I've been on a diet for the last year so I haven't checked my meat freezer for quite a while but I'm beginning to wonder if the meat that I have in it are still good. Here's what I have:

elk in butcher paper, 3 years old
moose in butcher paper, 3 and 2 years old
salmon in vacuum Food-saver bags, 2 years old
store bought beef and pork steaks still in wrap, 2 years old

They're all frozen solid and have never been thawed since I put them them in the freezer. Are any of these still good or should I feed them to the dog?

Namibiahunter

Stuff with more fat goes rancid faster. The salmon is probably on the edge. The meat if wrapped only in butcher paper is on the edge at about a year or so. If you wrap meat in plastic and them paper it will keep for years. I had a moose tenderloin that was over 5 yrs old double wrappel like this and it was absolutely fine.

Look a the the edges and "corners" of the meat while it's frozen. Is it white and dried out looking, if so it's freezer burnt (dehydrated) and will probably taste off.

Once it's thawed out smell it and concentrate on any off odors. If it smells a little bad then wash it off,if it's a lot bad chuck it out. Often the surface of meat will smell bad but once washed it's fine.

None of this meat will hurt you but life's too short to eat anything that isn't in good condition. If you have any doubts chuck it out and go hunt up some more

the chef

There are tables available but the basics are -organ meats and things like bacon have a considerably shorter life. Lowering temperature 10 F will double the life !! So keep temperature at 0 F or lower if you can , is best.For beef @ 0 F 12 months, for organ meats 4 months.This to maintain best quality. Make every effort to seal out all air as calgary chef mentions......This all reminds me of the sit-com "Northern Exposure " when the old man finds a frozen mammoth and cuts it up for his winter's meat !