Aging brisket

B

Buster Dog BBQ

Guest
When you guys age brisket, do you always just go from case to fridge?

Is it possible to freeze them and then age as long as you know the kill date on the box?
 
Had a buddy that once found a frozen brisket at the bottom of his fridge that was 4 years old. Had been frozen the whole time.

Tasted awwwwwwful. Smelled awful, don't know why we even cooked it, but we had to try.

So one answer, at least, is regardless of being frozen there is somepoint where it is no longer good eats.

For me, I usually buy one week in advance and that's it. But highest I've gotten in Brisket is 5th, so don't go by me! :wink:
 
I age, then freeze and do not notice a difference. these are CAB's and not those magic Wagyu briskets that everyone is so enamored with... Managed to score a 2nd place with my inferior briskets this weekend...
 
Good question. I just bought a 7 cu ft chest freezer for aging briskets and fitted it with an outboard temp control. It now stays 36-40. I know you have to figure into the shelf life the 3-5 days it will take to thaw.
 
[Mod note: moved to Q-talk because of its general nature. AM]
 
Buster Dog BBQ said:
When you guys age brisket, do you always just go from case to fridge?

Is it possible to freeze them and then age as long as you know the kill date on the box?
Click to expand...


Age first and then freeze. It's great to be able to pull an aged brisket out of the freezer any time you need one.

I started using frozen briskets last year without any issues.
 
The Pickled Pig said:
Age first and then freeze. It's great to be able to pull an aged brisket out of the freezer any time you need one.

I started using frozen briskets last year without any issues.
Click to expand...


How long are you holding them frozen? Weeks, Months?
 
Scottie and Paul, excellent. I picked up a case of CAB with a kill date 3.24. I need all them in first couple weeks of May. Sounds like I can age then freeze for a couple days without issue.

Thanks.
 
Scottie said:
I age, then freeze and do not notice a difference. these are CAB's and not those magic Wagyu briskets that everyone is so enamored with... Managed to score a 2nd place with my inferior briskets this weekend...
Click to expand...

Ok, Brisket Whisperer:p
 
I am pretty new to this but when you say age the brisket what do you mean? When i get a Brisket its usually cooked in 1-3 days after I get it.
 
nthole said:
How long are you holding them frozen? Weeks, Months?
Click to expand...


During contest season, most pieces are gone in a matter of weeks. But I just cooked some crappy contest rejects that were 10 months old.
 
I have never experimented with the aged then frozen brisket but we do age all of our briskets before competition. I have wet aged them for as short as 28 days and as long as 65 days. We have pretty good success with our brisket and I really do think that this makes a difference. We have even kept some logs on observed changes in the brisket by week while aging and the juice seeems to be worth the squeeze.
 
Paul or Scottie, when you freeze them, do you trim them and re-cryo and then freeze at that time? I am curious as to if the cryovac holds up to freezing after the aging process.
 
After aging, I'd guess that once that cryovac has been compromised, you'd better make plans to cook it.
 
Buster Dog BBQ said:
Paul or Scottie, when you freeze them, do you trim them and re-cryo and then freeze at that time? I am curious as to if the cryovac holds up to freezing after the aging process.
Click to expand...


I only freeze once before cooking. If I were to draw a flow chart of the life cycle of one of my briskets it might look something like:

Purchase--->Age--->Sort--->Freeze--->Select--->Thaw--->Trim--->Inject--->Marinade--->Rub--->Cook--->Part--->Slice--->Serve
 
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