# Rib roast: to freeze or not to freeze? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 18, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290 "2021-12-18T17:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/21 "2021-12-22T15:46:30Z")
I find it hard to imagine that a tasty and easy-to-prepare part of the cow isn’t consumed in the UK. It might not be the traditional Christmas roast, but i bet that muscle is being eating by people in some shape and in some situations. Unless you think the UK is exporting rib roasts and importing sirloin? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/22 "2021-12-22T15:53:34Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > It really isn’t in any way, a cut of beef four times the normal price of others. Not offered in restaurants. Not served in anyone I know’s homes. Not. Traditional. > > Now it’s a pissing competition as to how fucking English you are? Wind your neck in. There’s only one person here asserting what all english people do. Your quote from above > I would just say that’s not a traditional English roast, having attempted to buy it in England… [snip] Traditional English roast is thin sliced Roast sirloin. I was merely pointing out that your experience is not mine. And I’m as English as anyone else here - it just niggles me when someone stakes a claim for a whole nation which is, in fact, the experience of yourself, not everyone else. > Oh please. “Eating English roast dinners for longer than you have”? What sort of nonsense is this? Well my Mum has just turned 95, so I’d be amazed if it wasn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/23 "2021-12-22T15:54:03Z")
Hmm, my simple question about freezing rib roasts has taken a hard sideways turn into a heated debate between @SanVito and @Smid as to who is more traditionally English. Hold on while I get some popcorn ready 😁 ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/24 "2021-12-22T15:56:10Z")
Ha, for the record, I’m not claiming to be more traditionally English, just objecting to @Smid thinking they speak for a nation! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/25 "2021-12-24T15:34:55Z")
Well, I took out the roast yesterday and put it in the fridge. 24 hours later, as expected, it’s still frozen solid. Nearly two and a half days to go, though. I expect the timing was probably just about right (the roast is not very large). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/26 "2021-12-24T15:50:04Z")
That is one problem with brining—you have to be careful of the salt content. The other probably is many commercial birds are already injected with a brine solution, so it’s completely unnecessary. My parents for Thanksgiving roasted a turkey and when I got there the breast was at 208 degrees! (Year after year I keep telling them, don’t go by time. You have an instant read thermometer, why don’t you use it? And, yes, I’ve offered to make it, too.) Thankfully, it was already juiced to holy hell, so it was still barely edible. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/27 "2021-12-25T20:14:41Z")
For those following along with my frozen roast experiment, it is now Day 2 of removal from freezer. It spent the night in the vegetable cooler at the bottom of the fridge, probably the warmest part. Still very much frozen, but a bit of softness can be detected on the surface – just a bit. Tomorrow is D-Day (Dinner Day) so I’d better keep an eye on it and accelerate the process if necessary. I think it will be fine if I just take it out of the fridge altogether about mid-afternoon tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/28 "2021-12-26T07:03:45Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > …the bottom of the fridge, probably the warmest part. I thought the bottom is usually colder because heat rises. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/29 "2021-12-26T16:54:54Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > I thought the bottom is usually colder because heat rises. In theory, yes. If the fridge was a completely empty box, very well insulated, and the door never opened, the cold air would tend to pool at the bottom. In practice, however, the coldest part of my fridge is the back of the top shelf where items are exposed to a direct flow of cold air. Items left there long enough will eventually start to partially freeze. I think what happens is that, because the fridge is full of shelves and compartments, by the time the cold air makes its way down it’s warmed by ingress of heat from the outside ambient temperature, especially if the door is frequently opened. The vegetable crisper drawers way down at the bottom don’t seem to be nearly as cold as the upper shelves. As for the roast, it is Day 3 and I think we have success. It feels thoroughly thawed though still very cold. If there is a tiny frozen part in the center, it will probably thaw when I leave it out for a little while before putting it in the oven. Still about six hours before I start the roast. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290/30 "2021-12-26T18:02:48Z")
That makes sense. Mine’s like that, too. Nothing ever freezes in the crisper. I keep cans of beer on the top shelf and drink the ones in the back first, and they’re plenty cold. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rib-roast-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze/956290.md?page=1)