Cleaning out the chest freezer this evening, I came across some beef roasts that have been around for a few years. I'm not worried for safety - they've been kept at 0 or below for the duration. Power outages have been brief and the freezer never lost significant temperature. I'm not worked up over quality issues since they're wrapped tightly in plastic and foil - but Mrs Papi won't touch the stuff in a meal. So I'm going to defrost and marinade, smoke em a little and dehydrate for jerky. Does anyone have first hand experience that wants to speak up and tell me I'm wasting my time and Hickory?
I've done the same. I haven't seen any issues with making jerky from old meat that had been properly stored.
Safety wise I think you'll be ok, but quality is going to be an issue. Even wrapped up tight, frozen meats dehydrate. And "a few years" is a long time!
I don't know if the thinking has changed but we always planned on six months for pork and twelve months for beef in the freezer.
Well, you dehydrate meat to jerky-ize it. When you cut it up, you'll see whether or not you'll want to go ahead and use it. I think the last time I made jerky with older venison it was 2-3 yrs old, and it was just fine.
If using old meats like that, stews, tacos, sauces, such like that will have a lot of fun hiding the quality looks with something else. Smoking it may help too.
No worries. We eat old beef occasionally. Funny how it gets shuffled around and lost. I wont even say how old a few roasts have been.
Old beef goes right into a gravy (Pasta sauce for the non Italians out there ). Partially cook it and let it finish cooking in the gravy as it simmers for hours
I found 1 hunk of mule deer back strap in freezer was just over 3 years old when I was making room for new deer, I do wrap all my meat in freezer saran wrap then wrap in butchers freezer paper. Had absolutely no freezer burn and tasted just like it was fresh. And that was a year ago and I'm still here.
I have a chuck roast in the freezer. Probably has been there a bit too long. I plan to put it on the grill, under some pork butts, and see what comes of it. The pork drippings will baste it. I'll still plan on making a pot roast out of it. Will be interesting to see how it comes out.
That might work out just fine, but for me it would be pulled beef time and you will never know the difference https://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/bookmarks/1968/view
I can't view that link. Something about it not being "public". Depending how it comes out, I'll just shred it, or use it as a smoked pot roast later this week.
Keep forgetting I had bookmarked it. Here is the original post from "elderthewelder" From "Elderthewelder, post: 177774, member: 1659"]I smoked this chuck last year following this recipe, really liked the results, made great pulled beef sandwiches 3 – 4 lb Chuck Roast 2 cup’s of beef broth ½ packet of ranch dressing mix ½ packet of brown gravy mix ½ packet of Italian dressing mix Course fresh ground pepper 1 onion 2-3 large peppers (I used green, red and yellow) ***************************** Mix the packets of ranch, brown gravy and Italian dressing together (just the powder Mix) Place the roast in an aluminum pan and coat with the powder mix plus some course pepper Add 1 cup of beef broth Smoked @ 190* for 2 hours Then put aluminum foil over the aluminum pan, raised the grill temp up to 250* for 3 hours Then add up to 1 cup of beef broth if needed and add the cut peppers and onion and re-foiled @ 250* for another 1 ½ hours or until the peppers are done and the beef easily pulls apart. Let rest for at least 30 minutes, pull the roast and mix and drain off any unwanted broth.
I smoked the chuck roast last night. IMO, it came out so-so. I think it was on too long It tastes ok, for the most part. Some of it is really dry. Beyond burnt ends. However, there's plenty to salvage and I believe it'll make some really good chilli. Not too bad for an experiment, with beef that was in the freezer a bit too long. Always good to learn something.
I’ve done similar to Unclefish and left deer loin in the freezer for 2-3 years and it was still perfect when I used it. I was taught to Saran Wrap and get all the air out then wrap in freezer paper. I’ve done the same with vacuum sealer but I don’t think the single layer does as good but sure is a lot faster processing! BigPapi any update on how it turned out?
