Is it OK to freeze ribs before smoking?

I plan to cook pork spareribs as well as beef ribs in my pellet grill for a July 4 party. I plan to get the pork spareribs from Costco and wonder if it would be OK to buy them now and put them in the freezer until I need to cook them? That way I don't have to worry about going to Costco a day or two before the holiday and hope they haven't sold out.

I have the same question about beef ribs?

Thanks for your suggestions.
Glenn

I buy lots of stuff when it is on sale (or convenient) and toss in the freezer. Haven't had a problem yet. Never done beef ribs, so I can't speak about them.

Should be just fine!

i bought some ribs from costco and froze 2 packages. no problem defrosting and cooking later. okie dokie.

Freezing works well for ribs and other meats. Its a great way to stock up when you find good deals. Just remember when its time to defrost put them in COLD water or leave them in the fridge to thaw.

Same goes for me. Like Squirt, I'll stock up when I get a good price, or hard-to-find items, etc. Beef ribs are fine having been frozen too.

I know some say frozen aren't as good, but I've cooked fresh spareribs alongside frozen/thawed a time or two and honestly couldn't tell any difference.

I pondered that question myself so put it to the test. I put a rack of ribs in the freezer then 2 months later I bought a fresh rack and defrosted the frozen rack. Prepared and cooked them the same and called the family to taste test not telling them which rack was which. The consensus was there was no perceivable difference between the two in flavor or texture.
I need to add that with freezing time is your enemy. Cryovac (or vacusealed) ribs will hold fine for several months but I gotta think that there will be a point in time during a long freeze where the meat will begin to deteriorate in quality and there will be a perceivable difference between frozen and fresh the longer you leave your ribs in the freezer.

We buy babies by the case. They come packaged three to a package. We repackage one to a pack
with a Food Saver and freeze them for use later.
Just last week I decided to do some for the guys at work and wouldn't you know I was a couple
of racks short. Off to the butcher for 2 racks. The guys actually liked the frozen better.

scooter said:

Cryovac (or vacusealed) ribs will hold fine for several months but I gotta think that there will be a point in time during a long freeze where the meat will begin to deteriorate in quality...

Click to expand...

Scooter brings up a good point. I wondered about that too.

For Mothers Day I used the last rack of spares I got on sale last Labor Day and they were absolutely fine. So that was about 8 months in the freezer.

Now keep in mind: They'd been in a 0° deep freezer that doesn't get opened often. They were cryovaced, which makes a HUGE difference (no freezer burn). And I thawed them S-L-O-W-L-Y in the fridge then checked them thoroughly for any bad smells or discoloration before use.


The USDA doesn't list ribs specifically, but for uncooked roast, steaks, chops (etc.) they recommend no longer than 4 - 12 months at 0° F for quality reasons ONLY (has nothing to do with safety):

USDA - Freezer Storage Chart.

Thanks for the info guys, great thread!