Frozen Ribs


 

D Reinknecht

TVWBB Member
I am cooking for 60 -80 folks on sat and have already made 30 lbs pulled pork (cryovac) and have 14 racks of ribs I want to do on Friday. My issue is with the ribs, chicken, wings, kielbasi, etc I have no room in the fridge. I have the ribs in a cooler, but with so many, they act like their own ice packs and their is no way they will completely thaw by tomorrow morning unless I leave them out overnight, which I don't want to do.
Any thoughts? Can you put frozen ribs on the smoker? I had previously done partially thawed pork butts that worked great...but ribs?
 
When I need to thaw something fast I submerge it in cold water and change the water every hour or so.

If your meat is vac / cryo packed just fill your cooler with cold water. After a while change the water. You meat should thaw pretty fast.
 
so if the cooler is filled with room temp water with the raw frozen ribs till morning...they should hold ok until I smoke them? I'm paranoid about meat left out and thawing. Thanks for the quick response!
 
You'll be fine.Get up early and start your smokers, Hope you removed the membrane and fat before they were thawed though.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike H:
You'll be fine.Get up early and start your smokers, Hope you removed the membrane and fat before they were thawed though. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I did...they were...any thanks to the good advice from the folks in this forum...everything turned out great!
Thanks for all the good advice!!
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm paranoid about meat left out and thawing. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Just so you know...

No worries. You could actually thaw the ribs on the counter without concern--but thawing in cold water allows it to occur more evenly. Sitting on the counter, surface temps rarely rise over 55--maybe 60 tops--during thawing. Though this is higher than the low end of the danger zone two important factors are at play: one, that surface thawing will activate non-pathogenic spoilage bacteria and these bacteria will compete with pathogens keeping the pathogens from being able to grow much; and two, once the meat is thawed it will be cooked, pasteurizing it.

As long as the meat is not allowed to warm after thawing (whether on the counter or in water), is only allowed to just thaw then is cooked, safety is maintained.

This does not apply to foods that have already been cooked then frozen, and now are to be thawed fro reheating. Cooking destroys the non-pathogenic spoilage bacteria competitors. Though some will have likely either survived or will have arrived after cooking, so to with pathogens. The level of spoilage bacteria is likely to be too low to thwart pathogenic growth. This is why it's necessary to cool cooked foods destined for the fridge or freezer fairly quickly. And it's why, save improper of raw foods, cooked foods are often the 'guilty party' in food-borne illness cases.
 
I went on a camping trip and put cooked (foodsaver) ribs in a cooler with ice and dry ice. At the end of the trip there was some ribs left but also some ice. Can I refreeze the ribs? It appears that they stayed cold.
 

 

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