i know most of you don't like frozen bbq....

I always try to stash away some pork or brisket cause I know I'll get a craving for it later on when I don't have the time to smoke some. At least a quart bag full.

Course now that I got a dedicated freezer, this may need to change. Just need the vac sealer.

Bob

At any given time I may have 20 lbs of vac sealed and frozen pulled pork or brisket. It will be good three years from now.

I've thought about doing this myself. I always cook way too much because I don't get to do it often and like variety.

Others have posted about doing it in other forums before. Hopefully they'll chime in.

I have 2 - 6# pork butts, 2 - 4# pork loins, 4 - 1# fatty chubs, and 4 bone in chicken breasts thawing for this weekends cook.

There are two of us.

Chicken, fatties, and 1/2 of one loin will get eaten, the rest is vacu-sucking into pre-portioned amounts.

Pulled pork, enchiladas, etc's worth of amounts.

I would assume "most" do freeze some portion or another, at least those of us who smoke less but cook a lot at a time when they do.

.

I just got a vacuum sealer with the intention of freezing smoked leftovers. I look forward to being able to pull a pack out of the freezer and eat in a short while. :clap2:

I am with you my brethren. I too suffer from the "okay I am gonna fire up this puppy so I may as well put everything I got on the pit and freeze it for later" mode.

Other brethren will chime in and offer their opinions but mine is that frozen Q is fine and you are right, there is a nice feeling, mostly because you are not so tired or sick of smelling smoke all day, to just defrosting it and popping it in the oven and getting some Q with little trouble.

Here are some tips though:

1. Especially brisket, don't cook it all the way if you intend to freeze.
2. Seal it up tight either by vacuum seal or like I do, wrapping the meat right off the pit in plastic wrap (go out and invest in some commercial wrap). As it cools it will seal well.
3. Reheat in the plastic wrap using a gentle below 300 setting. Reheat in a pan with a bit of water in it to buffer the plastic from the pan and heat until a bubble appears. Let it relax at least 30 minutes before you open the package. I write this in red because some may differ in opinion as to the safety of this practice. However, there is proof both in this forum and out of the forum that this is a safe and acceptable culinary process and the platic used contains no dioxins in the first place.
4. Never slice before the freeze. On Pork Butts remove the bone and even leave that on one piece if you can. Quality is retained the more the product is left whole.

I honestly think that reheated bbq (ribs in particularly) are better when boiled in the vaccum bag than they are when they first come off the cooker. It improves the texture without drying them out but it still has the flavor from the pit.

I'm with Cliff. It's a BAD DAY when we run out of frozen barbecue. Most times I'll intentionally cook 2 to 3 times what we'll actually eat on for the next week and freeze the remainder. Not only does it make great left-overs but BRUNSWICK STEW. I think my mother in-law comes over for the stew alone... Speaking of which, we're down to our last freezer bag of Q; time for another BBQ.

GEEEZ... I thought it was SOP to fill the pit & freeze what's left. I too have a dedicated ~13 cf freezer for Q and it's just me & Ma, although the kids love to come home & visit... :wink: At its best the freezer is about 1/8 cooked meat of some sort. At its worst, well I'm scramblin' and getting desperate at that point. Cheers!!!