Brisket Question

Smokin Mike · Nov 17, 2010

I got a quick question, I bought a bunch of briskets, picked some out for comps, used them, and trimmed and froze the rest. I decided to take one out for practice, its been in the fridge for 3 days. It smells just fine, but the texture seems soft, down right almost mushy:shock:.

Still good to go?

TIA

Midnight Smoke · Nov 17, 2010

How long was it in the freezer. If it smells god and it has only been 3 days I would say go for it, but right away.

Smokin Mike · Nov 18, 2010

Smokin Mike said:
I got a quick question, I bought a bunch of briskets, picked some out for comps, used them, and trimmed and froze the rest. I decided to take one out for practice, its been in the fridge for 3 days. It smells just fine, but the texture seems soft, down right almost mushy:shock:.

Still good to go?

TIA

I need to reword that, I bought a case of briskets, I knew what the kill date was, and made sure to not open any of them for 40 days, I did use some of the good ones for some comps, and trimmed,vacuum sealed , and froze the rest. I am really new at the freezer to fridge part, I was taken back how mushyish :shock: they are becoming, I just don't want to chance anything, with my family.

TIA,

Mike

tjus77 · Nov 18, 2010

if they don't smell, they should be fine. next time don't trim and freeze, freeze them whole if you can.

Cliff H. · Nov 18, 2010

Smokin Mike said:
I need to reword that, I bought a case of briskets, I knew what the kill date was, and made sure to not open any of them for 40 days, I did use some of the good ones for some comps, and trimmed,vacuum sealed , and froze the rest. I am really new at the freezer to fridge part, I was taken back how mushyish :shock: they are becoming, I just don't want to chance anything, with my family.

TIA,

Mike

Could you explain this ?

Did you wet age them for 40 days ?

Divemaster · Nov 18, 2010

Cliff H. said:
Could you explain this ?

Did you wet age them for 40 days ?

That's what it sounds like to me...

Sorry to go against the grain, but if they don't seem perfect, I toss them. Not worth the risk as far as I'm concerned.

HarleyEarl · Nov 18, 2010

Divemaster said:
Sorry to go against the grain, but if they don't seem perfect, I toss them. Not worth the risk as far as I'm concerned.

At first glance, I agree as far as human consumption. However, (and not to sound harsh) I might be inclined to still smoke or cook in a crock pot and give the dogs a great feast.

One the other hand with the mushiness, you could just be looking at cell damage to the meat from the freezing which would definitely affect the moisture in the meat when you smoke the briskets. The biggest key to look for (smell for) is a strong odor from the meat, If it is gamey, I would have a hard time serving them to humans.

Just my humble two cents...Good luck.

Southern Home Boy · Nov 18, 2010

I'm with HarleyEarl on the cell damage part. When flesh freezes, the cytoplasm inside the cells expands and ruptures the cell walls. When it thaws, you lose a good deal of the stucture of the meat and much of the moisture will release into the spaces between the muscle fibers causing the "mushiness" you feel.

This happens more when the freezing process is slow. The faster the meat freezes, the less cell damage you will have.

That being said, it should still be good to eat as long as there's no detectable odor.

Smokin Mike · Nov 18, 2010

thanks guys, I end up throwing it away. I really gave it a good look this morning, and decided it was too mushy, and had some gray to it. it passed the sniff test just fine, but,,,,, just couldn't smoke it.
.
lesson learned, don't trim it, keep it in the cryovac!

Brisket Question

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