat but there was a bit of a taste difference with the ones that had developed air pockets; the ones that had sealed out all the air (steaks and ground) didn't seem to be affected much. Though I feel that the meat was edible beyond the year, I would not recommend doing it past two if you can help it.


I posted this here due to this being about deer, but I suppose it can be relevant in the Survival and Preparedness forum.

[gregintenn]

Two years has historically been the ceiling I've found. You can still eat it after that, but the quality of the meat is degraded.

[peejman]

Sounds about right.  2-3 years if vacuum sealed, less if just ziplocked or paper wrapped.  And taste/texture is the only thing affected.  Depending on how it's cooked, you may or may not be able to tell the difference. 

[TNMTBik3r]

I vacuum seal, have ate meat that was 2 years old no problem. Have seen about 3 years is when freezer burn may start.
Will vary on how well your vacuum sealer and freezer works.

[10-Ring]

I've eaten it up to 3 years old.  I can't seem to kill enough deer to keep my family in deer through the year.  MAtter of fact I'm eating my last bit of deer from last year as I type this.  Hopefully muzzleloader season will be good to me.

[UncleJak]

I ate a roast a few weeks ago that was from 2007. I'm still here to tell about it. It was good and not degraded in any way I could tell.

Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[whiskey]

I read an article about deep freezers and freezing game. The colder the temp and the fewer times the door is opened the longer you can go without getting freezer burn. Vacuum sealed will last longer than wrapped/bagged meat too. I try to use all of mine within a year. Sometimes I end up giving some away to accomplish this. 

[BigK]

With a deep freeze the way you wrap/seal it seems to matter most after a year or so, but with those damn frost-free models, you're lucky to get a year, even with the best vacuum pack sealer.

edit: I have one of each and the frost-free model is only fit for fast use stuff like frozen store bought veggies and pizzas and such. I keep my good stuff in the deep freeze. Edited October 17, 2014 by BigK

[div]

Vacuum sealed with a -10 degree deep freeze here. Found a 3 year old pack of ground venison and a 4 year old hunk of tenderloin (I know, I know)... Both were fine. No freezer burn. No odd taste.

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[Hershmeister]

Freezer burn is generally a result of freeze/thaw because of frost free features which essentially are defrosters to melt ice but in the process
Raise temps

[jtmaze]

Vacuum pack and manual defrost chest freezer. I have eaten stuff 4-5 years old no problem.


JTM
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[SupaRice]

My son and I are the only ones eating it over here, last week went to make some steaks from a vacuum sealed buck from last year and it was rank as road kill... tried two other packages. .. same. Then I remembered that we had lost power for just about a full day back during the heat. Killed 4 last year, had about 15lbs left maybe. All bad, same with all my duck and goose from last year.

It's an old crap freezer I got for free, guess what I'll be buying here shortly. Still, I had two 5 gal blocks of ice in there for just such an event.

Backup power? Anyone rig that up before?

[Jamie Jackson]

I store a fair amount of meat...beef, chicken, pork, and venison.

 

Like folks have said...3+ years in a freezer if you package it right. I cooked up some venison sausage from 2011 just last week.

 

Prepping meat:

I will cut it up, ziplock bag it, then freeze it for about 12-24 hours...then vacuum seal it.

If it's in a ziplock bag, I make sure I open the bag before processing the vacuum sealer. That seems to get the air vacuumed out better, even with stew meat.

 

We also pressure can all of the above. It stores very well that way, even at 5 plus years and has no dependency on electricity.

 

 

As regards backup power:

 

We have a generator and also an inverter for my pickup. That inverter will allow us to "charge up" the freezers much more quietly than the genny.

 

Obviously a chest type freezer will preserve foods longer and more easily than an upright. We have 2 of them and couldn't imagine being without them.

 

:2cents:   :pleased:

[bersaguy]

Well, Since I am at the mercy of my friends when it comes to deer meat these days since my health went south, I let nothing go to waste. I don't get as many deer as I use to but have plenty of freezer space. I had a deer in my freezer that I had picked up from processor that a buddy put in with my name on it when we had a power failure about a month later and it was still warm because this deer was taken with a bow.  We were down about 23 hours and I never opened the freezer which is stored in an out building during that time. I have ten 1 gallon milk jugs of water frozen in the bottom of the freezer and all of my meat is stored on top of  the blocks of ice. I never lost one package of deer meat and all of it was still almost frozen rock solid when the power came back on. I also had some fish frozen in water bags in the freezer and the fish were still frozen solid. It is also one of the old freezers that does not self defrost which I think helps keep meats longer.

   Now with that said, any of you guys that find yourself with an extra deer and you live in the area I will be more than glad to take it off your hands and pay the processing. I live in Gallatin and Poindexters Bait and Tackle has large coolers and is a TWRA check in station and if you take it there to check it in and want to let me have it you can put it in the cooler in my name and phone number and Buddy Poindexter will call me and let me know it's there. I will pick it up and take it to processors. Any deer will be greatly appreciated...........Thanks