Pulled pork portions for vac seal

[MBMorgan]

I really should do up some stuff and freeze it, we've got 6 people coming in a couple of weeks to stay for a couple of weeks. But I don't want to miss out on the chance to cook up fresh stuff, either! I'm torn...

Do both. If you can't ... or decide you don't want to ... cook fresh while your guests are there, you've got frozen to fall back on. If you do decide to cook fresh, then you've got plenty of "leftovers" already in the freezer for meals after the guests are long gone.

[realdocBBQ]

Somewhat true, yes... the biggest problem I run into in my house is my wife arguing we don't have freezer space to buy more meat. <sigh>

[Dadof3Illinois]

I do pretty much what others here do. I'll portion it out between 12-16 oz servings but I like to put it in zip lock bags and set in the fridge at least overnight. When I'm ready to vac seal, I open the zip bag stick it in the vac seal bag and seal it up. Now if I don't use it all I already have it in a sealable bag in I can store in the fridge.

[RickyBobby]

I never thought of this, but I kind of love it…….

[fzxdoc]

Good idea, Dadof3Illinois . And since the ziploc bag is reusable after washing, there's no additional plastic waste from the double bagging.

I just double bagged some hummus because the hummus in the single bag was a mess, and when I tried to seal the (cleaned) edge, the hummus started creeping toward the edge. I didn't want my sealer to be damaged, so I canceled the sealing, folded the edge of the hummus' bag over and put it inside another vacuum sealer bag and sealed it. I was pleased at how well the chamber sealer did the job with the double bagging method.

Kathryn

[Dadof3Illinois]

If you were doing that for freezing, just put it in a zip bag then freeze it then vac seal. I do this for all soft or wet items.

[fzxdoc]

Well, I was sort of doing it on the fly. The vac bag I had the hummus in may have been a little too small, because when I started sealing it, the hummus started to move toward the opening. So I just took it out, folded the edge, and put it in a larger bag for sealing. In the future, I'll just put the hummus in the properly sized bag to start with, and use your suggestion, freeze it for a while then seal with my chamber sealer. Thanks, Dadof3Illinois , for the suggestion.

Kathryn

[DaveD]

So much good advice in here. I'm feeling somewhat emboldened to perhaps, maybe, possibly try to cook a full brisket, which I have yet to do, now that I have a much better way to store leftovers. Making over 10 lbs of meat for just my wife and me hasn't made sense up to now... kinda feel like I can't call myself a real BBQer until I've done that.

[fzxdoc]

Go for it! We're mostly 2 for dinner as well, but brisket makes such good chili, nachos, spaghetti marinara, etc, that you'll use up the stored leftover portions in no time. Our kids raid the freezer for smoked meat goodies when they come to visit, too, so there's that option.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

The last time I bought a brisket - a full packer - I split it into point and flat, and then cut the flat in half, ending up with 3 hunks of meat in the 4-5 pound size range, which I vacuum sealed and froze. I pulled one hunk of flat out and smoked it recently, and it was enough to feed my wife and me for 3 days - she had it for dinner each night along with me, and I had a sandwich or two with it on the 2nd and 3rd day as well.

[Dadof3Illinois]

I’m gonna be shot for saying this but………a lot of times I cut the brisket in half right where the point and flat start coming together…..just straight down. Then cook the point and flat separately, I can pull the flat early if needed and try to keep it from drying out too much.
By cutting it this way I can use the flat to make some corned beef / pastrami if my little heart desires too….LOL.