cryovac

Depending on type of meat...some say...

But I keep meat in fridge for about 4-5 weeks....in freezer they say you can keep for over 12 months.

Vegies are the same....

I cut up half leg of ham and cryovac and freeze....last me ages.

Hi there. We have a Sunbeam machine, and its owners manual lists storage times, so a visit to your friendly retailer such as hardly normal will give you access to this (hopefully), or else you can visit http://vacuseal.com.au/skin1/images/vacuseal_catalogue.pdf and scroll to page 17 of the catalogue. I suspect all brands are in hte same ballpark when it comes to storage times, although they certainly aren't when it comes to prices (machines and bags/rolls!!!).
Hope this helps.
We use ours mostly for raw meat (frozen) and pre-cooked dishes like casseroles, etc. (also frozen). I am a great fan of vacuum packing especially for off road trips, with 10 days frozen meat/meals in the bottom of the fridge, and chilled vegs and salads in the top (we have a Two Zone on top of an Engel).

My butcher who has done my cryovacing reckons that uncooked chicken should be used within a week; problem with listeria, apparently. Otherwise, 5-6 weeks is achieveable with red meats, including pork.
Both Woolies and Coles sell vac-packed cooked smoked chicken, which I use in stir-fries when camping. This keeps for many weeks unopened, as marked by the use-by date.
If you're getting it done by a butcher, some put the meat in plastic trays before vac-packing, which takes up valuable room in the fridge, so a quick word with him before he does it to not use trays is a good idea.
Some vegies carry reasonably well if kept cool (not refrigerated) if wrapped in newspaper, esp tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers. Potatoes don't need refrigerating, but keep them cool and, importantly, dark, and not in plastic bags - a cloth bag works well. Onions also. The main idea with veges is to not let them sweat.
Gerry

We cryovac our meat and veges in meal lots and keep it in the Engel up to 5 weeks without a problem at fridge temps 3 Deg C.
By doing it in meal lots, it allows us to change the menu at a whim and also keeps any blood etc at bay. Just open any meat about 15 minutes before cooking to allow time to re-breath etc.
We also pre cook stews etc then when cool cryovac same for reheating as required.
You will find with a little experimentation there are numerous items one can vac/pac for use at another date. We have even done scone mix this way and it sure downsizes the package for storage.

.

Depends is the answer,

Ran a small deer farm and venison supply business to 60 odd SW restaurants for about 8 years or so, and managed not to kill anyone "Garabandi style" with food poisoning - by being on the conservative side with use by dates on product.

How long it will last depends on things like:-

1. The process of meat handling from slaughter onwards.
2. The Ph of the meat when packed
3. Whether carcass freshwater washed at slaughter
4. Whether smoked (Because its usually brine pumped first)
5. How much air is removed in the cryovac process
6. How steady the temp within the refrigerator (how frequently the doors opened and closed.

6 weeks was considered a max use by date for refrigerated - 4 weeks is safer.

6 weeks is in a cold store room where temp remains constant and doors aren't opened all day every day, 4 weeks in a normal household refrigerator where the doors open and closed all day every day.

For me - a traveling fridge, where conditions might not be "ideal", 3 weeks tops.

Frozen cryo packed - 6 months to be safe - but 12 months possibly.

Getting back to 1 above - handling of carcass at slaughter, - this affects the ph and longevity of the meat for cryovac storage. An unstressed animal at slaughter will not display any evidence of ecymosis, or blood spotting, which shows up usually first in the liver in mild cases and then other muscles especially those around the inside of the chest cavity, diaphragm - (eye of fillet).

Stressed animals at slaughter - where even slight ecymosis is evident, won;t keep as well in cryovac because usually the Ph of the overall carcass will be elevated, and this can provide a better environment for bacteria to culture.

Next - the cleanliness of evisceration - a good slaughter man will effectively remove the urinary tract including the whole gall bladder un-ruptured and, in the same way will remove the entire anus and colon etc tying it in a knot to prevent spillage, and then take out all the stomach contents in one go without puncturing the stomach and spilling any grass contents on the carcass itself. If at the same time he removes the throat and ties it off and avoids spillage there as well - all the potential contamination points for the carcass are eliminated.

This means a carcass can be produced with minimal bacterial contamination, and where this is achieved - then much reduced use if freshwater to wash out the insides of the carcass is then reqiuired.

Fresh watre is full of bacteria that can potentially start the bacterial decay process of the carcass.

All of these potential contamination sources - increase the rate at which bacteria can multiply within the cryovac bag oxygen deprived environment.

Less contaminated carcass - that's hygienically handled thru the butchering process lasts longer in cryovac than, one that didn;t fare so well in the slaughter process.

The same slaughter men team at an abattoir might handle 5 or 6 hundred carcasses a day - and even being as skilled as they are, they might get 9 out of 10 animals thru the chain process without spillage or contamination - but there will always be the odd animal where spillage of gut content etc - even tho thoroughly washed will still contaminate the carcass with bacterial source that will result in quicker rate of spoilage than the one next to it where no gut content spillage and minimal washing as a result afterward occurred leads to less contamination.

Me - after years at the abbs putting the deer thru each week - and after doing my own on farm slaughter for household needs - can tell the difference in taste of a carcass that's been contaminated & one that hasn't - that digested grass taste - is hard to remove even with thorough washing.

Slaughter men pride themselves on NOT contaminating carcasses - but we are all human and errors occur occasionally that lead to contamination.

Me doing just one carcass for farm consumption can take my time and be extra careful with every step of the process, so as to avoid contamination - buut its a lot different forthe guy earning a living as a slaughterman who will produce maybe 15 or more carcasses in the time it takes me to do one.

Within that 15 carcasses - he might contaminate one by accident - a slip with the knife is all it takes, in either the skinning ir evisceration process.

Hard as it might be to believe this treate,ent affects the longevity of the meat you put in your cryovac process.

Max storage times has to allow for the worst case scenario / contamination at slaughter or butchering stage i.e. the lowest common denominator.

Lots of red meat will last 6 weeks cryovac sealed in a refrigerator in ideal conditions from stat to finish - but some of it wont and its the ones that won't which have to set the limit on length of storage.

Hope that hasn't put anyone off eating meat!

It's a good man who can slaughter his own meat (or worse work at an abattoir) and still eat meat!

Overall its not an entirely pleasant business, but if there weren't a special breed of men and woman who worked at abattoirs - we'd all be mightily hungry or tired of veges & mung beans!. ;o)

Cheers

My vac packer is the best thing I ever bought for camping. I buy in bulk, vac pack and freeze. When I travel I put the frozen stuff into the bottom of my FF40 and cold food (beer especially) on top. I know that provided my frodge keeps working I have regular supply of fresh, safe food.

I also take my vac packer with me on longer trips so I can buy again and be assured that my food won't spoil/leak into the fridge/etc.

Vac packers can be bought for less than $100 with the Sunbeam being the most expensive (and seriously overpriced).

Check out vac packers from.

Eurolab

[url=http://www.crazysales.com.au/maxkon-vacuum-food-saver-preservation-heat-sealer-for-home-use-w-free-bags_p1006.html?gclid=CP6H55vl8JwCFY0vpAod7ibUjg]Maxkon{/url]

Sorry for hijacking this post with another question - have always taken freshly croyvac meat on trips but does anyone have an opinion or experience relating to the notion of taking already frozen portions of meat out of the home freezer and cryovacing them and then letting them defrost in the cryovac bag at fridge temps. Basically, I have beef that I didn't think to cryovac any of it before freezing into portions and now I want to take some on a trip. I'll only take the portions without bones. The reason is, I don't like to run my engel as a freezer but if I let it all defrost in the fridge it will need to be eaten within 3 days. I was thinking if I cryovaced it whilst it was frozen it would last the 10 days.
Thanks Michelle (MM)