Freezer Paper or Vaccum Packed
 

Freezer Paper or Vaccum Packed. Which do you do. We have a new butcher this year and he said it is .57 a lb to freezer wrap and .65 a lb to vac pack.

I am trying to figure out if the 8 cents more a pound is worth it.

Thanks
Penny

Is the .65 per pound hanging weight, dressed weight or live weight?

To me it is not worth 8 cents more. Properly wrapped meat in white paper is perfectly acceptable. Maybe if you are not planning to eat it for a loooong time, it would be worth it. (though I doubt it would matter that much).

Meat wrapped in a double layer of butcher paper is perfectly fine, and it keeps very well. I only vacuum wrap stuff I am selling, as folks like to see the meat. I do, however, think vacuum sealed is nicer when defrosting. No juices escape, so it's a little less messy that way. I'd say go old school, and save some $$

With only two of us here to eat it, a steer can last for 2 years. In vacuum sealed wrap, it stays fresh. Butcher paper starts to dry out after 6 months.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

depends how well the vacuum seal too. When I had the pigs done the butcher had apparently just recently switched to vacuum sealing and I'd say he needs some practice. About a third of it~ and all 4 of the hams (I had the hams cut in half so there were 4 of them) lost the seal before I ever got them home.

hanging weight

Your choice of course but that price tag sure seems high...Hate to compare but I'm paying .48 cent per pound hanging...Just trying to give you an example.

Thank you all for your help. I checked several places and they were pretty much the same price.

I still haven't decided. The beef will only be in the freezer for a year at the most.

You can put butcher paper wrapped meat into a plastic bag and set it in water to thaw.

(I am doing that as we speak, LOL.)

I prefer the white paper wrap, but the new butcher we're using only vacuum wraps so we have no choice on the matter. I do agree with Rose that it's nice to be able to see what's in the packages at a glance with the clear vacuum wrap.

can you have the choicest cuts vacuumed and the rest paper wrapped? it would break my heart to have a steak dry out.... but stew meat? I could live/work with that.

Around here, you don't get a choice from the butchers. They each use their own method, so you choose the butcher that uses the method you like. The price is the same.

I take some to a USDA inspected facility far away to get meat packaged for resale. They use vacuum pack. They charge the same as the others for non-labeled pack and $.05/lb. extra for labeling.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

If it is for your own use, go with the paper wrap. All the paper wrapped meat we have was wrapped in plastic wrap then wrapped in paper. ask the butcher if he does it that way. we are eating maet still from a bull we butchered exactly one year ago this month, and it is fine, not freezer burnt at all. we vacuum seal the meat we sell, so the customers can see the meat. I have found though, that the vacuum sealed ones you have to be more carefull with. bone edges can poke right through it you drop it on the floor or something, then youve lost your seal.

Our butcher uses paper and does a good job with it. Sometimes we have year-old meat in the freezer that is still in really good shape before we get around to using it. The vacuum wrap is great. I personally just wouldn't spend the extra cash on it.

I prefer vac pack. We had our pig done in paper and its just too messy to thaw. Not to mention orur freezer got left cracked and everything thawed in the paper so we had pig blood all over the floor and pooled in the bottom of the freezer.

We are taking in our cow in two weeks to a USDA processor and they vac pack for a total processing fee if .50/pound.

Prices sure vary depending on the state you live in.....65cents in some and .50cents in others, quite a difference.

I worked for five years as a meat wrapper for a farm butcher. We used the vacuum pack.

I double-wrapped everything, checked for holes and/or failed seal, and ran it through again if necessary.

If my boss came across anything with holes I had missed, he was not happy. Quality control was very important to him and his customers were always very happy with the plastic wrap.

We had one customer who, once a year, bought a beef and he wanted his meat wrapped with the paper and then run through the vacuum sealer. He paid extra for that, too.

I forgot to come back and say...I choose vacuum seal for the meat and happy I did as it all fit into the freezer and I can see how the meat looks I like that.

I would love to have the vacuum pack option for pork, as it seems to not keep as well. The beef is usually fine, wrapped in plastic then paper.

Our lamb & beef come from the butcher in the paper wrap. We usually get a whole lamb and a spilt side of beef every 6 months. We can't raise our own, but the animals come from our neighbors. As far as chickens, I process close to 60 a year and use the shrink warp with them. I would say that we turn our meat over in the freezer every 6 months and we haven't seen freezer damage from either packaging. As far as thawing, it is cleaner in the freezer wrap.For me, packaging the chickens is easy, drop them in the bag, and vacuum pack it.

I like the freezer wrap better. I have had too many of the vaccumed packeges get a hole poke in it from being moved around. Being a family of 7 with the freezer wrap we use it up before any freezer burn happens.
Barb