What to Do First

Open your entire shipment immediately. All ingredients in the cooler should be frozen or cold. You will find one or more clear plastic bags which originally contained dry ice. Remove them carefully. If any dry ice is remaining, remove it with oven mitts or the equivalent. It will burn you if it contacts your bare skin. Discard in the sink…it should evaporate quickly.

If the contents are warm, or if the contents do not match your shipping manifest, call us immediately at (866) 460-MEAL.

All the cold items which you intend to use in the next four days should immediately be placed in the refrigerator. If your plans are longer range, place items in the freezer. With unbroken seals, they will last with little loss of quality for up to 6 months.

Heating for Your Table

All perishable products are Cryovac sealed while still hot and flash frozen, preserving peak flavor and moisture content. The goal of preparing them for optimum results is simple: you want to thaw your barbeque products as gently as possible. Then, you want to heat them to serving temperature as gently and quickly as possible.

Thawing: We recommend that you not thaw your products in the microwave. Normally, 24 hours in the fridge is sufficient. For larger, denser items, such as ham, turkey, or whole brisket, we recommend 48 hours. Another couple of hours on the counter top will warm them further toward room temperature. Do not break seals until you are ready to begin heating.

Heating:

Remove all sealed plastic. We suggest that you use a boning knife to separate ribs before heating. At serving temperature, our ribs are so succulent and moist that only a very good carver with a very good knife can separate the bones without stripping off the meat. For all items except Hickory Pit Beans and Cheesy Corn Bake, we suggest heating while covered, to preserve moisture. In all cases, arrange items so that they are separated as much as possible in a single layer, for quickest heating… you can rearrange for table presentation when they are done.

For open fire and grill heating, seal your meats in a double layer of foil and position out of direct flames, in radiant heat, on the margin of the grill or fire.

Rotate or flip the foil package at least once during heating.

Good luck. With a little common sense, you’ll end up with food indistinguishable from that served in America’s top-rated barbecue restaurants. Remember, the guidelines are just that… the sole point of these instructions is to get your barbeque favorites to serving temperature as quickly and gently as possible.