Freezing a brisket

J

jimmyjazz

2,500+ Posts
I have to smoke a brisket for a party on Saturday, and since I have room in my smoker for 2 briskets, I was thinking of smoking and freezing another one. Do they freeze well? It would be convenient to slice it up and freeze in separate 2-pound packages -- would I risk freezer burn if I did that?
 
Get a Food Saver and fill the bags with sliced brisket. Reheat the brisket (still in the sealed bags) by placing it in boiling water.
 
I second Woland's advice. I think the foodsaver is god's gift to those than own a smoker.
 
^^^^^^ What they said. I do this all the time and the brisket is just as good as it was before it was frozen.
 
If you are like me you borrow your neighbors. If you can borrow the bags also it will save you from incuring any additional expense.
 
I gotta admit, S-T, I'm not all that keen on buying a Food Saver. I'm leaning towards "wrap sliced brisket tightly in saran wrap and place in a freezer bag". I don't go to great lengths when I freeze uncooked meat, but I just don't know if there's a difference when it's cooked.
 
The benefit to vacuum sealing brisket is that you just toss it into boiling water to heat it up. In addition all of the juices are trapped in the bag so the brisket tastes better than it did the 1st time around.
 
Jimmy I see the benefits of a food saver and they are real in my experience. But I have never taken the time to learn the ins and outs of them and which one I would want to buy if I did decide to purchase one.

As long as the neighbor lady is willing to bring hers over and seal up my food for me it is the route I will take. If/when she wises up I am not sure what I will do. Feeding the leftovers to the dogs is probably going to win.
 
The Foodsaver also removes the air in the bag, preventing freezer burn. If you slice it and put in a ziploc freezer burn will happen quickly due to all the surface area exposed to air.

Also great for bulk cheese.
 
I usually slice up whatever remaining brisket we have, wrap in aluminum foil and then put it in a freezer bag. When we get ready to eat it, I just put the still frozen foil wrapped meat in the oven for a 2 to 3 hours at 200 degrees. Still tastes great and everybody's happy. Of course, it is usually eaten within 2 to 3 weeks of going in the freezer.
 
Here's the deal, based on my experience:

1. The FoodSaver / Boiling Water method is perfection. You will be eating brisket that tastes like it just came off the smoker.

2. Wrapping / Freezing / Re-heating in the oven is certainly acceptable, but what you are eating is "leftovers". High Quality left-overs, yes, but left-overs nonetheless.

Besides, an entry-level FoodSaver can be bought for under $100, and it is definitely something you will routinely use.

One of the best kitchen gadgets to come along in the last 50 years.
 
I'm fairly convinced that all the consumer Tilia Foodsaver models (generally accepted to be the best consumer manufacturer) use the same vacuum system so they should perform the same. The difference between models is a few feature variations, cosmetics, and included optional items. Tuesday Morning usually has Foodsavers in stock for a good price and Costco is the best place I've found for bags.
 
Hot, playmate material. I don't get my stuff frozen near as often as I would like
frown.gif
 
We ended up eating all the brisket before I had a chance to freeze it.

But now I'm interested in these FoodSavers -- can you (for instance) grill up a giant mess of chicken breasts and freeze them in small quantities (like 1.5 pounds per bag), or are they only for giant amounts of food?
 
yes, you can do small servings. 2-4 chicken breasts would be perfect. I usually package stuff in meal size packages. I've done brisket, pulled pork, chicken breasts, fajitas, and even steak.
 
In addition to cooked food, I also use the food saver when I buy steaks at Sams. It more than paid for itself in the first year. Since I'm the only on in my family that eats red meat, I can still take advantage of buying in bulk and just repackaging in smaller portions. We also eat a lot of chicken thighs so I buy them in bulk and repackage with 2 in each one.....so I can thaw out what I need.

Two tips I learned after losing seals on some bags.
1) put a paper towel in the top of each bag, especially with juicy stuff, so the juice doesn't screw up the seal
2) let the machine rest/cool off between each seal
 
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