Hi folks I get my packers from my butcher vacum packed. I only get one at a time and then cook them. But how long could i keep the packer, sealed and refrigerated, before it is unusable.
Also what about freezing raw packers? Is that a sin? OK to do? I am cooking quite a bit at the moment and could get a better deal if I could buy a few packers at a time.
INFO
Name: Chris
Location: Prairieville, LA (suburb of Baton Rouge)
Hometown: New Orleans
Helpers: Nessa (yellow lab) and Brooks (catahoula/lab mix) SMOKERS AND GRILLS
I freeze my packers all the time. In fact I just took one out yesterday that had been in my chest freezer close to 4 months now. Not sure if that is a sin to some people or not. I freeze just about anything for a long time unless it is not vacuum sealed. Then I would vacuum seal it myself.
I posted somewhere a couple months back about a packer I got at Costco. I let it wet age in the fridge in its cryovac for over 60 days. I think it was dated Oct 15th, and I opened it up and cleaned it up on something like Dec 23rd? So given that the "packing date" is actually probably 2 weeks after it was actually sealed up, I was somewhere close to 80 days wet aged. Everything was fine. Smelled a little "ripe", but not sour or bad at all... like a thick, meaty smell, that's it. Came out phenomenal off the smoker for Christmas Eve dinner.
Pit Barrel Cooker
Blaze 32" Gasser with Sear Station and Rotisserie
Jenn-Air 6 Burner w/ Dual Oven and Stainless Flat Top
Camp Chef Explorer 60EX with Grill Box and Griddle
Thermoworks Thermapen Mk4
Maverick ET-733 2-Probe Wireless Thermometer
Thermopro TP20 2-Probe Wireless Thermometer
Anova 900W Sous Vide Immersion Circulator
Selection of Grandma's Antique Cast Iron Cookware
Bayou Classic Stainless Steel Oyster/Turkey Cooker
Weber Standard Size Chimney Starter
Foodsaver Vac Sealer
MeatMonster I just wet-aged (ie refrigerated in the vacuum pack) a whole Costco packer in my fridge for 13 days past the "sell by" date (you can read about that cook here.) Fridge stayed in the 36-38F range. I do not know what date it was actually packed on, so not sure of total time in the vac pac, but no hint of spoilage or off flavors. But as they say, I'm sure "it depends" - your mileage may vary.
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
Yep, I froze a full packer brisket back around Christmas due to weather, after having aged it for a few weeks. I thawed it out this past week and smoked it. It was awesome and I don’t think it suffered at all.
i buy a lot of my meat like Boston butts when it’s on sale, and have dropped 8 or 10 butts in the deep freeze at a time, pulling them out 1 or 2 at a time to thaw and smoke. I don’t notice a difference really over ones I’ve smoked fresh.
Finally, a few voices in support of freezing meat!!! It is a good thing and any quality loss from freezing is so infinitesimal that few, if any, would ever notice a difference.
HorseDoctor I would tend to say that the key to keeping good quality when freezing meat requires several things:
1. A chest style deep freeze with no "frost free" automated defrost cycle. Most upright refrigerators and freezers bring the freezer just above freezing once or twice a day to prevent frost build up. This degrades the meat over time compared to a true deep freeze. By golly if I set it to -20F I expect it to stay there! This means that your standard upright freezer just cannot keep it as long as a chest style freezer.
2. Vacuum sealing with no air gaps. This prevents freezer burn of the surface of the meats.
Most cryovac packages products such as pork ribs, pork loins, Boston butts, beef strip loins and brisket, whole chickens or turkeys, can just go right in the freezer. Anything like steaks or chops, chuck roasts, chicken parts, I vacuum seal with the food saver prior to freezing raw, and it results in excellent quality on defrost. If you just toss. Package of meat on a styrofoam tray in the freezer (like my wife sometimes does!) it’s gonna suffer.
I also vacuum seal individual meal size portions of stuff I’ve grilled or smoked, and it’s really easy to grab one of those from the bin in the freezer and reheat for a quick meal. Lately we’ve been eating lots of pulled pork and half chickens that smell like they came right off the grill when you cut open the foodsaver bag.
Cookers:
SnS Kettle with SnS Deluxe, SS & Cast iron pans, elevated grate.
Grilla OG with upper shelf and pizza stone.
Weber Genesis SA-E-330 LP INDIGO with SS Grates, Weber Crafted frame kit, baking stone, griddle (2/3), all from Ace Hardware.
Everything Else:
SnS #3 I was their first customer.
Sous Vide equipment.
Instant read and leave-in thermometers.
Grill Grates.
Kingsford Blue Bag, Weber lighter cubes, Weber charcoal chimneys.
BBQr's Delight Hickory & Apple flavor pellets, propane torch, 12" smoke tube.
Grilla apple & hickory pellets, Royal Oak charcoal pellets.
Rubs with salt: Meat Church, Meathead's.
Rubs without salt: SnS Grills Rocky's Rub and Not Just for Beef.
Rubs home-mixed: None at this time.
Spices: Lots of 'em.
I often freeze and have a fairly new upright freezer and recently monitored my temps witho the Smoke Gateway. I’m happy with its cycles in this graph which is about 7 above 0 to 7 below 0, though I’m going to lower it a few degrees.
Wow, that's pretty good! Thanks for posting that. I've been trying to convince The Wife that I need a meat fridge and a meat freezer... unfortunately, I think we're going to need a new house to fit all of my (proposed) hobby stuff. <sigh>
I wet aged in cryovac a brisket. The pack date was 5-18-18. When I opened it 6-22-18, about 35 days later, the smell was awful. Any way to tell if its bad. I'm supposed to smoke it for a number of elderly people and my wife is worried it is bad and will make everyone sick.
You sure the pack date was the processor pack date, or are you going by the date on the cryovac, which can be different than the pack date on the case, I understand....
I had a Costco brisket in the freezer for about 6 months before I cooked it and it turned out awesome with no ill effects from the freezing. I have another one in the freezer right now that I bought about a month after that one, I will probably cook that one in the next few weeks. If I had enough freezer space I would buy several more because they are hard to find around me sometimes, I was in Costco this past Sunday and they did not have any.
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