beef

Tips for keeping your farm fresh meat

Stocking freezers is on many minds as we approach winter and I've been answering a lot of questions about the shelf life of frozen meats. With grocery stores full of foods with sundry shelf-lives, it's no wonder we find ourselves confused when it comes to knowing how long something can keep.

That made me decide to share tips I've learned about storing farm-fresh meats over the years. Some of the info is specific to our farm but most of it can be applied to meat from any local farm so feel free to share with friends and family if you feel it could help them too.

I hope this finds you well! Today is full of sunshine and Adam and Silas are out planting one last batch of grass seed into a hay field. I will move on to plant more garlic once I've finished here. All the best to you and feel free to get in touch if you ever have questions about any of our foods.

~ Kelly

FROZEN FACTS:

Fortunately, when buying meats directly from a farm, you are probably getting food much fresher than that in a grocery store. That tends to give you ample time to use it up. Here's why--

  • Typically, meat in a grocery store has been butchered, packaged, and then shipped under refrigeration to the store where it may sit on a shelf for a few weeks to a few months (depending on the product). Once grocery store meat goes home with you, it may be nearing the end of its shelf life.

  • Should you choose to then freeze your refrigerated grocery store meat, the display packaging from the store will not protect the meat well for long-term storage. It is probably wise to use up such products rather quickly, i.e. within a few months.

Whereas our beef, lamb, and pork is frozen immediately after being processed and packaged. It never has time to sit on a shelf, aging in a refrigerated package. This alone keeps it fresher.

  • We also use packaging intended for long-term frozen storage. You may have noticed the lack of air space in frozen meat purchased from a farm. By vacuum sealing the package (the food-nerd term is cryo-vac if you want to sound all fancy), the meat is better protected from temperature fluctuations and freezer burn.

  • When kept in a stable freezer environment, meat cuts packaged this way have a long storage life -- up to a few years.

On our farm we've always made sure to sell our frozen meat cuts within one year of having them packaged. It's worth pointing out that we are currently selling most of our meat within a month or two of having it processed and packaged - about as fresh as a small farm can get.

I think the most important thing to know is that well-packaged farm meats kept well and consistently frozen can remain good for years. So if you're inclined to stock up, you needn't worry if you can't eat through it all within a few weeks or months. YOU HAVE TIME.
I once found a steak which had been set aside for us farmers to eat for SIX YEARS before I thawed and cooked it... It was just fine. :)

FROZEN TIPS:

  • A clean freezer prevents off-flavors. Clean any spills and defrost as necessary or recommended to prevent any funky freezer build-up.

  • Keep your freezer as cold as possible when storing meats. Remember that cold air sinks and so the coldest part of your freezer will be the bottom - keeping meats on or near the bottom can help ensure they remain at a stable temperature.

  • Handle your meat packages with care - tossing them about can break the vacuum seal and create a loose package that won't keep as well long term. Over time, loose packages allow freezer burn and potentially for the meat to take on a "freezer flavor".

  • There are some products where a tight vacuum seal are not really possible - bones are a good example. Or you may purchase or create a package with a loose seal. For these products we advise using them within 6 months for best quality.

  • You may want to invest some time into organizing your freezer. This will help you find what you need quickly, which keeps the cold in.

  • Once thawed, farm fresh meats should be used as quickly as possible - we aim for within 24 hours and are sure to keep thawed meat refrigerated during that window.

THE NOSE KNOWS:
Our sense of smell is what nature used to keep us safe long before there were thermometers and food safety agencies with their temperature recommendations. If raw food ever smells gross and it's not surströmming or limburger, you might not want to eat it... then go check your freezer/fridge temps!
But again, if kept consistently frozen, the odds your meat will become bad in storage are slim to none and can be kept for a long time. In the end, buying directly from a local farm, coupled with careful storage and timely cooking will help ensure you can purchase and store nutritious meats with confidence and use them at your own pace.

Sunny with a chance of meatballs

I think we might have stumbled onto the perfect summer food.  

I think it might be meatballs...
I'm laughing at myself as I type this but we truly are on a meatball kick in our household.  It all started with the kiddo requesting them for dinner a few nights in a row.  He had just eaten them at Grammie's house and was smitten.

I'd never made meatballs.  I didn't know how to make meatballs except that I knew 'squishing' meat with my hands was part of it.  Not my favorite....

Alas, the kiddo was persistent (and cute) so I caved.  And I'm glad I did. Turns out the squishing isn't that bad and meatballs are awesome for a bunch of reasons. Here are a few:

  • Ingredients can vary depending on what is available.  You can TOTALLY wing it with meatballs and still have something yummy. That's how I made this recipe and it was love at first taste.
  • They are a budget friendly way to get the nutrition from grass fed meats into your family’s diet. 
  • It's easy to incorporate fresh, seasonal veggies or herbs.  If your kiddos balk at veggies but love their meat, you can hide "green things" in the meatballs and feel good knowing they are eating some veggies. 
  • They cook quickly but also freeze or hold in the fridge well.  So you can make up a big batch when you have time and then use them later when time is short.  We've been doing this a lot.
  • You can do about a bazillion things with them: Sandwiches, subs, slice them onto salads, put them on a stick and dip them in sauce, serve them with pasta and marinara, eat them cold with lunch, eat them with your fingers, take them camping.  I'd love to hear your ideas here!

Ok.  So here is the recipe we make up a few weeks ago and we can't get enough of it.  I've made it with our ground beef and ground lamb and find it works equally well with both. I decided to do a spin on Greek Meatballs and use fresh oregano and mint because they were both coming up in our garden.  You can substitute dried but the fresh are worth finding.  You can get them from us or most any other local farmer.

Serves 4.  Prep time: 7 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes

Meatball ingredients:

1 pound Quarry Brook grass fed ground beef or lamb, thawed (you can use a bowl of warm water to thaw a package in a hurry if needed, just submerge meat in water and change it a few times until meat is soft)

1 small onion or shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced very fine (or use garlic press)

2-3 sprigs fresh mint, chopped fine (about 2 tablespoons once chopped) or 2 teaspoons dried

1-2 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped fine (about 1 tablespoon once chopped) or 1 teaspoon dried

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 egg

¾ cup bread crumbs (substitute same amount cooked quinoa if prefer gluten free)

Dipping sauce ingredients:

1 cup organic mayonnaise or plain yogurt

2 sprigs fresh mint (or more if you really like it)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

 

Instructions:

Place all meatball ingredients into large bowl.  'Squish' together until mixed well.

Roll mixture into balls using your hands.  I use a Tablespoon size measuring spoon as a scoop if I’m having a hard time getting them to be a consistent size.

Place meatballs in lightly greased skillet (I use butter) over medium high heat.  Allow to brown for about 3 minutes.

Use fork or tongs to rotate meatballs so they cook evenly.  Rotate 3 or 4 times over the course of about 15 minutes until they are cooked through and no longer pink inside.

 Prepare dipping sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients with a fork or whisk in a small bowl. 

Serve meatballs with a side of dipping sauce.  They are great paired with a big salad because you can use the dipping sauce for dipping the salad greens too. You’ll need to double the dipping sauce recipe if you decide to do this. 

Meatballs and a huge salad have been our dinner a lot lately.  We have some pretty big appetites in our house and it has been nice to find such a simple, healthy, and budget-friendly way to get all the farmers fed. 

Enjoy and if you try this recipe let us know how it went over in your house.  :)