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Had to try this! FROZEN RIBS???

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SmokinAl

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OK, last night I watched a video on YouTube that did a comparison cook.
They took 3 filet mignons & 1 was room temp, 1 was refrigerated, & 1 was frozen.
They cooked them exactly the same & took them to the same IT. The takeaway was that the frozen steak was more tender & juicy than the other 2, and the room temp steak was a bit dry & chewy. So I thought why not pull out a rack of ribs from Wild Fork Foods that I had in the freezer & put it in the smoker frozen. I thought if this works it would sure be a lot more convenient if you had a spur of the moment idea to smoke something. No thawing out, just fire up the smoker & throw it on right out of the freezer. Now I know your saying that there won’t be any flavor from the rub cause I’m putting it on a frozen piece of meat, but you’d be wrong. There was plenty of flavor! So here we go!!
Here is the rack I have:

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And here it is out of the cryovac, notice these ribs DON'T have that big piece of loin meat on top.


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I put mustard on the ribs, because I thought the S&P wouldn’t stick to frozen meat. And S&P is the only seasoning I used.


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Went on the Lang sitting around 250, with mesquite & hickory splits.


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Two hours in.


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Checked the temp & the IT is around 160 degrees.

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Another few degrees & into the foil they go. It's Valentines Day & Judy likes her ribs FOTB, so today we wrap them.
I'm using a combo of Apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, honey, bbq sauce, and butter.

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OK, meat side down, and since it a cold day down here we decided to do the foil part in the oven, so we could heat the house up.
And yes I left the membrane on, because IMHO, the ribs retain more juices.

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Out of the oven. nice color!

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Now to sauce them & then onto the gasser at around 600 degrees to burn the membrane off & set the sauce.

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All done & ready to slice!

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Man o man, just look at that smoke ring!!
I only had the ribs in the smoker for about 3 hours, so the conclusion that I have come to is the meat takes on a lot more smoke when it's cold.

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Judy said they were the best ribs she has ever had. I agree, they were very good. And there was a noticeable difference in the tenderness & juiciness.
Have at it girl!!

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We ate a few ribs at the cutting board, but finally made up a couple of plates & sat outside to enjoy our Valentines dinner. Judy made our favorite coleslaw, and some handheld cherry pies ( I do like extra icing on mine ) :emoji_sunglasses:

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Well as I have said throughout this thread, I was amazed at how tender, juicy, and what a smoke ring that I got from a totally frozen piece of meat.
I can't wait to try this on some other cuts!!
Thanks for looking guys & I hope you all had as wonderful a Valentines Day as Judy & I did!!
Al
 

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Dayam - I may have to try that. Am I reading it right in that it was about 4 hours total time? Do you think having it frozen initially kept things tender, almost like a water bath while it was smoking?
 
Dayam - I may have to try that. Am I reading it right in that it was about 4 hours total time? Do you think having it frozen initially kept things tender, almost like a water bath while it was smoking?

Yes you were reading it right, it was about 4 hours total time. I don't know how it is possible to take a piece of meat that was frozen solid & have it cook as fast or faster than a room temp piece! But that is what happened. It may have been that the smoker was running a bit hotter than normal, I really don't pay that much attention to the pit temp anymore, I just let it run wherever it likes to.
Al
 
That is interesting. I may try this. But, only thing that concerns me is not getting up to the proper IT in time and not getting sick. So, smoker pit temperature is probably 275?
Thanks for sharing AL!!
 
Looks great!
This made me think of steaks I grilled 2 weeks ago. They were still partially frozen when I started them on the smoker for a reverse sear. Multiple people including myself thought they were the juiciest streaks they ever had. Never thought it was possibly because they're frozen to start. Thanks for posting!
 
Al, they look great. I've never thought of cooking them frozen. The only meat that I have cooked frozen are hamburgers.

Rob
 
Very interesting Al. They look fantastic! You mentioned in the smoker about 3 hours. How long in the oven wrapped, 1 hour maybe? Assuming oven was at 250º?
 
WOWSERS

Those look real good there skippy.

And yes leave the membrane on.
 
That is interesting. I may try this. But, only thing that concerns me is not getting up to the proper IT in time and not getting sick. So, smoker pit temperature is probably 275?
Thanks for sharing AL!!
The time to temp is < 4 hours, right?
 
Great cook Al! Those ribs look amazing. Thank you for sharing this. Like you said, this will be great for a spur of the moment smoke!
 
Thanks for sharing Al. I have cooked partially thawed butts before, but never totally frozen.

I've been happy with Wild fork ribs also. And they have been a LOT cheaper than Publix
 
Al, those looks great!

I have never done ribs from frozen But I have done chicken, steaks, pork chops and pork steaks with no problems. Guess now I can do the ribs also!

Thanks for sharing!
 
Wow! Those look amazing and there is no way that I ever would have thought that is a technique? Would that work for a bigger cut of meat too? Like a Butt or brisket? If you didnt show it I would have same concern as @yankee2bbq about getting to the right IT in a safe amount of time. Its crazy! Very cool, thank you for sharing an amazing plate!
 
looks great
i never thought about re using a ketchup bottle

Ha ha!
I was out of squeeze bottles & started using ketchup bottles. Actually they work better. Thanks for the compliment!
Al

Hmmm…this is going to happen.
Would you please share the YouTube link?

Sorry Eddie I couldn’t find it again, I’ll keep looking & if I find it I will send the link to you!
Al


Very interesting, Al, thanks for posting this. By the way, the ribs look great...

Thank-you!!
Al
That is interesting. I may try this. But, only thing that concerns me is not getting up to the proper IT in time and not getting sick. So, smoker pit temperature is probably 275?
Thanks for sharing AL!!

No worries with the temp, it took less than 4 hours to cook.
Al
Good looking ribs! Kinda blows the "Let it get to room temp" thoughts out of the water.
Jim

Thank-you, and your right!!
Al
You have things like convection currents that play a role in this process



Thank-you!!
Al
Way to go Al! Those look incredible.

Thanks Brian!!
Al
Looks great!
This made me think of steaks I grilled 2 weeks ago. They were still partially frozen when I started them on the smoker for a reverse sear. Multiple people including myself thought they were the juiciest streaks they ever had. Never thought it was possibly because they're frozen to start. Thanks for posting!
Thank-you, it’s crazy, but it sure seems to work
Al


Al, they look great. I've never thought of cooking them frozen. The only meat that I have cooked frozen are hamburgers.

Rob

Thanks Rob!
Who would have thought?
Al
Very interesting Al. They look fantastic! You mentioned in the smoker about 3 hours. How long in the oven wrapped, 1 hour maybe? Assuming oven was at 250º?

Thank-you, yes it was about 1 hour in the oven
Al
WOWSERS

Those look real good there skippy.

And yes leave the membrane on.

Thanks Rick, yep the membrane always stays on around here~!
Al
The time to temp is < 4 hours, right?

Yes that is correct!
Al
 
Those ribs look great Al and this would be a gamechanger for me. A lot of my smokes happen on weekends were I time defrosting so it’s ready for Saturday/Sunday.

I’m not sure if I would try this on frozen thick pieces of meat like a pork butt…but for ribs and the convenience of having them go from freezer to plate in the same day would be huge for me.

Thank you for sharing this.
 
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