Can you freeze meat after you season it with salt and pepper?
A few days ago, I seasoned some pork chops with salt and pepper to cook - but found the pan wasn't quite big enough for all of them, so I froze some instead.
Will my pork chops be safe to eat after being seasoned with salt and pepper and then frozen? Will it have an adverse effect on the flavor?
Best Answer
If they weren’t sitting out at room temperature for hours, they should be safe to cook and eat.
Salting meat too early can sometimes result in some strange texture problems, but it’s mostly a problem for ground meats, not slabs of meat.
If you had put it back into the fridge after salting and let it sit, it would’ve been a ‘dry brine’, which some people prefer.
If you want to minimize that effect, I would suggest looking at America’s Test Kitchen’s discussion of cooking steaks starting from frozen, and do something similar with your pork chops rather than thaw them out first.
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Can you freeze meat after seasoning?
The short answer is yes. Whether you have brought meat that is pre-packed and marinated, or you have marinated it yourself at home, marinated meat can be frozen providing all the raw ingredients are still within their use by dates.Can you freeze meat after salting?
Salt in the packaging will draw out moisture and will oxidize the meat fat, giving it a rancid flavor and shortening the period the meat can be left in the freezer. Therefore any meat that is further processed, or contains added salt will stay fresh for a shorter amount of time in the freezer.Can you salt and pepper meat before freezing?
As Ember points out, there isn't much if any benefit to seasoning before freezing. Frozen meat can be SV cooked from the frozen state and many Anova users do it for the convenience. As an alternative, you might find it beneficial to SV cook your portioned meat, ice-bath chill and then freeze.Can you freeze raw meat with spices?
People often wonder whether or not they should just season the meat before freezing. Whether or not there will be any negative effects for seasoning the meat pre-freeze. The short answer is that there is no substantial difference between seasoning the meat pre-freeze or pre-sear.How to Safely Freeze Cooked Meats | 1 Minute Tips | DJ BBQ
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Answer 2
Salting frozen meat does not do much. The dehydration of the meat cannot happen when the protein molecules are frozen solid. The movement of moisture between the protein strands can only happen if the meat is thawed.
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