To Freeze or Not to Freeze?

[SoCalBuilder]

Hey Guys and Gals, it's been awhile. Daughter bought a house and suddenly 'my' weekends are shot. A trip to Virginia for a wedding also interrupted my smoking endeavors. Anyway, I went a little pork-crazy and picked up a couple 8 lb. loins and a few racks of back ribs. I prepped one loin for Canadian Bacon for next weekend and sliced up the other for  jerky for tomorrow. The ribs are tonights dinner.

I blew the dust off the OBS and set it to preheat. After an hour or so, I knew I was screwed. The temp only got to about 150 and that included the puck burner. I took a flier and at least got a couple hours of smoke on the ribs before they went on the gas grill. By that time, the temp had dropped to 115. I only have a couple smokes on this element and I haven't had time to check out everything. I do know that if I plug the element right into the outlet, it doesn't care, so the Auber is good.

After all that, the question is, if I have to get another element, can I safely freezes the pork prepped for jerky and CB? There is #1 cure used in both cases. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Oh yeah...... Happy Fathers Day to the you other Dads!

Randy

[Habanero Smoker]

The jerky should be fine to freeze. They are thin strips, easily and quickly thaw. You can also freeze the loin, that will stop the curing and brining action. But when you are ready to begin curing again, I'm not 100% sure of how long it will take to thaw and then cure; but it is safe to do what you are planning to do.

[SoCalBuilder]

Thanks Habs - I'm going to take a stab at getting my gas grill to hold a temp at 180 or below and take a shot at the jerky. If it won't then I may freeze that. I think I will let the pork loin for the Canadian bacon go ahead and cure in anticipation of possibly being up and running by next weekend. Thanks for the insight.

Randy