I took advantage of Creekstone's sale and ordered a prime NY Strip roast with plans to cut it into steaks and freeze the individual steaks. I, of course, forgot that Creekstone ships its meat frozen. Now, I have a 12 pound hunk o' meat in my fridge. My thought is to thaw the roast, cut it into steaks, sous vide the steaks to around 128F, then freeze those for use as needed. Any other ideas on how to handle this lovely piece of meat? Will the meat be injured by simply cutting the steaks and refreezing the raw meat?
I thought about cooking them all up Monday and handing out steaks to parents accompanying Trick or Treaters, but quickly rejected the idea.
Every one I have ever bought and cut into steaks was sure to have been frozen while shipped to the market I bought it from. I normally cut into nice inch to inch and quarter steaks, package in pairs and into the freezer they go.
I did buy a 12-13lb choice once and did it as a bourbon glazed roast for my shop guys for Christmas Eve Lunch…was pretty damn good if my memory serves.
Last edited by CHNeal; October 28, 2022, 03:49 PM.
You can partially thaw to the point that you can cut into steaks then repackage and freeze with no problems or loss of quality. I learned this from a butcher friend and have done so many times. I don't think par cooking them then freezing is a very good idea, at least not for steaks.
Ya might want to try using one of these to cut while still frozen. It's a Japanese saw with a thin kerf so you will lose very little meat. Please note that it cuts on the pull stroke - not the push stoke.
Seems like in the time it would take the precooked steaks to thaw, you could just sous vide them? I'm interested in where this goes. A New York Strip does not need a lot of time in the sous vide.
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CaptainMike - Still experimenting with the SV/freeze process. It works well with chicken breast, pastrami, beef tenderloin filets, and chuck roast. I don’t yet know how it will work with fattier proteins.
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That’s interesting. I ordered 2 myself and they shipped fresh. They were about 38* when I got them.
In any event I would let them partially defrost and cut them up and refreeze them. They should be fine.
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Draznnl Funny you mentioned the ice packs. The ones that came with my order were still frozen solid and they were still partially frozen 4 days after unboxing the meat. I did leave them in the box though. But still. That’s a long time.
Last edited by Steve B; October 29, 2022, 08:53 AM.
Draznnl As many have stated there should be no problem freezing yours once you process it as needed. Seems it's just an incidental contact freeze from the packaging. I leave mine for 1-2 months in teh fridge to wet age, so if that shoudl be something you're intending to do you'd be good there too.
Bought a whole rib primal from Creekstone a few weeks ago when they had that sale. Arrived about 50% frozen. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight until just able to cut into steaks and vac sealed and froze them in pairs. Yesterday, took a pair out, dry brined/thawed over night and cooked tonight. Good god they were fantastic, right up there with SRF.
I have no problems re-freezing meat from a reputable source like CS. I’d be more concerned about cooking then freezing because the cooking process squeezes water out of the protein, then if you freeze that, that water is going to form sharp ice crystals that will macerate the already tenderized (cooked) protein, and after the next thawing and reheating the crystals will melt out and you’ll end up with dry and mealy. I think thawing just enough to be able to portion, then re-freeze is the way to go. Most SRF beef comes frozen, and that’s never been a problem.
I picked up one of their prime rib loins and it was almost completely frozen when it arrived. I let it sit in the fridge for a day and cut it into 3# roasts. If we need steaks I can thaw one and cut it in half, thirds or do it as a roast. Did this the last two times and for us this works great.
Last edited by Redwng; October 29, 2022, 12:19 PM.
Reason: Pic added.
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I’ve gotten roasts advertised as fresh from Creekstone frozen solid, and I’ve gotten them at 38°. As long as you weren’t planning on using the meat that evening, as many have mentioned it’s fine to partially thaw, cut, vacuum seal and refreeze. I’ve never had a bad piece of beef from Creekstone.
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