Defrosted Frozen Turkey and Ham

samfsu · 02-18-2013, 06:20 PM

So i decided to defrost a half of turkey breast and piece of ham that I smoked from Thanksgiving '12. I tried slicing them but they seemed watery. Anyone have any experience like this? Do you slice then freeze?

Any thoughts and assistance are appreciated.

samfsu · 02-18-2013, 08:21 PM

Anyone? :)

HankB · 02-18-2013, 09:16 PM

Freezing can change the texture a bit like you describe. Was the food otherwise OK?

With long term freezing the moisture can migrate out of the meat (freezer burn) and I use a FoodSaver (vacuum sealer) to minimize that.

Using frozen (raw) meat and freezing the resulting smoked meat are sometimes necessary. I can't eat eat everything I get from one batch in the smoker so freezing is a necessity. By the time I've reheated the smoked meat, it seems nearly as good as when it was fresh out of the smoker.

IamMadMan · 02-18-2013, 09:46 PM

When I have leftovers to freeze, I cool, slice, and add any other necessary ingredients and then Vac-Seal. I then simply re-heat in water to the desired temperature in the bag and then plate / pan to serve.

samfsu · 02-19-2013, 08:58 AM

These were already cooked and I used a Foodsaver. Both had a watery taste but were "ok" otherwise. Oh well. Maybe 2.5 months in the freezer was too long? Maybe they defrosted a little then refroze (i did have an episode where the freezer lost power for about a day but i didnt think anything thawed)....

02-18-2013, 06:20 PM	#1
samfsu Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 05-18-10 Location: Wellington, FL Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Defrosted Frozen Turkey and Ham So i decided to defrost a half of turkey breast and piece of ham that I smoked from Thanksgiving '12. I tried slicing them but they seemed watery. Anyone have any experience like this? Do you slice then freeze? Any thoughts and assistance are appreciated. __________________ Weber Genesis Silver B, Twin 18.5" WSMs, Weber Performer, Green Weber Smokey Joe Gold

02-18-2013, 08:21 PM	#2
samfsu Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 05-18-10 Location: Wellington, FL Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Anyone? :) __________________ Weber Genesis Silver B, Twin 18.5" WSMs, Weber Performer, Green Weber Smokey Joe Gold

02-18-2013, 09:16 PM	#3
HankB is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 01-16-12 Location: Winfield, IL Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Freezing can change the texture a bit like you describe. Was the food otherwise OK? With long term freezing the moisture can migrate out of the meat (freezer burn) and I use a FoodSaver (vacuum sealer) to minimize that. Using frozen (raw) meat and freezing the resulting smoked meat are sometimes necessary. I can't eat eat everything I get from one batch in the smoker so freezing is a necessity. By the time I've reheated the smoked meat, it seems nearly as good as when it was fresh out of the smoker. __________________ Weber Crazy

02-18-2013, 09:46 PM	#4
IamMadMan is Blowin Smoke! Join Date: 07-30-11 Location: Southern New Jersey Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	When I have leftovers to freeze, I cool, slice, and add any other necessary ingredients and then Vac-Seal. I then simply re-heat in water to the desired temperature in the bag and then plate / pan to serve. __________________ Humphrey's DownEast Beast W/BBQ Guru

02-19-2013, 08:58 AM	#5
samfsu Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 05-18-10 Location: Wellington, FL Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	These were already cooked and I used a Foodsaver. Both had a watery taste but were "ok" otherwise. Oh well. Maybe 2.5 months in the freezer was too long? Maybe they defrosted a little then refroze (i did have an episode where the freezer lost power for about a day but i didnt think anything thawed).... __________________ Weber Genesis Silver B, Twin 18.5" WSMs, Weber Performer, Green Weber Smokey Joe Gold