Your Pastured Products:

All about Frozen Meat Products? Common Questions

How much freezer space do I need? 1 cubic foot per 35-40 lb of beef is a good way to estimate. You can fit 50 lb of ground beef in 2 full size brown paper bags or half the average refrigerator freezer. Chest freezers are an excellent choice. 7 CU ft freezers are reasonably priced and have a low operating cost and are a nice size. Imagine- a freezer that size can hold 1/4 beef, some chickens, pork, veggies.

How long will it keep in my freezer? 12 months is the rule of thumb, but many meat items can be safely stored frozen for longer than that with the type of packaging we use (vacuum packed and cryovac sealed) with no signs of aging. TIP: Line your freezer with brown cardboard or put the meat in a box that fits in your freezer. This method is amazing for preventing freezer burn of any kind—do it—you won’t be sorry.

How is the quality when you thaw it out? Excellent, just like fresh beef you would get from a butcher. TIP: I blot steaks dry with a paper towel before using dry rubs, but other than that there is nothing extra to do. Thawing is easy, you can just put it in the refrigerator on a plate a day ahead or if you need to speed the process up use a cold water bath.

How am I going to FIND things in my chest freezer? Things tend to get lost. Labelled Boxes are key. I organize my beef cuts by cooking style. When I first get in a shipment of beef, I separate the cuts by grilling, braising and then of course ground beef. Then, I label the top of the box with its contents. This sounds like a bit of work, but really, it isn’t, and if you do it once, you’ll save lots of time by not digging in the freezer aimlessly over the course of a year!TIP:You can modify the box size at any time by cutting and folding the sides in to make it so that you don’t have a half empty box taking up space in the freezer.

I don’t like to PLAN meals. How does this stocked freezer help me out? Truth: I personally don’t like to plan meals. For some reason it seems restrictive. I have found that taking out a few pieces of protein at the beginning of the week, like on a Sunday afternoon works wonders. Even if you don’t know what you’ll do with the meat when you take it out, by the time you are headed to the store to get other ingredients for the week, your brain is working on it, cravings will kick in and you’ll come up with some great creations without even trying or committing to a rigid plan.

We want you to walk away from buying products from our farm with a sense of local pride and a greater connection to nature and agriculture.