# cooking brisket from a frozen state?



## tasunkawitko (Apr 14, 2009)

i've got a friend who swears by this on the smoker - says that there are never any problems with tough meat etc.

i can see this in an oven or crock pot, because i have done beef roasts that way and they cannot be beat, but on a smoker? anyone else tried it?


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## geek with fire (Apr 14, 2009)

I've never tried it, but it sounds way wrong to me.  I would think you would struggle getting the internals up to temp without burning the externals.


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## tasunkawitko (Apr 14, 2009)

Gw/F - my main concern would be creosote. i've cooked roasts this way in an oven and everything is done very nicely with no burning/raw problems.


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## mikey (Apr 14, 2009)

What's going to burn at 225? Not much I would think. Might dry out without water in the pan.  I wish I was home as I would give that a shot, maybe not with a brisket but some other cut of beef. There's only one way to find out, and that's try it.


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## tasunkawitko (Apr 14, 2009)

i agree, mikey - only way to know is to try it.

if i get ahold of a chuck roast or something, i will probably give it a try - if anyone else tries it or has tried it, let me know.


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## bigsteve (Apr 14, 2009)

A brisket already takes so long.  Ron, did your friend say how long it takes to finish?


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## pignit (Apr 14, 2009)

If you are cooking at 225 + and the meat goes from the internal temp of 40 degrees to 140 degrees in less than 4 hours, it would seem safe to me. Not sure if it would increase tenderness or not. Doesn't seem to matter to me whether it thaws in a fridge slow or on the smoker to done. I did a picnic this weekend that was at an internal temp of 32 when I put it on. Took an hour to hit 40.... so I took an hour off my 4 hour time limit to hit 140. Turned out great.


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## tasunkawitko (Apr 14, 2009)

steve & pig -

speaking from my experience with good-sized roasts in an oven, it doesn't seem to take much longer than normal, maybe a little; i think once it gets heated up, the heat from the cooking feeds on itself and gets the thing cooked. if i remember correctly, i think he said it takes him six hours total.

from doing it in an oven, i can safely say i've noticed a marked improvement in tenderness, but that could just as easily have been from the slow clooking at low temp.


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## ddave (Apr 14, 2009)

Must be a pretty small flat to go from frozen to done in 6 hours. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






 Probably wouldn't go as fast with a 12 pound packer.

There was a discussion on another forum about smoking frozen or previously frozen meats being more tender because of the cell walls rupturing during the freezing process.  Don't know how much fact there is to this but it seems to sound logical.

Dave


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## bayoubear (Apr 16, 2009)

i did this once with about a 15#.  wrapped it in heavy foil for the first few hours, no creosote issues. i do mine a min of 12 hrs anyway so didnt notice effects on tenderness.  i dont make it a point to freeze mine first but no longer hesitate to go from freezer to pit.


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## tasunkawitko (Apr 16, 2009)

dave - i must have been wrong about the 6 hours - the conversation was a while ago and i'm a bit under the weather, so chances are i've got it wrong. something more like 10 or 12 would make more sence.

bayoubear - inteersting experiences you've had there. the foil does make sense to ward off any creosote issues - may have to give it a go when i do my first brisket.

talk to you all later -


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## straightupnobs (Apr 16, 2009)

I work in the fire damage cleaning & restoration biz.... & although i'm too skeptical to attempt this w/ one of my beloved briskets. i do know that heat seeks colder areas. so in theory this may work very well..... hell it may even keep the meat more moist throughout, because the heat rolling over that frozen meat should form some sort of condensation & voila instant moist mopping.but as i said i'll take the wait & see approach , rather than the i'm doing it approach.


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## iadubber (Apr 16, 2009)

Water in a pan is not conducive to juicier meat. Water is only merely a heatsink.


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## smokebuzz (Apr 16, 2009)

Meat that has been previously frozen,Wont be more tender as a finished meat as a non frozen, fact try it your self you can tell. I really dont care for leftovers that have been frozen.

Beat me to it.


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## coffee_junkie (Apr 16, 2009)

Heatsink????? So water just holds the temperature of the smoker down? When making sausage, water serves more of a purpose, it keeps the casings from drying out. So I would think it would act the same way when cooking a brisket, it would/should keep the exterior from getting crispy??? I am new to this stuff and always wonder when water in the pan is appropriate.


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## ddave (Apr 16, 2009)

No thanks. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   I'll take your word for it. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I guess if someone had to do it out of necessity because they forgot to thaw it out, that would be one thing.  But to purposely do it to "avoid having a dry brisket" seems a bit extreme when there are plenty of ways to avoid having a dry brisket that don't involve smoking them frozen.  I would be interested in the time it would take to pass through the danger zone especially on a giant packer.

Dave


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## smokebuzz (Apr 16, 2009)

Sausage is whole differnt cat, don't confuse it with smokeing a brisket.And a crisky exterior is Barq, and you dont want that mussy

It is impossible to replace FAT(juices) with water.


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## meandmytwodogs (Apr 16, 2009)

Oh sorry. I thought this post was about smoking in Denver right now.
My bad.

Dave


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