Heat shrink vs. vacuum seal

[JCinNM]

We don’t freeze our chickens whole. And I am wondering which method is better. Having concerns that the shrink wrap isn’t as thick/durable as vac seal bags. What do you think is better? Or maybe just go back to the old plastic and butcher paper? (Yes I know about poking holes in shrink wrap then taping over)

Durability​

Best freezer shelf life​

Cost​

Time it takes to package​

 

[Isadora]

I have done both methods and I wouldn't say one is inherently better than the other but it all comes down to the quality of the bags you're using. We decided to switch to vacuum sealing because it was less effort and less messy than using the shrink bags and hot water.

 

[iwltfum]

Heat shrink is cheaper, faster and less messy. I have never had one break in the freezer and we use hundreds of bags per year. I can pack 100 birds in an hour and a half with the heat shrink bags and a propane burner. It would take me all day to that with the vac sealer.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I use Vac sealer for all kinds of things, and there is a huge difference in bag quality for the vac seal bags, as well as the issue that the vac seal process itself is prone to suck bits of moisture lader with - well, anything - into itself over and over and over and over. Ultimately, that's a cleaning issue and a possible cross-contamination vector. The heat shrink is the better process.

Now, full disclosure, I don't use either - but I'm seeing only to my own needs and do small cullings, two to three birds at a time, and rarely have a bird in the freezer more than a week/ten days. Which a gallon zip lock will handle adequately. At a month, in my experience, you want to reconsider storage methods.

summary:
Dry goods - vac seal
Long wet storage - heat shrink
BRIEF wet storage - ziploc

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't use vac seal or heat shrink when I process my chickens, I double wrap them in freezer paper and use freezer tape to close them. The way I shuffle through my chest freezer the bones can punch through the plastic. I put the parts that I save for broth in zip-loc type bags but those generally don't last as long before I use them. If you go too long you can get freezer burn in zip-loc. If you don't shuffle through the stuff in your freezer or use lower quality bags you may not have to worry about a bone poking a hole in the bag.

When I make broth I pick the meat out of the debris and vac seal that. I also vac seal a lot of veggies from the garden. The moisture seeping out can be a problem to just to get a seal, let alone any possible contamination. The way I avoid that is to put the product in the vac seal bag and put it in the freezer overnight before I seal it. I wipe any frozen moisture out of the top inside of the bag and only do a couple at a time so they don't thaw enough to have any free moisture.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I vacuum seal whole birds and greatly prefer it to shrink bags. Shrink bags take less time, but I've had far fewer failures in long-term freezer storage with vacuum-sealed bags.

 

[MeeMaw814]

pardon my ignorance... what are heat shrink bags? How do you "heat shrink" them? And where do you get them. These sound like a great option for venison processing too....

 

[Morrigan]

I use heat shrink bags for whole birds, but have always vac-packed parts. The heat shrink bags seem to do a more though job of removing the air, but I've never had any noticeable quality issues when I defrost vac-sealed parts, even up to a year old. It's just more convenient for me to vac-seal a breast, or a couple of legs/thighs.

 

[3KillerBs]

pardon my ignorance... what are heat shrink bags? How do you "heat shrink" them? And where do you get them. These sound like a great option for venison processing too....

I have never done it myself, but here's a random link with information about the process: https://www.poultryshrinkbags.com/how-to-shrink-bag-poultry

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I can't contribute much to this conversation because I won't have my first batch of meat birds until September. However, I wanted to share the type of bag I bought. I ordered these from Meyer Hatchery: https://www.meyerhatchery.com/Poultry-Freezer-Bags-50-Pack-p263374884

They are neither vacuum seal nor shrink wrap. They seem to just be a thicker, freezer-grade plastic bag. Anyone have any experience with these? OP, this could be another option for you to look into.