I rarely cook a butt that I haven't frozen first.
In fact, I've cooked a few that were still mostly frozen and used mustard to get the rub to stick.
As good as thawed? Maybe not quite, but still very good, just a longer cook time.
But I don't inject, so I suggest wrapping it in newspapers or towels, and placing it in a small cooler for a day, then into the fridge to finish thawing.
Hopefully it will be inject-able by Friday.
Thank you for the reply Bob. I've done previous frozen cooks before and haven't noticed much of a difference, I just try to avoid it if I can. It's mostly a mental thing, I don't like variables in my cooks.
ahha I know, I'm kinda weird like that. Call it superstition?
If they're still sealed in their freezer bags (or even if they're not), you can defrost them (in the bag) in your tub. Just refresh with cold water once an hour. Should only take 4-5 hours to get them fully defrosted (assuming all 19 lb are in the tub at the same time). Less weight=less time.
Yup, still in cryova bag, and I even wrapped a small amount of saranwrap to avoid any chance of freezer burn. Not sure if this was right to do but we shall see. Worst comes to worst, I'll try the water on Thursday. Thanks again!
Well for Thanksgiving we thawed a 20 lb. Turkey in the fridge in four days so I wouldn't think you will have any problem at all.
I certainly hope so Rob. I'll check on em tonight to see how far they are. I'm might be worrying over nothing.
I've done plenty of frozen butts and as Bob mentioned, just slather them in mustard and rub and throw 'em on the cooker. Takes an hour or two longer, but that's less than a 3 day thaw. Sure you can't inject them, but they still come out just fine. I would think 3 days should be fine for thawing though.
Hey Jim, the way I was taught and have always done them has been to inject so I'd like not to change that now. This will be for a pretty decently sized bbq crowd so I'd like to produce the flavor folks have come to expect from one of these, at least from me.
I might try that in a pinch though.
As long as you have room to keep them separated in the fridge (ie: they're not piled on top of one another) and there's space for air to circulate around them, they should be thawed enough for injecting by Friday. Check them Thursday night and if they're still pretty hard, you can do the speed thaw in a cooler of cold water; just change the water every few hours. On one episode of Good Eats, Alton Brown rigged up a speed thawing setup using a cooler, bucket, small water pump and some hose. Basically the thing to be thawed went into the cooler with some water. The drain on the cooler was open with the bucket below and the pump recirculated the drained water back into the cooler. I keep meaning to try this myself as it seems like it would be the most efficient way to do it.
Hey Chad
Yeah, I may have to switch them into a not so cold refrigerator. The refrigerator I have them in now is pretty cold (beer fridge mostly) so we shall see. Tonight or tomorrow should give me a good indicator how they are coming along, I hope...
Johnny...
How about putting it all off for this weekend and visiting Santa Anita instead
Then you'd have ample time to thaw for the following weekend...
Bob! Hey!
Oh, I will for sure be there! This will be for serving on Sunday, smoking Saturday night (after I get home from Santa Anita) I can't wait!!!
Thanks again for all the replies fellas!
Much appreciated. I feel slightly better about this now.