Freezing Steak

[Half Dog]

Our local grocery store has steak on sale so I bought some. In the past, I’ve vacuum sealed each steak and when I thawed them I noticed the thickness has decreased. I googled to see if I should freeze the steaks prior to vacuuming packing or not and I got responses supporting each claim. Now I wanted to ask our group, do you freeze steak prior to vacuum packing or after?

Thanks in advance for your time and effort.

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve only frozen fresh meat, but I can see an advantage of freezing it first. No problems with liquid messing up the seal.

[Wayne Smith]

I can't answer because I don't vacuum seal but have two of six original steaks in the freezer now. Just wrapped in plastic wrap as I do all meat. That's been my routine for years. Just wrapped and froze a dozen Bratwurst as well.

[dverna]

I have always sealed meat and then frozen it. Not saying it is the best way so hope to learn if freezing first is a better option.

[BK7saum]

I vac seal and then freeze. Occasionally when freezing first a sharp edge or point pokes the bag and if I dont watch it, a little freezer burn if the steak happens to stay that long in the freezer.

[brass410]

Put up a bunch of beef for this winter in jars (pressure canned) it's a quick meal to heat up with a few other goodies from the pantry, all shelf stable if power goes down. Wanting to try vacuum sealing as well, need to get equipment will be back for tips and techniques. Seems like a good idea does the meat freezer burn when vac sealed?

[swamp]

I season, vac seal and then freeze.
swamp

[slim1836]

I let the wife do it, I have no clue. I bought the freezer, her's is to use it. I know nada about that stuff.

Slim

[brassrat]

I have an unused machine or two. I wrap everything in plastic wrap and then foil. Then into freezer bags. Often finish with 8" stretch wrap. I never see freezer burn and everything stays like new for multiple years Just had a chicken cutlet from our club dinner today from 7-2020,restaurant cooked and as good as then.

[MrWolf]

We just freeze the vacuum sealed packaging from the butcher. We've gotten half a steer the last two years and everything seems fine. I do have a vacuum seller and in the past would just seal and freeze. I did use a paper towel before the seal to catch liquids in the package.

[dverna]

We just freeze the vacuum sealed packaging from the butcher. We've gotten half a steer the last two years and everything seems fine. I do have a vacuum seller and in the past would just seal and freeze. I did use a paper towel before the seal to catch liquids in the package.

The paper towel hint is a great idea!!

[MaryB]

Bag and vac seal... no paper towel needed with my chamber sealer. I can seal a bag of water!

A FoodSaver type "vacuum" sealer pulls about 15 inches of vacuum, a chamber sealer pulls 29 inches, almost double. Means less oxygen in the bag so food lasts longer. Downside is initial cost of the machine, I have an Avid Armor Ultra Series Model USV32 Chamber Vacuum Sealer and it is $529. BUT I use mine a LOT sealing meat, garden veggies, leftovers... I was killing a FoodSaver is 9 months or less... the chamber sealer is going on year 3. And bags are a lot cheaper VS FoodSaver bags.

https://avidarmor.com/avid-armor-ultra-series-model-usv32-chamber-vacuum-sealer/

[Winger Ed.]

I never freeze anything first. I use a food saver machine for some things, but not a lot.
I make a run of sausage once or twice a year and just use zip-lock freezer bags for that.
I pack it down in the bag, mash it flat driving the meat into the corners, press all the air out and close it.
Never had a problem.

[georgerkahn]

Our local grocery store has steak on sale so I bought some. In the past, I’ve vacuum sealed each steak and when I thawed them I noticed the thickness has decreased. I googled to see if I should freeze the steaks prior to vacuuming packing or not and I got responses supporting each claim. Now I wanted to ask our group, do you freeze steak prior to vacuum packing or after?

Thanks in advance for your time and effort.

I am a 101% user -- wouldn't be without one! -- of our vacuum sealer! One thing I've learned in the many past years of use is 99% of the time the BEST method is to put whatever on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet, and freeze it as such. After frozen, THEN put it in the vacuum bag (I use the ones Cabela's sells) and vacuum away! For what it's worth, I believe that the initial vacuuming of much sucks out some moisture/blood. My sealer even has a "moist" setting for stuff which the moisture gets sucked out to the extent it prohibits sealing!
On the other hand, being kind of (kind of???) lazy, with goodies like garden green beans -- we're harvesting zillions daily -- I just say "(expletive)-it" and as soon as they cool from being blanched -- I just put them in the bags.
My younger son suggests -- re steaks -- to pour a teaspoon or so of virgin olive oil on them before placing on the paper covered cookie sheet, and spreading it about to totally cover the steak. Believe it or not, vis any taste this does nothing but enhance it; and, greatly prohibits/eliminates those ice-crystals which form -- even when vacuum sealed.
As a side note, we just bought but THREE Canadian rib-eye steaks in a pack at BJ's Wholesale Club -- $46.10 USD! Just me wife and me here now -- I cut them each in half; do the olive oil coating; freeze on the cookie sheet; then vacuum each and freeze. The fairly thick -- roughly 2.5 cm. -- steaks cut in half are more than an adequate serving for each of us -- and thus cut/served make for a delicious, affordable steak dinner!
geo

[.429&H110]

I have spent some afternoons vac-sealing Copper river Reds fillets
adding a small amount of olive oil seems to keep them juicier.

IF you have a frost free freezer, then it must have a defrost cycle.
Your frozen food will not thaw, if buried tightly, wrapped in layers of paper
but around the edges, the defrost cycle causes freezer burn.
It gets freeze-dried in a sealed package.
That's why there's no frost...

A chest freezer, an old frosted over freezer, will be stable much longer.
And will stay much colder longer on power fail.

Keep the freezer full between moose seasons. I kept coolers in it,
frozen water jugs, stacks of newspaper, swapping air makes frost.

Back in the day, the Schwan guy was a good deal. Then he got greedy.

[Lloyd Smale]

I season, vac seal and then freeze.
swamp

i vacuum pack it then freeze it. when i buy a whole beef its already done and if it was aged properly theres not enough blood to give you fits if you do it your self. now venison can give you those problems because at least for most it isnt aged. with venison i do what swamp does and season it before. it works like marinading. ive tried the paper towel but just dont like the idea of a blood-soaked paper towel with my meat. but thats me because it sure wouldnt hurt a thing. id just rather wipe out the machine a few times while im using it and give it a good cleaning when im done. i do to many deer every year to try to freeze it on trays first. id about have to have a dedicated freezer just for that. i havent seen the one frost free freezer i have in the house hurt vacuum packed meat but that may be because we tend to keep meat in our 3 non frost free chest freezers in the garage and rotate about a months supply at of time to the in house unit. only time ive seem freezer burn even on 3 year old meat is if the bag wasnt sealed right and air gets in. id bet it would still be the case with a frost free freezer

[762 shooter]

I freeze then seal when I can.
When you are pulling the vacuum that a chamber sealer does, it has to disrupt the cell structure.

762

[georgerkahn]

I freeze then seal when I can.
When you are pulling the vacuum that a chamber sealer does, it has to disrupt the cell structure.

762

Interesting thought I had never considered. Interestingly, a friend fills 1/2-gallon milk cartons with water; puts in whatever they wish to store; and then freezes carton. All contents -- be it veggies, fish, poultry, or meat -- purportedly (so they say) both look and taste exactly as BEFORE they were frozen. Zero freezer burn -- and, in the square milk cartons they're so easy to stack/store. Frankly, my one and only dislike re the vac-sealed food is the inability to stack it -- seems they have more than an affinity to slide out!
geo

[Wag]

Seal, then freeze.

--Wag--

[dale2242]

I freeze it semi frozen so that the juices don`t mess up the seal, vacuum seal it, then freeze it solid.

[MaryB]

I freeze then seal when I can.
When you are pulling the vacuum that a chamber sealer does, it has to disrupt the cell structure.

762

No difference I have noticed... and I went thru a LOT of food savers over the years sealing garden produce. Yesterday was gallon bags of tomatoes, when harvest is done I thaw then turn into sauce, all in one batch. Puts having a pot dumping humidity in the air into fall when it is welcome...

The huge advantage of a chamber sealer is being able to freeze liquids. I can vacuum seal a bag of water if I want(I do it for ice blocks!).

[Lloyd Smale]

No difference I have noticed... and I went thru a LOT of food savers over the years sealing garden produce. Yesterday was gallon bags of tomatoes, when harvest is done I thaw then turn into sauce, all in one batch. Puts having a pot dumping humidity in the air into fall when it is welcome...

The huge advantage of a chamber sealer is being able to freeze liquids. I can vacuum seal a bag of water if I want(I do it for ice blocks!).

i use the foodsavers and havent upgraded to a chamber sealer but the buddy has and swears by it. i dont think the pull anymore vacuum the a food saver. at least the meat doest look more compressed but they are just a more efficient design. all you need to do is look at any butcher shop that processes cows. theres 3 near me and they all use chamber vacuum packers. hoestly i should have bought one years ago. ive gone through many foodsavers . they last me about two years and could have bought one for what ive spent on foodsavers in the last 10 years

[Handloader109]

While I detest walmart meat, and the alternative grocery isn't much better, we shop at Sam's for our steaks. Usually $40 to 45 for 4 nice NY strips, at $11 to $12 a pound. We grill two of them, and freeze the other two. Wife will a lot of time pull one of those out for a nice stir fry. Have been buying hamburger at Fresh Market chain at $3.99 on sale every Tuesday. Pretty good burger. Sam's had 4 pound packs 8 hamburger patties of 88% at $3.98 the other day, tried it yesterday and the burgers were really tasty. Guess I'll be getting more of those. Love the olive oil trick. Will have to give that a try....

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[bubbadoyle]

i use the foodsavers and havent upgraded to a chamber sealer but the buddy has and swears by it. i dont think the pull anymore vacuum the a food saver. at least the meat doest look more compressed but they are just a more efficient design. all you need to do is look at any butcher shop that processes cows. theres 3 near me and they all use chamber vacuum packers. hoestly i should have bought one years ago. ive gone through many foodsavers . they last me about two years and could have bought one for what ive spent on foodsavers in the last 10 years

They definitely do pull more vacuum than a food saver and the chamber sealer models with an oil pump pull more vacuum than the oil free pumps, at least this was the case when I was shopping for one. Try to compress watermelon with different styles and you’ll quickly see the difference I. The vacuum pulled. I don’t know if that additional vacuum truly makes a difference in the long term storage of frozen items or not but for me it makes the vacuum sealing process much easier and more consistent.


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[MaryB]

They definitely do pull more vacuum than a food saver and the chamber sealer models with an oil pump pull more vacuum than the oil free pumps, at least this was the case when I was shopping for one. Try to compress watermelon with different styles and you’ll quickly see the difference I. The vacuum pulled. I don’t know if that additional vacuum truly makes a difference in the long term storage of frozen items or not but for me it makes the vacuum sealing process much easier and more consistent.


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Less o2 = less freezer burn. Is it noticeable in a year? Probably not. But I have eaten 3 year old chamber sealed green beans that still tasted fresh...

[MaryB]

i use the foodsavers and havent upgraded to a chamber sealer but the buddy has and swears by it. i dont think the pull anymore vacuum the a food saver. at least the meat doest look more compressed but they are just a more efficient design. all you need to do is look at any butcher shop that processes cows. theres 3 near me and they all use chamber vacuum packers. hoestly i should have bought one years ago. ive gone through many foodsavers . they last me about two years and could have bought one for what ive spent on foodsavers in the last 10 years

From the FoodSaver website "For vacuuming regular bags and rolls, our appliances pull between 10 and 18 inches of mercury"

My chamber sealer draws 29 inches of mercury... almost double the best a FoodSaver can do.

[snowwolfe]

Anything moist like red meat or fish is first wrapped in plastic wrap then it is vac sealed. This keeps any moisture from being sucked up to the sealing portion of the bag. For years I would partially freeze meat or fish then vac sealed. I am now convinced wrapping the items in plastic wrap first results in a better product down the road. I have eaten 4 year old backstraps and ribeye steaks that were wrapped and vac sealed and they tasted as good as something not ever frozen.

[farmbif]

every so often we get a whole loin or some other cut, cut it up into steaks, put them in gallon ziplock freezer bags single layered, squeeze the air out and put in freezer. stays good up to a year or more. we got about 2 strip steaks left. I'll probably pull them out open bag add some Italian dressing and mr tony's and let thaw and marinate in fridge a couple day them make a fire to cook them. bar b sue has gotten much better since the woodshed is already full for winter. or maybe better yet pull out a cryovac bag of venison backstap and get that ready for the grill.
I would love to have one of those professional cryovac machines and a big giant freezer with generator backup power, its always good to daydream a bit

[MaryB]

every so often we get a whole loin or some other cut, cut it up into steaks, put them in gallon ziplock freezer bags single layered, squeeze the air out and put in freezer. stays good up to a year or more. we got about 2 strip steaks left. I'll probably pull them out open bag add some Italian dressing and mr tony's and let thaw and marinate in fridge a couple day them make a fire to cook them. bar b sue has gotten much better since the woodshed is already full for winter. or maybe better yet pull out a cryovac bag of venison backstap and get that ready for the grill.
I would love to have one of those professional cryovac machines and a big giant freezer with generator backup power, its always good to daydream a bit

Freezers are VERY efficient machines... mine draws 400 watts in 24 hours. Runs off my solar battery at night and off solar panels during the day.

[Lloyd Smale]

From the FoodSaver website "For vacuuming regular bags and rolls, our appliances pull between 10 and 18 inches of mercury"

My chamber sealer draws 29 inches of mercury... almost double the best a FoodSaver can do.

thats a hell of a vacuum considering 30 inches of vacuum is a perfect vacuum and that takes all the technology we have to achieve. im not doubting your statement that a chamber vac pulls more vacuum but is guess 29 inches is marketing hype. id bet a vacuum levels like that a steak in a package would look like a piece of jerky and it would about destroy a steak. we pulled 28 inches of vacuum on condensers on the steam turbines on the ship i was on and the power plant i worked at. it took condensers shaped like a cylinder (like a submarine with 1/2 in steel walls for smaller codensers like the air ejector condensers and one inch thick walls on the larger main condenser. anything less and they would implode.

[MaryB]

thats a hell of a vacuum considering 30 inches of vacuum is a perfect vacuum and that takes all the technology we have to achieve. im not doubting your statement that a chamber vac pulls more vacuum but is guess 29 inches is marketing hype. id bet a vacuum levels like that a steak in a package would look like a piece of jerky and it would about destroy a steak. we pulled 28 inches of vacuum on condensers on the steam turbines on the ship i was on and the power plant i worked at. it took condensers shaped like a cylinder (like a submarine with 1/2 in steel walls for smaller codensers like the air ejector condensers and one inch thick walls on the larger main condenser. anything less and they would implode.

Judging by how it crushes a can compared to a food saver I would believe it! It has a vacuum gauge on the front that reads to 30 inches and 28-29 is where it seals. A steak will "grow" a little when the vacuum is released but I haven't noticed any issues

[BD]

While I generally don't buy stuff at the store and then freeze it for long, (the exception being "family packs" of chicken parts on sale which don't stay frozen more than a month or so). I have frozen a couple thousand pounds of game meat over the years. The best method I've found to freeze red meat for a year or more is to cut it and bag it in plastic in usable portions and add about a tablespoon of water to each bag before squeezing all the air out and tying the bag. Then I wrap it in paper and lable it. IMHO freezer burn is primarily due to the loss of moisture in the affected area and that tablespoon of water just prior to freezing really seems to alleviate that. I routinely eat game meat that's been in the freezer up to 2 years without issue using this method and it's much cheaper than the vacuum bags. I do use the vacuum bags for sausage and ground meat as the water seems to have somewhat of an ill effect on ground stuff and spices.

[GregLaROCHE]

Does anyone cook foods in vacuum sealed bags? I’ve heard some top ranked chiefs are doing it.

[ulav8r]

Does anyone cook foods in vacuum sealed bags? I’ve heard some top ranked chiefs are doing it.

Wife heats corn on the cob in vacuum bags, had some tonight.

[MaryB]

Does anyone cook foods in vacuum sealed bags? I’ve heard some top ranked chiefs are doing it.

Sous Vide cooking in precisely controlled water baths...

That is what chefs do.

That said I drop bags of leftovers in simmering water to reheat, ribs and pulled pork taste fresh when done this way!

[Lloyd Smale]

heck when i was single i ate hundreds of those turkey and beef banquet cooking bags and some instant potato flakes

[Lloyd Smale]

While I generally don't buy stuff at the store and then freeze it for long, (the exception being "family packs" of chicken parts on sale which don't stay frozen more than a month or so). I have frozen a couple thousand pounds of game meat over the years. The best method I've found to freeze red meat for a year or more is to cut it and bag it in plastic in usable portions and add about a tablespoon of water to each bag before squeezing all the air out and tying the bag. Then I wrap it in paper and lable it. IMHO freezer burn is primarily due to the loss of moisture in the affected area and that tablespoon of water just prior to freezing really seems to alleviate that. I routinely eat game meat that's been in the freezer up to 2 years without issue using this method and it's much cheaper than the vacuum bags. I do use the vacuum bags for sausage and ground meat as the water seems to have somewhat of an ill effect on ground stuff and spices.

might be worth trying if you have a frost free freezer but i vacuum pack it and i have 4 freezers 2 frost free and 2 manual defrost and keep long term stuff in the manual defrost ones. big problem today is its about impossibe to find a reasonable priced manual defrost freezer.

[jonp]

Vacuum pack then freeze. We have opened packages 2yrs old that taste fresh. Unless the meat is in a vacuum pack already, all meat gets repacked and vacuumed