OK, here we go, Weakling ...
I started a big fire when I came from work today. I had some frozen meats that had been in the freezer longer than I like to keep meats frozen - chicken (white and dark both), beef patties, Polish sausage, pork roast and a turkey breast. I have the feeling that if I slow smoke them, even if I re-freeze them, the meat will be infinitely more palatable the next time I discover it.
I spent about five hours smoking the meat with cherrywood and, with my wife's help, made a meal of some of the chicken thighs. She roasted some baby potatoes (spicy - YUM!!) in the oven and steamed the last of our fresh broccoli.
I have sampled every bit of what I was smoking and there is not a single "throw-back" in the lot!!
It seems a bit nutty to do this since anyone would prefer fresh meat to "leftover," but when you have young kids to feed - on a moment's notice sometimes - busy weekly schedules - nightmarish amounts of homework at times - a preference to minimize the horror of daily cooking chores without going to a "fastfat restaurant" - it makes a bit more sense to have good meat handy to grab out of the freezer.
It still amounts to a compromise of the ultimate, but it is at least a compromise that I can live with more easily when compared to a "McDo-NOT" burger.