thawing a brisket question

[chris_harper]

ok, i bought a brisket last friday, and put it in the deep freeze. now i want to thaw it out, so i can smoke it. what is the best way? just stick in the fridege? how long will it take to thaw out? it is 9.57LB, date on it is march 2. i have never froze a brisket, i have always just put it in the fridge, planning on smoking it the next day.

 

[tonto1117]

Chris, please read the following link, it should cover all your questions:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Big_Thaw/index.asp

 

[chris_harper]

so a day and a half, according to that site. i will put it in the fridge today, it should be thawed and safe on sunday.

 

[bigal]

If I thaw a brisket in the fridge I allow at least 3 days to thaw. An extra day won't hurt any at all.

I watched Alton Brown on the food channel talk about how to thaw. Can't remember everything except if your in a hurry, fill a sink(or cooler) with cold water and leave it in the water w/something holding it down as not to float. Works faster than the fridge.

Let us know how it goes & tastes. I think I can tell when a brisket has been frozen as compared to a fresh one. I don't know if it is just me or maybe the moon was wrong, or something. I always wanted to do a side by side, but then thought........"who cares, its good no matter what"

 

[deejaydebi]

That's how I thaw turkeys too.

 

[t-bone tim]

even if you thaw far to long...your pretty safe with beef ....poultry on the other hand you must be alot more careful...beef thawed in the fridge should keep several days ...alot longer if still in the vacuum sealed bag ,hope this helps.

 

[msmith]

Chris I've done some big cooks before and told the people to give me thawed out meat. Well they wait until the last minute and give me frozen stuff. I've cleaned out the bath tub and put it all in cold water to thaw and have never made anyone sick.I'm talking about a lot of meat at one time and still in the vacum packs.

 

[chris_harper]

it came out good, from what i remember, lol. i have a rump roast thawing out right now, for sunday.

 

[deejaydebi]

Oh yeah leave it in the cyropack!