Vacuum bagging venison

[rebAL]

How many do it?  What parts/ cuts do you bag?  Do you find it holds up better than butcher wrap? 

[Cheesehead]

I have been using a Foodsaver vacuum sealer for over 10 years with great success. It works well for steaks, chops, roasts and I use the larger bulk, roll type bags for larger packs of trim meat. I store the large bags of trim meat until after the holidays when the big rush is over at the sausage shop for some custom garlic summer sausage, brats and hot dogs. I leave the sausage work to the experts and some local butchers are soooo good, yum.

Cheese

[Snowshoe]

My wife and I wrap the cuts in plastic wrap, then freezer paper. The cuts last 2 years with no freezer burn at all. We do up one deer at a time, and just bag the trim and freeze it until all deer are done. Then we thaw all trim out and make burger and sausage when things slow down.

[elmer]

I use a Foodsaver vacuum sealer on everything include ground and brats. My wife divides everything up into the size packages she would normally use. I double seal both ends. It uses a little more of the roll, but it's insurance against a broken seal and cheap compared to freezer burnt venison.

[Don Fischer]

I got one of those foodsaver's for a present. Found out the bags are expensive and the stuff in the freezer is never there so long that good old freezer wrap doesn't work. My foodsaver is put away now and I never use it anymore. I did vacuum pack some rifle cases, the seal didn't hold!

[buckbeast]

My wife and I bought a foodsaver about 5 years ago. I think the world of it. To me it does hold up better than freezer wrap and zip-loc freezer bags. We don't use it only for venison, but on most of the meats we buy. Most of the time we buy our meats in bulk, as they're on sale, and it truly is a good way to keep the freezer stocked, without the worries of freezer burn.

[TribReady]

Used one last year for the first time.  Absolutely love it!
Cuts hold up much better than freezer paper (although the plastic wrap then freezer paper method sounds good too)
I think it's easy and clean to do.

I personally will not go back to freezer paper or any other method.   Now I'm going to go thaw out a couple steaks !!

[Chuck White]

We have used a Food Saver Vacuum Sealer for around 5 years now and we use it for all of our venison, turkey, fish, etc.
We also use it for meats bought in bulk.

The only problem we've ever had with it is, if we drop a package on the garage floor (that's where the freezer is), it will sometimes make a small hole in the package and allow it to freezer burn. 
That is unless we were going to  use that package anyway. 
To remedy the problem, I put a 3'X3' rubber mat on the floor in front of the freezer.

[cwlongshot]

I LOVE mine!!

 I have been using it for at least ten years now... yea the bags can be a bit expensive...but not nearly as much as the cost of freezer burned food!!!

I use it on Fish in the summer months. Been Striper fishing and doing quite well... try handling two 40+ inch stripers with only freezer paper!!!




Of coarse deer in the winter months. We do all cuts, but we have been on a streak for the past 5-6 years... We can shoot something like 14 deer a season here in CT if we get all the tags.... We have been averaging 5-6 a year between Bow, rifle, shotgun and muzzle loader. So LOTS of meet in a relatively short period of time. the vacuum sealer is a god send!!!

CW

 I cannot imagine life with out one!

CW

[rockbilly]

cwlongshot.  Good looking fish, and contrary to what some folks think, they do make very good table fair.

I too started using the vacuum sealer about 10 years ago.  If you get a good seal, the meat will keep a lot longer than it does when packaging with freezer paper. Very few of my game animals have seen the inside of a processing plant. I like to let them hang in the cooler for two-three weeks at about 40 degrees, I cut the hams off, take the back strap, tenderloin, and strip the rib cage and neck out and do the rest in the kitchen.  I keep the meat cold in a chest until I am ready to cut or grind.   I cut the steaks, tenderize them, and then vacuum seal them in packages to fit my family needs for a meal.  As much of the "white meat", and fat are removed as possible, and cut into small pieces.  This is ground into chili meat, hamburger, and sausage.  I use about 10% beef fat in the hamburger, and use pork fat to make the sausage, mixing it in a ratio of approximately 70% deer meat to 30% fat.  The meat is cut, seasoned and put in a stainless steel pan and stored in the chest until I am ready to grind it.  The flavors mix better in the meat if allowed to set overnight.

Remember, meat cuts better, and grinds better when cold.  NEVER use garbage bags of any type to store, or hold you meat.  Many of the products sold as garbage bags have chemicals to prevent the garbage from stinking, this is transferred to the meat if used for storage.  Store in a stainless steel pan, bowl, of get plastic bags made for FOOD storage.

Another tip.  When cooking hamburger made out of any game animal let it thaw totally, put it in a large bowl, add about a quarter of a cup of cold water (beer) and mix very well.  This will provide a little more moisture to the burger. It can be cooked on a grill or on the stove top.  Be careful while turning them.  

[rebAL]

Good replies;  Do you do anything in order to prevent moisture from raw meat from getting sucked into the food saver?

[rockbilly]

There should not be that much moisture on the meat.  All raw meat has blood, but that is in  a limited amount.  If you are washing the meat, dry it with a clean paper towel before putting it in the package.  Always allow a little extra length in making the bags (I use rolled material and seal one end then cut it off for using the cutter on the machine)  With the machine on a counter top, allow enough room for the bagged meat to lay on the counter in front of the machine, lift the bag into the sealing area, with the meat still resting on the counter, and turn the vacuum on.  This will prevent the moisture out of the machine.  The moisture will not hurt the machine, it should collect in the bottom of the vacuum area, all you have to do is wipe it out with a clean paper towel.

A lot of moisture on the bag may prevent a good seal.  I like to seal once, move the bag slightly, and seal again.  using the manual seal, I always seal the bottom to the bag twice too.

[K.K]

We have been using our Foodsaver for about four years. Just last week, while cleaning out the freezer, I found a section of backstrap that was 3 years old! I know, how could I have let that happen? It must have slipped down in the chest freezer. Anyway, th quality was like the day that I cut it. It works very well. Also, you can buy meat in bulk and save while cutting it up into portions. I highly reccomend them.