How To Kick Cook A Frozen Steak On The Stove

In the age of convenience, frozen foods are well-nigh necessary. Now you tin come up dwelling late from a busy twenty-four hour period at the office and grill upwardly a frozen steak in less than 45 minutes. No planning required, and a happy abdomen. Some of the frozen foods are better than "fresh" meat! For instance, some fish can sit at meat markets for up to three weeks. But frozen fish come up straight from the bounding main into the boom freezer, and still accept outstanding season! And so permit'due south compare fresh and frozen meat, and meet which is correct for your dinner table.

Faceoff: Fresh Meat and Frozen Meat

Drumroll, delight! The winner: fresh meat, past a landslide! Of grade, fresh is better. Why? Fresh meat (if it is truly fresh) has the most nutrients. So permit's look at the reasons frozen meat unremarkably "can't take the heat" against fresh. We volition too walk y'all through steps you tin accept to maximize the quality of your frozen nutrient. If you take care of frozen meat properly, sometimes it tin be even amend than fresh. Hither'due south why frozen meat usually doesn't mensurate up to fresh:

Difficult thawing process
More difficult to melt
Flavor loss
Meat quality degrades
Nutrient loss

Difficult Thawing Procedure

Frozen foods oftentimes accept a day or more to thaw in the fridge. Large cuts of meat take even longer. If you don't have that kind of fourth dimension, it can be a hassle. You likewise take to make certain non to leave meat at room temperature for too long. This creates a breeding ground for leaner and could cause someone to get sick.

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More than Difficult to Melt

Frozen meat is oftentimes undercooked because the exterior is misleading. Information technology might wait done, merely when you cut information technology open, it can however be raw inside. Frozen meat unremarkably takes most fifty% longer to cook than fresh meat. For this reason, it is extremely important to use a thermometer. Some other common problem is overcooking the outside. This is due to how long it takes the within to come up up to temperature. Yous have to be mindful of how long the meat stays on direct rut.

Flavor Loss

When you freeze meat, abrupt crystals of ice are formed. This causes the fibers to break down, and some of the natural flavors escape once thawed. This happens particularly with meat that has been in the freezer for a long time and has degraded in quality.

Meat Quality Degrades

Freezer burn down tin crusade discoloration of the meat. It tin too dry it out. While information technology is yet prophylactic to eat, it is better to discard the discolored pieces. As a rule of thumb, attempt not to keep any meat in the freezer for longer than iv or five months.

Nutrient Loss

The older food gets, the more nutrition it loses. To avoid this, freeze nutrient while it is at its freshest. Too exist certain to pack it efficiently. When frozen advisedly, information technology can even exist more than food-rich than a fresh cut that has been sitting for a few days. There are some general guidelines for keeping frozen meat at its highest quality, which we'll outline for you beneath.

How You lot Treat Meats in the Freezer Makes a Difference

Proper Freezing Techniques

The absolute best manner to freeze your meat is to have it vacuum-packed. It is also advisable to bring it to a very low temperature quickly, such as with a blast freezer. When meat is frozen rapidly, fewer water ice crystals can develop, which means less moisture loss upon thawing.

Okay okay, so that is great and all, but what near for the everyday home melt? The all-time way to ensure meat quality is to lay it flat on a parchment-lined sheet pan, so put information technology directly in the freezer. Leaving the meat uncovered as information technology freezes volition allow any moisture to evaporate. This means information technology will exist drier, and dry out steaks sear better. Freeze information technology until the adjacent morning, and so wrap tightly. Even double wrap it-- you don't want any air touching the meat.

Proper Thawing Techniques

Meat should be thawed as slowly as possible. The best manner to do this is to put frozen meat in the fridge for one to two days earlier you lot cook it. You can as well put information technology in a cold h2o bathroom while it hangs out in the fridge. Practice not use hot h2o! This starts the cooking process, which you don't want. Never thaw meat at room temperature! Another pick is using your microwave's defrost characteristic. Just be sure not to commencement cooking information technology while it's in there.

On Refreezing

The USDA approves refreezing meat, but within reason. For instance, if you take safely thawed the meat in the fridge and decide not to melt it after all, you lot can refreeze it. A adept rule of thumb is that you do non refreeze any meat that has been left at normal room temperature for over 2 hours. Just remember, though, that every time you thaw and refreeze meat, the quality suffers!

Tin can I Grill Frozen Meat?

This is a common question asked by grillers. The situation ordinarily comes upwards when the conditions is dainty, your friends are over, and you spontaneously decide to break out the grill. Unfortunately, you don't have the time to take hold of some fresh meat. Yous practice take meat in the freezer, though, that is nowhere virtually prepare to be served. Well, you are in luck! Get your grill started because you most definitely can cook meat from frozen. In some cases, it might even be better than if you had thawed information technology! We will now go over how to grill each diverseness of usually-frozen meat.

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How to Grill Frozen Meat

Steaks

Surprisingly, a lot of cooks prefer cooking steaks from frozen. This is because thawing the meat causes some of the moisture to be lost and no one wants that. If the steak is withal frozen, the wet stays on the within as it is cooking. Thawed meat can hands overcook in the middle and cooking from frozen makes that far less probable. You tin can also tiresome fume and cook a steak at 250-275 grill temp and bring the internal temp up very slowly while lastly searing the meat after getting to the desired internal temp to get a crust at the stop.

Preferably, the steak should be virtually 1 to 1½ inches thick. Although thinner steaks do thaw quicker, they tend to overcook. That's considering the inside thaws fast while the outside hasn't had enough time to get a adept sear.

Starting time the steaks off on the grill with direct heat (500 to 700°F) until they are nicely seared. This should accept most v to seven minutes. The internal temperature should be between 70 and 90°F. Y'all can season the steaks at this point, due to seasonings not sticking to frozen meat. Next, movement the steaks over to indirect heat (300 to 350°F) to slowly cook them to perfection. Remember that cooking from frozen volition take a niggling more fourth dimension. The steak should have between 10 to 15 minutes on indirect heat. Finally, permit them rest for 5 minutes. Here are pull temperatures co-ordinate to doneness:

Rare: Pull at 115-120°F for a 120-125°F final temperature.
Medium rare: Pull at 120-125°F for a 125-130°F concluding temperature.
Medium: Pull at 130-135°F for a 135-140°F last temperature.
Medium well: Pull at 140-145°F for a 145-150°F final temperature.
Well washed: Pull at 150°F+ for a 155°F+ final temperature.

Burgers

There isn't a lot of divergence between cooking a thawed or frozen burger. The main difference is that frozen burger patties can have fifty% longer to cook. If you are having trouble separating your frozen burger patties, leave them out for a few minutes. Then you can stick a butter knife in betwixt and pry them apart. The platonic cooking temperature for frozen burgers should be about 325°F. After placing your seasoned patties on the grill, flip afterwards v minutes. Go along to flip every v minutes until the internal temperature reads 160°F.

Spice up your meal with some weird burger toppings and enjoy!

Chicken

Keep in heed that frozen chicken volition accept fifty% more than time to cook! Become frozen craven breasts out virtually 30 minutes ahead of fourth dimension. Your grill should be pre-heated and ready to go at about 375 to 450°F. Flavour your chicken, and throw the pieces on the grill. Cook for about seven to eight minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 to 165°F. Throw the finished product in a delicious grilled chicken salad, and phone call it a solar day!

Pork Chops

Pork chops besides have upwardly to 50% more time to cook when frozen. Y'all can still grill them up as usual with no changes except cooking time. Get frozen chops out 30 minutes ahead of fourth dimension. Season the meat before you put it on the preheated grill. The internal temp should read 145 to 160°F, depending on your preference. Rest the pork chops for three minutes earlier serving.

Shrimp

Frozen shrimp works well on the grill! It is and then easy to buy a bag of IQF shrimp rather than scour a fish marketplace for fresh shrimp. Y'all can easily go out a handful of shrimp from the freezer on a whim. Yous only demand 15-30 minutes for them to thaw a flake, then you lot can slide them on skewers. If using bamboo skewers, exist sure to soak the skewers in water for 15 minutes to prevent them from burning on the charcoal grill. Use a basting brush to spread butter and seasonings on the shrimp. Turn the skewers, and repeat on the other side. Cook the shrimp on the preheated grill at 350 to 450°F for three to four minutes on each side. If you similar your shrimp a chip crispier, add ii minutes on each side.

Salmon

Frozen salmon should be in an airtight container with no visible frost. If freezing salmon on your ain alee of time, season the salmon earlier y'all freeze it. This will intensify the flavors when the salmon is grilled. Go on the skin on to prevent the salmon from curling while it grills. The grill should exist about 375°F. Identify the salmon skin-side-upwardly on the grill. Flavor the salmon now if you didn't practise information technology earlier freezing. For a ½-inch thick salmon, grill for three to four minutes on each side. For a 1-inch thick salmon, grill for half dozen to eight minutes per side.

We promise you are now a niggling more than familiar with the benefits of both fresh and frozen meat. Not only do frozen foods brand your life a little easier, but so does our Boot Ash Basket! Try it today.