State of the Freezer-your meat collection

[CHNeal]

Running a few errands today and found some great meat deals so finished filling my freezer. Normally this time of year Im running it down and fill it up in May when I buy my spring pallet of charcoal. However with the costs lately I just keep topping it off. As of this afternoon when my Mrs and I cut 2 more pork loins and broke down some multi pound packages of bacon my meat collection stands as:

60 lbs of pork loin cut into chops and roasts and packaged in single meals packages
40 lbs 80/20 ground beef divided into 1.5 lb packages
30 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts in 2 lbs packages
20 lbs bone-in chicken breast splits in 2 split packages
20 lbs thighs in 2ish lbs packages
12 whole 5+ lb fryers
10 lb pork sausage in 1 lb chubbs
18 lb bacon in 1 lb packages
9 racks of 4-5 lb baby back ribs
17 lbs pulled pork in 1 lb packages
9 lbs pulled brisket in 1 lb packages
4 lbs chorizo in 1 lb chubbs
9 is blocks of salted butter

Ill buy a strip loin and a rib roast to cut into steaks this week and Ill be set and feeling ok about where I sit. I like the freezer full and a stack of charcoal to cook it on.

Who else hoards meat?

[SheilaAnn]

I’m a bit of a hoarder. But in my defense, I go in with a friend on whole animal. I watch for online sales and bulk up. I just portioned out a bunch of sausage we bought this week. But I have not done inventory…..

[CHNeal]

I normally don’t inventory regularly but Im doing as lot of rotating lately since I keep topping it off. For years I just filled It in the spring and fall and just ran with it.
I changed my pattered a few years back…

[Attjack]

You win. I'm running a little low. I need to re-up on pork from my sister soon.

[DavidNorcross]

I have a chicken freezer that is also loaded with frozen vegetables from the garden. Then a separate freezer for pork and another for beef. The beef and pork freezers need topping off. I do not have inventories like you do, but I have in the past.

[Jfrosty27]

The only freezer I have is the one with the kitchen fridge. In other words, very small. So I am forced to turn the contents very quickly and buy often. I buy 90% from Wild Fork so that’s very easy. Right now my freezer contains:
1 flat iron steak
2 pork tenderloins
1 one pound package of shaved rib eye
2 Berkshire thick cut pork chops
1 pack of hot dogs
8 premade burgers
20 chicken thighs
1 small frozen pizza
a few bags of frozen veggies.

Certainly enough to keep me and wifey fed. And WF delivers to me in 24-48 hours depending on what time of day I order. I keep a little notebook and record the ins and outs to stay on top of things. Works great. So I continue to resist buying another freezer that I would just fill up.

[STEbbq]

I was the same way until I started doing a lot of pastrami. You can’t fit frozen full packers in those tiny freezers!

[58limited]

I'm not sure of what all I have. I know there is 100 or so pounds of venison, 6 pork butts averaging 9 lbs each, and about 38 lbs of ground beef and venison blend. Sausage - at least 10-15 lbs. 15 gallons of various stocks plus soups and beans all in 1 qt containers. Lots of steaks and a few roasts - beef, elk, and bison. One cooked and vacuum sealed 1701 BBQ brisket. 20 lbs of roasted Hatch chilies. There is A LOT more.

[STEbbq]

I think I have a few steaks, some beef belly, a couple of frozen pizzas….

I hope you have insurance coverage and some freezer alarms Clay!

[CHNeal]

STEbbq

here's a pic of what happens when the door doesn’t get closed all the way on a real good freezer….

[Andrrr]

My standup was given to me by my grandparents when they downsized and it’s built the same way where the coils are built into the shelves. There’s no defrost so I need to do that manually every couple years but you’re right that it’s a deep freeze machine! I look at the temp every time I go down there and it’s never above 0F

[CHNeal]

jfmorris Yep it wasn’t as full as I have it now but it was probably 1/2. Had to kinda let it thaw a bit then chip a bit as I didn’t want to thaw the meat. Ended up thawing more then I wanted to so my neighbors were all cooking chicken breasts and pork chops for a week!

[CHNeal]

Andrrr Exactly! Ours was actually my wife’s folks freezer. I want badly to replace it but will have to go serious commercial ( read very expensive) quality to touch one as good as this.

[Skip]

With being Empty Nesters we just keep a little bit of everything on hand. We have a few cuts of Beef, Pork, Fish, Sausage, and Chicken on hand at all times but quit buying in bulk quantities a few years ago. There's always plenty of pulled Beef and Pork and Frozen Leftovers in the freezer too. I'm glad we have a Vacuum Sealer!

[hoovarmin]

Dang Clay! I usually decide what I want to cook in the morning, go to the grocery store and buy it, and then start over the next day. I wish I could freeze meat in advance the way you do.

[ssandy_561]

I like to buy meat in bulk and I have a Food Saver.

10 - 8 oz. Haddock Filets / 2 per pack
12 - 6 oz. Cod Filets / 2 per pack
8 Tenderloin Beef Fillet individually frozen from a whole tenderloin I bought 2 weeks ago
12 lbs of Jumbo Chicken Wings frozen 1 lb per pack
3 - 3 to 4 lb Pork Bellies I just got at $3.99 per pound today
2 - 1 lb package of Chorizo
6 boneless Pork Loin Chops individually frozen that came from the whole pork loin I bought for New Years Day

I hope someone has chicken tenders on sale this week since I used my last pack last week.

[Draznnl]

Running a few errands today and found some great meat deals so finished filling my freezer. Normally this time of year Im running it down and fill it up in May when I buy my spring pallet of charcoal.

When I read this, my first thought was, “Um Clay, you do know that charcoal doesn’t go in the freezer, right.”

But seriously, that is one heck of a meat inventory. My freezer is about half full with less than a tenth of what you’ve listed. With that volume of meat, are you talking multiple chest freezers or did you simply convert the garage to a walk-in?

[CHNeal]

Lol. We have a couple of uprights but the garage is a great Idea!

[Washblue]

We have two upright, refrigerator sized freezers and two refrigerators…
I’m not inventorying them… nope… not gun-doit!
fish, fowl, swine, bovine, garden stuff… and I need to stop buying till we use a lot!
An inventory sure would help on FIFO, tho…

[Steve R.]

An embarrassingly large amount of ribs and briskets in my chest freezer, along with a bunch of other stuff. I need to whittle that down over the next few months.

In fairness, this was by design shortly after COVID started and I got a decent deal on a bigger freezer.

[Donw]

That is not hoarding just proper planning. Besides if you buy large quantities when things are on sale then it is also wise investing.

[CHNeal]

Don,
That’s what got us started. We were paying like 4 dollars a pound for chicken breasts and pork loin chops. We were at Sams Club and UI saw pork loins for 1.60 a pound and chicken breast for the same I think. I told the wife we can save a bunch of money and she said prove it.
We went on the less than 5 dollar a plate dinner dinner quest and it stuck! Even in todays prices I feed my family breakfast, lunch and dinner for 6 bucks a plate or less ( special meals excluded).