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Thawing and Cooking Frozen BBQ

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    Thawing and Cooking Frozen BBQ

    Now that our sons have grown up and moved away, its just my wife and me. She doesn't eat red meat, only poultry and seafood. A slab of spareribs will last me three days, a pork butt or brisket a week. But it gets monotonous eating the same meat every day for several days to a week. So I find myself needing to freeze some of the BBQ. I slice the pork butt and brisket and cut the ribs into one serving quantities, then shrink wrap the BBQ for freezing with a device I purchased. This removes most of the oxygen and improves the taste of the meat once thawed because it minimizes the formation of ice crystals. When shrink wrapping I include some of the liquid that accumulated in the foil it was wrapped in for its final cooking.

    I have found that there are two ways to thaw and prepare frozen BBQ. The first is to put the frozen shrink wrapped meat in water, heat it to boiling, and boil it at a full boil for 30 - 40 minutes. When opened, it will be steaming hot and juicy. The second way is to thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 - 48 hours, then bake it in the oven until hot. I like them both, but they taste different.

    Does anyone know which produces the best tasting reheated from frozen BBQ?

    #2
    I have tried both and prefer hot water to reheat. However, I end up taking some to work and just micro zap 1:00 minute or :30 seconds at a time until warm.

    My my experience is that the oven dries the meat too much and seems to steam away the smoke flavors.

    Comment


      #3
      Given your (nearly daily?) usage pattern, you would probably benefit from a small vacuum sealer and an inexpensive sous vide machine like the Anova. Then you could just pull the bags out of the freezer, set the bath to 145, and warm in the bag until it's ready.

      Comment


        #4
        I'm with EdF on this one ... do it all the time ...

        Comment


        • hogdog6
          hogdog6 commented
          Editing a comment
          Agree with EdF and MBMorgan. I purchased my Joule mainly for this exact purpose. It is perfect for re-heating BBQ. But even better is the bonus of finding all the other uses for Sous Vide.

        #5
        Alla them methods work.
        Most usually, fer small portions, I nukerate 'em...
        Larger portions, I uses th' oven, meat still wrapped tightly, at lowest (170°F) setting...

        Comment


          #6
          I agree with MBMorgan and EdF . If you have a sous vide machine, then reheating at a temperature lower than that at which the meat was cooked is the way to go.

          Personally, I like everything reheated to 165°F if eaten right away. Otherwise, I like the lower temps on the sous vide for a longer period of time.

          Here are the recommended times/temps from Chef Steps:
          To reheat your meat without overcooking, simply place your leftover goodies in water heated to just under the original cooking temperature. Smaller portions will take roughly the same amount of time to reheat as they will to cook. Larger portions won’t take the full cook time to reheat—you’ve already broken down the muscle and achieved your desired texture. When reheating large roasts, the goal is to heat the protein just long enough to warm up the center.
          Want some more-precise guidance on how to reheat that piece of meat you’ve got stashed away in the fridge? We’ve got some guidelines below. Keep in mind that the size and shape of the meat will dictate how long it takes to heat up.
          A slab of meat—like a steak:
          • 0.5 in (10 mm) thick: 20 min reheat time
          • 1 in (25 mm) thick: 1¼ hr reheat time
          • 2 in (50 mm) thick: 3½ hr reheat time
          • 2.5 in (60 mm) thick: 5½ hr reheat time


          A cylinder—like a roulade:
          • 0.5 in (10 mm) thick: 11 min reheat time
          • 1 in (25 mm) thick: 40 min reheat time
          • 2 in (50 mm) thick: 2 hr reheat time
          • 2.5 in (60 mm) thick: 2½ hr reheat time
          • 3 in (75 mm) thick: 3¾ hr reheat time
          • 3.5 in (85 mm) thick: 4¾ hr reheat time


          A sphere shape—like a meatball or a round roast:
          • 0.5 in (10 mm) thick: 8 min reheat time
          • 1 in (25 mm) thick: 25 min reheat time
          • 2 in (50 mm) thick: 1½ hr reheat time
          • 2.5 in (60 mm) thick: 2 hr reheat time
          • 3 in (75 mm) thick: 2¾ hr reheat time
          • 3.5 in (85 mm) thick: 3½ hr reheat time
          • 4 in (105 mm) mm thick: 5 hr reheat time
          • 4.5 in (115 mm) mm thick: 6 hr reheat time


          Keep in mind: These are not pasteurization times! All the calculations above assume that the water’s temperature is between 110 °F / 45 °C and 175 °F / 80 °C.
          Also, some roasts are more slab than sphere, some legs of lamb are closer to cylindrical, and some things don’t really have a specific shape at all. For these types of meat, go with the average of the time to reheat the two shapes. For example, reheat a big slab of a roast for the average of the time to reheat a slab and a sphere of its size.

          As a rule of thumb, I reheat anything from frozen 50% longer than the recommended reheat times from thawed.

          Is this what you all do as well, EdF and MBMorgan ? I'm relatively new at the sous vide game and am always eager to learn.

          Kathryn

          Comment


          • fzxdoc
            fzxdoc commented
            Editing a comment
            Thanks, Ed, EdF , for your help.

            K.

          • kmhfive
            kmhfive commented
            Editing a comment
            I sense another PhD in the works!

          • fzxdoc
            fzxdoc commented
            Editing a comment
            kmhfive ,

            K.

          #7
          Originally posted by fzxdoc View Post
          I agree with MBMorgan and EdF . If you have a sous vide machine, then reheating at a temperature lower than that at which the meat was cooked is the way to go.

          Personally, I like everything reheated to 165°F if eaten right away. Otherwise, I like the lower temps on the sous vide for a longer period of time.

          As a rule of thumb, I reheat anything from frozen 50% longer than the recommended reheat times from thawed.

          Is this what you all do as well, EdF and MBMorgan ? I'm relatively new at the sous vide game and am always eager to learn.

          Kathryn
          Exactly, Kathryn. I always reheat meat to its original target temperature or to 165°F ... whichever is lowest. Anything other than meat generally gets reheated to 165°F per USDA safety recommendations.

          Thanks to sous vide, I don't worry about exact time in the SV bath and, like you, I generally consider reheating anything from frozen 50% longer than the recommended reheat time from thawed to be a minimum estimate for planning purposes.

          Finally, my working assumption (especially if I cooked it) is that pasteurization was accomplished during the original cook and (assuming proper refrigeration temps) I don't need to worry about it during reheating ... as long as I get the food through the "danger zone" quickly enough.

          Mike

          Comment


            #8
            Thanks, Mike MBMorgan for the additional information. Good thought about rushing the food as quickly as possible through the danger zone when reheating.

            I'll be reheating some pulled pork this week via sous vide. I freeze it in 1 lb portions in vacuum sealed bags. I think I'll compare the taste between reheating from frozen and reheating from thawed in the fridge.

            Kathryn

            Comment

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