Thread: Vacume packed meat

I have customers who are successfully Aging venison in the fridge for around 14 weeks. There are a few variable to consider. The age of the meat prior to vacuum packing, the fridge temperature and the quality of the vacuum seal. the finished product that you can achieve with a decent domestic type vacuum sealer is almost identical to what you achieve in a commercial chamber unit, when the job is done correctly. Probably the 2 biggest mistakes I see people make are.
1: sucking blood up into the seal area which compromises the seal, this then leaks and you no longer have a vacuum.
2: creating air locks in the vacuum bag by placing the meat hard up against the side of the bag, an air lock is then formed in the bottom of the bag. This has the same end effect, you do not have a proper vacuum.
6mm Ackley is quite correct when he says that air starts to form in the bag when it is time to use the meat. One important thing also to understand is that because the meat has been completely sealed during the aging process, when the bag is opened there will be a quite strong meat smell. This does not mean that the meat has gone off, this soon goes away after opening.