Would you Dry Rub/Vacuum Pack/ Freeze New York Strips for Easter?
I have 12 New York Strips I purchased at Costco yesterday for Easter. My question is should I freeze and thaw them and then apply rub the day before they are grilled or can I apply the rub now, vacuum pack and freeze them, and then do the Easter thaw & grill? Any reason I shouldn't apply the rub now and let them sit in the freezer for a couple weeks? The rub has all the spices in it so will be more than just salt.
My take is that it depends on how important it is to you to dry-brine. If you don't plan to do that and just have the salt added as a component of your rub, I don't think it really matters and you don't really gain much by doing it before freezing. Putting rub on a dozen steaks can't take more than a couple minutes, so it's not like it's a big time saver.
I'm pretty slavish about sticking with dry brining with just salt and putting on the (salt-free) rub only shortly before cooking (since nothing but salt can penetrate more than the top millimeter or so regardless of how long it's on there), so that's how I'd do it.
FWIW, I season and add salt the day before all the time (just to get the seasoning out of the way), and everything's been fine. I've never done so before freezing, but I can't see how this would change anything.
I have done both. A months ago, I purchased some prime strip steaks from Costco and I did my normal 24 hour dry brine with kosher salt. However some of the people that we invited canceled on us so I had to freeze some of the steaks. A few months later, I threw them on my kettle after letting them thaw and they were just as good.
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