Pork Share Packaging Choices

There’s nothing worse than making the investment into buying bulk from your local farmer to open your freezer 6 months later and find all your meat for the year is freezer burned!! I would hate for you to have to learn that lesson the hard way so I’m going to share some options with you. There are 2 major choices for packaging: butcher paper (white paper), or vacuum sealed.

1. Butcher paper is great for short term storage and is often how bulk pork will come from the butcher.

2. Vacuum sealed is the other option and can lasts up to 2 years. Sometimes this option is available straight from the butcher. Many people that receive their meat wrapped in butcher paper invest in a home vacuum sealer. Then they separate their order into serving sizes to freeze for easy use.

Typical quantities for freezing:

Pork chops in Pairs

bacon/ ground pork in 1 lb increments

• flattening the ground pork prior to vacuuming helps to make it easier to store more in your freezer

ham steaks individually or in pairs (stacked)

ribs 2-3 lb increments

roasts - individually (I ask for some of mine to be cut in half)

Resources:

Markers - Uni Pi:s are my go to and even work on already frozen packages.

UPDATED 11/30/21 I have been having trouble finding UNI Pi:s in stock.

Good old fashioned Sharpies work ok too but you have to label before freezing.

Tape - Scotch Freezer tape is easily found and economical. You can also find freezer tape at outdoor shops like Cabela’s, or even online if you are looking to order in bulk.

Vacuum Bags - There are two main styles: those that are an actual bag with 3 sealed sides and those that are only sealed on 2 sides and you can seal the other two sides to make a custom sized package. I try to be sure i am using 6 mil bag thickness. There are many companies that offer them. If you’re interested I will do some side by side trials to see how they stand up and compare.

Vacuum Sealer - There are so many brands, I can only speak for the brand I have used which is the Food Saver. I love it and haven’t found a need to change.