ok, this might sound dumb.. but here goes

the wife and I are going to be making up a large batch of spagetti sauce, including sauce, ground beef and mushrooms.  after it is cooked up, I want to freeze it in portion sized bags in the freezer :  questions

1: Is a zip-lock sufficient, or is there benefit to vacuum packing
2: how long can I store the sauce in the freezer and retain both flavor and safety
3: I have read that vacuum packing mushrooms is dangerous (LINK) is it ok to freeze and then vacuum pack them as part of the sauce, or not?  

thanks!

1.  A ziploc bag is sufficient for freezing if you get most of the air out.

2.  It's hard to tell.  For safety, you could probably freeze something for years.  For the quality of flavor, since you have cooked ground beef (which develops "warmed over flavor" even in the freezer) I wouldn't store it longer than six months.

3.  Vacuum packing "raw" mushrooms stored in the refrigerator can lead to the development of anaerobic bacteria (like botulism).  This will not happen to frozen "cooked" mushrooms.  Feel free to freeze them in the sauce.

bionicmonkey: why not just buy the commercial canned/jarred sauces and store it away in a cupboard since it is already shelf-stable(ie need no refrigeration, why waste energy and freezer space storing it in a freezer?), and spend your time enjoying life.

If you like mushroom, buy a can of that and throw it in at cooking/eating time. I have Hunt's canned spaghetti sauce from Y2K that I am just eating now. As long as the can is not bulged or damaged etc you should be able to eat it years from now. I buy canned mushrooms and other types of canned meats to combine at eating time. Granted these meats may not be the best quality, ie bologna-types but it is food. These foods require NO refrigeration.

Quoted: bionicmonkey: why not just buy the commercial canned/jarred sauces and store it away in a cupboard since it is already shelf-stable(ie need no refrigeration, why waste energy and freezer space storing it in a freezer?), and spend your time enjoying life. If you like mushroom, buy a can of that and throw it in at cooking/eating time. I have Hunt's canned spaghetti sauce from Y2K that I am just eating now. As long as the can is not bulged or damaged etc you should be able to eat it years from now. I buy canned mushrooms and other types of canned meats to combine at eating time. Granted these meats may not be the best quality, ie bologna-types but it is food.

good question..  we are making our own sauce because we arent happy with the commercially available sauces.  we find they are a good start, but we like things our way.  We are using components bought in bulk (e.g. 8 lbs sauce, 5 lbs meat, etc.) and saving a lot of $$ compared to buying serving sized jars.  and we beleive the convenience of having "our portion" sized servings prepared and frozen will be both a time savings and a cost savings by reducing waste.  

Quoted: Quoted: bionicmonkey: why not just buy the commercial canned/jarred sauces and store it away in a cupboard since it is already shelf-stable(ie need no refrigeration, why waste energy and freezer space storing it in a freezer?), and spend your time enjoying life. If you like mushroom, buy a can of that and throw it in at cooking/eating time. I have Hunt's canned spaghetti sauce from Y2K that I am just eating now. As long as the can is not bulged or damaged etc you should be able to eat it years from now. I buy canned mushrooms and other types of canned meats to combine at eating time. Granted these meats may not be the best quality, ie bologna-types but it is food. good question..  we are making our own sauce because we arent happy with the commercially available sauces.  we find they are a good start, but we like things our way.  We are using components bought in bulk (e.g. 8 lbs sauce, 5 lbs meat, etc.) and saving a lot of $$ compared to buying serving sized jars.  and we beleive the convenience of having "our portion" sized servings prepared and frozen will be both a time savings and a cost savings by reducing waste.

Okay, I see what you are talking about. But to me anything that is canned commercially or by you is not going to taste as good, period.  Okay from what I tell you should "home can," and invest in a pressure cooker etc. Personally, I do this in my house for the short-term, ie make a big quantity of sauce feeze and defrost as needed to be eaten within say 4-6 weeks max, but this is for convenience and not long-term SHtF-type scenario.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: bionicmonkey: why not just buy the commercial canned/jarred sauces and store it away in a cupboard since it is already shelf-stable(ie need no refrigeration, why waste energy and freezer space storing it in a freezer?), and spend your time enjoying life. If you like mushroom, buy a can of that and throw it in at cooking/eating time. I have Hunt's canned spaghetti sauce from Y2K that I am just eating now. As long as the can is not bulged or damaged etc you should be able to eat it years from now. I buy canned mushrooms and other types of canned meats to combine at eating time. Granted these meats may not be the best quality, ie bologna-types but it is food. good question..  we are making our own sauce because we arent happy with the commercially available sauces.  we find they are a good start, but we like things our way.  We are using components bought in bulk (e.g. 8 lbs sauce, 5 lbs meat, etc.) and saving a lot of $$ compared to buying serving sized jars.  and we beleive the convenience of having "our portion" sized servings prepared and frozen will be both a time savings and a cost savings by reducing waste. Okay, I see what you are talking about. But to me anything that is canned commercially or by you is not going to taste as good, period.  Okay from what I tell you should "home can," and invest in a pressure cooker etc. Personally, I do this in my house for the short-term, ie make a big quantity of sauce feeze and defrost as needed to be eaten within say 4-6 weeks max, but this is for convenience and not long-term SHtF-type scenario.

yes, let me clarify; this is NOT for shtf.. it is purely for convenience, and cost savings, it has nothing to do with our SHTF food preps, and more to do with our SHTF financial preps.  I would imagine that we would eat within 2-3 months.  I am interested, however to hear about the best storage practices, specifically the questions above..  Although I dont plan on leaving it in the freezer forever, I could imagine being "burned out" on spagetti and leaving some in there for a longer timeframe, possible up to 6 months.. so I am not sure about keeping cooked sauce like that for that kind of timeframe, and the best packaging to do so..  

a home canning setup would be nice, and Im sure we will move in that direction, but we're just not setup for that at this time.  

We do water bath canning for the spaghetti sauce (easy easy easy) and then cook the italian sausage when we do the spaghetti.
the sauce will save for years without meat in it (and doesn't need pressure canning)

just a thought for ya.