How to Cook Frozen Meat

You can always find fresh meat in the vending machines, but we do also sell frozen meat for your convenience. Some customers like to stock up locally, others travel from farther away with coolers to stuff with frozen meat. Whatever works. Most people assume the best way to cook something that has been frozen is to defrost it first. Not so fast!

This very pork belly was grilled by Josh Applestone and he didn't even thaw it first. "I like starting from frozen a lot because it gives me more time to make everything," he explains. And it was really frozen. Like ugly frozen. We won't sell you that; only our staff has full access to the most glamorous cuts. "I should have taken a photo of it when I started; it was a freezer burned curled up U-shaped piece," he says. Most importantly, the flavor was exactly as it should be.

Here's how Josh Applestone cooks frozen meat:

• Heat up a grill (gas) to smoking.

• Put the frozen meat on one side and shut the grill off on that side leaving the rest at 1/2 way.

• Leave on for around 20-30 minutes and flip it. Leave it on again for the same amount of time to really defrost it and start the marking. ("When I flip it, I put it on the hot side where flame is and shut off and turn on opposite side to make sure it gets a good marking without burning it," he explains.)

• Put it in the center of grill on the top rack and leave the center flame on as low as it will go with the opposite ends at 3/4 on.

• Paint the belly with sauce every 5-ten minutes for the next 45 minutes. "I used whatever sauce I had the least amount of in the fridge."

• Let sit for 15 minutes, then slice.

"I ate it with my fingers," says Josh.