# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Cooking, Food Storage, & Preserving >  Vacuum sealed meats

## UGP

So i had an idea of vacuum sealing fresh meats to take on camping trips.(steak, ground beef, maybe fish filets). I was wondering how well the meat would hold up being vacuum sealed but not refrigerated for 3-4 days.

----------


## crashdive123

Vacuum sealing raw meat and leaving it unrefrigerated (or unfrozen) will not prevent it from going bad.

----------


## natertot

Crash is right.

The thing that will prevent it from going bad is to soak it in a heavy salt brine for about 48 hours. After that, do NOT rinse off the meat but sprinkle a lot of salt on the meat giving it a good coating. Then you can vacuum seal it. 

When you are ready to use, open the package and place the meat in water allowing it to soak for at least 2 hours and changing the water periodically to remove the salt. Once that is done, you can use the meat.

----------


## finallyME

jerky, summer sausage, pemmican, freeze dried meat, canned meat, heavily salted meat.... there is a reason why these exist.

----------


## LowKey

Clostridium botulinum grows very well in vacuum packed foods. It is anaerobic. It doesn't need air at all to thrive.

----------


## Rick

I would enjoy anaerobics if I could fit in those stretchy clothes.

----------


## natertot

> I would enjoy anaerobics if I could fit in those stretchy clothes.


Is that a twinkie in your pocket, or are just happy to see Crash?!  :ohno:

----------


## hunter63

Those stretchy anaerobics pants a yogurt pants, right?.....
Now I know how they get them on.....

----------


## Wise Old Owl

In today's markets the FDA is so regulatory for you safety, old preservative methods cannot be conducted in age old traditions..... shelf stable meats are almost a thing of the past. In the 50's Philadelphia's used to drive to Lancaster and purchase artisian meats and cheeses that were homemade by the Amish and Mennonite. The regulations has killed that industry. There were some survivors... an example is Dietz and Watson, for Philadelphia German traditional meats. Making shelf stable meat requires more knowledge than can be found on the internet. You should read up about acidics, such as Vinegar, for preservation. Remember the gold rush of 49 from history books, they used salted dried beef to survive. Or understand how Saltpeter works, discover how Morton Sugar Cure for ground beef works. Or start using a smoker or Food Dryer, Or understand how to make Pemmican, and try it at home.

OK Perhaps you are not into this as much as I am.... I make my own smoked jerky. 

You can still purchase hard Salami and hard Pepperoni (not sliced) its shelf stable up to two months at room temperature. You can buy Pemmican or Dietz & Watson Landjaeger, I get that by the case. I found a Landjaeger stick in my pack that I forgot about and six months later it was still fine.

----------


## 1stimestar

You can vacuum pack it and freeze it and get you through the first two days.  Then there is chicken and tuna in envelopes that you can use after that.

----------


## LowKey

You can keep a properly cured and unopened dry salami for a couple years (though the USDA only recommends something like that 2 months mentioned above.)
Refrigerate after that first slice though, and only for a couple weeks, maybe.

My go-to Italian market has any number of air cured salamis hanging from a rack behind the counter.
Some of the tastiest things on the planet.

----------


## hunter63

Bresaola is a salted  and dried beef ..........and is to die for.....friend made it in his attic in the winter.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresaola

----------


## LowKey

I've never had the courage to make dry salami. I do have a book here on how to do it. A lot of chemistry. Wish I had learned from my Grandpa. But he forgot how to do it long before I got interested in making it.

This guy where I buy it, I'm pretty sure he imports it.
The prosciutto is a nice light color and really tasty.
The soppressata is really dense and great just eating as slices.
He also has those 4' long logs of aged provelone with just the right amount of sharpness to them.
I know the new provelone just came in. That means the new meats aren't too far behind.
Wish I could afford to buy it more often.

----------


## Batch

I bought a book on charcuterie.

http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Cr.../dp/0393058298

I did a couple small things and then my doctor told me to cut back on salt. I plan to get started back into it soon.

----------


## Wise Old Owl

> You can vacuum pack it and freeze it and get you through the first two days.  Then there is chicken and tuna in envelopes that you can use after that.


My water bladder is in reflectix and I use a reflextix cozy for pasta cooking... one can put frozen meat in there and place it next to the water bladder wrapped in fleece.

----------


## Wise Old Owl

> I bought a book on charcuterie.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Cr.../dp/0393058298
> 
> I did a couple small things and then my doctor told me to cut back on salt. I plan to get started back into it soon.


Nice find.. thanks!

----------


## hunter63

> So i had an idea of vacuum sealing fresh meats to take on camping trips.(steak, ground beef, maybe fish filets). I was wondering how well the meat would hold up being vacuum sealed but not refrigerated for 3-4 days.


So.....Where did you go?....
Did that answer your question?

----------


## crashdive123

Or...........did you eat some bad meat?

----------


## UGP

> Or...........did you eat some bad meat?


No trips yet. I was just working on planning for later this spring. When i do 'car camping' with friends, it's easy to keep a cooler in the car to have any kind of desired food stuffs at hand. I am looking at doing more primitive style camping this year and was just wondering if it was possible to bring raw meats on a 2 or 3 day jaunt if they were vacuum sealed. Maybe i'll look at salami or some other cured meats. Canned and pouch foods are a little blah for me. 

Thank you all for the extensive input and views on the subject.

----------


## hunter63

Pssssst.......Even MRE's have a miniature bottle of Tobasco 

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Besides, bland beat poisoning your self.

----------


## canid

When the MREs start packing the full sized bottles I'll be happy, and the price point will start looking slightly better. :P

----------


## canid

Though I am waiting to pull the trigger on an order of these: http://www.amazon.com/Tapatio-Hot-Sa...dp/B00GZHF1Y2/

I'll be packing 8-12 of them per entree for my personal meals.

----------


## hunter63

Looks like a deal....and gift wrapping is available....

----------


## natertot

I have some of the syrup bottles from cracker barrel that are 2oz. I fill one of those up with hot sauce (typically Frank's) for backpacking or canoeing. I find that it is cheaper to refill one off a bigger bottle than buying the little ones. Besides, 1/8 of an ounce isn't really gonna be of much use.

----------


## canid

Exactly. Those little bottles are great for fondly or ironically remembering the MCI or MRE but otherwise you need 10 of the danged things.

----------


## Wildthang

Spam,

Vacuum sealed meat........yummmmmm!!! And it lasts for years :Smartass:

----------


## kyratshooter

After reconsidering all the advice in all the post it appears that the OP vacuum sealed some meat and went on a hike for the day.

Apparently he died from food poisoning during the night and therefore has not returned to the forum.

----------


## hunter63

Naw....We where supposed to start the Kudo's and Congratulations on a ground breaking and completely new thought.

What a guy!....What an idea!.....I'm glad he clued us in!
What not good.......Drat!.....Oh well.

(Hope he didn't die.....)

----------


## Wildthang

> After reconsidering all the advice in all the post it appears that the OP vacuum sealed some meat and went on a hike for the day.
> 
> Apparently he died from food poisoning during the night and therefore has not returned to the forum.


Should have just took spam! It might taste pretty bad, but it won't kill ya!!

----------


## NightSG

> The thing that will prevent it from going bad is to soak it in a heavy salt brine for about 48 hours. After that, do NOT rinse off the meat but sprinkle a lot of salt on the meat giving it a good coating. Then you can vacuum seal it.


Had an interesting somewhere-in-between method for getting by a couple days; slightly dry the meat in the toaster oven on "keep warm" until it's just dry to the touch on the outside.  Put it in a tray and soak well with worcestershire and A-1 Dry Rub.  Seal and freeze solid.  Right before leaving on the trip, stick it in the last day's clean socks and underwear, layering the other days' clothing over that.  Insulated like that in late fall weather, it was still fairly cool when it was time to cook it, and very well marinated.

----------


## hunter63

> Had an interesting somewhere-in-between method for getting by a couple days; slightly dry the meat in the toaster oven on "keep warm" until it's just dry to the touch on the outside.  Put it in a tray and soak well with worcestershire and A-1 Dry Rub.  Seal and freeze solid.  Right before leaving on the trip, stick it in the last day's clean socks and underwear, layering the other days' clothing over that.  Insulated like that in late fall weather, it was still fairly cool when it was time to cook it, and very well marinated.


I don't thick so..
I'm pass on yesterdays socks and underwear......

Just go buy some Mountain Home or what ever....Sheesh.

----------


## NightSG

> I don't thick so..
> I'm pass on yesterdays socks and underwear......


I mean the clean stuff you're planning to change into each day.

And the meat's vacuum sealed, so it's not like you're going to get athlete's tongue.

----------


## crashdive123

Soooooooooooo that's where the expression bacon strips comes from.   :Innocent:

----------


## kyratshooter

Why not just leave it in the toaster over on low over night and make jerky out of it?

All this beating around the bush and half a$$ food prep is a waste of time and effort.

Do what works and has worked for the last million years of human existence.

Salt it, dry it, smoke it.

Even a cave man can do it.

----------


## edr730

Salt, sugar, vinegar, drying is what people have used and they work well. Freezing works too and if you use some combination of the above things you're probably good for a while. But, not AS good. Plastic and lack of air will just make the meat go bad faster. Air flow will make it last longer and sealing it up will spoil it faster.

----------


## offgridliving

What I used to do when I would go on backpack trips is marinade some meat for several days in a mix of soy sauce and other spices.  I would then freeze the meat and put it in my backpack as I was heading out the door. First night of the trip, that was dinner.  
Now I use dehydrators extensively and almost never purchase commercially prepared foods for hiking, camping, etc. My cupboards are stocked full of dehydrated goods so I have plenty of supplies for last minute trips. 
You can find numerous books with recipes using dehydrated foods.  

Have fun.

----------

