What to do with the left over smoked meats?


 
R

R Klompie

New member
Hi Everyone,
Just assembled my new WSM 22 and it's bigger than I imagined. Use to have a electric smoker which did not hold all that much. Always wanted a WSM. I love the huge cooking area with 2 grates to smoke on. My question is....................smoking say 4 chickens or 4 pork butts.....could I freeze them and just heat up for later? If so, this WSM would be a great meal planner as we can smoke many meals for the future. Thanks for any help for this new guy on the block...
 
I use a vaccuum sealer for cooked and raw meats. The meat will stay good for months if frozen in a deep freeze. Package in serving/meal size pkgs.

Mark
 
mk evenson said:
I use a vaccuum sealer for cooked and raw meats. The meat will stay good for months if frozen in a deep freeze. Package in serving/meal size pkgs.

Mark
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Ditto on the vacuum sealed bags and freezing. I thawed a partial brisket this week that I smoked about a month ago. There's a lot of suggestions on this site for what to do with leftover meats...enchiladas, abts, sammies, stuffed peppers, etc.

Paul
 
Paul K said:
Ditto on the vacuum sealed bags and freezing. I thawed a partial brisket this week that I smoked about a month ago. There's a lot of suggestions on this site for what to do with leftover meats...enchiladas, abts, sammies, stuffed peppers, etc.

Paul
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Why appetizers and side dishes, of course! Awesome websites out there that highlight how to make pulled pork nachos, sausage dishes, etc. Enjoy the extra food!

Regards,
Tim
 
Here, where I live, we usually have cold lunches. I use lots of leftovers in salads, as lunch meat, sliced in thin slices. It saves me lots of money, and is ofte much better that the "stored for weeks in plastic"- stuff you can buy. Some meats tastes better cold with some extra salt added. Use fish leftovers as well. Delicious!
 
I use leftovers as well...but don't cook too much at once. Cook only one butt or chicken at a time - whatever it takes to feed the crowd plus just a bit extra. That way you don't limit the times you get to fire up your smoker.
 
I agree with the others, freeze it and pull when needed. I did a rib roast a week ago and froze individual packages that were enough for a meal or two for two. i also agree with Dwain that cook small and cook more often. Not on wsm, but I just did several chicken breasts on my charbroil with indirect heat with a reverse sear. Had a few hours in it, but the grill did most of the work and not much trouble. I do love BBQ chicken.................................d
 
A single butt sure does look lonely in a wsm-22, makes sense to load it up - but it also makes sense to build a mini-wsm. A single chic looks OK in a mini :wsm:
 
I too like to plan left over meals. PP makes great BBQ quesadillas, pork tacos, and is great on top of a salad with a homemade bbq vinegerette dressing. Vacume sealed works wonders for freezing for another day. Have used left over brisket diced up in baked beans and pulled bags out of the freezer like it was just made.

Butt usually two butts don't last the week in the the house.
 
Rather than just freezing the leftovers maybe half of my cook-ups are intended for topping up the freezer with a small amount diverted to the dinner table that night. I'm mostly using freezer bags because I haven't yet made the jump to a vacuum sealer, although it's incredibly convenient to be able to open the freezer bag, grab a handful of pre-cut chicken or sausage for whatever is in the pot, then squeeze the air out of the freezer bag and close it up again.

EDIT - guess I should mention that what got me started on "cooking for the freezer" was that after I discovered this site my weight started going up alarmingly -- not because the food was unhealthy, but because it was just so darned tasty -- leaving me with a choice between avoiding the site or looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Cooking for the freezer then taking the results out in smaller quantities offered a third option :D
 
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I would highly recommend the Food Saver or at least something of that quality. I have the Pro II and have owned it for about 10 years now. Originally I bought it for freezing my homemade sausage. I would do about 50lb at a time, 4 links to a bag. They are amazing and you can re-use the bags a few times depending on how you care for them. When you consider the fuel cost of using the 22, it makes sense to use it's capacity and minimize your cooking costs.
 
I smoke several (usually 4) chickens at once. Cut them in half, vacuum seal them, toss them in the freezer. When I'm ready to eat one I leave the chicken in the sealed bag and steam it. Seems to keep all the flavors in and tastes great.
 
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