Cooking only part of a Brisket?

Smo-Ken · Posted: Nov 28 2006 Post subject: Cooking only part of a Brisket?

I have a 10+ pound brisket and was pondering the possibility of cutting it into two or three "chunks" so I don't have to cook the entire slab at once. Anyone have some thoughts or ideas on this?

Reason being that I need to either cook it or freeze it this weekend. My wife's having surgery tomorrow and I'll be taking care of her for awhile, I don't have room to freeze the entire cryo-pak and I won't be able to round up enough people on short notice to cook the entire brisket. So I was thinking of maybe cooking a chunk this weekend and freezing the rest for a later cook.

Is that gonna work or should I just try to figure how to freeze it whole in the cryo?
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Big Mark · Posted: Nov 28 2006 Post subject:

Why not cook it and freeze it in meal sized portions. That way you will have quick and easy food while looking after your wife.

PS Hope all goes well

Rubit · Posted: Nov 28 2006 Post subject:

I do my Butts that way, dividing them into one pound ziplock packages. After you put the meat in the bag, flatten it for easy stacking in the freezer.

Suck&Seal bags work great.
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bigabyte · Posted: Nov 28 2006 Post subject:

Best thing to do would be to first cut the point off from the flat to make two pieces, and go from there.
_________________
--Chris Baker
--Mad BBQ Scientist
--When my lab fills with smoke, that means it's working!

skybob · Posted: Nov 28 2006 Post subject:

I have to agree with Mark, cook the whole brisket and then slice it and bag it in meal sized bags and then freeze them. Makes for great food through the winter.
I do that and make all the guys at the hangar envious in the middle of the winter when I reheat a nice mound of brisket or pulled pork for lunch. Kinda reminds me of school lunchs and trading food. But I'm usually hard pressed to trade away my smoked meats. Very Happy

Smo-Ken · Posted: Nov 29 2006 Post subject:

I had considered cooking it all & freezing the left-overs, but I don't have one of those FoodSaver vacuum sealers. The best I could do would be a "suck & seal" with standard freezer zip-lock bags. Will that keep very long? I can certainly give away some of it to folks but I would hate to see it get all freezer-burned!
_________________
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bassin, Blues & B-B-Q's... Nuthin's Finer!!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bar-B-Chef Offset Smoker
BBQ Pro Bullet
22" Weber kettles (Red & Blue)
'05 Skeeter TZX190/175 Yammi HPDI

bigabyte · Posted: Nov 29 2006 Post subject:

Well, if you have the means to cook it whole ahead of time, then do that. Then wrap it up real nice and put in the fridge, you can get to it the next day, right? Then when it is cold you can slice up and divide into potions however you see fit. Keeps a lot of juices that way.
_________________
--Chris Baker
--Mad BBQ Scientist
--When my lab fills with smoke, that means it's working!

Smo-Ken · Posted: Nov 29 2006 Post subject:

I'll give it a try! Thanks all!
_________________
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bassin, Blues & B-B-Q's... Nuthin's Finer!!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bar-B-Chef Offset Smoker
BBQ Pro Bullet
22" Weber kettles (Red & Blue)
'05 Skeeter TZX190/175 Yammi HPDI

tradersmoe · Joined: 12 Nov 2006 Posts: 6

On wrapping meat for storage, I though I would toss out this experience. I use foodsaver vacuum bags and have found them to work well. Although I think they are probally overkill.

My dad always had vension in his freezer and always stored it the same way with great success. He would first tightly wrap the meat (uncooked) in generic plastic wrap. (Dad never bought anything name brand.) He would then tightly double wrap them, this time in the freezer paper with the plastic coating on one side (generic again!) He used only enough of the wrap to make it around the bundle once and have just enougth left over to fold the two ends together tightly to form a seam. He then folded the open ends over the seam, holding the whole pack with one piece of masking tape. He dated and indentified each parcel.

I mention this this because his meat kept forever in the freezer without drying out. After dad passed on, I literally found deer steaks 3 years old, that when defrosted, looked and smelled as fresh as the day they were butchered. Of course, they also passed the taste test! Dad's low tech method was much cheaper and worked every bit as well as my vacuum sealer, maybe better.