Grilling frozen steaks can yield excellent results and produce a delicious, tender, and juicy piece of meat with a beautiful pink color in the center.
This method can help solve the common issue of a greyish color in the cut that often occurs when cook frozen steak well-done.
By grilling frozen steaks, you can achieve a well-done crust while still maintaining the desired tenderness and juiciness.
So, if you enjoy grill frozen steaks, you can expect a satisfying outcome that combines a flavorful crust with a perfectly cooked interior.
Contents
- 1 The main thing is to know a few simple rules of how to grill frozen steak
- 2 Grilled frozen steak process
- 3 How to determine the degree of roasting grilling frozen steak?
- 4 Is steak better frozen or thawed?
- 5 “Direct heat side” and “Indirect heat side”. How to use it?
- 6 Tips for the perfect cooking steak
- 7 FAQ
- 7.1 Is a grill with one heating surface suitable for cooking a frozen steak?
- 7.2 Does freezing a steak spoil it?
- 7.3 What is the best way to defrost a frozen steak?
- 7.4 How to know the quality of frozen steaks?
- 7.5 How long do you grill frozen steak?
- 7.6 What temp do you grill a frozen steak at?
- 7.7 How to choose good meat for cooking steak?
- 8 Conclusion
The main thing is to know a few simple rules of how to grill frozen steak
1. Freeze your steak the right way
To ensure proper freezing of steaks, it is recommended to place them on a flat surface, such as a baking sheet, before freezing.
It is also important to ensure that the store-bought frozen meat are completely flat when purchased.
This is crucial because it allows for a larger surface area to come in contact with both direct heat and indirect heat during the grilling frozen steak process.
When freezing the steaks, place them in a freezer bag, remove all the air, and seal the bag to prevent freezer burn.
When properly packaged, frozen steaks can be stored in a home freezer for a period of three to six months, maintaining their quality and freshness.
2. Use thick steaks
This method works best with cooking frozen steaks 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick. An excellent choice are porterhouse, ribeye or teebones steaks.
However, thinner steaks such as skert or flank should not be cooked this way, as they can cook faster on the inside than on the outside.
By the way, grilling frozen thick pork chops is also a great option.
3. Set up the grill
To grill a frozen steak, you need a grill with two independent heating surfaces: direct and indirect heat.
When grill a frozen steak, you can initially place it on a straight heated grill surface to give it a nice golden crust.
Then move it to the surface with indirect heating, to bring it to the desired degree of readiness.
4. Control the temperature when grill frozen steaks
The only reliable way to know what’s going on inside a steak is to measure the temperature inside the meat using a special thermometer.
Of course, you don’t want to serve overcooked steak or frozen meat on the table.
It’s best to check the temperature several times to make sure the frozen steaks are cooked the way they are how do you like.
Grilled frozen steak process
To cook frozen steak you will need
- Grill
- Charcoal or gas (if the grill is gas)
- Meat thermometer with instant reading
- Tongs or two-pronged fork
- Spices for frozen steak (For example, pepper and kosher salt)
- Frozen steaks
We get steaks from the freezer and install our grill. We prepared spices, dishes in advance and proceed to frying:
Step 1. We heat up the grill
Using the two-zone cooking method, heat up the grill. We need 10-15 minutes to heat up a charcoal grill and about 3-5 minutes for a gas grill.
Step 2. Grilling frozen steak
We take frozen thick cut steaks and fry them over direct high heat for about 5-7 minutes on each side so that they are well fried. Do not forget to check the internal temperature.
Step 3. We bring the steak to readiness
After the steak is fried, move it to the indirect heat zone, to bring the inside of the meat to the right internal temperature.
Here all hope for the accuracy of your thermometer, it is good temperature control that will allow you to get the desired degree of roasting.
Step 4. Add spices
Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper and other spices to taste if you like.
Tip: Kosher salt sticks to meat better and dissolves faster than regular salt.
Step 5. Time to use the thermometer
Remove the steak from the grill only when it has reached the desired pull temperature.
You can control the pull temperature several times during the cooking process.
Step 6. Steaks rest
When the frozen steak is done to the desired doneness, remove it from the grill, then cover and let stand for about five minutes.
This is necessary so that the juice is evenly distributed over the thick cut steaks.
This is called carryover cooking.
Step 7. The last one
Your frozen steak grilling is ready. Enjoy the taste.
How to determine the degree of roasting grilling frozen steak?
For convenience, look at the steaks roasting table.
Remember to remove the grilled steaks from the heat when the core temperature of the meat is 5-7°C below the desired doneness.
- Rare: 115 to 120 F
- Medium Rare: 120 to 125 F
- Medium: 130 to 135 F
- Medium well: 140 to 145 F
- Well done: 150 F and above
Is steak better frozen or thawed?
There is no reason to defrost a frozen steak before cooking, unless you have a marinade you are desperate to use.
In fact, if you do not defrost, the piece of meat will cook more evenly.
To determine this, try cooking two steaks – one thawed and one straight out of the freezer.
Then measure them before and after for moisture loss and visually inspect their cross sections.
A non-thawed steak will retain more moisture during cooking.
The lower temperature helped the meat brown on the outside without overcooking the inside.
Because a frozen steak is so cold, the surface can reach the very high temperatures required for the browning reaction before the inside is overcooked.
The steak that was defrosted was more overcooked around the edges, so it makes sense that it also had more moisture loss.
“Direct heat side” and “Indirect heat side”. How to use it?
First, let’s highlight an important detail. In order to use these cooking methods, you need to have a grill grate sufficient for this.
For a charcoal grill, this is about 57cm in diameter.
All the charcoal is moved to one half of the grill, over which there will be direct and strong heat.
For a gas grill, a grill with 4 burners will be convenient.
Two burners on one side are on full with high heat, on the other side the second half of the grill for indirect grilling.
In the case of gas grills, where there are only 3 burners, with two burners on (there will be no less heat for cooking), there is little room for indirect heat.
Direct heat side, is when food is fried directly over the included burners, or over coal.
Care must be taken when frying in high direct heat. Don’t overdry or overcook the food, as soon as you see that it looks ready on the outside, immediately switch to indirect heat (put food on the other side of the grill)
Indirect heat side is similar to baking.
Products are placed away from the source of heat. The burner of the gas grill is turned on at maximum on one side of the grill, and the food is cooked on the other side of the grill under a covered lid.
Tips for the perfect cooking steak
- Spray the grill with a special cooking spray, this will help the frozen steak not burn to the surface.
- When cooking frozen steak, wrap it in bacon if it has a lot of fat. This will help keep the flag inside.
- Do not turn a frozen steak with sharp objects. Punctures in the meat during grilling will allow the juices to leak out.
- When grilling frozen steak, don’t cut it open to see if it’s done, this will also cause all the juices to drain out of the meat and end up with a dry steak.
FAQ
Is a grill with one heating surface suitable for cooking a frozen steak?
You need to move a steak from one temperature zone to another instantly, if the grill has only one surface – it simply does not have time to cool.
In extreme cases, you can fry the steak on the grill until golden brown, and then transfer it to a slightly heated frying pan, to bring it to the desired degree of roasting.
Does freezing a steak spoil it?
With frequent defrosting, as well as frequent freezing, the quality of the product deteriorates. Freezing leads to the formation of ice crystals in the meat fibers.
These crystals rupture the fiber, causing the meat to bleed when defrosted.
With each repetition of this process, the meat will eventually become very dry.
What is the best way to defrost a frozen steak?
In all situations, the best way to defrost a steak is in the refrigerator.
The meat will be constantly refrigerated while it is defrosting.
This allows you to maintain a safe temperature, and you do not risk getting sick from harmful bacteria.
But if you don’t have time for this lengthy process, you can speed up the process with this method:
– Take your frozen steak and place it in a large bowl.
– Fill a bowl with cool water.
– Leave the steak in the water for a few minutes. In this case, the meat must be completely immersed in water.
– Check the steak after 40-50 minutes. If it is not completely thawed, drain the water and refill.
– Do this until the meat is completely melted.
How to know the quality of frozen steaks?
If you find that the steak has turned brown or gray, then this indicates that the product is not of proper quality.
The gray tones are the result of burns in the freezer.
Lack of oxygen causes brown color.
How long do you grill frozen steak?
The cooking time for a frozen grilled steak depends on the degree of doneness you want to do.
But the approximate time is about half an hour.
You will get a good crust on the outside and juiciness on the inside.
What temp do you grill a frozen steak at?
When grilling a frozen steak, it is generally recommended to cook it at a slightly lower temperature compared to a thawed steak. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat, around 400-450°F (204-232°C).
How to choose good meat for cooking steak?
Classic steak on the grill is prepared only from beef.
Steaks cooked are divided into several types, here are the most popular:
– Rib-eye and rib-eye on the bone – a steak from the subscapular part of the carcass. It has a lot of fat, so it looks marbled and turns out juicy. Can be carved with rib bone – it adds more flavor to the meat. If the bone is short, the steak is called a cowboy; if it is long, it is called a tomahawk.
– Striploin, aka New York steak, cut from the lumbar part of the carcass. Less greasy, has a denser structure.
Filet Mignon – steak from the loin. It is considered the most tender and non-greasy. Never cooked with blood.
– Chateaubriand is the same filet mignon, but larger.
– Porterhouse – it combines two types of meat.
– Teebone is the same porterhouse, only the filet mignon part is smaller.
Conclusion
Follow the recommendations in the article and your frozen steak on the grill will delight you and your family.
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