Best way to wrap beef?

[jadevincent]

We bought a half a cow back in February and the quality of the meat is declining quickly. It has always been frozen. It is wrapped in freezer paper and plastic. The burger is in plastic sleeves. Would vacuum sealed have been better? We are finishing out our first 2 steers now and don't want our customers to have the same issue. Curious how long it is expected to last and the best way to wrap it?

 

[kenny thomas]

Hard to beat vacuum sealed.

 

[Walker's Ridge]

I like vacuum sealed or freezer paper without any additional plastic.

 

[sstterry]

We bought a half a cow back in February and the quality of the meat is declining quickly. It has always been frozen. It is wrapped in freezer paper and plastic. The burger is in plastic sleeves. Would vacuum sealed have been better? We are finishing out our first 2 steers now and don't want our customers to have the same issue. Curious how long it is expected to last and the best way to wrap it?

I second vacuum sealing. You can buy them cheap and that should be the standard now.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

My local butcher shop double wraps and plastic heat seals the bottoms it's pretty damn good and lasts.

 

[wbvs58]

In what way have you noticed the decline in quality?

Ken

 

[sstterry]

A little off-topic, but those vacuum sealers for the kitchen are as handy as an extra shirt pocket.

 

[Ouachita]

Wrap it around your tongue. Can't go wrong.

 

[Ouachita]

A little off-topic, but those vacuum sealers for the kitchen are as handy as an extra shirt pocket.

Oh boy, that's a fact. I bought my wife one of those vacuum sealer thing-a-ma-jiggies a couple years ago. Now she invents stuff for me to eat. Just last evening I had a jerky cranberry melody, with walnuts. Who knew?

 

[sstterry]

Wrap it around your tongue. Can't go wrong.
View attachment 29389

That is the way mine is sealed, except the burger is sealed just like the steaks and roasts.

 

[Ouachita]

Yeah, I think the wrapping has a lot to do with how long you expect to keep it. Depends on how many kids, and their frequency, raid the freezer.
We feel fortunate to have anything left beyond four or five months.
We could wrap ours in a spent bath towel and never know the difference.

 

[Ouachita]

I think sometimes that I wake up contrary (that's not the case this morning; she's still sleeping).

I'm thinking that if a person is considering how to wrap their beef, they must be doing alright. It is a first world problem.

 

[jadevincent]

In what way have you noticed the decline in quality?

Ken

The burger was a little brown on the outside but very nice and pink most of the way through in the beginning. Now it is mostly brown with very little pink in center and doesn't smell as fresh anymore, to the point where my husband said he wasn't sure he wants to eat it. I have unthawed in water and in the fridge, same results.

 

[Ouachita]

The burger was a little brown on the outside but very nice and pink most of the way through in the beginning. Now it is mostly brown with very little pink in center and doesn't smell as fresh anymore, to the point where my husband said he wasn't sure he wants to eat it. I have unthawed in water and in the fridge, same results.

I feel compelled to pass along a little secret; Stop preparing meals!

It might take a couple or three days, but your husband will come around to your way of thinking, and cooking.

We ain't dumb, just a bit slow.

 

[M.Magis]

Something else is going on if its turning after only two months. Wrapped in freezer paper will last at least a year, and with plastic also it would be even longer. Those tube bags for burger are better than vacuum packed. It sounds like the meat has been frozen and then thawed more than once. Is it in a frost free freezer? Even then it should last much longer, but maybe its acting up and thawing too much. Something besides just wrapping is going on.

 

[CowboyRam]

The burger was a little brown on the outside but very nice and pink most of the way through in the beginning. Now it is mostly brown with very little pink in center and doesn't smell as fresh anymore, to the point where my husband said he wasn't sure he wants to eat it. I have unthawed in water and in the fridge, same results.

A little brown no worries, I had a roommate in college that would take some beef out of the freezer, thaw it out, cut off what he wanted and then refreeze the rest. I'm sure by the time he got to the last of it, it no longer tasted good.

 

[Travlr]

The burger was a little brown on the outside but very nice and pink most of the way through in the beginning. Now it is mostly brown with very little pink in center and doesn't smell as fresh anymore, to the point where my husband said he wasn't sure he wants to eat it. I have unthawed in water and in the fridge, same results.

I think you're overthinking it... but then I'm not there to see/smell what you are concerned about. Any kind of beef that has been wrapped and kept at an appropriate temp for only threeish months should be fine to eat. Color of meat from the grocery store may be due to coloring added, or even gasses.

Freezer burned meat has a crust of discolored meat. It would be difficult to believe that you meat is freezer burned in the time you've stated.

 

[Son of Butch]

Thought for sure by now someone would've said, the best way to wrap beef is in bacon.

ground beef should be used within 48 hours of thawing
roasts and steaks should used within 5 days after thawing
however beef thawed in water or a microwave should be used within a few hours after thawing.
*usda food safety recommendations

 

[wbvs58]

I feel compelled to pass along a little secret; Stop preparing meals!

It might take a couple or three days, but your husband will come around to your way of thinking, and cooking.

We ain't dumb, just a bit slow.

Or just don't let him see it until it is cooked.

Ken

 

[farmerjan]

I will have to say that we only vacuum pack our beef. The burger is in flat vacuum pack bags and keeps just as good as anything else and it is much easier to stack and pack into the freezer. I use cardboard boxes in the upright freezers that fit on shelves to make finding stuff easier... and they don't "fall off the shelf" on your foot either. When the box gets old, get a new one... the plastic bins are okay but the ones that are "freezer bins"... plastic coated wire, allow possible pinholes in packages if they get banged against something. I do not like the plastic tubes for the ground beef.
I would say that if you are getting alot of brown on the meat, then as mentioned, the frost free freezer might have too long a "defrost cycle" that they have to keep the frost out of it... something to check into. My biggest problem in the older freezer with not so great seal is the frost on the top shelf and front of the freezer inside.
I recently found some meat from 2014 from a jersey I had , got stuck in a box at the bottom somehow...and it tasted just fine.... would've fed it to the feral cats but it smelled and cooked up good so I ate it.