One of My More "Cooler" Posts

When I was little, I wanted a chemistry kit that came with beakers, test tubes, and a basic compound microscope.  I never got any of that so I had to improvise; the family freezer was my childhood laboratory.  From an early age, I was fascinated by this edifying machine that supplied me with an endless supply of Klondike bars.  For show and tell, my class was supposed to bring in something that represented an interesting animal.  I brought in a whole frozen fish. Then in sixth grade, we were to design a science experiment showing life cycles.  Most kids brought in seeds, plants, and fruit.  I one-upped the field by freezing ants and rollypollies in icecubes hoping to prove I could stop and start life-cycles; Demolition Man released a few months later.

Fast-forward a decade later where I stumbled across the wonders of Food Network, Better Homes and Garden, and my ill-attempts to win the hearts of women through cooking.  I love grocery shopping and whenever shopping needed to be done for large events, social gathers, or retreats, I naturally used the services of Restaurant Depot.  RD is very similar to CostCo, but for restaurants…and they lack samples.  Their products are sold in bulk…and when I mean bulk, I mean quantities to supply the Battlestar Galactica.  Want three pounds of onion?  No, you have to buy 50.  Want to get a 4 pack of Red Bull?  Sorry, they only come in 36.  And of course, looking to buy meat?  You can buy whole pigs, lambs, and portions of cows if you don’t mind hauling a (delicious) carcass in your trunk. 

[Source: http://www.bigredkitchen.com/2009/08/restaurant-depot.html]

After toying around the idea with my roommate, Benson and I decided to host a Roast Beef night.  So we called up a few of our friends and I began my expedition scouring the expansive aisles of RD.  Inside the 32°F meat locker are rows separating each of the fauna, and within each row are categories of cuts/grade/portions.  I fastidiously inspect each chuck cut for firmness, presence of oxidation, and a solid layer of fat that flavorfully melts penetrating the meat in a 300°F oven.  I ended up with a nice slab …28 lbs of it, but for $1.19/lb, you really can’t complain.  At home, I section off half of the roast and deliberate what to do with the rest.  Lo and behold, my childhood lab to the rescue!

If you’re like me, (or any part of my family), you eat a lot of meat.  It might not be the most sustainable, or economical way to satiate one’s self, but by far the most delicious way.  There are certain amino acids that tend to make meat more flavorful/savory/yumyum that you just can’t find in grains, veggies, or fruits (mostly the amino acid, glutamate, which is a component of MSG [MonoSodium Glutamate]).  On the flip side however, meats tend to go bad compared to other food groups out there.  The high moisture content paired with a high fat and protein content are prime conditions for bacteria to grow and oxidation to occur.  In addition, meats just expensive…and when on a college budget, sometimes you have to shop bulk to be frugal.

Freezers (and refrigerators) have mostly three components to ensure the unit becomes cold.  There’s the coolant which acts as a medium for heat to be transferred into and away from.  Then there’s a compressor which increases the pressure of the coolant (thus raising its temperature).  The heat from the coolant is then removed through a coil of thin pipes on the back of the fridge (that’s why the back is usually warm).  Finally, there’s an expansion value which drops the pressure of the gas (thus lowering the temperature) that makes the coolant,expand, cool, and turn into a gas.  The cool-coolant passes through the inside of the unit.   

One of the general rules of food safety and preservation is that the lower the holding temperature, the less chance of bacteria proliferation.  In addition, by removing more of the water activity in food, you’ll also reduce bacteria growth because…well, like all things, bacteria needs water to multiple.  The freezer won’t kill bacteria, but it does slow it’s activity by a significant factor which makes the freezer a great place to store your care-packages of meat.  However…

Meat doesn’t bathe in the fountain of youth.  Unlike dried goods which can last for a year, sometimes two depending on the moisture content, meat can still degrade in the freezer.  Most meats last anywhere between 3-6 months in the freezer, +/- depending on the amount of oxygen that’s present.  In addition, a nasty thing called “Freezerburn” can happen to meats if oxygen is present.  The freezer doesn’t do any of the cooking, but what ends up happening is that browning of meat usually occurs such as this picture

[Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/FreezerBurn.jpg]

Hence, the clever term called Freezerburn.

FB occurs when the water content of the meat evaporates onto the surface of your storage bag.  The remaining water in your protein then begins to migrate closer to the surface of the meat and crystallization begins to occur.  Now the matrices of the meat can be exposed to oxygen which then causes oxidation and browning to occur.  Even if you use a zip-lock freezer bag, oxygen will still be present and oxidation occurs.  Vacuum sealing helps, but with time, oxygen will enter through the plastic or will be present in the deep trenches of the protein and make its way to the surface.  Just as a side note, a lot of tuna is sold in vacuumed packed bags that are generally a dark crimson red.  Most of those packages have actually been pumped with a blend of 60/40 or 80/20 Nitrogen/CO2 gas to compete against oxygen.  By filling the surrounding air with this gas, it prevents pigmentation, which chefs and purchasers would not want.

[Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvaH48PjtRr5Kf1GO4RwcSwr694wVpy0noL4fc_dpw8WfBgylWL2pVfXLigPbaPWBpdcaZLUfzqJXGws-roryr1tAnDqXdp4wOanRM36IgHH5jxhEIifnSnG_NbLp7_nmqvj_2I2hc93Zz/s320/tuna6.jpg] 

I want to note that the FB portions of food are safe to eat, but will end up being chewy and less tasty than the non-burned portions.  In short, it’s more a food-quality than a food-safety problem.  Whenever red meats (beef, ahi tuna) are exposed to oxygen for long periods of time, browning begins to occur.  As a rule of thumb, never buy ground beef, or any types of raw red meat that have a brown cooked color to it.  It might not kill you, but it won’t be delicious either. 

Though I no longer store insects in my freezer, I’d like to think I’ve come a long way in using the freezer. Plus, I tend to injure myself a lot and nothing makes a better icepack than a frozen bag of corn…or a 14 pound chuck roast.


I think I'm going to continue with this idea by talking about ways to increase your seafood's shelflife in the next post.