What is the general consensus on buying in large quantities and freezing meats?


 
JeffB

JeffB

TVWBB Pro
After reading another thread on problems locating a brisket, I got to thinking it may be smart to stock up on meat when it's on sale and then thawing when ready to use.

I have thawed chicken, steaks, fish, etc. in the past without any problems, but never brisket, BB, ribs. I suspect it is not a problem and will not affect the quality of the meat, but I'm interested in hearing and learning from others who have more experience in buying and freezing meats.

How long should "cryovacked" brisket, BB or ribs hold frozen before going South?

Discuss...

Thanks and Smoke On!
 
I just did some ribs that I forgot about that were over a year old in the cryovacked package and they were fine. I have a food saver system that I use for other things such as chicken, steaks, pork chops etc. Those seem to be fine for 6-8 months which is the longest I have gone.
We watch for sales and stock up, save a lot of $$ that way, plus if you decide you want chicken for dinner just walk out to the freezer and get some. Speaking of chicken our local store had Sandersons Farm chicken thighs, quarters, breasts, drums for $.59 a pound. Bought a boat load of it so were good through the whole summer now.
 
Yep what Rich Said! GFS ( Gordon Food Service) had some great deals on packers, butts, spare's and baby back's this weekend.
Everything was cryoed, (how you would get it out of the case), and case prices were cheaper.
Met M'lady early in the AM when she got off of work and we loaded up both vehicles. Stock up and freeze it, it's worth it > I have 1 stand up freezer and two fridges, plus a beer fridge:cool:

Tim
 
I picked up a 15 lb choice packer for 22 bucks the other day and just put it in the freezer. Anyone know if they thaw ok? I just kept it in the cryovac.
 
I do it all the time for ribs, brisket and big bags of tri-tips. The trick is too thaw them (especially the larger cuts) in the fridge or under cold running water so the outside stay cold as the deeper internal part thaws. I have never noticed any difference in taste or texture from frozen vs. fresh. Well unless it was a bad seal.
 
I've been doing it for years and have yet to taste a difference. If the food was commercially cryopacked, you can hold it in the freezer almost forever. I've found butts that were three years old that cooked up perfectly fine.
 
Slow thaw is the most important thing, followed closely by "Stock Rotation" put the newest buy on the bottom. Yeah, it's a little more work but that way you won't end up with a "?" When you go looking in a year.
I try to use the slow thaw in the bottom of the fridge whenever possible. It's easier with bigger pieces when you know something is coming up
 
I buy Costco hamburger, vacuum seal and freeze one lb bags. I also buy three packs of ribs and freeze them individually. If I see a cpl tri tips I always grab and freeze them too.
 
We raised our beef from the mid 70's through 90's and did not have any cryovac back then and used meat for a good 10 months.
 
Just pulled two butts from the freezer that had been there for a year. The have been thawed in the refrigerator and will be smoked tomorrow and served at a family BBQ here on saturday. Will let you know how it goes when it is done, but am sure it will be just fine. Cryo and foodsavers are great.
 
Last edited:
Bob Ivey said:
Cryo and fooksavers are great.
Click to expand...


I've been tempted for years to buy a foodsaver so I can cryo and freeze myself. Ultimately, I was scared off when I found too many negative reviews on all the so-called "leading" brands of foodsavers. It's a big investment for the machine to stop working well at some point.

Do you have an opinion on which foodsavers are best and worth the price of admission?

Thanks!
 
Ahhh. Change in topic but. I just bought some prime Tritips in cryovac for $5.79 a pound (just trying to make everyone jealous). Going to food-saver them individually for cooking later.

I have one of the old manual food savers and still use it occasionally when the bags just don't fit in the automatic one. They all do the same thing, vacuum out the air and then heat seal. Some do it automatically, some to it manually, some have extras. Automatic is nice when doing many bags. Some don't like the automatic seal because it uses more bag than they would like.

A while back I bought 40 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs for $.97 Normally I pay 2.19 for them. That's almost enough money saved to get a refurbished one. Of course that doesn't take into consideration the cost of the new freezer :)
 
I really cant say for how long I have forgotten in the bottom of my freezer a nice 10# boston butt. Last number was 4. But Im still here and was preatty good!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top