Conference turris::cooks

	I freeze coldcuts all the time.  I find that turkey does not
	freeze as well since once it is thawed it tends to be watery.

	As far as shelf life, IMO, ham and other "processed" coldcuts
	such as bologna, salami, have a longer shelf life due to all	
	the chemicals in them.  I prefer to have them eaten within
	a week but they do last longer (up to 2 weeks I think).

	Turkey and roast beef I eat within a week of buying or it gets 
	tossed.  This week time frame I came up with because I've
	noticed that the taste deteriorates by then probably since it
	is going bad.

	Oh, I've also discovered that you can freeze american cheese!
	I buy it at BJ's (which is MUCH cheaper than the grocery
	store) and end up with 5 pounds so I freeze it in 1 pound
	portions.  The cheese hold up so well you would never know it
	had been frozen!

	Of course, this is just my opinion and if you get sick don't
	blame me!  ;-)

	Karen

    There are two kinds of freezers.  The difference is the temperature at
    which the food is kept.  Your refrigerator-freezer is generally between
    29-33 degrees.  Foods can be kept for months depending upon what you
    have frozen.  Solid things keep better than porus things.  Ex. meats
    keep better than bread. 
    
    The "deep" freeze is a Freezer unit.  The temperature in one of those
    is set at zero.  You can keep items in one of those as long as you need
    to.  The food value will deteriorate after a few months and the flavor
    may deminish but you will not get sick.  
    
    The best idea is to date anything you put in either freezer.  I usually
    indicate where I got it as well.  If something is not to my liking I
    will not purchase it again.  Memory is faulty.

    my refigerator feezer is around 5-10�F and my chest freezer is closer
    to 0�F.
    
    6 to 12 months is generally a limit for the chest, though a
    few things have been known to be there for MUCH longer without a
    great loss.  One exception was some fish that was in the deep freeze
    for maybe 2.5 yrs and was definitely not acceptable when it came out,
    all leathery and dried out.  things like soup stock and spaghetti sauce
    keep very well for a long time.
    
    For the refrigerator freezer, a problem is the auto defrost cycle which
    warms up the walls.  This can have a real effect on keeping food 'fresh'
    and can destroy things quickly.  I wouldn't recommend trying to keep
    things in an autodefrost freezer for more than a month, depending on
    what it is though.
    
    ed

    The other thing you can do is to make the sandwiches and freeze the
    whole thing.  My dad used to do that so he could make all his lunches
    for the week on the week-end, and just choose the kind of sandwich he
    wanted and stick it in the bag.  

Yes, we have a separate upright freezer, so that's where I'd be
storing the meat.

The idea isn't so much keeping extra for convenience, as putting
it away so it won't spoil before he can eat it.  I don't eat meat,
so don't contribute to getting rid of it!

The end pieces we've gotten at Purity look pretty good.  He says they
taste fine. They're only 99 cents/lb, and there's not too much waste.  

Now if only they had as many cheese ends as they do meat ends...
They tell me those sell immediately.

I hesitated to respond to this at first when you posted it, because about
all I had to say was, "Yeah - you can freeze 'em. I've done it." But I didn't
have much more to add with respect to temps/quality/etc. So I'm glad some
others have provided some details.

What I will add is that it's best to "vacuum pack" the stuff before you freeze
it to eliminate as much air as possible from the packaging to prevent freezer
burn. If you don't have one of those vacuum units, just put the stuff in a
ziplock back, stuff a soda straw in the opening, seal the ziplock all the way
across except where the straw is, draw out the air in the bag by sucking on
the straw, and, while still sucking, slip the straw out and finish the seal.
This works great for just about anything being sealed in a bag.

-Jack