I bet you I've eaten beef older than yours, ha! I don't think it will make you sick, but you won't know if the taste is still o.k. until you cook some of it and eat it. If it tastes good, then I would cook up any remaining beef from this vintage (ahem). You might thaw it and give it an all over sniff test to see if you want to cook it.

Thank you, Teresa. That is what I will do next week.

I am off to Grandson #1, 6th. birthday party for family tonight. Went to children's party this morning!

It will be fine...I found a huge T-bone in my freezer from 2007 a month ago...I had been delaying cooking it because it was so huge. So I got it out and cut it up for a long slow cooked thing with wine and vegetables....and was very surprised when I thawed it that there was no freezer burn and it smelled fresh and great....but the die was cast for things designed to hide slightly freezer burned meat! LOL!
If your meat is freezer burned, it's not bad....just dried out. Thaw and cut off the dried out stuff and the remaining meat is fine.
Meat kept at zero degrees keeps a surprisingly long time. It's when meat is kept in a freezer at about 25 degrees that it begins to deteriorate.
Linda C

It will be fine but depending on the cut I'd be cooking it in a sauce, stewing it or grinding it.

I just found a vintage piece of brisket and I'm mulling what to do with it. Perhaps grind?

Since brisket is cooked so long anyway, as long as it isn't freezer-burnt to heck, I'd just do with it what you usually do.

That's the problem rachellen , I don't normally cook brisket. I bought it to smoke, smoked half of it and was not happy, now I have the other half ( a flat) and have no idea what to do with it.

Chase, if you didn't like the first half smoked, consider it practice and try another method to smoke the other half! I have a brisket in my freezer too, I just haven't concentrated enough to smoke the darned thing yet.

Trixie, the beef is perfectly safe to use and is probably not even significantly deteriorated in quality, I've definitely deaten beef older than that. My butcher now does shrink packed clear plastic packages, all vacumn sealed, and it lasts a couple of years, easily. Even the old butcher/freezer paper kept mine pretty well, especially double wrapped or in the bottom of the chest freezer which did not cycle on or off for auto defrost.

Annie

Commercial freezers can hold at (bear with me, I'm converting real degrees to those other ones in my aged brain...gotta shove some song lyrics from the 70's aside...) -10° while your regular household freezer is lucky to hold just below freezing (32°) most of the time.

The stronger compressor in a commercial unit will also "pull down" the temperature of food placed in it faster...which is better for the food.

Anyway...a small commercial freezer from a restaurant supply or even second hand from an auction might be a consideration the next time anyone needs a freezer if you store food long term.

That said, I agree that your beef most likely is safe to consume...maybe a texture thing going on due to cell wall destruction but still edible.

The meat is safe to eat, but what might be compromised is the taste and texture after it's extensive stay in the freezer. Even meat that has been freezer-burned is "safe to eat" - you just remove the freezer-burned portions since they are dehydrated and will be tough, dry and tasteless.

I'd suggest using a FoodSaver and vacuum-sealing meat that you think you will keep longer than a year. This storage method prevents oxygen from getting to the meat, unlike paper and/or plastic wrapped products. Fresh meat stored in vacuum-sealed bags will keep "fresh" for 2-3 years in a freezer. Ground meat is best used within a year of freezing, even vacuum-sealed. When I purchase grass-fed beef from a friend, all of it gets vacuum-sealed so it will keep longer - and never any freezer-burn.

-Grainlady

I'd line my crockpot with aluminum foil, put the brisket and equal parts of ketchup and beer to cover the brisket in and let it go for about 8 hours. My aunt used to fix her's this way and it was really good.

I bought it to smoke, smoked half of it and was not happy,...

How long did it smoke for?

Brisket is what I'm "working" on now...and I'm getting there.

I'm finding it takes a long time, longer than a butt and there are moisture issues so I mop the heck out of it right now. I'm also doing the smoke in a two stage process, starting out with a couple of hours of hickory and finishing with about 4 hours of alder. Then a couple of hours of just happy time with no smoke but lots of mopping and then a double foil wrap and finish. I use the smoker but you could use a low oven.
Just looked in my notebook...18 hours for the last one I did, not including counter and fridge time. Smoker at 200°

Then it sits, wrapped up tight and in a cooler to retain heat, for a couple of hours, then opened up to cool the meat, then into the fridge overnight for next day service.

I warm it up by sliding the slices through a simmering pan of au jus.

I don't do brisket all that often but when I do...it sure knocks the heck out of my work/life/bbq balance.

Thanks for the smoked brisket tips. I ruined one and I haven't really wanted to try again. I guess I have to learn about mops now. I am pretty sure I bought a book already. I just need to dig it out.

Thank you for your replies. I felt like it was alright or I would have tossed it. I thought I had a few packages of tenderized round steak, but there was quite a bit of beef and it wasn't all round steak. I will start using it this week.
As far as brisket (there was one in there) I don't have a smoker but I put my dry rub on and sear it on my BBQ grill. Then I put it in a roaster and pour smoky beef brisket marinade on it and seal the pan well with foil and cook in the oven at 225 for about 10 hours. I usually start mine late in the afternoon before I serve it the next day for lunch. It is always good and never dry.

My sister told me she went to a BBQ that had good brisket and they said they smoked it on pecan wood with ground pecan seasoning. They told her that if it isn't eaten immediately that they pour beef broth on it to keep it moist and to store and warm it in.