Advice Needed: Freezing BBQ

TMac

Hello everyone. I'm somewhat new to the art of BBQ and find myself with a dilemna. I will be having app 30 to 50 people over for a Sundsy BBQ lunch and want to do up some brisket and some ribs.

I have a large egg and am thinking that I will need to do the cooking in two stages.

I was thinkin of doing the ribs before hand and freezing them in vacuum sealed bags but I am worried about loosing a lot of the appeal of fresh bbq.

Does anyone have any experience in trying this and, if so, what process did you use when thawing and heating?

Thanks in advance.

T. Mac

Pharmeggist

T. Mac,
I don't have eggsperience freezing ribs or for that matter a million brisket cooks under my belt. I was wondering if you thought about cooking some Boston BUtts instead??? YOu can feed a Mob and start the cook late Friday night and have the cook completed on Sat. If people don't like pork you could do Clay's pulled pork recipe that is found in the recipe section under beef in this forum. I will say that Boston Butts are a lot easier to do though. JUst a thought
~Pharmeggist

Slotmercenary

if you have a vacumn sealer then go ahead and do the freeze thing. i do ribs and Q all the time and then vac them. when you are ready to use them take them out a day or so ahead and when the time comes just drop them in boiling water for 15-20 minutes and people will still rave.

mattk330

Hmmm...I did something similar to this on Friday. I cooked my ribs just like the recipe in the Green Egg cookbook that came w/ my XLBGE. Basically they are smoked first, then brushed w/ honey and steeped in apple juice. They are pretty much cooked after this point. The recipe itself says they can be "warmed" later by putting them back on direct heat and brushed last minute w/ sauce. I was also doing Spatchcock chicks at the same time.

Essentially I smoked and steeped the ribs indirectly and then pulled them off. At this point I just put them in a cooler to keep them warm. Then I direct-grilled the spatchcock chicken. When the chicken was done, I pulled it and tented it to keep it warm...then put the ribs back on to glaze them w/ BBQ sauce. Perfecto on both accounts.

For you you might do your ribs and then cool them in the fridge. Then smoke the butts or briskets. When you pull the butts, wrap them in foil and put them in a warm cooler to let them rest. These can rest up to a couple hours and they will be perfectly warm and cooked through. While they rest, pull the ribs out of the fridge and remove your platesetter...grill them directly enough to warm them up and then put on a little sauce to glaze them for the last 5-10 minutes. Maybe while you are working on the last ribs, you can have someone else pulling the pork or slicing the brisket.

I agree that butts are better for feeding a large group. Make some Carolina-style sandwiches or like we like to do, Carlolina-style pulled pork soft tacos. I hate to admit that I cook more butts since I was born and raised in Dallas and even now live in KC. Both big beef towns! I love pulled pork though! Heck I love brisket too...pork is just easier to cook since it's hard to mess up.

Regardless, your guests are going to think you are a bad@ss for pulling it all together!

Cooking well in advance can be done as mentioned above and vacuum sealed. I've done this with leftover pulled pork and it was awesome a month later. You really can't go wrong w/ this as long as you have a good vacuum sealed package.

FlaMike

If your speaking of just a few days, why freeze at all? Vacuum pack them, and use the fridge. Then reheat in simmering (not boiling) water for about 20-30 min. Either way, frozen or chilled, they'll be fine. Guarantee they'll taste like they're just off the grill!