Can you season before freezing?

I just bought a large rib roast. I planned to cut it into steaks, vacuum sealing each steak, then freezing it (with the idea that I could drop the frozen steak directly into a Sous Vide later). But, I had a major question before I proceed:

Can I pre-season the meat (salt, pepper, garlic, herbs, etc) prior to vacuum sealing and freezing? Will this negatively impact the flavor or texture?

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Comments

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Herbs and spices are generally fine, but adding salt can end up giving the meat a "cured" texture and flavor if you let it sit for too long. Unless I'm going to eat a rib steak immediately, I don't salt beforehand; the best practice is to salt when you sear!

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

I like to pre-sear, salt, pepper, bag and freeze....pull out the frozen steak toss it in the water and cook away....then you can post sear. IMLO (in my learned opinion) I think creating the Maillard Reaction first enhances the steak during the cook.....but what do I know, I'm usually drinking wine...

wolfiegirl

I freeze chicken thighs with olive oil and herbs, vac packed and ready to drop into the water bath. I keep several packs on hand so if I run out of ideas or time there are always chicken thighs ready to go! Having said that, I do not add salt until after they are cooked.

Have fun!

aaron.c.schroeder

Brandon's experience mirrors mine. After buying my first immersion circulator and FoodSaver, I bought a whole ribeye loin, trimmed and cut it into steaks, added salt, herbs, and butter to each bagged steak, vacuumed, and froze. Six months of ribeye ham later, I'd learned an important lesson: don't salt steaks until you cook.

meyer8863

I will be sure to learn from your misfortune!

mattpope

How do you deal with the oil when vacuuming the bag? I can't get my Foodsaver to work with liquids. I've thought about freezing ice cube trays of oil for this purpose, but haven't yet tried it out.

zjermz

That's what I do. Either freeze oil in cubes or stick the bag with your ingredients into the freezer until solid before sealing.

mattpope

Hmm, Maillard reaction and drinking wine...It seems to definitely a correlation. Can we stretch a bit and say causation...??

wolfiegirl

I don't put enough olive oil in the vac bag so that the chicken is swimming in it. More like a couple tablespoons, give or take. Plus I have a chamber vac so liquids stay where they're supposed to!!

wolfiegirl

If you don't have a chamber vac, that's the next best way....freeze then vac.

fisher23

+1 with Brandon.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

And rosemary is great for ruining anything.....

wolfiegirl

Rosemary is great! Too much rosemary (which doesn't take much) can certainly ruin a dish though. With that I will agree. And 9 times out of 10 folks get heavy handed with the stuff and thus your comment.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Oh, I just really dislike the flavor

Helrond_1267800

Of course! You can freeze it without having to worry about it.The taste will be different, but this is a personal preference. Some people like the food to be seasoned before freezing it, others like it to be seasoned after it's defrosted. I would suggest you check out https://www.freezeit.co.uk/ in order to see which food it's okay for your organism to be frozen and which isn't. You would be surprised to see that you cannot freeze certain food and that's why your stomach can get pretty messed up after a meal. Always be careful and inform yourself about this