Beef Thawing Meat

[CMTiger]

Specifically tenderloins.

so I bought a whole tenderloin and cut it up freezing parts of it as there are only three of us. I don’t usually do this and just by filets as I go but they were having a sale.

so here’s my question......what’s the best method to thaw these out for grilling? I do not have a sous vide

 

[RemE]

Specifically tenderloins.

so I bought a whole tenderloin and cut it up freezing parts of it as there are only three of us. I don’t usually do this and just by filets as I go but they were having a sale.

so here’s my question......what’s the best method to thaw these out for grilling? I do not have a sous vide

I'd vac seal and either slow thaw in the fridge overnight or if in a hurry, in cold water for an hour or so.

 

[midwest]

Fridge is best bet if you have some time.

 

[Dan-H]

refrigerator is always best. I'm less worried about thawing beef than say chicken or pork.

I've used cold water if the bag is water tight.

I've also put it on an aluminum griddle in the kitchen and turned it every 30 mins or so. I've thawed tri-tip in about 90 mins this way.

I don't worry about beef coming up to 50F over an hour or two, but that's me.

I have used sous-vide when I've been in a big hurry water temp at 130 will thaw and start to pre-cook the beef so its a very fast cook to get it to rare / med rare.

 

[CMTiger]

I thawed for about 24 hours in the fridge and they turned out great tonight. Thanks

 

[Like Smoke]

Question? My refrigerator went south, I moved all the frozen meats that are raw and vacuumed packed to coolers and iced them down. My new fridge will not get installed for a few days. If the meats thaw out some are they still ok to re freeze being that they are vacuumed sealed? (pork butt, burger, smoked salmon, uncooked salmon, bacon and burger)

 

[Manannan]

If the meats thaw out some are they still ok to re freeze being that they are vacuumed sealed?

Simple answer to my mind is yes it will be fine to refreeze. The items are vacuum sealed, sounds like they will not go above 40F / 5C and will even stay partially frozen perhaps?

As long as things are done properly / carefully refreezing is generally considered OK in terms of food safety. For example more than a couple of hours above 40F / 5C increases the risk of bacterial growth considerably.

 

[RayClem]

The general rule of thumb on refreezing is that if there are still ice crystals in the package, it is fine to refreeze without any loss in quality.

If all ice crystals are melted, try to cook the meat as soon as possible. You can always throw the defrosted meat on your Traeger and cook it to your preferred finishing temp and then freeze the cooked meat. I am cooking for my wife and I so I often defrost meat, cook it and then refreeze it in meal-size packages. as long as it is vacuumed sealed, it can last a couple of years in a good freezer. A Sous Vide circulator is ideal for defrosting and heating the cooked meat.

 

[Manannan]

The general rule of thumb on refreezing is that if there are still ice crystals in the package, it is fine to refreeze without any loss in quality.

You learn something every day, I was always led to believe that ice crystals were a sign of freezer burn and whilst the food is fine and safe to eat it may impact on the taste.

 

[RayClem]

You learn something every day, I was always led to believe that ice crystals were a sign of freezer burn and whilst the food is fine and safe to eat it may impact on the taste.

If the meat is still frozen and there are lots of ice crystals, you are absolutely right about freezer burn. You can avoid that by vacuum sealing. Every Traeger owner needs a vacuum sealing device and lots of bags.

Using ZipLock Freezer bags works for short term storage, but not for long term storage of meat. I have had meat in the freezer for more than two years when vacuum sealed and the freezer temp at minus 10F. Once thawed, you would never know the meat had been frozen.

 

[Manannan]

You can avoid that by vacuum sealing. Every Traeger owner needs a vacuum sealing device and lots of bags.

Absolutely spot on and I would go as far as saying every kitchen needs a vacuum sealer, I moved to a chamber vacuum sealer a few years ago and it gets so much use in a variety of ways.

To cross reference to another topic one area I find butchers paper better than foil is tightly wrapping the likes of excess brisket (yes that does occasionally happen! ) then vacuum sealing and freezing. When thawed and reheated sous vide style it comes out pretty close to the original better than foil wrapped or unwrapped IMHO although it could be just psychological in that stuff wrapped in butchers paper always seems so much more enticing!