Craving for steak? Then, you’ll love what we have in store for you!
You’re in the mood for steak – but you forgot to take it out of the freezer that morning.
We understand…it happens all the time. What you may not realize is that thawing your steak before cooking is entirely optional.
Yes, it turns out that using a frozen steak is your next-best option.
That’s according to Dan Souza, a Cook’s Illustrated senior editor. He experimented in America’s Test Kitchen with eight-strip loin steaks cut in half. He froze the steaks, then thawed half of each steak in the fridge overnight, keeping the other side frozen.
Souza then seared both sets of steaks in a hot skillet for 90 seconds on both sides before transferring them to a 275-degree oven until they were cooked to medium rare (125 degrees).
His team discovered that the frozen steak not only lost less moisture and cooked more evenly, but it also tasted better than its thawed counterpart. The frozen steak had a much thinner band of overcooked meat (known as a “gray band”) surrounding the pink interior than the thawed beef, too.
The frozen steaks also browned nearly as fast as the thawed steaks in the skillet, though they did take 18 to 20 minutes of cooking time in the oven (compared with 10 to 15 for the thawed steaks).
Of course, to get these results, the steaks need to be frozen properly. Simply storing them in a bag can cause ice or moisture to form on the steak, which can in turn cause flare-ups when you’re searing the steak in oil.
Instead, Souza said the best way to freeze the steaks was to set them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Once they’re fully frozen, wrap each steak in plastic wrap and put them into a plastic bag.
In many ways, the frozen steak actually cooked better than the thawed steak. The frozen steaks also lost 9 percent less moisture during cooking.
But none of that matters if they don’t taste good, right?
Watch the video below to see how frozen steak trumps thawed steak.
Source: AWM