OT Can You...

Can You BBQ pork steaks then freeze them to save time for when you want to serve them at a later date? Has any one done this before?

I thought of this when I was BBQ'ing this evening and said boy this would save time by just taking them out of the freezer and sticking them in the oven while I do some other chores.

I do that.

They seem to be drier and a little tougher when I freeze them after BBQ'ing them. Then bake again.

Greg

I would agree with you Greg, tend to put more sauce on them.

Thanks David G.- I'll try what you suggested and see how it works out.

I do a dry rub and cook then, at the end, I add BBQ sauce and cook until glazed.

Greg

I/we do this all the time. I'll smoke a whole brisket and pork shoulder over Pecan wood for about 8-9 hours. I serve those fresh off the smoker. No sauce needed. Left overs get divided up into freezer bags, just enough for a meal. Typically pull the pork and chop the beef. It does get a little dry but that is what BBQ sauce is for.

I always smoke extra for the freezer and injoy eating it up to 90 days later. We use the mircrowave exclusivly for reheating and seldom thaw beforehand. I suggest you try the microwave because to me it tastes freasher than reheating in the oven. I actualy wasn't a big fan of freezing cooked food before we had a microwave. I even tried reheating on a charcoal and gas grill but that was only better than no que at all. When we began reheating in the mircowave I actually changed the way I smoke,esp types of wood. For years I liked to use mesquite and hickory. Pecan,oak and fruit wood didn't have enough smoke flavor. Once we began regularly reheating the mesquite was too strong. After I am around the smoke while cooking my sense of smell deminishes to the point I don't fully taste the smoke for several hours after I change cloths and shower. I still use all kinds of wood,just do it different. Whereas I used to add splits throughout the cook,I now burn the wood down to 50% consumed and no longer making heavy smoke then shovel it into the smoker. Alternately,I often use lump charcoal with little and sometimes no wood. Did I mention my bunch loves them some que?

We cook extra and then freeze them and then my wife will throw them in the crock pot with some potatoes and an ear of corn. She puts the crock pot on for about four hours. When the taters are done the rest is heated through and all ready to go. Tastes great and with the moisture in the pot they are not dry.

Steven

I know some people that do this all the time with pulled pork. Not sure how it would work with chops. The problem with re-heating is your not just re-heating. That re-heating process is going to add additional cook time to what is already cooked. In other words, you may run into problems of being to dry, to tough, or overcooked on chops. Don't really have this problem on pulled meat. You can just add more BBQ sauce or whatever.