Question about freezing.

[Al Gulutzan]

I have a prime rib that will be done aging in less than 2 weeks and was considering just cutting in half, with the bark on,vacuum sealing and then freezing.

My rationale is that when I’m cooking for a large group of guests, I can that thaw the chunk of meat and then decide if I’m cooking a roast or steaks. Either way I would trim the bark after freezing and not before.

Does anyone have an opinion on this?

Thanks

Al

[Ron Pratt]

Al, I can’t see why it would make a bit of difference either way of trimming first or after. In fact I suppose leaving the bark on would prevent some chance of freezer burn should they get pushed to the bottom of your freezer and forgotten about for a year or two! Ron

[Al Gulutzan]

Using the bark to help prevent freezer burn is what I was thinking as well.
I’m looking to get a stockpile of aged beef for the summer bbq season and i already have some steaks already cut and trimmed.

I think I’ll try this method and let everyone know how it turned out.

Another question. If I were to vacuum seal and freeze the entire chunk, as one piece, would you remove the dry bag?

I’m thinking that just freezing the entire piece may have its advantages.

Al

[Ron Pratt]

Personally I can’t see why freezing the finished aged piece inside a Food Saver bag while still in the Drybag would cause any harm. My only question would be will it fit as one piece? My largest continuous roll is just 12″ wide roughly meaning 24″ in circumference so if you back into the formula of C = pi x diameter then that bag will only handle a piece of meat that is approximately 7.625″ in diameter iffin it were perfectly round! In other words you might want to measure the distance around the largest end of that aged sub primal first. Using a piece of string to measure would be the easiest and quickest. Ron

[Al Gulutzan]

Ron, I’ve routinely purchased the Costco subprimal Ribeyes, cut off what I needed for a steak dinners and froze the remaining piece in one chunk and have not had any issues fitting into a 12 inch wide food saver bag. Given the shrinkage from dry aging I have no concerns about fitting.

After giving this some more thought, I have a concern about freezing the entire chunk, thawing it and only using 2/3 of it and needing to referee the rest.

I think I’ll stick to my original plan of cutting in half, and freezing with the dry bag still attached.

Will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks for your advice.

Al

[Ron Pratt]

Me bad! I really missed the part that you planned to thaw, cut and refreeze the remainder! I would never do that! Once thawed then cook it is my motto!

[Author]

Posts