Freezing Beef

[Stone]

A friend of mine in culinary school said that freezing beef before cooking actually improves the beef by making it more tender. She didn't mention (I didn't ask) whether she was taught that restaurants should regularly freeze their beef and thaw for serving.

Seems odd to me.

[Fat Guy]

That is not the case as I understand it. Freezing can, on the one hand, cause ice crystals to form within the meat and therefore can affect the cellular structure in ways that increase tenderness slightly. But freezing will, on the other hand, result in loss of juices when the meat is thawed, so the cooked product is likely to be less juicy, and therefore drier, and therefore not as seemingly tender to the diner. This can be confirmed simply by cooking the same steak fresh and frozen. The fresh steak will be juicier. But more important than the pure issue of tenderness, which is probably something that could be measured by a machine, is the issue of overall structure and flavor. Beef that has never been frozen may have a certain "firmness" that frozen beef doesn't, but it's a desirable rather than an undesirable firmness. All these factors need to be evaluated in the context of what's good to eat, and I don't know of any serious chefs who thing the habitual freezing of beef is a good idea from that standpoint.

Here's an interesting piece on beef tenderness: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/...ion/DJ0856.html -- you'll see that, overall, freezing is not a significant contributing factor to tenderness at all, but that to the extent it does contribute it mostly contributes negatively.

[tanabutler]

A recent personal experience confirms Fat Guy's statements. I have never bought frozen beef, and have never frozen beef I've bought. But a couple months ago, I came home to a large carton on the kitchen floor, and learned that my husband had bought several boxes filled with various cuts of steak and ground beef. He "got a deal"—a truck driving through our neighborhood asked if he wanted to score the beef for only $300. Of course, he didn't pay that, but he did get thirty pounds of steak for about $3 a pound.

When thawed, the meat was watery, not bloody. Well, the blood was watery, put it that way. Perhaps the freezing technique is suspect, and that's why he got a deal—"whadda ya want for nothin', your money back?"

At any rate, I have discovered the same thing with frozen vs. fresh chicken: a loss of flavor in the frozen meat. I can't believe freezing is a good idea.

[Fat Guy]

The only time I choose to freeze beef that is intended for human consumption (as opposed to for my dog -- we throw our leftover meat in the freezer and dole it out to him a bit at a time with his regular dog food) is when I'm making a dish, usually an Asian one, that requires very thinly sliced raw beef as an ingredient. In this case, partially freezing the beef makes it much easier to cut, and the way it is sliced and cooked eliminates most of the tenderness concerns anyway.

[Kim WB]

If you were to freeze beef, what would be the optimal way to defrost it to minimize t he inevitable loss of juices?

Micro? in the fridge..on the counter?

[Fat Guy]

The slower the better, as I understand it. I believe the best way to freeze meat is to wrap it really well, preferably with no air in the packaging (cryovac is the best, of course), and to defrost it in the refrigerator in the same packaging.

[beans]

in the fridge..on the counter?

Counter thawing -- bad.

Refrigerator thawing -- good.

[Mayhaw Man]

I would like to weigh in as a guy who has eaten lots of both frozen and unfrozen beef. And I have the arteries to prove it, by God

A couple of times a year I split a whole beef with a couple of neighbors. This beef has been fed pretty much nothing but bermuda grass, bermuda hay and spent brewers grain. It is aged at the butcher for a couple of weeks (sometimes a bit longer, we let him tell us as he is definitely the expert on this matter) It is well marbled, and pretty damn gorgeous from the get go. We go crazy eating beef for a couple of days after we get it and the reason for this is simple....the fresh meat is far superior to the frozen product. But don't get me wrong, the frozen is still pretty swell. I take a lot of time vacu packing the stuff and it is quickly frozen in a deep freeze I have for only this purpose. It holds up well and for up to 6 months, there is no appreciable difference in quality. After that though (and I usually don't have any left anyway as I share alot), it can become freezer burned no matter how much care is taken in the packing and freezing process.

The primary difference is that the fresh beef is so much juicier. Tanabutler is correct, what was blood in the fresh beef turns to watery red stuff in the frozen. I don't know enough about how the flavor components break up to provide a scientific analysis (hats off to Fat Guy for expertly chiming in on this), but I know which tastes best in my highly unscientific, South LA,],beef cooking world.

[Fat Guy]

I think, were freezing a desirable step in the processing of fresh foods, we might not have such a sophisticated and extensive industry devoted to distributing fresh foods. Surely, it would be simpler to slaughter all your cattle once a year, freeze all the meat, stick it in a warehouse somewhere, and ship it out as needed.

[Mayhaw Man]

Well put, Fat Guy.

The ONLY reason I freeze anything is simple economics. I live in an area where farm animals and produce are available year round and 1)it saves me a ton of dough feeding my brood of jr. gourmands 2) Going to the supermarket/butcher is a big pain in the butt here in the sticks with time constraints caused by 2 kids in 2 different schools 20 miles apart, soccer, cello, my tennis, wifes gallery hours, newspaper column, etc., aggghhhhhhh(and you think living in the country is simple )

I do put up a fair amount of vegetables, as well. But that involves more of a personal enjoyment factor coupled with the fact that I make better pickles and tomato sauce than I can purchase at the Megelomart. It is certainly not cheaper (unless I do it for a hundred years and get every single jar back I give away).

Note to all: When someone gives you canned produce, jelly, etc. it is a really good idea to give back the jars if you want to plan on getting more.

[Fat Guy]

Note to all: When someone gives you canned produce, jelly, etc. it is a really good idea to give back the jars if you want to plan on getting more.

I learn something new every day.

[PCL]

Fat Guy Posted on Sep 14 2003, 10:24 AM : The only time I choose to freeze beef that is intended for human consumption... is when I'm making a dish, usually an Asian one, that requires very thinly sliced raw beef as an ingredient.

I put the fillet into the freezer for about an hour then straight onto a smoking hot grill for the Japanese dish Gyu Tataki... wafer thin sliced seared raw beef with a tangy ponzu based sauce. The sauce is cold and its almost essential (correct me if I'm wrong) that the beef be so too, therefore the partial freezing works. The searing only browns and chars the outer 2mm or so, leaving the slices red and raw in the middle.

Otherwise, only frozen meat is for stock and braises and stews.

[sparrowgrass]

Note to all: When someone gives you canned produce, jelly, etc. it is a really good idea to give back the jars if you want to plan on getting more.

Word.

Six or seven dollars a dozen for those suckers!!

[dtremit]

Staff note: This post and the next were moved from the 'Imperfect, Misfit, Etc. (The Food Delivery Services)' discussion, to maintain focus.

 

11 hours ago, Annie_H said:

I put a mince of beef or pork into a quart freezer zip-lock, then use my bench scraper edge to press sections into 'ravioli' sized sections so they are easily broken off into needed sizes. Similar with pesto or mixed herbs. One step rather than the ice cube tray two step. 

 

Definitely a good plan for beef that comes thawed. I'm always looking for ways to avoid thaw-refreeze cycles, though (and I sort of assume most ground beef you buy fresh has been frozen). Though maybe that doesn't really matter for ground meat anyway.

 

It occurs to me that I could probably also cut one of the 1lb cubes (the kind that come vacuum packed) without thawing it, given a little elbow grease. I have done that successfully with 2lb tubes of breakfast sausage from the warehouse club and a heavy serrated knife.

[Annie_H]

4 minutes ago, dtremit said:

Definitely a good plan for beef that comes thawed. I'm always looking for ways to avoid thaw-refreeze cycles,

I grind my own from a true butcher. Chuck, short rib, brisket, and the 'tails' from strip steak. I have a monster meat grinder, 60 pound bitch, for sausage and pet food. And a pleasant one that fits my stand mixer. 

Our favorite Catskill butcher would let us pick our cuts and grind to order. Excellent sausages. Lean, not too fatty or salty. His son took over 20 years ago and ruined the sausage with loads of salt and chunky fat bits. Asking for a fresh grind mince for burgers was a point to what he had in the cooler tray. Not a smile or friendly like his father. Became a good lesson to explore and make our own the way we like it. 

 

[Teronms]

Need to have an experiment with frozen beef. Interesting whether my parther would see any difference