THIS In The Trash? Really???

[Must-Stash]

Meat with freezer burn.

Every time I see the commercial that shows lots of steak, etc. go into the trash because of freezer burn, I do a burn.

We do have a shrink wrap food saver. I didn't always have one though and sometimes I find something tucked and stored out of sight in a zip lock. I've never had more than a little/some freezer burn on anything. I cut ouround it and use the good part. The burned part I cook up for the dogs. Even if all of a piece of meat had freezer burn, I'd still cook it for the pets or give it to a neighbor who has pets.

Does anyone really just trash the whole thing?

[peanut]

No, we don't trash it either. I'm not sure what the actual health hazards are. But I know we've had freezer burned chicken (not bad, but some), and the only problem was it was a bit dry. Mostly food doesn't stay in our freezer long enough to get freezer burn. And we label everything and try to use it within a year at the latest...depending what it is.

[QM]

Sorry. I throw away stuff with freezer burn. I don't have a dog to feed it to. We're a little finicky when it comes to meat.

[HisDaisy]

I also throw out meat if it is burned to bad. I do wrap the meat really tight in press n seal wrap and then place in a freeze bag.

[kittykatstrong]

I will use it but not as the main meat. In a stew or soup. I say if you cover it up with enough sauce you cant really tell. But meat doesnt last to long in our freezer so I rarely have that problem.

[Neeley]

I clean out the big freezer about once every nine months or so. I throw out any meat that has been there for over 6 months. If the meat is less than 6 months old but has freezer burn, it gets tossed. Normally it is only a couple of packs of chicken, or hamburger meat. Maybe on a rare instance some ribs. Never anything too huge or too expensive though.

I do have pets but I won't feed them anything I wouldn't feed my family. One of my dogs has a sensitive tummy and I already have to fork over between $200-$300 every few months for her belly aches as it is. One time I had to spend $600 in 48 hours over her tummy issues. It would be my luck the meat would make her sick and we would be back in the vet's office again.

[MomToTwoBoys]

I haven't had any freezer burned meat since I went to Ziploc bags. If it has frost on it, that's ok to me. But if it's clearly to the point where the meat is encased in ice or burnt beyond comfort, I won't cook it for my family.

[Michelle]

It doesn't happen often, but I toss it too. I don't have a dog to give it to, and I don't know anyone who would want it for their dogs :dunno:

[cissylu]

I usually don`t have much and I toss it.

[lmbaker520]

I also usually don't have this problem, but I do throw mine out if it is burnt too bad.

[2ndGenGranola]

We toss it. There is no hiding that taste from my family. It doesn't matter what sauce you would put on it. No one would be eating it.

[IntlMom]

A litte frost is fine....but nasty freezer burn where it is encased in ice - I'd toss it. In 16.5 years of being married, I'd say I've only thrown away less than 5 or 6 packages, maybe less. I'm a pretty good manager of my freezer, though.

[Judi Dial]

For us, with only 2 people, 1 pet and a small fridge freezer, I'll have to say that I can't remember the last piece of meat I discarded because of freezer burn? I would think that if you end up discarding meat regularly that you're buying too much? I have a magnetic clip on my fridge with a 3 x 5 cards in it. (I had some colored 3 x 5 cards.) My red cards are meat. When I put something in the freezer, I write it on the card and the date. When I go for meat from the freezer, I use the oldest beef, chicken, or whatever listed. Simple, cheap, and has kept us from throwing meat away for the past two years.

I lost most of my frozen meat this last year, but that was because we were without power for 5 days.

Judi

[Palooka]

So it sounds like stockpiling meat is not worth it? I have thrown out veggies to because they seem to be freezer burnt.

I guess I don't stock up on that kind of stuff because of this. Maybe there is a better storing issue to avoid freezer burn?

[WV_mom_of2]

I toss anything that is badly freezer burnt too. However it doesn't happen often! Maybe once or twice a year.