How do you wrap your meats for the freezer?

**Michelle** · 10-05-2005, 11:56 AM

I remember as a child watching my mother take the meat out from the store packaging and wrapping it in freezer paper and marking what it was on the outside along with the date.

I've never done this, but now I'm wondering if I should.

How do you put your meats in the freezer?

**Mamawolf** · 10-05-2005, 12:02 PM

I put mine in freezer bags. Depends on the freezer bag quality, though. I'm finding some of my meat seems dry when I take it out, so I've been thinking of wrapping in freezer paper and then put into freezer bags. Loving to see the other responses!

**PrairieRose** · 10-05-2005, 12:15 PM

I use foil and then freezer bags. Sometimes I'll just wrap the pkg. that the meat is in (cellophane and styrofoam) in foil and put it in a freezer bag too.

**Darlene** · 10-05-2005, 01:00 PM

If it's only going to be in the freezer a short while I'll just pop it unwrapped into a shopping bag & put it in the freezer. For longer storage It goes unwrapped into a freezer bag or if I'm breaking it down to smaller sizes it gets unwrapped & put into smaller freezer bags. Get it, lol?

**Michelle** · 10-05-2005, 01:03 PM

I usually put them in freezer bags, but I've noticed some freezer burn

**canadian gardener** · 10-05-2005, 01:17 PM

I freeze right in the store pack and for extra protection, I often wrap the plastic grocery bag around it.

If it's for times under 6 months, this works fine.

If I am breaking up the package, if it's for under a month in the freezer, I will snap a long large economy pack of chicken thighs or pork chops for example in half and throw some plastic wrap over the broken ends, then wrap more in teh grocery bags and freeze.

If it's something I take 4 chops out of, I will freeze the rest FLAT, (so much easier to defrost) in a ziplock (no name imitation) bag.

If it's something I've cooked, such as gr beef crumbles I put it FLAT in a no name ziplock sandwich bag.

If it's a casserole or marinated meat, I use a heavy real ziplock.

**Sara Noel** · 10-05-2005, 01:25 PM

Originally posted by Michelle
I usually put them in freezer bags, but I've noticed some freezer burn

Same thing happens to me too. I think freezer paper is the way to go. The meat market wraps some in plastic and then freezer paper and others meats in just freezer paper. The type wrapped in plastic are primarily beef. I assume that's to keep the blood from soaking through the paper when they wrap.

**Mamawolf** · 10-05-2005, 01:26 PM

Originally posted by canadian gardener
I freeze right in the store pack and for extra protection, I often wrap the plastic grocery bag around it.

I tried that with the steaks I got last, and they got REALLY freezer burnt.

**canadian gardener** · 10-05-2005, 01:33 PM

I think I may be lucky, locally maybe our stores use better cling film on top of the meat packages. It's extremely stretchy and often won't tear even when I snap the long super saver tray in half and bend it backwards.

**canadian gardener** · 10-05-2005, 01:34 PM

WHOAH hold the phone

It's not luck.

I have a chest freezer, with no auto defrost.

Auto defrost REALLY does a freezer burn on meats. it's especially bad in the freezer above the fridge. I store very little up there, and only stuff I use in a week or two.

**Michele Annette** · 10-05-2005, 01:53 PM

I buy all of our meat in bulk pkgs. I only have the freezer above our fridge, so I only am able to store enough meat for about two months until the next rotation because I use it for other things as well. So I seperate all the meat into meal size portions and wrap in freezer paper - twice, tape and label. Never have a problem and I like to have my meat seperated from it's original packaging.

**Michele Annette** · 10-05-2005, 01:58 PM

I forgot to add, any cooked meats, I freeze in meal size portions in smaller ziploc bags and put those bags into a large heavy duty freezer bag.

**forestdale** · 10-05-2005, 03:21 PM

Freezer burn happens when air reaches the surface of the food you're storing. If the food is wet for any reason and the air gets to it, the freezer burn is worse. Try to get rid of as much air as you can when you're wrapping your freezer goods. Double wrapping, or wrapping tightly with foil before placing in a freezer bag, will help.

BTW, the best way to store celery in the fridge is to also wrap that in foil. Cut off the top bit you won't use and put that in your bag for making vegetable stock. Wash the celery and shake off the water - here you want a little bit of water to stay on the vegetable as it creates humidity. Tightly wrap the celery in foil, making sure every part is covered, and place in your fridge. It will stay crisp for at least a month.

**Michele Annette** · 10-05-2005, 03:26 PM

I'll have to do that Rhonda with my celery, Thanks!

**wiserangel** · 05-16-2011, 08:52 PM

My husband and I buy in bulk. So when we Go shopping we buy all of our meats we will need for 6 months. When we get home we rewrap all the meat for 2 people servings. Everything is divided up and weighed if necessary, then we wrap everything in cellophane plastic wrap squeezing all the air out, then we put them in individual ziploc bags with the name of product and date purchased. Sometimes we still have some meat thats a year old and still comes out as fresh as the day we put it in the freezer. We've never had to deal with freezer burn.