Kent wrote:
> Can you, and if so how long, can you freeze meat that is brined in
> a package in the supermarket? An example would be Shenson's corned beef,
> which comes surrounded by several ounces of brine in a "non leaking" plastic
> bag. Safeway's "Rancher's Reserve" is a similar product.
> I suppose one could consider brining meat in the home, and freezing it in a
> watertight container.
> Has anyone tried that?
>
> Kent
>
>

Corned beef in it's original packaging supposedly keeps only 3 months
without losing quality. If you just had a well wrapped hunk of roast it
would keep longer, more like 9-12 months. So what would be the advantage
of having already brined, frozen meat in your freezer. Plus the brine
solution would take up valuable space in the freezer.

Melondy

Kent wrote:

> Can you, and if so how long, can you freeze meat that is brined in
> a package in the supermarket? An example would be Shenson's corned beef,
> which comes surrounded by several ounces of brine in a "non leaking" plastic
> bag. Safeway's "Rancher's Reserve" is a similar product.

Just my experience here. I don't claim anything authoritative.

The higher the salt concentration, the poorer the result. The
salt greatly shortens the amount of time it will keep frozen.
Cured meats just don't freeze as well as fresh.

In any case, I find it's much better to cook it first then freeze it.

> I suppose one could consider brining meat in the home, and freezing it in a
> watertight container.
> Has anyone tried that?

I tried it once with some trout. The results were not good. Lousy
texture. Pastorio said that doing this in a home freezer was the
problem, which makes sense. The ice crystals thing. He mentioned
doing it in a commercial freezer with excellent results... -30 F or
less.

Ah, Pastorio.

--
Reg

"Reg" > wrote in message
et...
> Kent wrote:
>
>> Can you, and if so how long, can you freeze meat that is brined in
>> a package in the supermarket? An example would be Shenson's corned beef,
>> which comes surrounded by several ounces of brine in a "non leaking"
>> plastic bag. Safeway's "Rancher's Reserve" is a similar product.
>
> Just my experience here. I don't claim anything authoritative.
>
> The higher the salt concentration, the poorer the result. The
> salt greatly shortens the amount of time it will keep frozen.
> Cured meats just don't freeze as well as fresh.
>
> In any case, I find it's much better to cook it first then freeze it.
>
>> I suppose one could consider brining meat in the home, and freezing it in
>> a watertight container.
>> Has anyone tried that?
>
> I tried it once with some trout. The results were not good. Lousy
> texture. Pastorio said that doing this in a home freezer was the
> problem, which makes sense. The ice crystals thing. He mentioned
> doing it in a commercial freezer with excellent results... -30 F or
> less.
>
> Ah, Pastorio.
>
> --
> Reg
>

Nice trick for trout small enough to fit a 1/2 gallon cardboard milk
container: You have to prepare ahead of time, with the assumption you will
actually catch fish, which in my case is a joke of sorts. Anyway, you fill
the container about 1/3 with water, lay it on its side in the freeze. Gut
wash the fish, but otherwise don't trim in any way. Lay fish inside milk
carton, fill completely with water, and freeze the entire thing. Result:
fish frozen inside block of ice. To use, whack container to bust up ice as
much as possible. Peel off container, break off as much ice as you can, and
defrost fish in the fridge. I've kept trout frozen this way for 4-5 months,
with little or no degradation in quality.

Can you, and if so how long, can you freeze meat that is brined in
a package in the supermarket? An example would be Shenson's corned beef,
which comes surrounded by several ounces of brine in a "non leaking" plastic
bag. Safeway's "Rancher's Reserve" is a similar product.
I suppose one could consider brining meat in the home, and freezing it in a
watertight container.
Has anyone tried that?

Kent

Melondy wrote:
> Kent wrote:
> > Can you, and if so how long, can you freeze meat that is brined in
> > a package in the supermarket? An example would be Shenson's corned beef,
> > which comes surrounded by several ounces of brine in a "non leaking" plastic
> > bag. Safeway's "Rancher's Reserve" is a similar product.
> > I suppose one could consider brining meat in the home, and freezing it in a
> > watertight container.
> > Has anyone tried that?
> >
> > Kent
> >
> >
>
> Corned beef in it's original packaging supposedly keeps only 3 months
> without losing quality. If you just had a well wrapped hunk of roast it
> would keep longer, more like 9-12 months. So what would be the advantage
> of having already brined, frozen meat in your freezer. Plus the brine
> solution would take up valuable space in the freezer.
>

I'm having a hard time following your reasoning. Why should frozen
corned beef in brine not keep longer than frozen non-corned beef not
in brine? (Even if the salt in the brine prevents it from acutally
freezing... In other words, why should brined beef not last as long as
non-brined beef when both are kept at the same freezer temperature?)

> Melondy
-bwg

Kent wrote:
> Can you, and if so how long, can you freeze meat that is brined in
> a package in the supermarket? An example would be Shenson's corned
> beef, which comes surrounded by several ounces of brine in a "non
> leaking" plastic bag. Safeway's "Rancher's Reserve" is a similar
> product. I suppose one could consider brining meat in the home, and
> freezing
> it in a watertight container.
> Has anyone tried that?

I usually don't freeze for more than a few months, but maybe one of these
references might help.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/factshts/FN-SSB.085.PDF

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets...ng/index.asp#1

--
"So long, so long, and thanks for all the fish!"
Dave
www.davebbq.com

-bwg wrote:
> Melondy wrote:
>> Kent wrote:
>>> Can you, and if so how long, can you freeze meat that is brined in
>>> a package in the supermarket? An example would be Shenson's corned beef,
>>> which comes surrounded by several ounces of brine in a "non leaking" plastic
>>> bag. Safeway's "Rancher's Reserve" is a similar product.
>>> I suppose one could consider brining meat in the home, and freezing it in a
>>> watertight container.
>>> Has anyone tried that?
>>>
>>> Kent
>>>
>>>
>> Corned beef in it's original packaging supposedly keeps only 3 months
>> without losing quality. If you just had a well wrapped hunk of roast it
>> would keep longer, more like 9-12 months. So what would be the advantage
>> of having already brined, frozen meat in your freezer. Plus the brine
>> solution would take up valuable space in the freezer.
>>
>
> I'm having a hard time following your reasoning. Why should frozen
> corned beef in brine not keep longer than frozen non-corned beef not
> in brine? (Even if the salt in the brine prevents it from acutally
> freezing... In other words, why should brined beef not last as long as
> non-brined beef when both are kept at the same freezer temperature?)
>
>> Melondy
> -bwg
>


The brine changes the texture of the meat and degrades the keeping
quality. You will have a hard time freezing any cured or salty meat.
Bacon, hot dogs, most sausages, really lose their quality fast when
frozen. Sorry.

Melondy