Rain Delay

[smokin_up_north]

Put a couple Turkey breasts in brine last night, was hoping to cook them up tonight but it looks like I'll have a rain delay.  I won't be able to get back to them for probably a week.

My plan is to just pat them dry with towels, then put them in freezer bags and freeze them until ready.  When I want to cook them again, do I need to do a brine again?  If so, should I go for the 20-24 hours I did this time or a much shorter duration?  I used an apple juice (low acid), brown sugar, salt, water mix for the brine.

[FLBentRider]

Bummer on the Rain delay.

Once they are Brined, you shouldn't have to brine again. I would just defrost and smoke.

[La Quinta]

Ok...I have a question about brining and freezing. I fully understand the concept of brining...but one point is to infuse spice as well as moisture into the meat? (Correct me if I'm wrong). But...wouldn't freezing cause the meat to have some major ice crystal stuff going on inside the meat? Therefore a "soggy" product when cooked? I understand that many meats (like turkeys) are injected with solution but my assumption is they are "flash frozen" (which most of us do not have the ability to do). Just curious?

[jaeger]

Ok...I have a question about brining and freezing. I fully understand the concept of brining...but one point is to infuse spice as well as moisture into the meat? (Correct me if I'm wrong). But...wouldn't freezing cause the meat to have some major ice crystal stuff going on inside the meat? Therefore a "soggy" product when cooked? I understand that many meats (like turkeys) are injected with solution but my assumption is they are "flash frozen" (which most of us do not have the ability to do). Just curious?

Freezing the turkey breast for one week will not make the meat soggy. The biggest problem is with the thaw you may lose some moisture that the breast took on. The flavor that you added should still be there so I would suggest just smoking without brining again.

When I brine something as large as a turkey breast I always inject the meat with the brine. If you didn't do that before, you could do that before smoking. If you were not planning on doing that or you already did that when you brined the first time, than I would just go ahead and smoke it.

[La Quinta]

ok jaeger...appreciate the info...if one were to freeze the product for longer would that be different?

[jaeger]

ok jaeger...appreciate the info...if one were to freeze the product for longer would that be different?

I don't think you will make the meat soggy at all. By freezing it to long I would be more concerned to avoid freezer burn. I am not recommending freezing after brining at all as you know, this is just Plan B, because of the rain delay. I would try to smoke it soon. ;)
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.