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[heffneil]

Hey guys I am huge opponent of freezing stuff.  Just never liked it but the world has changed.  Doing it a lot more.  Here is the question:

Do you freeze baby backs?  I have a pack with 3 racks in a cryovac from Costco.  Just toss them in?  Whats the defrost time and procedure?  Can you tell they've been frozen?

Let me know your thoughts!

Thanks!

Neil

[yorkdude]

The only thing we never freeze is ground beef for burgers but we do freeze ground beef for tacos etc. and steaks, both of those to us need to be fresh.
For ribs like that 3 pack and really for everything else we vac seal in either 1# for beef and individual racks for the ribs.
Chicken we will freeze say like 3 thighs and 2 breasts basically just 1 meals worth.

[triplebq]

I tend to purchase a bunch of ribs when I can catch them on sale. I freeze in the cryovac bag they come in. Never had a problem. To thaw them out you could put them in the fridge for a few days. I tend to just put the frozen pack in cold water.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I tend to purchase a bunch of ribs when I can catch them on sale. I freeze in the cryovac bag they come in. Never had a problem. To thaw them out you could put them in the fridge for a few days. I tend to just put the frozen pack in cold water.

+1 - been doing it that way for 15+ years.

[heffneil]

A few days to fully thaw in the fridge?

Thanks,

Neil

[Bar-B-Lew]

A few days to fully thaw in the fridge?

Thanks,

Neil

Yes, or you can put them in a tub or sink filled with cold water and they though within several hours.  You also don't need them to be fully thawed before you put them on the smoker.  They may pick up some additional smoke flavor by being partially frozen when placed on the smoker, and may take longer to cook.

[hughver]

The only thing we never freeze is ground beef for burgers

I freeze everything including my burger meat. I agree that freezing burger meat produces some undesirable consequences but I choose to accept the down side rather than taking out the grinder every time I want a burger. 

[Clonesmoker]

I've taken them from frozen to the smoker and they turned out very well!! Pretty easy and didn't add any time. Just kept the smoker at 150 for 1. 5 hours.

[RSNovi]

Ribs, generally pork, but not sausage, seems to hold up pretty well to being frozen to me.  All my ribs, butts, chops typically get frozen and turn out great.

[ICIdaho]

I have had no issues freezing, but I do not freeze in a frost free freezer.  My deep freeze is a manual defrost.  My frost free ones are short term at best, the constant heating and cooling they go through does not work well for long term storage.

[Herb]

We buy in bulk and freeze chicken, pork, sausage and beef with our Foodsaver vac pack. Food in the vac packs can be placed in cold water and thaws in a few hours depending on the thickness of the package. All our frig freezers are frost free and have never had any problems with the results of freezing in vac packs...

[hughver]

I think that the downside to vacuum packing and freezing is that the food gets compressed and is some cases, it adversely affects the texture of the food when defrosted. The most obvious case of this negative effect is ground beef for hamburgers.

[okie smokie]

I get them from Costco also, but separate them, and then vacuum seal separately to freeze. Then I can take one rack at a time and put in fridge the day before, and they are ready 24 hrs later.  No problem so far.  When repackaging you will have to put a folded paper towel in open end to catch the liquid before it gets into the area you are sealing.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I get them from Costco also, but separate them, and then vacuum seal separately to freeze. Then I can take one rack at a time and put in fridge the day before, and they are ready 24 hrs later.  No problem so far.  When repackaging you will have to put a folded paper towel in open end to catch the liquid before it gets into the area you are sealing.

Any reason you just don't cook the 2-3 racks and vac seal and freeze what is left over in the portions you desire to reheat?

[heffneil]

Thanks for the help everyone! I put two packages (of three) in the freezer.  My family can eat three racks and what little is left over (half rack or so) we use for lunch of snack the next couple of days!

Much appreciated for all the insight here!