Processing your own game is an enjoyable, practical, and cost-effective way to bring your hunt full circle. It gives you a feeling of satisfaction that you’ve been able to control every step of the process from; choosing your seasonings, to controlling the portions, to being certain that your meat -is your meat. And, not to mention, you are defiantly saving yourself the expense of sending your game to the butcher. (There are no extra costs here for add-ons like summer sausage or jerky.)

Depending on how long you plan on storing your game meat in the freezer, you will want to either vacuum seal it or wrap it in freezer paper. In this video, we explain the pros and cons of using vacuum sealing and freezer wrapping to package your meat for the short term or the long haul.

Video Transcription

Freezer Paper for the Short Term

Here's how I package my meat for the freezer. On a short term basis, if it's only going to be in your freezer for two, three, four months tops, there's nothing wrong with good coated freezer paper. It's easy, it's inexpensive and it does a great job.

Vac Sealing for the Long Term

Now for long term, sometimes up to a year, a year and a half, vac sealing your food is unbeatable. I've had meat in my freezer close to two years and it's as fresh as the day I put it in. The reason vac sealing is so effective, obviously it removes all the oxygen out of the packing and it doesn't allow bacteria to form. It also does not allow your food to develop freezer burn.

Now with freezer paper, over time, obviously it's exposed to air somewhat. It will get freezer burn much sooner than vacuum sealed meat will.

Thanks for watching. If you have any further questions on game processing or any of the equipment we talked about today, please come visit us at any of our retail locations or North40.com.