searing a frozen steak, then onto oven?

[solman]

i just learned of this new-to-me method of cooking a steak. a frozen steak without any thawing is seared, for about 90 seconds each side, and then put into an oven until the internal temperature reaches desired doneness. oven temp recommendation varies, i've read anywhere between 130F to 275F.

has anyone tried this? all the reviews i've read of this process says it's hands down the best steak they've ever had. i thought my sous vide steaks were awesome, but i'm going to give it a try tonight, and we'll see if it beats out my sous vide.

here's a video clip describing the process:


and a video comparing 3 methods of cooking a steak: sous vide, reverse sear, and frozen:

 

[HalfSmoked]

Say what that's beyond this old man.

Warren

 

[weedeater]

Very interesting! Who would have thunk it? Have to give this a try on one of those days when plans change or I forgot to plan at all. I’ll pull a frozen steak out and give this a try. Thanks for sharing!

Weedeater

 

[dls1]

solman,

I've cooked steaks and chops from the frozen state quite a few times, but not necessarily by design. Usually due to my poor advance planning, or a spur of the moment kind of thing. Over the years I've also done frozen roasts, pork butts, briskets, and even did a frozen turkey once for Thanksgiving, but that's another story altogether.

In all cases, everything came very good, but obviously just took a bit longer than normal. My usual approach after searing the meat is to cook it at a somewhat low temp such as 185F-200F. On the larger meats, once they're no longer frozen and I can insert a thermometer probe, I typically increase the heat to 225F-250F, depending upon what I'm cooking.

I haven't seen the video before, and thanks for sharing.

Give it a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

[SonnyE]

My Steak Days are over.....

But I recall times when "Surprise" thought we'd drop by, and we had to Put another Shrimp on the Barby.

I asked my memory about cooking frozen meat, and she emphatically ranted about how it isn't as good as thawed meat.
(Kinda sorry I asked. )

I use to Love the "Plastic Steaks" we'd get from Costco. I lovingly dubbed them Plastic Steaks because they came in a package, individually vacuum sealed and frozen. How convenient those were.
She'd be making a Costco run and asked if there was anything I wanted. "Plastic Steaks and Beer and a sack of hundred dollar bills."
She always brought 2 out of the 3, and I ain't rich.

 

[Winterrider]

Wow, that little test video is interesting. To bad the beef we bought, we had them package them 2 to a pack. So no can do.

 

[solman]

Cooked up some new york strip steaks using this method and it came out unbelievably good. I don't know if we got lucky with really good prime cuts or if it was the cooking method, but I'm definitely doing this method again. If it keeps coming out this good it may be time to retire the sous vide from steak duties.

Steaks after being in the freezer overnight uncovered to dry out the surface.


Frozen steaks on a charcoal grill getting seared, about 2 minutes per side, including the sides.


Not the best picture, but steaks came out great. Pulled steaks out of 275F oven at 129F internal temperature. Almost zero gray band, perfectly juicy, melt in your mouth.

 

[SmokinAl]

Hmmm, I wonder how that would work on a Santa Maria grill?
Just sear the steaks first then raise the grate to finish them off.
I might try that this weekend!
Al

 

[solman]

i'm not sure the santa maria grill will get the even heat distribution an oven can provide. it might be worth a try if you tend to it often making sure it's evenly heated, or have a way to constantly flip it so it's evenly heated. i considered using my smoker to maintain 275F without any smoke, but decided the indoor oven was the quickest and easiest way to do it.

 

[SmokinAl]

Just can't bring myself to use the oven this time of year. It's going to be in the 80's all week & outside grilling is what we do this time of year. And I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around putting a steak in the oven anyway. But from the video it sure seems like the way to go. I'm going to try the frozen steak outside first! I have done partially frozen turkeys & butts, but never a steak, especially frozen hard!
Al

 

[wbf610]

The one thing i like more about the reverse sear, is the smoke flavor i can put on them. Of course, i like no less than medium, so the gray factor isn’t a big deal for me.

 

[solman]

the sear over charcoal actually added a nice smoke flavor even with a short sear time. the 2 minutes per side wasn't enough to cause a gray band, so you could probably sear it even longer if you don't mind a slight gray band. this method is intended to retain more juices, up to 10% more, so it may still be worthwhile to try out even if you like your steak medium+ to leather. :)

 

[SNeal5966]

I am pretty sure that there are some high end steak houses that use a very similar method actually.

 

[solman]

Just can't bring myself to use the oven this time of year. It's going to be in the 80's all week & outside grilling is what we do this time of year. And I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around putting a steak in the oven anyway. But from the video it sure seems like the way to go. I'm going to try the frozen steak outside first! I have done partially frozen turkeys & butts, but never a steak, especially frozen hard!
Al

don't you have an outdoor propane smoker? that would work perfect for this method, add a couple wood chunks/chips and add some more smokiness to it as it gets up to temperature. i may try that next time with my propane smoker instead of the indoor oven.

 

[JWFokker]

I am pretty sure that there are some high end steak houses that use a very similar method actually.

I was about to say that I had heard of steakhouses using this technique. Guess it's finally going mainstream.

 

[solman]

The thing about frozen sear is that it takes much longer than any other cooking method to do steaks since the entire center is frozen. I can't imagine this being efficient in any restaurant setting.

 

[chef jimmyj]

No way Keens or Peter Luger's is cooking FROZEN 2" thick 32 ounce, 28 day Dry Aged Prime Beef Porterhouse Steaks at $100 a pop! Dry age Beef is cut daily, in house, based on the expected volume. Both places are always packed and do a high volume. Those big steaks would not cook fast enough if frozen...JJ

 

[mike243]

SmokinAl if you do that on the SM throw you a lid over the top of the steaks,it will think its in a oven,the heat coming up from the bottom will be trapped in the dome my.02

 

[solman]

i cooked up another steak frozen sear style, and it came out great. after the sear, i smoked it around 260F using mesquite wood for about an hour. it does take some planning and quite a bit of time to cook, but the juiciness and flavor is totally worth it.

frozen sear:


smoking with mesquite wood chunk and charcoal:


until internal temperature reached 126F:

 

[mneeley490]

I gave this a try the other night. Came home late from work, and I really wanted a steak, but they were all frozen.
So, I pulled out two 1-1/4" NY's that I had previously dry-aged for 28 days, then vac sealed. Found a recipe online that called for running the packaged steaks under cold water for a couple minutes, just to get the surface thawed enough for seasonings to stick. Then into a med-high CI pan with a little oil and butter for 2-1/2 minutes on each side. (Probably could have gone just 2 minutes a side.) After that, slide the pan into a 400° oven for 10-12 minutes. Worked pretty well, the whole cooking process took about 15 minutes, and another 10 to rest. I will definitely be doing this again when time is short.

Air-fried some tater tots while the steaks were in the oven.

It came out a pretty nice medium. Steak kinda looks burned, but it isn't; the seasonings just blackened a bit.