Food for thought from the freezer

[Gun Smoke]

To change the subjects:

We've all thrown food out that was in the freezer too long whether it appeared to have freezer burn, change of color/appearance or just due to time.

I've read that it is safe to eat frozen food regardless of how long it has been frozen. It just may not taste very good.

I remember reading about 50 years ago that a mastodon had been discovered frozen. It was complete and in near perfect shape. The ones that discovered it left to get authorities involved. By the time they returned dogs and maybe wolves had eaten most of it. That meat had been frozen 8,000 years or longer.

I had a few cans of frozen orange juice in my freezer. I wasn't concerned that they had been kept past the expiration dates since they were frozen. I opened one that was 3 years past due thinking all would be fine. It looked like mud. When I dumped it in the sink to wash it away the odor appeared to be OK but still I wouldn't have trusted it. I figured frozen in an air tight can it would last till I decided to use it--wrong.

This may be something most of you already know or it may be a useful tip but when I can I freeze things in water now. Many people I know freeze fresh shrimp in water and it last for years. I sometimes find things like bell peppers on sale and buy more than I need. I wash and dice them up and put them in small zipper lock bags (in water). I have used them that were a couple of years old and they were as fresh as when I cut them up. This wouldn't work for every thing (example bananas) but other vegs and fruits probably so.

When storing things in water freezer burn is mostly impossible.

Is this better than vacuum bags? I donno.

Hopefully some of you may find this info as new or can add to it. I listed it under Gun Talk since there was no Martha Stewart forum.

[Marty T.]

My Mom always froze squirrels, rabbits, doves and such that we hunted in bags in water. Would sprinkle in a little salt, I guess for flavor and to help preserve. Lasted a long time that way.

[free1954]

learn something new every day.

[jjrothWA]

Heard from a butcher, that to coat meat with olive oil and then freeze to miinimize freezer burn.

Have cooked freezer burned meat in a pressure cooker that seems to eliminate poor taste.

[Art]

I hate throwing out food. Its expensive and wasteful, which is why we have a vacuum sealer. I've vacuum sealed soft flesh fish like speckled trout which wouldn't last two months in a regular plastic zip loc bag and eaten them two years later. They were great. Venison-I've had some really yummy venison that I vacuum sealed five years ago that tastes as good as any frozen meat you bought in a store yesterday. Not only that, the sealed food is very compact and stacks like cord wood. One of the best investments we ever made, and one of the few products that performs exactly the way the adds say it should.

I do check periodically to see if a bag has been compromised by a leak, if so I just remove from the old bag and re seal in a new one. The system actually works better if the food is already frozen.

Storing in cartons of water like the OP and Marty T mentioned also works well but is very bulky, takes up a lot of room.

[shadycon]

Vacuum sealing is inexpensive and it works. Regular bags and loose fitting paper allows air to be in contact with the food. Freezer burn. I have taken large cuts of meat and wrap with cling/saran wrap then freezer wrap tight and seal the seams. Almost as good as vacuum sealing.

[PaFrank]

When I had a dog, once a year or so I would clean out the freezer and make "slop pot".. Everything, identified or unidentified that looked old, freezer burned or inedible all went into the pot. My German shorthair knew it was for him and would sit and watch the stove and drool all over the kitchen floor.. It would feed him for 3-4 days..

I wish I had pigs, they could turn it into bacon for me.