British BBQ Society Forums

Hi everyone,
Apols I have been quiet for a couple of weeks but I have rejoined the real world, or it may be heaven.
After 18 months of lots and lots of free time, much spent BBQing, I have taken an interim role for 2 months and guess why I decided to take it when offered.
It is in Northern Ireland's biggest meat processing plant. Get in there!
Can't remember the weight but last week I picked up a massive sirloin for £50 and plan to take full advantage while there.
Question: Been presented with a great opportunity to stockpile for the coming months but does anything freeze, defrost and smoke well?

A lot of pitmasters are dead against using frozen meats but we nearly always use frozen.

In my own experience I tend to find frozen meat to be drier than fresh meat, if you think about defrosting meat the pink coloured liquid has to come from somewhere! That said with the right treatment and preparation you and your guests shouldn't notice a difference, cooking times should typically be reduced, try to use liquid in your smoker where possible, be that in the water pan or inside the Texas Crutch if you foil, for pork and chicken I find a brine can also help

If you are freezing meat try to get yourself a vacuum packer as it is the air that is in contact with the meat the causes freezer burn and eventual dryness. The final thing to consider is how long you will freeze the meat for before using it, I have used meat that is 12 months old but that would be about my limit, ideally I'd aim for 6 months, and less than 1 if you don't have access to a vacuum packer

Thanks for the advice guys, its not ideal to freeze but my window of opportunity is limited.

It really depends on what you want to achieve. If it is sirloin, I know it hot roasts well in the BBQ after being frozen as I do that quite often. Slow roasting could tend to make it a little drier if you do not add some of the lost moisture back but It will still taste good. To be honest you probably wont even notice the difference unless you are entering it for competition.

DrSweetsmoke wrote: There are benefits to freezing some cuts but that's for a later date.

Oh you tease Al
What cuts benefits from a good freezing and I will focus in trying to get some of that?