Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Anyone have a working way to freeze meat without using plastic bags and containers? I live somewhere I can't buy good meat regularly so I stock up for about 2 months at a time--chicken, beef, pork, fish... I always cut them into 4oz portions and store in plastic bags but the endocrine interruption evidence around BPA's is pretty chilling.

There are metal airtight containers and perhaps a large metal box to store a bunch of meats separated by wax paper would work? Not sure if it'd cause freezer burn if there's too much air/room in the box. Ideas? Experiences? http://lifewithoutplastic.com/boutique/food-storage-airtight-containers-c-66_71.html

flag	asked Dec 4 2011 at 19:12 ladyp 861●2●11

	Are you using Ziploc bags? Ziploc bags have no BPA. I freeze tons of stuff in them. saranbrands.com/faq.asp#1 – Silverspeed Dec 6 2011 at 5:29
	Thanks for the BPA clarification. Yes, been using ziplocs. Just trying to steer the whole ship away from le plastic. – ladyp Dec 6 2011 at 18:53

Firestorm · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-05 02:54:23Z UTC

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Butcher paper is my choice (Freezer paper without the plastic coating). I order mine here. http://www.webstaurantstore.com/435/butcher-paper-twine.html

The coating on the butcher paper is starch-based, not plastic. You'll have to be aware, though, that your meat will be more likely to develop freezer burn with long storage.

For extended storage, I use butcher paper, then wrap that in a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. The foil never touches the meat, but the foil layer helps to prevent the dehydration that causes freezer burn.

"Freezer paper" is coated with polyethylene -- a plastic... so I prefer not to use it, even though the 2-layer method takes a bit more work.

answered Dec 5 2011 at 2:54

Firestorm
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Sounds like a good idea, but how long does your meet keep using this process? Like roughly how many days, weeks, months? – ladyp Dec 5 2011 at 3:46

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With the combined wrap, I've kept my meat in the freezer for upwards of a year... organ meats for at least 6 months... with no loss of flavor or moisture. – Firestorm Dec 5 2011 at 15:05

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Anything I'm freezing for more than 60 days goes in the doubled wrapping. Things I'm storing for 60 days or less goes into the freezer in just the butcher-paper wrap, and I haven't had any problems with that. – Firestorm Dec 5 2011 at 15:07

Super. This seems like a very sound method. My inclination is to still store the meat in butcher paper, heavy foil and THEN put it in one of those large glass or stainless steel boxes in the link at the top, but I'm glad to know it's not entirely necessary. I just really don't want any freezer burned dinner. When I have a stocked freezer I feel rich. Don't want a little air to turn my currency to nothin!' – ladyp Dec 5 2011 at 17:37

Nance · Answer 2 · 2011-12-05 21:13:47Z UTC

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I've gotten rid of my plastic dishes and glasses, but I've still been using plastic bags to freeze individual portions. I like the idea of separating portions with waxed paper and freezing a number of them in a glass dish, so I may try it, but I have a tiny RV freezer so I don't know how well that would work.

Also, the grassfed beef from US Wellness is in plastic and the grassfed ground beef at Safeway is also in plastic. I don't know if we can get to perfect.

EDIT: I found a nice article by a pork farmer discussing different types of wraps. In a nutshell, she says meat should be chilled thoroughly before wrapping--also, butcher paper may be worse than other types of wrapping. Worth a read at least.

edited Dec 5 2011 at 21:13

answered Dec 4 2011 at 20:38

Nance
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This is pretty much where I am, too. I have been getting most of the plastic out of my life bit by bit, but my grassfed/pastured meat share comes in (mostly vaccuum sealed) plastic bags. If something plastic-free comes along that will protect the meat, I'm sure they'll switch, but for now I'm just going to have to settle for good enough. – Kewpie Dec 4 2011 at 22:33

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Why not waxed paper, then plastic? – Dragonfly Dec 4 2011 at 23:09

As I understand it the estrogens and endocrine interruptive elements (not sure exactly what they all are chemically) don't just have to be touching the food--they just need to be near it. I think that's why there's so many floating around in the environment but the technical info is beyond me. I'd just like to try and remove plastic from my apartment's kitchen since the cupboards are full of particle board! It's a matter of triage and reducing the damage with what I CAN control. It's not about purity--just lessening. – ladyp Dec 5 2011 at 3:51

jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com · Answer 3 · 2011-12-04 20:20:27Z UTC

Glass is the absolute safest method. Buy similar sizes so stacking is easy. Pyrex has the widest variety of sizes available and their lids are BPA free. Truly, it depends on your level of "oh no" in regards to toxins and such. Wax paper, foil, parchment paper, all have their health quirks. The containers you have in the link I have never frozen in, but have used to pack lunch. Would be an interesting experiment.

Here, this is cool, The National Center for Home Food Preservation. Everything you ever wanted to know about food preservation but were afraid to ask.

Nance · Answer 4 · 2011-12-05 21:46:23Z UTC

(This is my second answer, after doing some browsing.)

Whew! I'm kind of sorry I did some online research on this. It makes this a great question though.

1) waxed paper has either oil-based paraffin or SOY wax.
2) freezer and butcher papers most frequently have plastic and, if starch, may also have soy. Even if coated on only 1 side, once it's pressed into a tight roll I assume it's on both sides.

For right now, once I've used up my plastic bags I DON'T KNOW what would be best to do!

raydawg · Answer 5 · 2011-12-06 11:38:15Z UTC

Not sure if this would work, but whenever I have meat that's already cooked, I cover it in it's fat. For example, ribs make a lot of liquid, mostly fat. So I fill the glass container (pyrex) with the liquid fat before freezing/refrigeration, and that keeps oxygen out, then I wrap plastic wrap around the outside of the container to prevent any air from getting in (as the rubber/plastic from the pyrex container gets hard/brittle).

Of course, you'd throw away the layer of fat at the very top, as that's the sacrificial part where any PUFAs might go rancid, and you don't have to worry about very much of anything leeching from the plastic.

I suppose that this could work with raw meat, but you'd waste a lot of fat, and would need to wipe it down after you thaw it.

Melissa · Answer 6 · 2011-12-04 19:19:47Z UTC

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Freezer paper works for me.

answered Dec 4 2011 at 19:19

Melissa
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Freezer paper is paper with a plastic coating. – Kewpie Dec 4 2011 at 19:26

What about wax paper? – wjones3044 Dec 4 2011 at 19:29

I haven't tried wax paper but suspect it will lead to freezer burn since it's not air tight. I'm not willing to chance it on my !$$$$! meat. – ladyp Dec 4 2011 at 19:36

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Wax paper, then freezer paper, if you're really paranoid about plastics. – Matt Dec 4 2011 at 19:44

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I use double wrapped wax paper. Then tape the crap out of it. So far my bison and grassfed beef and lamb are burn free! – rdizzle Dec 4 2011 at 21:28

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Jan · Answer 7 · 2011-12-04 20:03:22Z UTC

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I use a foodsaver, havent found a better method of freezing meat than vacuuming. Less oxidation and freezer burn.

answered Dec 4 2011 at 20:03

Jan
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	Foodsaver uses plastic, too. – Sara S. Dec 4 2011 at 20:22
	Those look way fun, but yup, still PLASTICK! – ladyp Dec 5 2011 at 3:52
	Yep, but i havent found a satisfactory alternative, best way to freeze is to vacuumseal. Least amount of oxidation and freezer burn. – Jan Dec 5 2011 at 17:52

henny · Answer 8 · 2011-12-05 00:55:48Z UTC

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My vote is for freezer paper- if it ain't broke don't fix it. Freezer paper worked just fine all the years we raised our own meat. I think waxed paper would wimp out too soon.

answered Dec 5 2011 at 0:55

henny

	I like the feel of freezer paper but I can't find anything as to what kind of plastic is used on the coated side. I'll contact Reynolds and try and find out. – ladyp Dec 5 2011 at 3:45
	I think it is waxed. – henny Dec 5 2011 at 3:50
	Nope, plastic: reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/en/… "The plastic coating provides a barrier to air and moisture to protect the quality, flavor and nutrition of foods during freezing." – ladyp Dec 5 2011 at 4:16
	Yikes- it pays to check eh. – henny Dec 5 2011 at 14:23

Got a Plastics-Free meat freezing method that’s working for you?

8 Answers