Keep Meat Fresh for Longer in your Fridge and Freezer

Contribute to a growing community of mindful eaters by reducing your food waste at home and keep your meat fresh for longer! In the video and blog post below, I share tips I’ve learnt from butchering and wrapping my own animals. By following these tricks, your expensive cuts of poultry, beef, pork, and wild game will stay good for way longer than you’ll ever imagine. You’ll learn using methods with salt, vacuum seal, plastic wrap and butcher paper!

Why should we care about food waste? Because 58% of food produced for Canadians is lost or wasted. This clip is from a series called Half Full that looks at the problem of food waste and sees great opportunity.

Tips on how to store meat and keep it tasting great for longer

1 to 3 days: Salt and Refrigerate

Lightly sprinkle salt all over the cut of meat, and keep it uncovered on a rack in the fridge. The thicker the cut the longer you can keep it salted in the fridge. For example, I will salt chicken breast with skin and bone on) for 48hrs in the fridge, versus a pork shoulder roast for almost a week.

There are lots of additional benefits to salting the meat and leaving it uncovered. Technically you are dry brining the meat. Which results in a tender and more favourable taste. If you’re searing the meat, the salt will help dry out the skin or form a crust on the outer layer, resulting in a deeper coloured and crispier sear. A win-win-win!

1 week to 1 month: Wrap and Freeze

Wrap in wax-lined butcher paper, label, and store in the freezer. The key is ensuring you’re using wax-lined butcher paper. The type of paper can also be labelled as freezer-safe butcher paper.

The key to making this freezer burn resistance is how tightly the paper is wrapping around the cut of meat. Use masking tape to secure the package or search up a youtube video on how to wrap without using tape.

Note on vacuum seal bags - If you have a vacuum seal bag, this method works too. Although I find most compact, home models won’t seal the meat tight enough. Or the seal on the bags breaks easily when you’re shuffling the meat around in the freezer. If you’re bad-ass and have a commercial one at home, then you’re winning in life and I would like to burrow it come hunting season.

1 to 12 months: Double Wrap and Freeze

Believe it or not, if you’re starting off with fresh meat, that’s never been frozen, it will keep in the freezer for way longer than you’ll ever imagine. I have had a caribou roast in the freezer for almost 2 years, and it’s still ruby red upon defrosting. To achieve this you must apply the double wrap method.

First, pat your meat dry, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and then go in with the wax-lined butcher paper. Remember to label with the cut of meat and date, because trust me you’ll forget about it; real quick.

Also if you have a deep freezer, it’s best to keep it in there. If you’re using your refrigerator freezer, try to stick the meat in the farthest corners away from the door. The slightest change in temperature from opening and closing the door will increase the speed of freezer burn.

Factors that will affect the storage time:

• How fresh is the meat to start? Has it been frozen previously? If it has, I wouldn't recommend freezing it again.

• How thick the cut of meat is, the wider the cut, the longer it will stay fresh.

• What type of meat is it? For example, chicken breast will be subject to freezer burn faster than a beef roast.

The youtube clip featured in this article is a part of a documentary series called Half Full. Watch the Loblaws, Insider Project, Half Full documentary HERE.

A huge shout out to my friends Matt Miles and Jayce Hawkins at Approach Media for helping me film and edit. Approach Media is an established video production company with over 20 years of experience. Connecting universal creative culture and experience through film. Offering a human-centred visual narrative to develop your stories into compelling content. Really, they don’t mess around! I was trying cut corners and they wouldn’t yell “it’s a wrap” until it’ was perfect.

Remember; when in doubt, double it up. Thanks for watching and don’t be shy about reaching out and letting me know if you have questions.

Happy reducing food waste!

Jenny Ly