Excellent Way to Wrap Meat for Freezer

by Ellie Weightman

I have tried many ways to wrap my meats after going to wholesale stores and stocking up on meats. I have tried the zipper lock bag method (which still gives me frosted meat) and the machines that suck the air out of those expensive bags made for the machines only to find that I was spending loads of money on those specialty bags and a lot of time trying to get the unit to work properly.

A few months ago, I saw an alternative, old fashioned method on a cooking show and have tried it now for about 6 months and it is the only way I will store my meats in the freezer from now on. Initially it may cost you a bit, but each time you unwrap your meat you will find nice, pink non-frosted pieces of meat (except the poultry of course) and will be glad you made the change.

1. Go to a wholesale chain like Sam's Wholesale Food Club. Look in the aisle where they sell the restaurant size food storage items. I invested in the big box of heavy duty aluminum foil (restaurant size) and a big box of the restaurant style plastic wrap (I believe both of the ones I bought were Bakers & Chefs brand). Use this ONLY for freezing your meats or other items you plan on freezing for long period storage.

2. Divide your meat into meal size portions and wrap in the plastic wrap - tightly to make sure you remove all air gaps.

3. Wrap each of these pieces of meat that you pre-wrapped in plastic wrap in a piece of the aluminum foil - trying to keep one side free of wrinkles so you can label it.

4. Mark each piece for what is inside with a medium point magic marker - be careful not to smudge it before it dries.

5. Freeze

If you did this process the same day, or no later than one day after purchasing your meats, when you open them up to use you will find nice pink meat, no frost bite, no brown colored meat - the way it was when you packaged it.

I was pleasantly surprised how well this method works. It may take time to do it each time you bulk shop but is well worth the time. The overall cost of buying the two bulk wraps is also worth it in the long run. Do not use these boxes of wrap for your everyday usage, just for your bulk meat shopping. I store them in a closet and only bring them out when I do my monthly meat shopping.