Thrifty Thursday - Save On Freezing Meats

This week for my Thrifty Thursday post, I'm talking about saving on your meat purchases.

There are several ways to keep your costs down when you are a meat loving family. Of course, the easiest way is to always purchase your meats on sale, and plan your meals around the sales.

The larger "family packs" are usually the best deals to be had per pound, but unless you are a large family, you'll need to portion that meat out. Never freeze a large package of meat unless you're actually going to use all that meat in one meal setting - once it's defrosted, you have to use it right away. The easiest way: purchase good quality, freezer specific plastic bags and be sure to get all the air out of the bag before placing it in the freezer.

If you buy a lot of meat, a FoodSaver may be handy for you, just remember the cost of the plastic bags and electricity to run it, of course. The great part is of course that they suck all the air out, so you can generally store the meat longer than with just a standard bag.

Many stores also have a section of meats that are marked down because they are near the sell-by date. We purchase a lot of our meats that way our self. Remember that freezing your meats will not kill any bacteria and germs in the meat, and if the meat is already going bad, it will continue to go bad as it thaws back out. Be careful which packages of meat you choose.

The USDA has some great information about freezing food on their website, including a chart for how long you can safely freeze meats.