How to Portion and Freeze Meats

Off Topic
1

Does anyone have any simple ideas for freezing meat that helps to keep it portioned out?

I’d prefer not to use a billion freezer bags. I’ve tried wax paper, which worked so-so. Sometimes it stuck to the paper completely, other times just a little here and there. Aluminum foil was a bust, it ripped and stuck a lot.

I’d assume butcher paper? If that’s what seems to work the best I’ll have to look around or order some online bc the only ones they have are super expensive in my small town.

Lastly, I tried cookie sheets and the meat was super glued to it.

I just want to portion out a days worth of meat to leave out the night before so I don’t have to worry about wasting any meat from spoilage.

PS, I’m working on my rubbermaid collection, as it get bigger I think that will be the easiest option, but I don’t have enough to store all that I need (gf can’t eat the same foods as I, so it’s twice the food to be prepped and stored)

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

2

I do burgers and round steaks individually in saran wrap.

Just be sure to defrost it seam side up or it will bleed when it thaws.

3

Get bigger bags so you can fold it to keep different portions separated…

4

Are you freezing uncooked meat? If so why not multiple days, at least 2 then you don’t have to cook as often.

5

[quote]sufiandy wrote:
Are you freezing uncooked meat? If so why not multiple days, at least 2 then you don’t have to cook as often.[/quote]

Both cooked and uncooked, I still have the problem of them sticking together in blocks

6

You need to freeze them first separated out and then go back and repackage them for longer term storage. Once they are frozen individually you can them package them together using something to separate them like wax paper.

7

I buy a quarter cow every year and they pack it with a sheet of plastic in between the cuts. I would suggest vacuum packing for anything that will be in the freezer for 3+ months.

8

I just put them in zip lock bags in 8 oz portions, and the same kind of meat in gallon freezer bags.

9

[quote]VTTrainer wrote:
Does anyone have any simple ideas for freezing meat that helps to keep it portioned out?

I’d prefer not to use a billion freezer bags. I’ve tried wax paper, which worked so-so. Sometimes it stuck to the paper completely, other times just a little here and there. Aluminum foil was a bust, it ripped and stuck a lot.

I’d assume butcher paper? If that’s what seems to work the best I’ll have to look around or order some online bc the only ones they have are super expensive in my small town.

Lastly, I tried cookie sheets and the meat was super glued to it.

I just want to portion out a days worth of meat to leave out the night before so I don’t have to worry about wasting any meat from spoilage.

PS, I’m working on my rubbermaid collection, as it get bigger I think that will be the easiest option, but I don’t have enough to store all that I need (gf can’t eat the same foods as I, so it’s twice the food to be prepped and stored)

Any help is appreciated, thanks![/quote]

For raw meat that you are freezing, you need to use seran (plastic) wrap as the base layer, then wrap that in aluminum foil. Seran wrap will keep the portions from sticking together and will also prevent the aluminum foil from sticking to the meat as you experienced. However, the aluminum foil is what keeps the meat from getting freezer burn. If you just wrap it in plastic wrap, the meat won’t turn out good when you cook it.

For meat that’s been cooked I like to use just pyrex glass containers… that way you can just put them in the fridge the night before you want to eat the dish, pop the lid off and heat them up in the microwave if you need a fast meal. You also don’t need to wait for the meat to cool before storing it - too often I have fallen asleep while waiting for whatever leftovers I wanted to store to cool off, wasting whatever I just made that night.

However, I definitely think freezer bags are the way to go for plain meat:

They’re 20 bucks on Amazon w/ free shipping for 200 bags. Quart sized freezer bags can comfortably fit up to 12 oz of steaks/breasts and 1 lb of ground meat. At 10 cents per bag, it saves so much time and barely costs more than using plastic wrap / aluminum foil. Works better too… no leaking.

10

[quote]challer1 wrote:

[quote]VTTrainer wrote:
Does anyone have any simple ideas for freezing meat that helps to keep it portioned out?

I’d prefer not to use a billion freezer bags. I’ve tried wax paper, which worked so-so. Sometimes it stuck to the paper completely, other times just a little here and there. Aluminum foil was a bust, it ripped and stuck a lot.

I’d assume butcher paper? If that’s what seems to work the best I’ll have to look around or order some online bc the only ones they have are super expensive in my small town.

Lastly, I tried cookie sheets and the meat was super glued to it.

I just want to portion out a days worth of meat to leave out the night before so I don’t have to worry about wasting any meat from spoilage.

PS, I’m working on my rubbermaid collection, as it get bigger I think that will be the easiest option, but I don’t have enough to store all that I need (gf can’t eat the same foods as I, so it’s twice the food to be prepped and stored)

Any help is appreciated, thanks![/quote]

For raw meat that you are freezing, you need to use seran (plastic) wrap as the base layer, then wrap that in aluminum foil. Seran wrap will keep the portions from sticking together and will also prevent the aluminum foil from sticking to the meat as you experienced. However, the aluminum foil is what keeps the meat from getting freezer burn. If you just wrap it in plastic wrap, the meat won’t turn out good when you cook it.

For meat that’s been cooked I like to use just pyrex glass containers… that way you can just put them in the fridge the night before you want to eat the dish, pop the lid off and heat them up in the microwave if you need a fast meal. You also don’t need to wait for the meat to cool before storing it - too often I have fallen asleep while waiting for whatever leftovers I wanted to store to cool off, wasting whatever I just made that night.

However, I definitely think freezer bags are the way to go for plain meat:

They’re 20 bucks on Amazon w/ free shipping for 200 bags. Quart sized freezer bags can comfortably fit up to 12 oz of steaks/breasts and 1 lb of ground meat. At 10 cents per bag, it saves so much time and barely costs more than using plastic wrap / aluminum foil. Works better too… no leaking.[/quote]

Good call on the microwavable pyrex… hmmmmm.
The bags are about the same as my store cost, so I may just end up sticking w that.