I am looking to order a brisket from Akaushi and they are all whole brisket about 11 lbs. I am cooking for my family of 4 so so won't need the entire beef in one sitting. My question is, can I thaw the brisket, cut it in two and refreeze the remaining half again with no side effects? And is there a direction I should cut the brisket fr two cooks?
Thank you
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
Refreezing won’t make the meat go bad, but the second freeze will degrade the quality some. But, i don’ think it is a big deal. As far as cutting I would separate the flat from the point.
I would just use my band saw on the frozen solid hunk o brisket. Cut it however I want. Then repackage it and put what I do not need back in the freezer.
Since my band saw is not used for food, when I thaw the meat I would slice off a sliver on the cut end with a good knife, just in case something. But honestly I do not know what that something might be for.
Short of that, partially thaw it then cut it. I have a nice heavy cleaver so even if it is still mostly frozen I can hack through it.
Lastly I would just not worry about it. As long as it does not get to room temperature your good. Just re-freeze it. I have done this, and I am still alive.
DISCLAIMER: I have a cast iron gut. Apparently my DECADES of eating raccoon food (straight up garbage) has made me almost immune to food sickness. Back in my 20 - 30s, it was common to be out drinking and on the way home get Taco Bell at 2 AM, then get some and go to sleep and wake up sometime in the afternoon and find the food still next to my bed. At room temperature. Well food is food! I still do this with pizza. And chicken tenders. And whatever. When I traveled to Japan with my wife she got travelers sickness, but me? NO PROBLEM! Bring on the street sushi! If USA 7-11 sushi and hot dogs older than King Tut are not a problem I GOT THIS!
If I eat something and get the green apple splatters, the USDA is issuing a recall because people have died.
My understanding is it's never a good idea to freeze anything if you can help it. But sometimes it has to be done (don't ask about my stand up freezer in the cellar). Know that you'll lose juice during the subsequent thaw each time you freeze it (credit meathead). The other problem is - tiny ice crystals form on the surface of the meat where it's exposed to air. Those ice crystals have tiny sharp spikes that stab into the surface of the meat and can create an unpleasant taste that many of us recognize as freezer burn. The punctures create a larger surface area so that a second freezing gives the ice crystals even more surface area to stab into the meat a second time creating more potential freezer burn. So the freezer burn of a second freeze can potentially be more than double that of the freezer burn from the first freeze due to the damage of the first freeze. That's the nice thing about cryovacs are that they are pretty much air tight and protected. So it seems to me that adding some liquid such as beef broth to the bag you're freezing it in would minimize the surface area exposed to air and would be beneficial. Ideally you'd vacuum pack it as well. My two cents.
I agree with the others' advice that you have several reasonable options. If it were my brisket, however, I'd cook the whole thing, divide into meal sized portions, and freeze.
It's going to take roughly the same amount of time to thaw, prep, and cook a half brisket as it will to thaw, prep, and cook a whole one. I'd rather do it once rather than have to go through the whole routine twice.
My spouse and I do better at consuming food that's been cooked and then frozen in meal-sized portions. When we're too busy to cook a meal from scratch, it's handy to have a supper's worth of cooked brisket or other meat to gently warm and serve with sides.
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