Freezing meat - whole or in pieces?
I have a beautiful, top quality beef tenderloin in the fridge. It's from my local butcher and I know it's been handeled with great care up to now.
As my guests had to cancel, I'll have to freeze it - even planning for leftovers we won't be able to eat all of it. We are talking about a scant 2 kg /4 pounds of meat.
I'm wondering if I should freeze it whole or in small/individual portions:
Does it influence the quality of the meat whether it was frozen & thawed as a large "chunk" or in smaller pieces?
Im not asking about practical considerations like what kind of dish I'm planning to cook afterwards, but rather about physics: Once the meat is frozen, the ice crystals will invariably do some damage to the cells that can lead to some loss of water when thawing. But are there other influences to be considered?
To cut a long story short:
How can I preserve the quality as much as possible?
EDIT:
As nobody had an idea so far, I've decided to start a little experiment.
I took the tenderloin and
- cut off a few tournedos (and one tiny slice for the begging, no starving cat ^_^)
- left the rest "en bloc".
So let's see what happens in a couple of weeks, when I take them out again...
Best Answer
Busy time of year for us chefs so not really got time to do any research. Personally I don't think quality will be noticeable between big or small. Best way for freezing is always to vacuum to avoid freezer burn.
If you wrap it up tight with a good few layers of cling film you should get a near vacuum result (as close as you will get without it)
The best way of clingfilm-ing something like fillet steak is the sausage method (sorry I don't know the technical term if there even is one)
- Lay 5 layers of cling film flat on work surface.
- Lay fillet towards the front.
- Pull cling film tight over the top and then roll fillet till all the way over so all the cling film is now rolled round it.
- Grab both ends and start rolling on surface so that you are tightening up those two 'handles' until you can't do it any tighter. Then tie the 'handles' in knots.
- Pierce one whole through the cling film allowing all the trapped air to get out then wrap in a few more layers of cling film.
Hope that all made sense hard without pictures. Its far from ideal but I can't see any better way for you.
Pictures about "Freezing meat - whole or in pieces?"
What is the best way to freeze meat?
Wrap Your Meat When Freezing The most important thing is to avoid exposing frozen meat to outside air. While a vacuum-sealer is ideal for ensuring that meats are packaged correctly, you can get by just fine with double wrapping cuts of meat with freezer paper, plastic wrap, aluminum foil or airtight zip-loc bags.Should I slice roast beef before freezing?
Place the beef on a chopping board and slice it into pieces. It's better to do this before you freeze it, so you can easily take out the portions that you need from the freezer. Wrap each slice of cooked beef in tin foil or cling film, and then place each slice into a freezer-safe bag.How do you package meat to freeze?
But our recommended method is actually to wrap the meat in butcher or freezer paper. This is a waxy coated paper (the waxy side should go towards the meat, with the paper side out). Wrap your cut of meat tightly in this paper, and tape it shut. Then wrap the whole package in an airtight layer of aluminum foil.Can you freeze different raw meats together?
The U. S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) advises: Once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through thawing. After cooking raw foods which were previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods.Freezing and Thawing Beef 101 | How-To Tips from a Chef
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Piotr Arnoldes, Piotr Arnoldes, Piotr Arnoldes, Piotr Arnoldes