Freezing cooked brisket

[BurntWeenie]

I want to smoke a large cut of brisket. Perhaps not a full butcher pack. My question is about freezing after the smoke/cook. There is no way my wife and I are going to eat all this quickly. So does cooked brisket freeze well?

 

[tallbm]

I want to smoke a large cut of brisket. Perhaps not a full butcher pack. My question is about freezing after the smoke/cook. There is no way my wife and I are going to eat all this quickly. So does cooked brisket freeze well?

If you have a vac sealer then life is easy for you here.

I smoke brisket almost once a month or so as that is about how often it goes on sale here in TX.
I slice my cooked brisket up and we eat and whatever needs to be vac sealed I just put in bags and vac seal and freeze.

It will reheat with ease in the microwave in the bag or any way you want to reheat it and it will taste amazing again. It's simple just don't over heat/cook it when reheating and u will be in brisket heaven.

I try to buy whole packer briskets that are no smaller than 15lbs. This is so the flat will be plenty thick and then I trim away the thin meat of the flat ("U" shaped cut) and repuprose that good meat. So what is left is a nice bisket where there FLat muscle is about uniform in thickness and no portion of it will burn up on me.

I eat the brisket all week until I need to vac seal and boom. Fantastic reheated left overs!
Often I smoke 2 briskets like this and when I slice I do both and just start vac sealing the 2nd one's slices into bags immediately. Why 2 briskets? Because if I'm running my smoker for like 18hrs I may as well do 2 and have plenty to reheat and eat or share with others hahaha

I hope this info helps ya some :)

 

[BurntWeenie]

If you have a vac sealer then life is easy for you here.

I smoke brisket almost once a month or so as that is about how often it goes on sale here in TX.
I slice my cooked brisket up and we eat and whatever needs to be vac sealed I just put in bags and vac seal and freeze.

It will reheat with ease in the microwave in the bag or any way you want to reheat it and it will taste amazing again. It's simple just don't over heat/cook it when reheating and u will be in brisket heaven.

I try to buy whole packer briskets that are no smaller than 15lbs. This is so the flat will be plenty thick and then I trim away the thin meat of the flat ("U" shaped cut) and repuprose that good meat. So what is left is a nice bisket where there FLat muscle is about uniform in thickness and no portion of it will burn up on me.

I eat the brisket all week until I need to vac seal and boom. Fantastic reheated left overs!
Often I smoke 2 briskets like this and when I slice I do both and just start vac sealing the 2nd one's slices into bags immediately. Why 2 briskets? Because if I'm running my smoker for like 18hrs I may as well do 2 and have plenty to reheat and eat or share with others hahaha

I hope this info helps ya some :)

Thanks for the input

 

[schlotz]

Oh heck yes it freezes great! Do yourself a favor and smoke a whole packer, enjoy your fill then time to cut up into meal size portions of your choice, place each in a vac bag, vacuum, seal & freeze. One of the things we love is smoked brisket chili (see sig below). Just last week I pulled out a piece that had been in the freezer for 11 months. Thawed it in the fridge for two days then made the chili. You can reheat, slice and serve for a meal as well. Nothing goes to waste.

 

[zwiller]

I didn't really believe it at first but eventually caved and tried it. Smoked stuff does extremely well vac sealed and frozen. I actually think there is in improvement and the theory is that freezing pulls the smoke deeper into meat. I deliberately smoke stuff in the summer for the sole purpose to put down for the winter.

 

[BurntWeenie]

Now to find a whole brisket

 

[Buttah Butts]

I vac seal then reheat in sous vide

 

[Dave Schwarz]

Facing same issue. Need to cook two briskets couple weeks ahead of a party and freeze it. In my case i theoretically could freeze before slicing it. Would that be a better choice as less of the meat will directly be exposed to the cold air? Anyone who tried it both ways, i.e. freezing it sliced vs. freezing it whole and slicing it after defrosting?

 

[tallbm]

Facing same issue. Need to cook two briskets couple weeks ahead of a party and freeze it. In my case i theoretically could freeze before slicing it. Would that be a better choice as less of the meat will directly be exposed to the cold air? Anyone who tried it both ways, i.e. freezing it sliced vs. freezing it whole and slicing it after defrosting?

Hi there and welcome!

I've tried it both ways and I GREATLY prefer slicing before freezing.

The issue with freezing hole is warming up whole again AND it seems to not be as juicy since it takes sooooooo long to reheat to like 170F for serving. I think the long reheat time dries it out. I've never SV reheated so cant speak if that helps it but I would imageine it might.

If you want to be like all the extra cool kids, you cook it, rest it, and then leave it whole and wrapped in the foil and put in the fridge. The juices will redistribute back into the meat very well this way.
THEN next day you pullit out of the fridge and slice it cold and you will be able to slice it perfectly as it will hold together and not fall a part while you slice. This would allow you to get more precise slices too.

THEN you vac seal it and freeze.
This is how I would suggest you go about it since you have so much time.

My normal method is everything above except I don't put it in the fridge and slice next day but ONLY because I'm eating it that day. So I slice it all up, eat, and then vac seal after sliced or a few days after when I know I wont eat it all in time.

In any case I mention to follow, it reheats like a charm in the microwave, oven, or in chafing dishes.

I hop this info helps! :)

 

[Dave Schwarz]

Hi there and welcome!

I've tried it both ways and I GREATLY prefer slicing before freezing.

The issue with freezing hole is warming up whole again AND it seems to not be as juicy since it takes sooooooo long to reheat to like 170F for serving. I think the long reheat time dries it out. I've never SV reheated so cant speak if that helps it but I would imageine it might.

If you want to be like all the extra cool kids, you cook it, rest it, and then leave it whole and wrapped in the foil and put in the fridge. The juices will redistribute back into the meat very well this way.
THEN next day you pullit out of the fridge and slice it cold and you will be able to slice it perfectly as it will hold together and not fall a part while you slice. This would allow you to get more precise slices too.

THEN you vac seal it and freeze.
This is how I would suggest you go about it since you have so much time.

My normal method is everything above except I don't put it in the fridge and slice next day but ONLY because I'm eating it that day. So I slice it all up, eat, and then vac seal after sliced or a few days after when I know I wont eat it all in time.

In any case I mention to follow, it reheats like a charm in the microwave, oven, or in chafing dishes.

I hop this info helps! :)

Thanks for the detailed advise! Will try to follow suit.