How to Freeze Steak Properly

Most of what we send is already vacuum sealed, and the right move is to not improve on it. Open the box, put it in the freezer, write the date on the bag.

This article is for the rest: beef you portioned yourself, or a pack you opened and did not finish.

The two things that cause freezer damage

• Air. Oxygen dries the surface and oxidizes the fat. That is freezer burn, and it is a quality problem rather than a safety one.
• Slow freezing. The slower water freezes, the larger the ice crystals, and large crystals rupture cell walls. The damage shows up as moisture loss when you thaw it.

How to do it

1. Dry the surface first. Surface water becomes surface ice, which sublimates away and leaves the dry patches people call freezer burn.
2. Wrap tight against the meat. Cling film pressed to every face, then foil or a freezer bag over the top.
3. Push the air out. With a zip bag, submerge it almost to the seal in water so the pressure forces the air out, then close it.
4. Freeze flat and in a single layer. A flat package freezes far faster than a block, and stacks better afterwards.
5. Put it in the coldest part, and keep the freezer at zero degrees Fahrenheit or below. The back or the bottom, never the door.
6. Label with the cut and the date. Future you will not remember.
7. Do not overload the freezer at once. A large warm load raises the whole cabinet and slows everything down.

Leave a vacuum seal intact

A commercial vacuum seal is better than anything achievable with film at home. Opening it to repack is a downgrade. If a bag has lost its seal, repack that one and use it sooner.

Dry it before it goes in

“Get the moisture off the surface.”

Gray Shipley

Gray says that about cooking, and it applies just as well going into the freezer. A dry surface freezes cleaner and thaws closer to where you want it.

On frozen beef generally

“Very few people have the ability to really tell any difference whatsoever of something that's been frozen.”

Gray Shipley

A full freezer is also a chance to learn

The side effect of stocking up is that you end up with cuts you have not cooked before, which Gray thinks is part of the appeal.

“And I think people enjoy kind of getting to figure out what, what am I supposed to do with a sirloin tip? What am I supposed to do with a picanha or a tri-tip? Uh, you know, I get to go learn and experiment in the kitchen some and figure out how to cook something.”

Gray Shipley

What to buy

For timings see how long beef lasts in the freezer, for the other end how to thaw safely, and why we ship frozen.

Air out, flat, cold, labeled. Four habits and the freezer stops costing you quality.