Re-usable freezer storage for raw meat?

[redheadbaker]

Our household has eliminated paper towels, plastic cling wrap and tinfoil, and most plastic zip-top bags. The only thing I still use them for is when I buy meat in bulk, and want to separate it out and freeze smaller portions. 

Any recommendations for dishwasher-safe reuseable freezer storage for raw meat? 

[pierogigirl]

I have never used them for this, but Stasher bags are freezer safe and dishwasher safe. They also come in bigger sizes. They are $$$, depending on how many you'd want.

[dcn]

Stasher bags are also my suggestion.

[heygrey]

I have stasher bags for fridge stuff or packing in lunches, but I don’t think they would be great for the freezer. There is no way to get enough air out so freezer burn would happen and then you’re wasting what could have been good food.

We are super waste conscious in our house, but realistically the plastic from packaging meat in family serving sizes is the least of the environmental concerns in the meat industry. Buying from a local butcher where portions are well wrapped in butcher paper is a great alternative. If that isn’t an option, use ziplocks or a food saver for your meat and absolve yourself of the guilt.

We eat meat so zero judgment from me on that. We buy what we can from a local butcher, but cost and availability can be limiting. The rest we buy in large portions and use a Food Saver to divide it up.

[VillainV]

I’ve heard about people using silicone sous vide bags with their FoodSaver to store raw meat. Honestly we just use the regular food-saver bags (trying to minimize waste and cut out single-use plastics in other ways).

ETA: ditto that butcher paper could be a good option for you

[redheadbaker]

Jan 17, 2022 18:28:58 GMT -5 heygrey said:

I have stasher bags for fridge stuff or packing in lunches, but I don’t think they would be great for the freezer. There is no way to get enough air out so freezer burn would happen and then you’re wasting what could have been good food.

We are super waste conscious in our house, but realistically the plastic from packaging meat in family serving sizes is the least of the environmental concerns in the meat industry. Buying from a local butcher where portions are well wrapped in butcher paper is a great alternative. If that isn’t an option, use ziplocks or a food saver for your meat and absolve yourself of the guilt.

We eat meat so zero judgment from me on that. We buy what we can from a local butcher, but cost and availability can be limiting. The rest we buy in large portions and use a Food Saver to divide it up.

The extra portions are never frozen long. They usually get used within a month. 

[akayf]

We wrap the meat in tin foil and then put 4 packets in a large ziplock freezer bag. I write the date on the outside of tye bag. We then reuse the ziplock bag several times since raw meat never touches it. Just cross off the date and write a new one. But that won’t work for you since you have eliminated using foil.

[pixy0stix]

Tupperware?

[juliej]

Another Stasher vote. We actually used them to sous vide in our Instant Pot last night - worked great as reusable "vacuum" bags. You can submerge them in water as you seal to force the excess air out.

[taratru]

Growing up, all our meat was home-processed and we used butcher paper. I don't know how recyclable it is, though.

[redheadbaker]

Jan 17, 2022 19:43:44 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Tupperware?

H has an aversion to food storage containers. HATES them. If I don't beat him to clearing out the fridge, he will toss the container along with the food in it. It's not the containers themselves, it's storing them. 

[af1212]

There’s a lot of info here in this article and podcast but the basic takeaway is that using the silicone bags will never be better for the environment than using regular ziplock bags. The resources necessary are so great that no matter how many times you reuse it you will never be doing better than using single use bag.

So I would just use a regular ziplock bag.

www.resources.org/resources-radio/the-last-straw-assessing-alternatives-to-single-use-plastics-with-shelie-miller/

[SwimDeep]

Jan 17, 2022 22:01:17 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Jan 17, 2022 19:43:44 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Tupperware?

H has an aversion to food storage containers. HATES them. If I don't beat him to clearing out the fridge, he will toss the container along with the food in it. It's not the containers themselves, it's storing them. 

My H doesn't mind washing Tupperware containers, but he absolutely will not put them away. He leaves them stacked (neatly) on the counter for me to deal with. I don't get it. Like... figure out why you hate putting them away and then look for a solution. Maybe invest some energy in keeping that cabinet tidy so it's not such a big deal?

Also... why does that cabinet turn into such a disaster?? It's better since we started saving/reusing takeout containers because they're mostly all the same, but that damn cabinet is a constant mess. We have way too many containers I think... but H saves all takeout containers anyway even though he won't put them away. So now I'm the one throwing out the whole container of old leftovers when I clear out the fridge.

Totally not the point of this post, lol. I have no suggestions for reusable freezer bags. I want to do my part to save the planet, but I don't think I could sufficiently clean a bag that held raw meat to feel comfortable reusing it.

[macmars45]

I mostly use pyrex glass bowls with plastic lids.

[juliej]

Jan 17, 2022 23:07:30 GMT -5 af1212 said:

There’s a lot of info here in this article and podcast but the basic takeaway is that using the silicone bags will never be better for the environment than using regular ziplock bags. The resources necessary are so great that no matter how many times you reuse it you will never be doing better than using single use bag.

So I would just use a regular ziplock bag.

www.resources.org/resources-radio/the-last-straw-assessing-alternatives-to-single-use-plastics-with-shelie-miller/

That article mentions the silicone bags, and says you can never break even. But then the context of the quote is in regards to dishwashing, saying that you have to hand-wash beeswax wraps (no mention of silicone beyond the first bit), so they end up being a bigger environmental drain than single-use plastics because dishwashers are much more efficient. But we put our Stashers in the dishwasher so...

The biggest takeaway in the referenced studies is that many people just don't use the reusable options enough to break even, not that there's no break-even point (and the points aren't crazily high - people just do stuff like swap out water bottles after a few months to change styles, etc). Essentially - it depends.

[wawa]

Jan 17, 2022 21:34:05 GMT -5 taratru said:

Growing up, all our meat was home-processed and we used butcher paper. I don't know how recyclable it is, though.

yeah, I think butcher paper is functionally a solid choice (especially if you're only storing for a month or two), we always had really good results with it - but my understanding is that most (all?) brands are plastic coated. 

So...that's not helpful redheadbaker.  I'm not sure there's a good answer to this that doesn't involve a container.  So if those are a no-go, then....you might just have to accept that meat is where you're gonna have more impact?  That's kinda where I've fallen - we eat less of it than we used to, and are working toward more of it being local, but until we're willing to go veggie it's going to be a high impact item for us.

[sonrisa]

Jan 17, 2022 22:01:17 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Jan 17, 2022 19:43:44 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Tupperware?

H has an aversion to food storage containers. HATES them. If I don't beat him to clearing out the fridge, he will toss the container along with the food in it. It's not the containers themselves, it's storing them. 

That's where to start. Find out what he won't just toss and use that. No container is reusable if your husband throws it away. 

[af1212]

Jan 19, 2022 9:11:56 GMT -5 juliej said:

Jan 17, 2022 23:07:30 GMT -5 af1212 said:

There’s a lot of info here in this article and podcast but the basic takeaway is that using the silicone bags will never be better for the environment than using regular ziplock bags. The resources necessary are so great that no matter how many times you reuse it you will never be doing better than using single use bag.

So I would just use a regular ziplock bag.

www.resources.org/resources-radio/the-last-straw-assessing-alternatives-to-single-use-plastics-with-shelie-miller/

That article mentions the silicone bags, and says you can never break even. But then the context of the quote is in regards to dishwashing, saying that you have to hand-wash beeswax wraps (no mention of silicone beyond the first bit), so they end up being a bigger environmental drain than single-use plastics because dishwashers are much more efficient. But we put our Stashers in the dishwasher so...

The biggest takeaway in the referenced studies is that many people just don't use the reusable options enough to break even, not that there's no break-even point (and the points aren't crazily high - people just do stuff like swap out water bottles after a few months to change styles, etc). Essentially - it depends.

Well the article I linked is a podcast transcript - so they were having a conversation about different products.

But the studies did actually study each item, and how many reuses you needed to do to make the reusable product environmentally better than the disposable/single use item.

They studied straws, bags, cutlery, etc.

And for silicone bags the answer is - you will never be environmentally better off using the silicone items. No matter how many times you reuse them.

[mouse]

If people are interested, I think this is the study that’s being referenced. FWIW, I don’t eat meat, but I have found silicone to be hard to clean (even in the dishwasher it can feel greasy or filmy) and just not as practical as I’d hoped.

news.umich.edu/is-reusable-always-best-comparing-environmental-impacts-of-reusable-vs-single-use-kitchenware/

[fortnightlily]

Jan 19, 2022 15:04:22 GMT -5 mouse said:

If people are interested, I think this is the study that’s being referenced. FWIW, I don’t eat meat, but I have found silicone to be hard to clean (even in the dishwasher it can feel greasy or filmy) and just not as practical as I’d hoped.

news.umich.edu/is-reusable-always-best-comparing-environmental-impacts-of-reusable-vs-single-use-kitchenware/

It's interesting that they only assess impact based on "energy use, global warming potential and water consumption" and not on the landfill/biodegradability factor.

[msmerymac]

I have a few of these bags from Grove Collaborative. While still plastic, they are reusable, and reducing single-use plastic is the first step.

www.grove.co/catalog/product/reusable-storage-bag-2-pack/?v=7546&attrsrc=22&attrpg=catalog&attrpos=2

I was actually sent them accidentally, but I have a few gallon-size and a few sandwich-sized now and they're good.

[twinmomma]

I buy the 100% compostable ziploc style bags instead of the regular plastic ones. I've found them at Target and they're on sale pretty frequently in the Cartwheel app.
They're not amazing by any means. I find they tend to rip more easily when the kids try to use them in their lunchboxes and can't easily open/close them. We usually use re-usable containers for their lunchboxes anyway. But for freezer storage or at home stuff, the compostable bags get the job done and make me feel better about the single use nature of the item.

[mouse]

Jan 19, 2022 15:29:08 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Jan 19, 2022 15:04:22 GMT -5 mouse said:

If people are interested, I think this is the study that’s being referenced. FWIW, I don’t eat meat, but I have found silicone to be hard to clean (even in the dishwasher it can feel greasy or filmy) and just not as practical as I’d hoped.

news.umich.edu/is-reusable-always-best-comparing-environmental-impacts-of-reusable-vs-single-use-kitchenware/

It's interesting that they only assess impact based on "energy use, global warming potential and water consumption" and not on the landfill/biodegradability factor.

While gross, my understanding is properly contained or managed landfill is one of the smaller pieces of the looming global catastrophe problem. I’m not saying it’s not a problem, but it’s not the first one I’d tackle. Ocean plastics and groundwater leeching being separate matters.

[bee20]

I'm not sure if this is obvious, but the thicker (Quart and Gallon) ziplocks wash easily in my dishwasher if I spread them across a rack section inside out. I get at least 5 uses out of them before a seam rips if I use them for camping/hiking and usually much much longer if they're just used around the house.

Silicone is still a polymer and doesn't decompose so washing your existing baggies, especially in the dishwasher, may be a better solution.