HarvDog Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 Just curious how long venison should be kept in the freezer. Asking because I have some roast left from late 2010 season. Tried my apple cider stew recipe in the slow cooker and the meat was extremely rough. Too old? Something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 Probably depends on how it is packaged and how cold the freezer has been kept. We had some 2 year old venison steaks I cooked in the crock pot and had for supper tonight. It was falling apart, able to be easily cut with a fork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowhunter97 Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 I agree with wtnhunt. We put our meat in freezer bags, get all the air out, then wrap it in freezer paper. We still have some old stuff somewhere i think lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 Cooked some back strap Sunday from last year, tasted fine. I vacuum seal all my meat, so that may make a difference. I do fish the same way, and you cant tell it's a year old Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 I agree with wtnhunt. We put our meat in freezer bags, get all the air out, then wrap it in freezer paper. We still have some old stuff somewhere i think lol. My family has been cutting and wrapping our own meat for over 40 years. We use thesame method as Bowhunter97 but we use the thinner food & bread bags without the ziplock. We had a package of some 2010 ground meat last night that I found in the back of the freezer and it was great. The key is the plastic bag. If you are using just freezer paper then it allows air in and it won't last a over a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 If it lasts past a year, it gets made into jerky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHISKEYSWAMP Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 I generally freezer wrap and vacuum seal... I'm sure it would be good for a couple years but we usually have most ate up within a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaitlinMccart Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 For a long time. My family is still eating ground venison from last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 general rule of thumb is within a year. cut up deer as long as i can remember and my dad before that. he even had a store just before my time. for years we wrapped it with commerical duty freezer plastic wrap and then freezer paper over that. roll it tight and right and not much air gets in. same as using the freezer bags. however, after a year the taste does degrade a little. if you're a decent cook and don't over cook it it's hard to tell the difference if it's used within a year. that said i've switched to vaccuum sealing with a food saver and i will never go back even given using commerical stuff. no doubt that stuff stays fresher a lot longer. even freeze left over meat and veggies into a large food saver container. once it's full you make soup out everything in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 Freezer wrap and vacuum seal have made meat last a long time here. I like to date EVERY package that goes into the freezer. Unidentified and old stuff becomes trapping bait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 3, 2012 Report Share Posted November 3, 2012 Re: How long does venison last? Am i the only one that freezes the meat in water? I drop chunks of back strap, roast, stew meat in a zip lock then fill it with water. I simply thaw it out and cut it up how i want to cook it. I have had meat frozen like this for over 2 years and its still very good when i cook it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted November 3, 2012 Report Share Posted November 3, 2012 We age our deer at least a week before butchering...but our venison only lasts a year at most in our freezer....we eat ALOT of venison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvDog Posted November 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2012 Thanks for all of the input. I normally have a place process my deer so it is already packaged. However, if I continue to use this place, I will probably repackage the venison either with a vaccum sealing or double freezer bags then freezer paper. As it turns out, they were only using freezer paper for everything not ground. I unwrapped some of the last steaks I had and the meat was already brown on the outside. I'm guessing that is not ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted November 3, 2012 Report Share Posted November 3, 2012 Am i the only one that freezes the meat in water? I drop chunks of back strap, roast, stew meat in a zip lock then fill it with water. I simply thaw it out and cut it up how i want to cook it. I have had meat frozen like this for over 2 years and its still very good when i cook it. Now this is a new for me ,, but it makes perfect sense if you think about it ,, the water keeps the meat from becoming dry and freezes to an air tight seal until thawed, and the freezer bag acts as a second layer of protection. I will have to try this method ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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