# Freezing Smoked Pork



## cincyque (Jun 7, 2008)

25 years ago I first smoked a turkey on a Weber grill.  Since then, I have worn out several Brinkman and Charbroil bullet smokers.  Today I am seasoning my brand new 40" Masterbilt Smokehouse and tomorrow...smoke heaven.  Since I will be doing a lot of experimenting over the coming weeks, I will be preparing more pork (ribs, butts, sausage etc.)  than we will possibly be able to eat. I would appreciate any freezing tips that you might have.


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## blacklab (Jun 7, 2008)

VACUUM SEALER 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			





Is the way to go when freezeing.


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## erain (Jun 7, 2008)

vac u pac, vacum sealed foods will give you your best tasting frozen foods. however fresh is still the best!!!


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## ronp (Jun 7, 2008)

Good luck with your MES, I love mine.


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## sumosmoke (Jun 7, 2008)

Go with the vacuum-sealed method of storing, if you are able to. Easy to re-heat by dropping in a pot of boiling water and it will be as tasty as when you smoked it!


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## dadwith4daughters (Jun 7, 2008)

All great suggestions with the vacuum sealer. If you don't have one (which I'm hoping to get for Father's Day!) try this method. This idea comes from the citrus industry here in Florida. When they're faced with a freeze, they will spend all day watering their fruit. The icy shell that's formed around the fruit actually prevents it from getting below 32 degrees. So...double ziploc bag your meat, adding water to the outside bag. This creates the icy shell and your meat won't get freezer burn. I can't tell you how long it lasts but i had a butt in there (cut in two to fit in the bag) for 3 months and it came out fine. for large quantities of meat, take a trash bag, drop your ziplocked meat into the bag and fill with water to cover. This works if you have the feezer space. Good luck.


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## ron50 (Jun 7, 2008)

If you are looking to make a purchase I'd recommend Food Saver vacuum sealers. A lot of people here use them and are very happy with their decision.


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## sumosmoke (Jun 7, 2008)

DW4D - that's an awesome tip you just posted and never thought about freezing meat that way. I don't have a vacuum seal machine (yet) and this is something that will work for me, until Christmas. 

Great post, thanks!


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## abelman (Jun 7, 2008)

With out a doubt.


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## seboke (Jun 7, 2008)

Vac seal works great!  I cut the bags to fit whole slabs of ribs.  I measure out pulled pork into 2 lb paks.  you can freeze almost anything, then dip the whole pak in boiling water for a few minutes of snip the corner and nuke it.


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## meowey (Jun 7, 2008)

Ditto!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey


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## jerseyhunter (Jun 7, 2008)

What you want to avoid is freezer burn, which is caused by air. So If you're going to use the leftover fairly quick, What I do is freeze in plastic containers such as :cool whip or frosting containers. Fill almost to the top to allow for expansion. Don''t forget to label. Made the mistake of not labeling before and ended up eating food that didn't go with the rest of the planned meal.  They will last a month or two without a doubt. For longer storage then vacum pak is the way to go.


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## justsmoke2 (Jun 7, 2008)

My wife bought me a Ziploc hand held vac sealer.  For short term freezeing this works well.  Haven't dropped any into boiling water but just normal thawing this works well.   We due meal size freezeing and glad to have it.  There cheap to like $15 for the hand held vacumn.  You can find them in your bigger market food chains.


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