What meats/keto products store the longest in a freezer?

(Tim W) #1

Wife and I were talking about filling up the deep freeze with meat for an upcoming family event.

That got me to thinking, what could I buy in bulk when on sale and stuff away without worry? What meats/keto products would store the longest? If we overshoot what we need for the family gathering, we’ll consume it over the following year.

Ideas:

  • Pork shoulder
  • BACON!
  • Ground sausage?

I’m really not sure about other things, we often buy the usual suspects for the freezer (pork chops, ground hamburger, whole chicken etc) but we eat them in a week or two, I’ve never done any research into how long they’d last.

Ideas?

Thanks!

Tim

#2

Just any meat really, if you have the freeze space. Salted bacon can last a long time even in the fridge.

(Ren) #3

My wife and I buy meats whenever they are on sale and freeze. Whole chickens are typically already cryovac’d and thus can just toss them in and they will last 6monts - 1 year in the freezer. Bacon and ground sausage if cryovac’d lasts a long time in the freezer also.

I bbq pork shoulders and briskets and invested in a vacuum sealer prior to keto. Now when I cook and we have large amount of leftover cooked bbq, I will vacuum seal and freeze. We also will buy the bulk family packs, portion out and vacuum seal. Also buy whole packer briskets at $2.49/lb and grind that up and portion and seal. The meats last 6 months - 1 year without issue.

#4

I second the FoodSaver idea. I like to buy subprimal cuts of beef and cut my own steaks. A few weeks ago I bought a whole rib, hacked off and tied a 6lb prime rim, and sliced the rest into 30oz steaks (I got a little carried away I’ll admit). Vacuum sealed the steaks and threw them in the fridge. Theoretically they’d last up to a year that way in the freezer, but of course they’ll be gone long before that.

Steak
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(Doug) #5

Yah, I’m thinking eat the prime rib, then have a steak or two for dessert. :smile:

#6

I weighed the steaks after I vacuum sealed them and when I saw a couple pushing on 2lbs I had to chuckle. Moral of the story: never hand cut steaks when you’re hungry. My family loved the prime rib. It was over 6lbs for 6 people and we didn’t even have a scrap of fat leftover. Subprimal cuts from Costco are awesome! And tying a roast is super easy for anyone who hasn’t done it.

(Ren) #7

Subprimals are definitely the way to go if you can swing the money at 1 time. It saves so much money in the long run. I dry aged a NY Steak Subprimal for 45 days and cut out individual steaks and vacuum sealed them.

If you have an extra fridge (we have a garage fridge) you can use the Umai dry age bags. They work pretty dang good. Dry aged steaks at home, cooked sous vided and then seared over charcoal. Sooooooo dericious!

#8

I can’t say enough good about Umai bags. I’ve had great luck. My plan is to get another subprimal aging soon. Did you buy select, choice, or prime? I find select to be hit and miss. My go to is choice, I’d love to splurge for prime sometime but that’s a tough sell with the wife. $200 for meat we can’t eat for 2 months? Not sure how that’ll fly.

(Ren) #9

Choice. I can’t justify the price difference between choice and prime to myself. Especially after have some dried age choice steaks.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #10

This newbie needs a translation, sorry! What is “subprimal”?

(Doug) #11

Below “Prime.”

(Tim W) #12

Good stuff everyone, thanks for the inputs.

I shop at the military commissary so the prices are VERY low but the quality of the meat is often meh, I have browsed the discounted meat cooler but, by the time it’s made it into there, it’s often freezer burnt and just looks nasty. I’d love to scoop up a mess of it and freeze it for long term but, to my un-educated eye, it just doesn’t look too appealing or like it has much distance left to it.

#13

I can’t afford grass fed, or expensive stuff. I shop at Aldi, and when they get the 87% ground beef in on special, I buy 10lb for $18. I get ground turkey and sausage for $1.99 per pound, and thick cut pork chops for the same price. I pay $2.89lb for bacon, 79 cents a pound full fat cream cheese, $2.49 8 ounces the best cheddar I have ever eaten and $2.29 HWC. $4.79 coconut oil 16 ounces etc

(Ren) #14

So a cow is broken down into primal cuts These are the chuck, brisket, shank, rib, plate, short loin, sirloin, flank, rump, round.

The primal cuts are then broken down into subprimal cuts, which are typically individual muscles in the primal cuts. The subprimal cuts are big pieces of meat, typically over 10lbs that can be broken down into individual steaks.

here is a ribeye subprimal cut that can be broken down into individual ribeye steaks or into standing rib roasts/prime ribs.

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Here is a strip loin subprimal which can be broken down into NY Strip steaks.

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(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #15

Wow! So that’s what you guys are talking about. Thanks for the illustrations. They’re a big help.

#16

Damn, that strip loin is premium. Never gotten my hands on a subprimal of that quality. Someday I’d love to change that.

I just looked on the Snake River Farms website, that’s a $429 chunk of meat. That explains a lot.

(Ren) #17

I have cooked some the the Snake River Farm briskets for bbq competition. I can’t bring myself to pay the premium for the steaks. Although they are American Wagyu, I am definitely not a rich guy!

(Doug) #18

Whew… But man, that fat is a thing of beauty.