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cooking a frozen roast

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    cooking a frozen roast

    so I was talking to my mother about cooking a roast (bison in this case - not sure what cut). She says that she has started cooking her roasts pretty much straight from the freezer. Her reason being that when she thaws them out (even in the fridge - not necessarily to room temp) that there is a lot of "juice" that comes out. The notion being that if it goes in frozen, those juices won't be lost.
    After it warms up a bit in the oven (I think she shoots for 325°F cooking temp) she puts a rub of some sort on it.
    She claims it comes out juicy and there have been no complaints.
    I think that this method would work, but it wouldn't really allow you to dry brine the meat and add much flavour.
    Anyone ever do this? What are the pros and cons of cooking a roast from frozen?
    Thanks.

    #2
    Doctor Blonder will brine his roasts, then season, and freeze. Then go straight from the freezer to the pit. He said he does it quite often. Approx. 1-1.5 hour extended cook time.

    To me that would be nice to have things that are in the freezer, then when the mood hits, ON THE PIT!

    Main thing I take from it is:

    1. No real disadvantage other than having to pre-install something that is lubed in preparation for a probe. Or just drill out a hole. Or just insert after an hour or two.

    2. Since cold meat attracts smoke, out the freezer packs plenty of that.

    See what else Doc can add...
    Last edited by Jerod Broussard; December 23, 2014, 03:22 PM.

    Comment


      #3
      The amount of "drip loss" from freezing and thawing looks impressive, but in actual tsps is not that much. When you cook direct from the freezer, that drip loss dries on the meat's surface, and contributes a bit of flavor to the bark. And I find the end result is a bit more tender. Plus less likely to grow bacteria, compared to defrosting on the kitchen counter.

      So it is a good technique

      However, as Jerod mentions, it is much better to salt and dry rub the raw meat, let it sit in the fridge for a day or two, and then freeze. This way you have the additional advantage of salt helping the meat retain moisture (see our salt seminar talk for more details).

      Comment


      • SaskatoonBusche
        SaskatoonBusche commented
        Editing a comment
        excellent. thanks for the info from both Doc and JB. I think the downside in this particular instance is that the roast is already frozen and was not prepped before freezing. We thought we'd cook it up on the weekend (in the oven - I think it's going to be a tad chilly by the weekend to use the smoker. Prob -20°C or so). Merry Christmas!

      #4
      Sorry. I now have other questions. MH does his roasts at 225F. Do you still shoot for that when cooking a frozen roast or do you shoot for a different temp? Also, is there any benefit of adding salt and some rub after the roast has been in the oven/cooker for a while? Can you put salt/rub on when it's frozen or is that a waste of time?

      I suppose another way of asking these questions is: what would you do to an unseasoned frozen roast and at what temp would you cook it at?

      IMO I would let it thaw out in the fridge and season it rather that cook it frozen in this instance.

      Comment


        #5
        Salting it frozen will help some, since salt lowers the freezing temp of water (in other words it will thaw ice) which is why we toss it on winter roads and sidewalks....however on a frozen roast most of it will bounce off so it may be of little use. You're better off salting it before freezing or after thawing. You can toss it in your smoker at 225 to turbocharge the thaw and kerplow it with some smoke, and salt it once it's soft and juicy on the surfaces. your choice.

        Comment


        • SaskatoonBusche
          SaskatoonBusche commented
          Editing a comment
          Well, since the bison roast in question is already frozen maybe we'll throw it in the oven and wait until the surface is soft enough to salt it and apply some rub (either BBBR or Mrs. O'Leary's Cow Crust). But you'd still do it at 225F right (as opposed to 325 or higher)?
          We're using the oven and not a smoker - gonna be -20°C by Saturday, and a little breezy too. Not condusive for an outdoor cook.

        #6
        You'd be fine with a thicker hunk at 325 I would say. You'll get a good Maillard crust on it. I am speculating since I've never cooked a bison roast of unknown size in my oven at 325 from frozen, lol.

        Comment


        • SaskatoonBusche
          SaskatoonBusche commented
          Editing a comment
          I actually don't know how big it is either. It's in my mom's freezer...
          Well, we'll just wing it and see how it goes! I think I'll stick to 225F though. We can put it under the broiler at the end like MH suggests. Unless it's a huge roast, but I don't suspect it is. Thanks Huskee.

        #7
        Did a frozen tri tip last week on my weber kettle. Applied olive oil and pit barrel rub to frozen meat. Tried to jam the maverick probe into the center - not much luck. Was able to slowly get the probe deeper as it thawed. Indirect heat at about 270 for over an hour, maybe two hours, got it to 115. Reverse seared on my gasser with some rendered beef fat. Not perfect end to end pink inside, but still great.

        Comment


          #8
          This is when you grab a man cave tool- dig up a clean twist drill, and bore a hole for the thermometer!

          When cooking tenderloin to 150F, a lower temp oven yields a more uniform result. With a big piece of meat that will spend hours in the smoker, and you are cooking to 200F, 270F is fine.

          Comment

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