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I have obtained a large chunk of approximately week old moose meat that has been never stored in a freezer. I'm planning to eat it during the next week or two.

I cut it to 8 smaller steak-sized chunks, and cut 4 of those into small bits of which I'm going to make moose stew with carrots and onions. I'm just fried the small bits in my frying pan, and am currently making the stew in my pot.

The trouble is, I don't have a large frying pan or a large pot. I only have one small pot which I have free to use for the moose stew. The small bits of half of the moose meat fit in there with carrots and onions.

What should I do for the 4 other steak-sized chunks?

  • Should I just store them unfried in the refrigerator and cook when I need to, which will be approximately week from now? (Currently they are in the refrigerator, but I can always fry them in my frying pan that is free now.)
  • Should I fry them in my frying pan and store them in the refrigerator after frying them?

I want to maximize the amount of time the meat stays edible. If it stays edible for only one week from now, I have to eat moose meat every day. If it stays edible for two weeks, I can eat moose meat only every other day.

I of course theoretically have the option of just storing the rest in my freezer, but my freezer (or actually two freezers) are half full with frozen moose meat!

juhist
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Do you know what part of the animal is included in your cuts?

If you intend to cook it all as stew meat, then I would advise to cut it now and freeze (wherever you can find space).

If you coat the steaks in salt, they will probably last a bit longer in the fridge without getting too smelly.

The only way I would recommend pre-cooking to extend life, is a roast, which should enable meat to last an extra week in the refrigerator. But, if your cuts of meat are not suitable to roasting, then that might be terrible to eat.

The final option - which is again, a waste of good moose meat - would be jerky. I can't advise on jerky techniques. Never made it.

Douglas Held
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  • I don't know which part of the animal is included in the cuts, but the meat looks high-quality to me. Doesn't smell at all bad now, smells quite good, actually. I searched a bit about the amount of time meat stays edible and it seems I probably have to freeze it anyway as most meat doesn't last two weeks. – juhist Oct 27 '18 at 11:27
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    Downvoted for "If you coat the steaks in salt, they will probably last a bit longer in the fridge without getting too smelly." On this site, we interpret questions on food safety as pertaining to actual food safety rules, and not personal intuition of "when it is too smelly to eat". If the OP follows a standard preservation practice which includes curing the meat in salt, OK, but that would produce something on the lines of pastrami. If they just add some salt, that does not make any difference from the point of view of safety. – rumtscho Oct 27 '18 at 11:43
  • I never said any of her moose is safe. Covering the meat with a little salt will keep it a little less smelly, a little while longer in the fridge. – Douglas Held Oct 27 '18 at 13:09