Freezing Chicken in water bag

street

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So, can't find much when I research it but freezing chicken in a bag full of water and freeze as a block of ice.

When you freeze fish that is the best way to pressure the fish for future use. I was wondering if chicken could be done the same way. In my case I want to freeze a few pheasants for the winter. Roasted pheasant and pheasant is really a great meal. I have always just frozen and wrapping paper.

Any experience would be appreciated.
 
Vacuum packing was the first thing that came to my mind too.
 
FoodSaver type vacuum packaging works pretty well. (
) There are many vendors for the little vacuum machines. Many people have good luck with FoodSaver but I find the seals to be the weak point. Narrow widths mostly. I had a Weston sealer that worked very well until a small, cheap part broke and they would not supply a replacement. Grrr ...

The best are the chamber sealers. (
) With these you can seal liquids like soups, stews, marinara sauce, etc. Where the external sealers like FoodSaver cannot. We have this one and are vry happy with it: Amazon.com

DW has routinely frozen chicken breasts in both kinds of sealers. We have had meals that had been frozen for three years and were as fresh as when they went into the bags. I make my own bacon and seal it in 8oz. portions. I am not sure what the benefits would be from freezing the chicken in water. Sounds like a potential mess to me.
 
So, can't find much when I research it but freezing chicken in a bag full of water and freeze as a block of ice.
Any experience would be appreciated.
Vacuum sealing is the best way I have found to preserve meat, including fish, fowl, beef, venison, not to mention vegetables. We vacuum seal and freeze 200+ bags a year. Spend on a vacuum sealer in proportion to how often you use it, and don't skimp. The cheap ones tend to suck liquid into the vacuum and damage it. Bags run in bulk about $14 per 100 for pint size. We also use quarts and gallon bags and 15” wide rolls to package venison shoulders and other large cuts.
 
I agree vacuum sealing is the best. Has anyone heard or have frozen them in water like fish is done??
 
Has anyone heard or have frozen them in water like fish is done??
Yes I have. It kept the air away but the texture of the chicken wasn't the same after maybe six months to a year. A short time, like 3 months may be fine. YMMV
 
Yes I have. It kept the air away but the texture of the chicken wasn't the same after maybe six months to a year. A short time, like 3 months may be fine. YMMV
Thank You!!! I will try it and will use the few birds up I get before spring, no problem.
 
Something else than may work, would be to can them. I haven't tried it with chicken, but pork, beef and venison has been very good, and doesn't need refrigeration.
 
when I freeze fish I submerge the bag with the fish in water to force out all of the air, then seal it. similar to vacuum sealing. I imagine doing the same with chicken, or in this case, pheasant would work.

I wouldn't freeze anything like that in a block of ice.
 
when I freeze fish I submerge the bag with the fish in water to force out all of the air, then seal it. similar to vacuum sealing. I imagine doing the same with chicken, or in this case, pheasant would work.

I wouldn't freeze anything like that in a block of ice.
This is sort of the poor man's sous vide bagging. I do it fairly often for that purpose but have never frozen the bag afterwords. It just goes directly into the sous vide bath.
 
This is sort of the poor man's sous vide bagging. I do it fairly often for that purpose but have never frozen the bag afterwords. It just goes directly into the sous vide bath.
I have done the same for sous vide but it sounds like it would be better for short term freezing than my current method of just squeezing most of the air out..
 
FoodSaver type vacuum packaging works pretty well. (
) There are many vendors for the little vacuum machines. Many people have good luck with FoodSaver but I find the seals to be the weak point. Narrow widths mostly. I had a Weston sealer that worked very well until a small, cheap part broke and they would not supply a replacement. Grrr ...

The best are the chamber sealers. (
) With these you can seal liquids like soups, stews, marinara sauce, etc. Where the external sealers like FoodSaver cannot. We have this one and are vry happy with it: Amazon.com

DW has routinely frozen chicken breasts in both kinds of sealers. We have had meals that had been frozen for three years and were as fresh as when they went into the bags. I make my own bacon and seal it in 8oz. portions. I am not sure what the benefits would be from freezing the chicken in water. Sounds like a potential mess to me.
I've owned a bunch of external (mostly Foodsaver brand) vacuum sealers in the past along with a couple of chamber sealers. Today, I have a small chamber sealer from Avid Amor and an external original type Foodsaver. The Foodsaver, I only use to reseal bags. The Avid Amor chamber, I use for the vacuum sealing and for jars (the model I have has port to connect a hose to for mason jar sealing).
 
Yes I have. It kept the air away but the texture of the chicken wasn't the same after maybe six months to a year. A short time, like 3 months may be fine. YMMV
I would think this is correct. The meat will be edible and it will prevent freezer burn, but I think the texture will suffer. Anything is worth a try. I’d try to get them out of the water as soon as possible once you thaw them for eating. Soaking the meat in water for any length of time isn’t going to help the texture either.

Not sure about pheasant but as long as you’re experimenting, add some salt to one of the bags and see if it acts like a brine.
 
I agree vacuum sealing is the best. Has anyone heard or have frozen them in water like fish is done??
My grandfather would always freeze game birds in water in milk cartons. Then you would spit the bb's out on your plate when you ate. Did all the game the same way.
 
For years I've been freezing chicken breasts in ziplock bags while marinating them in Good Seasons brand Italian salad dressing. The dressing comes in a powder form and you mix it at home with their kit and vegetable oil and white vinegar. Then when convenient I cook them on the grill, but of course one can cook them any way one pleases.

I suppose the oil keeps any air in the ziplock bag off them, but I've kept them frozen up to two years (I forgot they were there) and it suffered no apparent ill effects. So if you like Italian dressing I guess it would work with pheasants.
 
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