Steak is the perfect ingredient for a romantic or celebratory dinner. It doesn't really matter if you are grilling a filet at home or ordering steak au poivre from your favorite fancy steakhouse, steaks can be an expensive meal choice. That's why it is so important to store steak properly. However, the age-old question remains: to freeze or not to freeze. Most steakhouses have a no freeze policy, but should you follow suit at home? We did a deep dive on the issue and came up with some interesting answers. In this video, we'll tell you the real reason steakhouses never use frozen steak.
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00:00It might surprise you to learn that the Australian beef company Stanbrook has created something
00:05of an online information hub called Steak School. Yes, we read it religiously. You might
00:11also be interested to learn that Steak School published an article in 2017 that graced this
00:16rather curious headline. Is it a cardinal sin to freeze steak?
00:21It's a bold question, to be sure, and a question that certainly managed to pique our interest.
00:26After all, we've certainly frozen a steak or two in our day. But perhaps we should think
00:30twice before ever doing such a thing again. As The Daily Meal reported in June 2020,
00:36"...frozen steaks may be cheaper and last longer, but you sacrifice the quality of the
00:41beef. Freezing a steak can lead to ice crystals or freezer burn, and improper thawing can
00:46make it hard to cook a steak to the desired temperature. For the best results, always
00:51go with fresh steak."
00:52All of this goes some way in explaining why the Southern California meat company Meat
00:56the Butchers absolutely refuses to freeze any of its products. According to the company's
01:02official website,
01:03"...taste is king, and the first thing that is affected during the freezing of meat is
01:07the flavor. The speed at which something was frozen changes the amount of ice crystals
01:12that are created inside the cells of your meat. Slow freezing creates a few large crystals,
01:18and quick freezing creates a large number of small crystals. Ice crystals, no matter
01:22the size, can damage the cell walls inside of your protein and ruin its texture, as well
01:28as destroy natural juices during the thawing process."
01:31Instead, the folks at Meat the Butchers insist on dry-aging their meats. As the website explains,
01:37"...our amazing rib-chop bone-in signature steak is dry-aged for 28 days to tender perfection.
01:44We pick meat with perfectly even fat distribution for storage in a climate- and moisture-controlled
01:49room to allow time for the beef's natural enzymes to break down."
01:54But should you always follow this no-frozen-steak rule? Perhaps not. Researchers at Kansas State
01:59University made a rather interesting discovery in 2016. According to Science Daily,
02:04"...they found that freezing strip loin and inside round steaks makes those cuts as much
02:09as 10 percent more tender when it comes time to eat them. That's because the cuts didn't
02:14lose much moisture while freezing."
02:16And according to Steak School, situations can arise in which it makes more sense to
02:20freeze the steak than to cook it right away, especially when you've bought more meat than
02:24you ultimately need. As it turns out, home cooks can freeze steak without affecting its
02:29quality, provided they follow a few rules to avoid freezer burn.
02:33One recommended method involves vacuum packing and freezing the meat quickly. In fact, Bustle
02:39strongly recommends cooking your steak while it's frozen instead of thawing it first. The
02:43reason why, as they explain, is that frozen steaks retain more moisture and are less
02:48overcooked than their thawed counterparts. If you're a home cook who needs to freeze
02:53your steak for a later meal, Epicurious helpfully explains how to grill it later.
02:58The website strongly recommends that you keep the steak laid flat in a freezer bag for no
03:02more than three to six months. And when it comes time to actually cook that steak, you
03:07should arrange a two-zone grill, a grill with two differently heated areas. One side should
03:12have direct high heat, which you'll use to sear your steak until both sides are caramelized.
03:17The other grill area should have indirect lower heat. After caramelizing your steak,
03:22continue cooking it in this cooler zone.
03:25Guy Crosby, a Harvard professor of food chemistry and a science editor for America's Test Kitchen,
03:31helpfully explained the science behind cooking frozen steak. As Inverse reports, the vast
03:36temperature difference between the steak's frozen inside and the heat of the skillet
03:40eventually sears the exterior of the steak perfectly without drying its juicy interior.
03:46This Inverse article ends by admitting that fresher is better, but the same article also
03:51claims that frozen is just as good.
03:54We think we know what they mean. If you have the option, always choose fresh meat. If not,
03:59don't even worry about it. Okay, but enough talking. Now, who's hungry for steak?
04:04It is juicy and delicious.