Freezer Needs?

[big rockpile]

Interesting we have two freezers, one is full the other one half way. This time of year can have too much meat to consume in short period of time. Chicken, Rabbit and Fish.

Deer season opens in September, so need to open more room in Freezer problem is we have fresh meat every day so none is getting taken out of the freezer

We like Rabbit now have 22 about ready to butcher. Thinking keep them on the Hoof few more weeks, butcher as we need sell the rest. Have about 20 Chickens, have no choice but to make room for them in the Freezer. Catfish are biting Few go to Freezer, then have Fish Fry with the rest.

Ok I know nice problem to have. Yes Blessed.

big rockpile

[o&itw]

Even more blessed than you know

While we have a side by side refridgerator/freezer, we don't have a deep freeze (that is coming next year) So this time of year, with it already full, we are eating rabbit about 4 times a week. Now, I love rabbit, but 4 times a week gets a little old

Trouble is I still have about 35 young ones of two different ages left to go. We have two weeks to get enough room for the next 17, and then about two weeks more for the last group. I would love to sell some, but everyone around here thinks they should give about $5 for a three or more pound dressed rabbit like they did 25 years ago.

I usually trade rabbit to my hay guy, but I took him ten 3 weeks ago, so no help there. We will be so very happy when we get moved and get that freezer.

[wally]

We also have two freezers, one about 3/4 full and the other is empty, need to defrost it now..With the garden and orchard coming on , fishing great and broilers about ready it wont take long to fill it up..

[Just Little Me]

Can some of the meat.

[Rustaholic]

The worst thing to happen with a full freezer is when the freezer goes down.
I have a 74 year old Hotpoint chest freezer in the basement that is way more efficient than anything you can buy now. I will trust it much more than any other one.

[jwal10]

We have access to a freezer at DDs. We bought it years ago. It is small. We also bought a very small 24 volt freezer last fall for all the salmon I caught, just so we had some "almost fresh". We can some of the excess after smoking it but dry most. We do small batches of the meat we raise and butcher early and often, 1 or 2 at a time. Chickens, rabbits, pigeons, catch what fish we need daily. We share larger animals, barter and trade back and forth with friends and neighbors. We have the smoker and springhouse for storage of smoked meats too. We also salt and crock beef, elk and venison. Make lots of jerky....James

[BlackFeather]

If your freezers get too full, Just Little Me suggested canning the meat. Nothing tastes better than canned beef, I presume the same would be true for other meats. The benefit is that if the electricity should go out for a while that won't effect canned items. If you need a meal in a hurry just open a can of meat and reheat. We have canned beef many times and are starting to can chicken. if you thaw meat to can you will have to add a little water as freezing pushes water out of the meat, but fresh meat is usually raw packed with no water, there is enough in the meat.

[big rockpile]

Ok we have some Canned, problem is we never use it, same with Frozen, if we have fresh which we do most of the time that is what we use.

Our problem is we need to quit bringing meat in which is very difficult. Come right to it we wouldn't need a Freezer considering meat coming in every day, problem is large quantities coming in all at once. Like today we could be eating Rabbit but I have Ground Deer I used for Sausage, laid out 3 messes of Fish, invited Son and his Family to come help eat it.

big rockpile

[Michael W. Smith]

We have a medium sized chest freezer we use. We bought it the one year as deer season was upon us.

Between my son and I, we can kill a total of 6 deer - 2 bucks and 4 doe. We don't always get our limit - but deer season is a 2 week period of time - so the meat has to last for up to a year.

Speaking of which - we only have about 5 more months before more meat will be coming in, so I better get some venison out of the freezer!

[Use Less]

De-bone everything you can when you put it in the freezer. Invest in a high-quality vacuum packer. The department store kind don't work so well. Older meat is still edible for quite a while if it isn't freezer-burned, but it might lose flavor. Seasoned meat, like sausages, doesn't last so well in the freezer, though smoked will. Work on your recipes that include onions, peppers, garlic or other seasonings.

[Michael W. Smith]

I'll second Use less's opinion to use a vacuum packer. We use a Food Saver one, and have used meat that is 2 years old. Once it is thawed, and you take it out of the plastic, it looks just as good as the day we sealed it up!

The majority of venison is made into burger - we hardly ever buy beef anymore. In fact, that is what we used tonight for supper - a bag of venison burger to make meat sauce for the spaghetti we ate.

One less pack in the freezer now!

[TnAndy]

We put up 10 roosters 14wks old today in jars. Made 18 pints plus another 9 of broth.

[JohnL751]

Originally Posted by big rockpile

Interesting we have two freezers, one is full the other one half way. This time of year can have too much meat to consume in short period of time. Chicken, Rabbit and Fish.

Deer season opens in September, so need to open more room in Freezer problem is we have fresh meat every day so none is getting taken out of the freezer

We like Rabbit now have 22 about ready to butcher. Thinking keep them on the Hoof few more weeks, butcher as we need sell the rest. Have about 20 Chickens, have no choice but to make room for them in the Freezer. Catfish are biting Few go to Freezer, then have Fish Fry with the rest.

Ok I know nice problem to have. Yes Blessed.

big rockpile

Just a little more and that would sound like an invite to dinner!

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by Michael W. Smith

We have a medium sized chest freezer we use. We bought it the one year as deer season was upon us.

Between my son and I, we can kill a total of 6 deer - 2 bucks and 4 doe. We don't always get our limit - but deer season is a 2 week period of time - so the meat has to last for up to a year.

Speaking of which - we only have about 5 more months before more meat will be coming in, so I better get some venison out of the freezer!

Our Deer Season is 4 months long. I can get unlimited Antlerless Tags. But 3 Deer do us. We still have to deal with Fish which can be just as much meat as Deer, if not more. Don't even want to talk about Hogs.

Originally Posted by Use Less

De-bone everything you can when you put it in the freezer. Invest in a high-quality vacuum packer. The department store kind don't work so well. Older meat is still edible for quite a while if it isn't freezer-burned, but it might lose flavor. Seasoned meat, like sausages, doesn't last so well in the freezer, though smoked will. Work on your recipes that include onions, peppers, garlic or other seasonings.

We debone everything, have for years. We had a very Good Vacuum Sealer, found wrapping with Cling Wrap putting in sealed Freezer Bags keep just as well. Our Deer Burger and Sausage goes into Tubes that hold about 3 Pounds packed in.

big rockpile

[big rockpile]

Why I don't gain Freezer Space. 6 Meals for me and my wife today.

Trout



Rabbit



big rockpile