The trick to freezing meat, according to the Food and Drug Administration and the Meat Sciences department at Texas A&M University, is to wrap it twice, preferably in heavy duty aluminum foil, plastic wrap or freezer paper, or put the whole package inside a plastic bag.
Once home, open the package, cut it into one-pound portions with a knife, and place each piece into a large zip-top freezer bag. Let all the air bubbles out and seal the bags. Then flatten out each bag with a rolling pin, label them, and toss them into the freezer.
Ziploc® Freezer Bags are your indispensable ally. The Double Zipper seal helps lock in freshness with confidence you can see, feel and hear — from edge-to-edge, across the entire bag. Plus, it helps prevent freezer burn, meaning less food waste.
Proper packaging helps maintain quality and prevent freezer burn. Aluminum foil, freezer paper, plastic containers, and plastic freezer bags will help food maintain optimum quality in the freezer. Plastic wrap alone will not provide enough protection by itself, but can be used to separate foods within another package.
The experts over at Ziploc told me that their freezer bags “are designed to protect in very low temperatures and harsh environments against punctures and tears.” So, in other words, while you can use a normal Ziploc bag to freeze food, chances are it won't escape the clutches of freezer burn and will be more prone to ...
Press all of the air out of the bags and seal. Use a permanent marker to note the date, cut of ground beef, and weight. Lay the bags flat on a freezer shelf. Once frozen, stack the bags or stand them vertically for long-term storage.
Color changes can occur in frozen foods but the foods remain safe to eat. The bright red color of meat as purchased usually turns dark or pale brown depending on its variety. This may be due to lack of oxygen, freezer burn or abnormally long storage. Freezing doesn't usually cause color changes in poultry.
It is safe to freeze meat or poultry directly in its original packaging, however this type of wrap is permeable to air and quality may diminish over time. For prolonged storage, overwrap these packages as you would any food for long-term storage. It is not necessary to rinse meat and poultry.
Using freezer paper eliminates freezer burn. Freezer paper is similar to wax paper, but there is a matte finish on one side. If you don't have access to freezer paper, wax paper will substitute. However, wax paper is less water-resistant than bona fide freezer paper.
Yes. You can use regular zip-top storage bags in the freezer. However, foods stored in these bags in the freezer might not hold up as well over long periods of time, and can be more prone to punctures and rips.
freezer burn is when parts of the meat are dehydrated as they're sitting in the freezer. and it can happen because it wasn't in the right packaging. Or the packaging got punctured and let air in. but those pieces of meat will not rehydrate.
If refrigerated, keep at 40 °F or below and use within one or two days. For longer freezer storage, wrap in heavy-duty plastic wrap, aluminum foil, freezer paper, or plastic bags made for freezing.
Conversely, you would not want to use parchment paper for freezing food because its lack of a coating would not protect your food well enough, or lock in the moisture needed to keep meats fresh. The bottom line is: think parchment paper for heat, and freezer paper for cold temps and maintaining freshness.
To prevent freezer burn from claiming your frozen foods, the best solution is to use a vacuum sealer. Vacuum sealing your foods prevents freezer burn, as all the air from the packaging is removed. This creates a tight seal, that prevents foods from moisture loss and exposure to air.
Meat and other foods with freezer burn are still safe to eat. Freezer burn draws out moisture and flavor. This affects the quality. but not the safety of food.
“Outside, ground beef should look nice and pink,” says Dr. Craggs-Dino. “Sometimes, the inside may look a little brown, and that's OK, too. But if it's starting to turn a funky gray — inside or out — then you know something is a little off.
When left in the freezer for too long, the cellular structure of the meat starts to deteriorate due to ice crystals that begin to form. This is where the flavor starts to become lost, leading to a less enjoyable taste, overall.
Double wrap your food before freezing.
For things like baked goods, go for two layers of protection. Wrap a brownie first in plastic wrap, then put the wrapped brownie in a freezer bag, or wrap it again in aluminum foil.
No. The use of plastic trash bags for food storage or cooking is not recommended because they are not food-grade plastic and chemicals from them may be absorbed into the food.
If you know you won't be heating the extras anytime soon, double wrap in aluminum foil and store all the pieces in a tightly sealed plastic bag. This same principle should be applied when storing meat. Tight wrapping in freezer-strong packaging is essential.
THE BOTTOM LINE For storing food in the freezer, use freezer bags because they are thicker and thus better at keeping moisture in and odor out. For general storage, freezer bags offer extra protection but regular storage bags are slightly less expensive.
Absolutely! If you've used the bags for food storage, we recommend handwashing. We don't recommend reusing the bag if it was used to store raw meat, fish or any allergy-triggering foods – safety first!