Is it ok to freeze cold cuts?

[MissMillie]

I only shop every other week, and it seems like when I buy cold cuts (I usually buy ham and turkey), they're not so good one week later. Can I freeze them?

[flvegan]

1. I can remember doing it.

I separated them into servings, though, so I'd only thaw it as needed and could pull the slices apart without ripping the others apart.

I had a couple instances (with turkey, I think) where the meat seemed kind of mushy after thawing. Probably an isolated incident.

[LostinVA]

2. It should be fine

It's usually shipped to the store frozen, then thawed there, actually. No different than freezing leftovers.

[bif]

3. Ham gets pretty funky

Freezing causes the cells to burst. So it ends up kind of spongy. If you don't mind eating a sponge that tastes like ham, you should be fine.

[Cant trust em]

4. That's pretty much all Oscar Meyer meats are anyway

I used to eat all of those deli counter meats all the time. Then I started shopping at an organic foods store and now I can never go back.

[meegbear]

5. Get yourself a vaccuum sealer and goto town ...

a vacu-seal a lot of stuff, hot dogs is the closest I do to cold cuts, and they stay fresh.

[Parche]

6. freeze

They aren't called cold cuts for nothing.............:hi:

[The empressof all]

7. I personally think freezing negatively impacts the texture of sliced meat

I don't think you will harm yourself by freezing them but my best suggestion is to try it with a smaller amount and then taste it. I can tell the difference in frozen sliced turkey compared to "fresh". Your sliced ham shouldn't go bad so quickly in the fridge. Be careful about how you store your cut meat. Put it in a zip lock and smush all the air out you can. Better yet invest in one of those new 10.00 vacuum sealer things that vacuum seal the zip locks. I love mine just for keeping meat and cheese in the fridge.

[NMDemDist2]

8. i do it all the time

I buy the best quality cold cuts I can (turkey and roast beef) for hubby's lunch and freeze them often when I have good leftovers that week

they seem to do fine!