I season, vac-seal and freeze my steaks all the time. I have taken them directly from the freezer bag into 130F water and added + 30 mins cooking time and they have been almost identical to thawed or fresh. I've found no texture difference, just make sure to add extra sous vide cooking time to frozen rather than fresh or thawed. The amount of time in freezer may affect results but even buying a 4 pack at costco those won't last over a month in my house.
Dude, thank you so much for sharing your experience. Even though you commented this 5 years ago, it still goes appreciated to this day. This is exactly what I was looking for. Have a good 4th of July!
I just did an experiment comparing 2 sirloin Tip roasts from the same cow, one from frozen, one defrosted.....I can't tell the difference. +30 minutes for frozen... They both had perfect texture medium rare beautiful
No need to turn temp down. In fact once you go much below 130 on the temp you start to risk bacterial growth if held for too long a period of time (greater than a couple hours). Leave it at your desired temp man! That's the beauty of sous vide it will NOT overcook even if you leave it longer! That said awesome test! Did NOT expect a big difference here. Thanks for the video! Will try it out myself as well!
I know this is off the topic for this video but just wanted to share a technique I tried out today with a ribeye. I bought a wireless grilling thermometer from Walmart called expert grill. I fired up the charcoal. Seasoned both sides with garlic powder and salt and pepper. Started grilling as normal but set the alarm for 110 and pulled the steak and transferred to the sous vide to finish of at 134. Great grill flavor with that edge to edge perfection that sous vide does. Love the channel boss! Keep it up!!
I was wondering about Thais I tried it with a few New York Strips. Pre seasoned them and froze for a week. Threw them straight in sous vide frozen and just added 30 mins to the timer. They were PERFECT.
I am trying this at home right now. I am cooking cubed beef sous vide with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper for 20 hours @135. Tomorrow afternoon, it will be taken out, seared as best as I can and will be the base for my three bean chili. This is my fist attempt. Wish me luck. Love the channel. You guys are great.
I cook from frozen in my sous vide 50% of the time and never have noticed a difference from defrosting in the fridge. In fact ate picanha today that I cool sous vide from frozen and it was amazing. Just my opinion.
The key is how quickly you freeze the steak. That’s why some freezers have “fast freeze” function which stops the defrost cycle from coming on and keeps compressor going for 24 hrs. It’s the poor mans blast chiller. The freezing process, of done slowly, creates ice, which perforated the muscle allowing the juices to escape. LETS DO IT
I vac seal mine and put in the freezer and I'll leave them to defrost in the meat drawer of the fridge for up to two weeks and they break down even more. Keep in mind you shouldn't season prior if you're going to do that or you're just curing your steaks because of the salt. You CAN season before vac sealing and go directly to the freezer then slow thaw whichever method you choose and cook that day or next...just don't season and keep it thawed for a week or more or it changes the character of the steak.
I have a suggestion guys.... You can put the camera in the middle of the 3 of you guys so can Mao Mao try the meat at the same time he is really nice. You can achieve this wide a wide angle lens I think. It would be amazing if all 3 tried the meat at the same time. Also, as I mentioned before don’t forget to label the meats once ready in the editing process. Love the videos keep the good work! -Daniel K
I can see the reasoning in this; Maumau can get a bias after he sees Ninja eat and react to the different foods. If they eat at the same time this won’t be a problem
Sylas the Great of course bones can make a large difference in stews, however for something like a steak I really REALLY don't see any possible differences, other than the meat closest to the bone (as in probably about half an inch of meat) *MIGHT* be a bit more flavourful. Other than that, like I said before, I'd be amazed if it made a difference.
Nice experiment! Have you read Harold McGee´s On Food and Cooking? What books on sous vide could you recommend? Or other resources for continued study? (I love that you were interrupted for an hour and it made no appreciable difference to the experiment, sous vide rocks!)
I always feel wasteful freezing my steak in vacuum bags when I have to remove the steak for seasoning and then re-seal it using another bag. Could you test if seasoning the steak before freezing and not removing it from the original bag has any side effects?
This would be a GREAT experiment... since I just bought some steaks, chops & a chunk of prime rib roast and did just that, I seasoned them and vac sealed them and was planning on taking them from freezer to sous vide. Now that I have watched this I'm leery about doing that. Maybe even go a step further and pre season, freeze and sous vide 1 from frozen & pre seasoned and thawed in fridge and then sous vide? The only real difference would be that they were pre seasoned I guess. Even if you don't thanks for all your great videos, you have been a huge help in teaching me about sous vide.
As always great experiment video. I loved Ninja's hesitation when you said "experiment." After the Frankenstein meat glue I can't blame him. At the end of the day the dynamic between all three of you makes these videos. Keep on sous viding!
You should do one where you thaw with cold water and circulation only. The reason the sous vide defrost wasn't as good, imo, is because the Joule makes you set a minimum temperature, not due to the circulation itself. I actually use an aquarium circulator to defrost my meat faster without having to warm the water with the Joule. Similar to the rapid wine chillers/wells in some supermarkets. I think it's the best blend of speed and quality.
I have an experiment for you guys that I discovered last night. Had to sous vide a frozen NY strip because I forgot to thaw it. Instead of seasoning before (or after) the sous vide, I let it cook in the sous vide for an hour without seasoning, then I seasoned with salt/pepper/garlic power/msg, and put it back in the sous vide for another hour. Usually the problem with cooking it frozen is the trouble with seasoning throughout the meat properly and the meat comes out more chewy but doing it this way was shockingly tender. I was fully expecting it to have a bit of a chew because of starting frozen but it was indifferent to any fresh steak I've had. Would love to see you guys test it out!
I'm wondering about the texture of D. It was put in straight from frozen - so it had to come up further to get to temperature, which means it spent less time at temp, so less time getting right. I wonder if it had had an extra 20-30 minutes at full temp (not the 120 degree holding, but the full temp) if it would have come closer to the same texture.
First of all, I'm really glad I stumbled across your channel! You have not only taught me so much on sous vide, but you have cost me LOTS of MONEY!!!!! Now I can't wait to get all of the New equipment to fix my current sous vide experience and take it to the next level. I wish I could taste one of your steaks, but if I can follow your directions maybe I can practice enough with all of the new equipment I purchased and (hopefully) come close. Thanks for your fantastic channel!!
I preseason my steaks before vacuuming. When im ready i just sous vide for 2 hours at 130 straight from the freezer. They come out great! Ive had them frozen for up to 2 months without any loss in flavor or texture.
According to Chef Steps when cooking a frozen steak you need to take the recommended cook time for a fresh steak, divide it by 2, then add that number onto the original fresh cook time in order to achieve the same results as cooking from fresh. Just an FYI for future cooks!
Thanks guys, so glad you've done this one - I always sous vide straight from frozen; it's amazing, but never as good as fresh. Will definatley try the 24 hour defrost in the fridge!
For the record, we tried using fish sauce for faux-aging some prime rib last night. Now you have to understand that I've been making Vietnamese cuisine for almost 30 years so I'm used to fish sauce but I wasn't remotely ready for the AMAZING(DEEEEELICIOUS) flavor that poured out of our steak last night. The method is simple: brush your steaks with fish sauce and let them marinate in it for 3 days. It'll help tenderize the meat and the flavor is unbelievable, and you won't taste any of the fish sauce at all.
Good experiment!! I always thaw foods in cold water in the sink. I did notice that all of the steaks were cooked for the same amount of time. When cooking meat from frozen, they should be cooked longer to allow for the thawing time.
can you guys try out this experiment? Season the steak with fresh herbs, vacuum seal it, freeze it, then thaw, and sous vide cook it after, vs using the same fresh herbs and sous vide it? im curious if there is much difference in the taste. thanks guys!! Love your show!
Is it better to season a frozen steak like you did here, or seasoning it fresh, sealing the bag, then storing it in the freezer? I find pre-seasoning and pre-bagging makes it very convenient, but would like to hear your opinions.
you guys should do an experiment where you cook 3 steaks sous vide, freeze one, refrigerate one, and serve one right after being cooked. would be interesting to see if there's any difference
what is the difference between "thawed in the sous vide" and "cooked in the sous vide frozen"? Did you use room temp water int thawing version? and a second cooking step?
Regarding steaks in restaurants, there are many out there that serve great steak, but cost 2-3x or more what you can do at home with good meat. Anything more reasonably priced (and many that are not) are just blown away by the steaks I make at home via sous vide.
The other day, I thawed up a seasoned pork tenderloin in the fridge... It was supposed to be there for 24 hours, but it ended up being there for 48 hours.. It was the best, most tender tenderloin I've ever had. I'm not sure if it was because it was salted and put in the fridge, and then thawed, that the salt ended up tenderizing it.. but.. it was amazing!
My wife and I LOVE your show.. I am not sure what is going on here but the audio is horrible... I should say the normal speaking voices are fine but Ninja's excitement totally comes across as loud distortion. Did you change mics? We noticed this on some of the other recent videos.
Ninja your attitude towards food is "deeeeelishuss". Great video. I always wondered which was better. Goes back to the difference between planning and spare of the moment. Thanks to you guys, we got a choice! 🐮 🐮 🐮 🐮
I tried this experiment before I saw the video. I did not try the thaw in water, but I did do the 24 hour fridge thaw, sous vide thaw, and frozen to cook. The results were that my family and I could not tell a difference. Perhaps it was the cut of meat difference they or I experienced. I was using sirloins, about 1 inch thick, 2.5 hours at 130F, seared on a cast iron skillet coated with a layer of grapeseed oil.
Good experiment! I knew D probably wouldn’t be as good but I didn’t think there would be that much difference with the others. Now I know...thanks to you Guga. I’ve always thawed mine in the sous vide but I’ll try 24 hours in the fridge. You always have good ideas for comparisons.
How about an experiment where you sous vide some steaks, cool them, and later sear them. The point being to be able to bring sous vide meat on a picnic.
im brand new to this channel, just wanted to say, u should keep up the hard work, i immediately thought the channel had to have at least a million subs, saw the number u have, and realized u havent been properly spread by youtube yet
When you say ... a given temp, are you saying you're actually cooking that at that Temp for the given time, or does the Sous Vide slowly bring up the temp to the desired Temp over the time set? I IE, over 2 hours its final temp was 65c after 2 hours of cooking slowingly increasing the water temp, OR, was it cooked at 65c , for 2 hours in water at 65c? Im keen to buy one but just want to understand 1 or the other. Thanks.
What do you mean you defrosted it in the sous vide? Like, you put the frozen steak in the cold water and then turned the sous vide on while it got up to temperature? or you waited for the water to get up to temperature and then put the frozen steak in?
Wow! That is an amazingly surprising result! I thought the FLAVOUR would be different because you seasoned them after defrost, not before freezing, but I was totally wrong. You said the flavour was the same, but the texture was different. WOW! WOW! WOW! I almost didn't' watch this one because I thought I knew the result. Thank you so much for a great video as always!
Shouldn't be shocked really. As soon as I saw you cooked them all the same time I knew it was flawed. The frozen one needs more time to cook. Great effort but that's an easy flaw there.
Experiment Request Sorry if you’ve already covered this. Many of us would buy 4-6 steaks at a time for the deal, then likely cook 2 and freeze the rest. For the ones I may freeze, it’s likely they’ll stay frozen 2-4 weeks. I’ve learned from your other experiments to thaw in fridge overnight for best results, BUT do I season (salt, pepper, garlic powder) before I freeze for several weeks so it goes straight from fridge to SV, or do I season after the thaw, reseal, then SV? In your other freeze videos you either cooked before freeze then “reheated” at the cabin, or it was just frozen overnight with seasoning. My worry is that an extended freeze with the seasoning (namely salt) will negatively impact the texture. I’m curious because most-convenient to me is buy in bulk, season and seal all of them at once, then freeze what I don’t eat until I thaw (in fridge based on your video) and SV weeks later. Thanks for the videos! I love that you’ve removed years of experimentation for me by sharing your results!
Hi, I have frozen both types, Ie with and without seasoning. I have found that the steaks with seasoning frozen beforehand actually makes for a juicier and more tender steak. It's almost like it got dry brined a bit. The only caveat is that I use a lot less salt (half the amount) than if I had just seasoned a fresh steak and bagged and cooked it since the salt seems to penetrate more. tldr: big takeaway is that it's okay to season, just use half the amount of salt.
Am I cutting myself short on flavor? To cut down on prep time, I'll often season my steaks before vacuum sealing and freezing. Then when it's time to make something, I just drop the frozen bag into the sous vide. So far, I've been happy with the results. After watching this video, I was surprised that you so easily picked out the frozen version. I'm now wondering if there's an advantage to waiting to season until after they thaw? Love the channel. I was a sub before you were famous!
I had been thinking about this since I had two pichanas in my freezer and I was wondering if I should've just cut them, season and freeze, then put in the Sous Vide, or defrost then prep. This video answered my question! Thanks guys!
My bet is that a steak cooked from frozen will be very close to the thawed-overnight steak, if given a bit more cooking time. I would like to see the experiment repeated. (Assuming you can still find someone who wants to eat steak.) Take the best of the current batch as a control (the thawed overnight steak). Compare with 2, 3, and 4 hour cooked-frozen steaks. My bet is the 3 hour steak will match the control. :)
I will know this weekend, since I have some frozen steaks ready to go, but most places say you can go from freezer to water as long as you increase the cooking time by 1 hour.
Totally agree... I cook my frozen steaks for 4 hours. I cook thawed or fresh steaks for 3 hours. I haven't ever liked a 2 hour steak... but I usually buy choice, not prime, so that could be a difference.
Thanks for this video guys! I've got some nice ribeyes seasoned and sealed in their bags in the freezer and was going to put them frozen into the bath this weekend. I'll be thawing for 24hrs now!
One option I would have liked to have seen is sous vide cooked, frozen, then thawed/brought to temp by sous vide, then seared. When I get a bunch of steaks I cook then freeze, so I can thaw quicker without a 2 hour cook. Then a quick sear and I’m eating.
Hey, please make experiment about how the steak lasts in the vacuum bag AFTER sous vided and how it differs to the ones that is in room temp, waterbath, chilled, or froze.
This episode made me smile so much. Someone needs to make an AMAZING and DEEEEELICIOUS reaction compilation This is like really really good TV but 100x better than TV. Top quality episode guys
If you are defrosting in water in a sealed package make sure you are keeping ice in the water the whole time. This keeps the water at 32 degrees throughout the steak thawing process. What happens in the case in this video is the water temp rises up making the steak temp uneven as it thaws. The goal is to make sure the water stays 32 degrees throughout the thawing.
I think the cooking time for the frozen is the issue. Maybe try to cook frozen steaks for 2, 3 and 4 hrs and see the difference. I am actually thinking it will be sutble difference. But would love to know.
I was about to throw some frozen steaks in the sous vide but figured I should check the channel first. I guess I'll let them sit in the fridge and eat them tomorrow. Thanks Guga!
Hi guru. Would like to ask if I purchase a block of frozen steak (Japanese Wagyu), I thawed it in refrigerator , then cut into smaller size , repack and refreeze it until I need to use it. Will it affect the taste since it’s thawed twice... ?
If one was to grill the still frozen one would turn out best. It’s allows to get a good crust with keeping the overcooked to a min. And yes the only cooking method to get a perfect temp throughout is sous vide any other overcooks part of it.
I enjoyed all your videos. I just bought a circulator and the main reason was to get tender meats out of lower cuts of beef but so far all I find are recipes for higher cuts of beef. May I use sous vide method on lower cuts to obtain a delicious and tender result?
Ninja, I love your channel! Have you considered doing a video of comparing two steaks which are the same cut, preparation and cooking method? Would you consider cutting the same steaks but from two different sources and compare the two? I think while it's interesting comparing different cooking techniques and cuts, I also wonder if there is a significant variance within the meat itself.
Now I'll have to try the slow defrost. I wound up with a bunch of frozen steaks after breaking down a standing rib roast, and I've just been throwing the frozen steaks directly in room temperature water while the sous vide brings them up to final temperature. They've been delicious, but if they can be better, I want that.
New subscriber here. I’m absolutely in love with your channel. I love your guys’ personalities and all your food looks amazing. I’ve literally watched over half your videos in only a day. You’re so addicting!!
I am new to SV and have a question. He took the frozen steak, thawed it in the SV then added the spice, resealed and tossed it in to cook. So why is that way better than the frozen just added into the SV? It thaws then cooks basically the same way right? Or is it the thawing at a different temp that does it? If so what temp/time should you use for the SV thaw? Then what would be best practice, if you want the easy/fast way? Take it from frozen, put it in a lower temp bath for a set time, then increase the temp to 131 etc... to cook? Is that basically the same thing? Would that give the same results? Also does it really matter if you add the spice (and herbs if you use them) before the freeze or is it better to just thaw the meat and add spices before the cook like he did? I know SV takes more time but my goal is to be able to make fast dinners after work etc.. So I am just trying to understand a bit more the best way to do this. I guess right now it is best to just take the frozen meat out and put it in the fridge overnight then cool it. Don't always have the time to plan though. I would love to see more experiments on this topic.
I season, vac-seal and freeze my steaks all the time. I have taken them directly from the freezer bag into 130F water and added + 30 mins cooking time and they have been almost identical to thawed or fresh. I've found no texture difference, just make sure to add extra sous vide cooking time to frozen rather than fresh or thawed. The amount of time in freezer may affect results but even buying a 4 pack at costco those won't last over a month in my house.
So 2.5 hours instead of 2 hours at say 130 degrees (medium rare) ?
Deploy the sacrifice offering can we still use the previously used stings? 😂
@@sonnymooksexactly
Dude, thank you so much for sharing your experience. Even though you commented this 5 years ago, it still goes appreciated to this day. This is exactly what I was looking for. Have a good 4th of July!
I just did an experiment comparing 2 sirloin Tip roasts from the same cow, one from frozen, one defrosted.....I can't tell the difference. +30 minutes for frozen... They both had perfect texture medium rare beautiful
No need to turn temp down. In fact once you go much below 130 on the temp you start to risk bacterial growth if held for too long a period of time (greater than a couple hours). Leave it at your desired temp man! That's the beauty of sous vide it will NOT overcook even if you leave it longer!
That said awesome test! Did NOT expect a big difference here. Thanks for the video! Will try it out myself as well!
I know this is off the topic for this video but just wanted to share a technique I tried out today with a ribeye. I bought a wireless grilling thermometer from Walmart called expert grill. I fired up the charcoal. Seasoned both sides with garlic powder and salt and pepper. Started grilling as normal but set the alarm for 110 and pulled the steak and transferred to the sous vide to finish of at 134. Great grill flavor with that edge to edge perfection that sous vide does. Love the channel boss! Keep it up!!
Ninja when asked about how it tastes: "Is tender! Super tender!"
Maumau: "Its really really tender."
Ninja: "TALK ABOUT THA FLAVOR BRO!"
SMH
Well, he did guess them correctly, but you did list the options in order of the steaks on the board.
🤣🤣🤣
@paso fino hahahaha I'm dying 🤣🤣🤣
Please try pre seasoning steaks before freezing! I think a lot of people want to see the results, especially to save on bags
I was wondering about Thais I tried it with a few New York Strips. Pre seasoned them and froze for a week. Threw them straight in sous vide frozen and just added 30 mins to the timer. They were PERFECT.
Deploy the bland chicken had no taste, I had the cheese baguette instead 😭
@@krisrobitzschsomehow the process of freezing them after seasoning and marinating makes them better
I am trying this at home right now. I am cooking cubed beef sous vide with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper for 20 hours @135. Tomorrow afternoon, it will be taken out, seared as best as I can and will be the base for my three bean chili. This is my fist attempt. Wish me luck. Love the channel. You guys are great.
I cook from frozen in my sous vide 50% of the time and never have noticed a difference from defrosting in the fridge. In fact ate picanha today that I cool sous vide from frozen and it was amazing. Just my opinion.
The key is how quickly you freeze the steak. That’s why some freezers have “fast freeze” function which stops the defrost cycle from coming on and keeps compressor going for 24 hrs. It’s the poor mans blast chiller. The freezing process, of done slowly, creates ice, which perforated the muscle allowing the juices to escape. LETS DO IT
I vac seal mine and put in the freezer and I'll leave them to defrost in the meat drawer of the fridge for up to two weeks and they break down even more. Keep in mind you shouldn't season prior if you're going to do that or you're just curing your steaks because of the salt. You CAN season before vac sealing and go directly to the freezer then slow thaw whichever method you choose and cook that day or next...just don't season and keep it thawed for a week or more or it changes the character of the steak.
Deploy the Dracula steak to get caught in the snare from Paul alien 😂
Exactly
I have a suggestion guys.... You can put the camera in the middle of the 3 of you guys so can Mao Mao try the meat at the same time he is really nice. You can achieve this wide a wide angle lens I think. It would be amazing if all 3 tried the meat at the same time. Also, as I mentioned before don’t forget to label the meats once ready in the editing process. Love the videos keep the good work! -Daniel K
I think he is too shy to be on camera hence why he films?
Definitely not a natural like nija
Even with a 360 camera
I can see the reasoning in this; Maumau can get a bias after he sees Ninja eat and react to the different foods. If they eat at the same time this won’t be a problem
@@47pricey Nah Maumau is chill.
How about a Sous Vide experiment for Bone in vs Boneless steak (like ribeye)?
I like it. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I would be amazed if it made any difference
Daniel Warren
I totally think there will be
Let's do iiiiiit!
Sylas the Great of course bones can make a large difference in stews, however for something like a steak I really REALLY don't see any possible differences, other than the meat closest to the bone (as in probably about half an inch of meat) *MIGHT* be a bit more flavourful. Other than that, like I said before, I'd be amazed if it made a difference.
Nice experiment! Have you read Harold McGee´s On Food and Cooking? What books on sous vide could you recommend? Or other resources for continued study? (I love that you were interrupted for an hour and it made no appreciable difference to the experiment, sous vide rocks!)
I always feel wasteful freezing my steak in vacuum bags when I have to remove the steak for seasoning and then re-seal it using another bag. Could you test if seasoning the steak before freezing and not removing it from the original bag has any side effects?
Please do this
You could try it
This would be a great test
This would be a GREAT experiment... since I just bought some steaks, chops & a chunk of prime rib roast and did just that, I seasoned them and vac sealed them and was planning on taking them from freezer to sous vide. Now that I have watched this I'm leery about doing that. Maybe even go a step further and pre season, freeze and sous vide 1 from frozen & pre seasoned and thawed in fridge and then sous vide? The only real difference would be that they were pre seasoned I guess. Even if you don't thanks for all your great videos, you have been a huge help in teaching me about sous vide.
Test it yourselves - he probably wont.
As always great experiment video. I loved Ninja's hesitation when you said "experiment." After the Frankenstein meat glue I can't blame him.
At the end of the day the dynamic between all three of you makes these videos. Keep on sous viding!
I use an aluminum thawing plate to thaw my steaks when I haven’t planned and let them thaw in the fridge. Both are great.
You should do one where you thaw with cold water and circulation only. The reason the sous vide defrost wasn't as good, imo, is because the Joule makes you set a minimum temperature, not due to the circulation itself.
I actually use an aquarium circulator to defrost my meat faster without having to warm the water with the Joule. Similar to the rapid wine chillers/wells in some supermarkets. I think it's the best blend of speed and quality.
I have an experiment for you guys that I discovered last night. Had to sous vide a frozen NY strip because I forgot to thaw it. Instead of seasoning before (or after) the sous vide, I let it cook in the sous vide for an hour without seasoning, then I seasoned with salt/pepper/garlic power/msg, and put it back in the sous vide for another hour. Usually the problem with cooking it frozen is the trouble with seasoning throughout the meat properly and the meat comes out more chewy but doing it this way was shockingly tender. I was fully expecting it to have a bit of a chew because of starting frozen but it was indifferent to any fresh steak I've had. Would love to see you guys test it out!
What exactly do you do at that office? I thought it was just a steak tasting establishment.
berighteous I am searching the comments for an answer to that same question lol
Ideally they could be a funeral home
They work at a web development firm.
@@v0x3lc0d3 Are you sure?
the cuban guy got into a fight with Guga and left
I seasoned and froze about 4 ribeyes. I just throw them in the sous vide when I'm ready and they come out amazing. Super flavorful and tender.
You have to love each one of these guys, genuine, honest, hard-working guys having fun cooking/eating. Inspirational.
I'm wondering about the texture of D. It was put in straight from frozen - so it had to come up further to get to temperature, which means it spent less time at temp, so less time getting right. I wonder if it had had an extra 20-30 minutes at full temp (not the 120 degree holding, but the full temp) if it would have come closer to the same texture.
First of all, I'm really glad I stumbled across your channel! You have not only taught me so much on sous vide, but you have cost me LOTS of MONEY!!!!! Now I can't wait to get all of the New equipment to fix my current sous vide experience and take it to the next level. I wish I could taste one of your steaks, but if I can follow your directions maybe I can practice enough with all of the new equipment I purchased and (hopefully) come close. Thanks for your fantastic channel!!
I preseason my steaks before vacuuming. When im ready i just sous vide for 2 hours at 130 straight from the freezer. They come out great! Ive had them frozen for up to 2 months without any loss in flavor or texture.
According to Chef Steps when cooking a frozen steak you need to take the recommended cook time for a fresh steak, divide it by 2, then add that number onto the original fresh cook time in order to achieve the same results as cooking from fresh. Just an FYI for future cooks!
I.e. multiply by 1.5
Thanks guys, so glad you've done this one - I always sous vide straight from frozen; it's amazing, but never as good as fresh. Will definatley try the 24 hour defrost in the fridge!
You tell the guy you be respectful and then tell him to shut up. Sounds like a great friend
For the record, we tried using fish sauce for faux-aging some prime rib last night. Now you have to understand that I've been making Vietnamese cuisine for almost 30 years so I'm used to fish sauce but I wasn't remotely ready for the AMAZING(DEEEEELICIOUS) flavor that poured out of our steak last night. The method is simple: brush your steaks with fish sauce and let them marinate in it for 3 days. It'll help tenderize the meat and the flavor is unbelievable, and you won't taste any of the fish sauce at all.
I tried this a week ago. I used 3 grams fish sauce for every 100 grams steak. marinated for 3 days in the fridge. it was delicious
Should you marinade it in an airtight bag?
I have steaks I have fish sauce, gonna try hope it works
I wont cook a steak any other way if I have the time
@The Divine Protector of Mangos: I didn't and it turned out fine.
Good experiment!! I always thaw foods in cold water in the sink. I did notice that all of the steaks were cooked for the same amount of time. When cooking meat from frozen, they should be cooked longer to allow for the thawing time.
Another great video.
My favorite part is thinking about the people's heads exploding when they say "number A, number B".
Love you guys
One more frozen steak challenge I'd like to see.... Steak Cooked frozen for 4 hours vs fridge thawed 2 hour steak.
“Today I’m going to allow you to slap him..” *ninjas smile grows instantly and screams* “THANK YOU!”
can you guys try out this experiment? Season the steak with fresh herbs, vacuum seal it, freeze it, then thaw, and sous vide cook it after, vs using the same fresh herbs and sous vide it? im curious if there is much difference in the taste. thanks guys!! Love your show!
Your office? What do you do? I m really curious
Is it better to season a frozen steak like you did here, or seasoning it fresh, sealing the bag, then storing it in the freezer? I find pre-seasoning and pre-bagging makes it very convenient, but would like to hear your opinions.
Add 50% cooking time for frozen. In this case, cook for 3 hrs at 131 F and you should not notice too much texture difference.
You made filling up a tub of water look good. Respect.
you guys should do an experiment where you cook 3 steaks sous vide, freeze one, refrigerate one, and serve one right after being cooked. would be interesting to see if there's any difference
I wanted to jump to the end and just get the results, but you guys are too entertaining to pass up, Thanks for the laughs and the info
what is the difference between "thawed in the sous vide" and "cooked in the sous vide frozen"? Did you use room temp water int thawing version? and a second cooking step?
65c for thawing, 130c for cooking.
@@Mowgi yeah it's fahrenheit... the thawing in sous vide vs cold water is interesting. Seems like the cold water was better...
@@LtdJorge I think you mean F instead of C.
65 Celsius is like 149 Fahrenheit to thaw. And 130C would be like 266F to cook a steak haha
Regarding steaks in restaurants, there are many out there that serve great steak, but cost 2-3x or more what you can do at home with good meat. Anything more reasonably priced (and many that are not) are just blown away by the steaks I make at home via sous vide.
You listen to your subs 😍
ALWAYS 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
The other day, I thawed up a seasoned pork tenderloin in the fridge... It was supposed to be there for 24 hours, but it ended up being there for 48 hours.. It was the best, most tender tenderloin I've ever had. I'm not sure if it was because it was salted and put in the fridge, and then thawed, that the salt ended up tenderizing it.. but.. it was amazing!
Thank you for the valuable information! Saludos a Cuba! from a Puerto Rican happily stuck in Georgia.
My wife and I LOVE your show.. I am not sure what is going on here but the audio is horrible... I should say the normal speaking voices are fine but Ninja's excitement totally comes across as loud distortion. Did you change mics? We noticed this on some of the other recent videos.
I love learning how to use this device but your helpers are not the least bit funny. Fire them both!
Super useful, guys. I've been disappointed in previously frozen steaks. Looking forward to try the 24 hour fridge method.
Just add more time
Ninja your attitude towards food is "deeeeelishuss". Great video. I always wondered which was better. Goes back to the difference between planning and spare of the moment. Thanks to you guys, we got a choice! 🐮 🐮 🐮 🐮
"Today, I will allow you to slap him" *Ninja perks up* "Thank you!" "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
I tried this experiment before I saw the video. I did not try the thaw in water, but I did do the 24 hour fridge thaw, sous vide thaw, and frozen to cook. The results were that my family and I could not tell a difference. Perhaps it was the cut of meat difference they or I experienced. I was using sirloins, about 1 inch thick, 2.5 hours at 130F, seared on a cast iron skillet coated with a layer of grapeseed oil.
Damn 5 years ago! Love how things have changed but also how some things stayed the same. Is there a chance of you doing an updated version of this?
Man - you are really stepping up the filming & editing. Well done. I really enjoy the experiments!!!!!!!
Good experiment! I knew D probably wouldn’t be as good but I didn’t think there would be that much difference with the others. Now I know...thanks to you Guga. I’ve always thawed mine in the sous vide but I’ll try 24 hours in the fridge. You always have good ideas for comparisons.
How about an experiment where you sous vide some steaks, cool them, and later sear them.
The point being to be able to bring sous vide meat on a picnic.
That is absolutely doable. But they need to be seared on a pan or a grill to be reheated
Love you guys. Just ordered my Anova .. haven't tried it yet. But I have watched dozens of your videos.
Just ordered everything I need for sous vide because of y’all videos. Y’all are awesome!
im brand new to this channel, just wanted to say, u should keep up the hard work, i immediately thought the channel had to have at least a million subs, saw the number u have, and realized u havent been properly spread by youtube yet
When you say ... a given temp, are you saying you're actually cooking that at that Temp for the given time, or does the Sous Vide slowly bring up the temp to the desired Temp over the time set? I IE, over 2 hours its final temp was 65c after 2 hours of cooking slowingly increasing the water temp, OR, was it cooked at 65c , for 2 hours in water at 65c? Im keen to buy one but just want to understand 1 or the other. Thanks.
What do you mean you defrosted it in the sous vide? Like, you put the frozen steak in the cold water and then turned the sous vide on while it got up to temperature? or you waited for the water to get up to temperature and then put the frozen steak in?
Gentlemen! I love the channel, thanks for the info. We just got our Anova so here we go! Cheers!
Great video! IF you had to guess how much salt, pepper and garlic salt would you say you used per steak?
So would cooking the frozen one 30 minutes or an hour longer make it better in your opinion?
Exactly
Wow! That is an amazingly surprising result! I thought the FLAVOUR would be different because you seasoned them after defrost, not before freezing, but I was totally wrong. You said the flavour was the same, but the texture was different. WOW! WOW! WOW! I almost didn't' watch this one because I thought I knew the result. Thank you so much for a great video as always!
I had the same thought as you. Shocked me also.
Shouldn't be shocked really. As soon as I saw you cooked them all the same time I knew it was flawed. The frozen one needs more time to cook. Great effort but that's an easy flaw there.
these were boneless rib-eyes? No mention anywhere?
Experiment Request
Sorry if you’ve already covered this. Many of us would buy 4-6 steaks at a time for the deal, then likely cook 2 and freeze the rest. For the ones I may freeze, it’s likely they’ll stay frozen 2-4 weeks.
I’ve learned from your other experiments to thaw in fridge overnight for best results, BUT do I season (salt, pepper, garlic powder) before I freeze for several weeks so it goes straight from fridge to SV, or do I season after the thaw, reseal, then SV?
In your other freeze videos you either cooked before freeze then “reheated” at the cabin, or it was just frozen overnight with seasoning. My worry is that an extended freeze with the seasoning (namely salt) will negatively impact the texture.
I’m curious because most-convenient to me is buy in bulk, season and seal all of them at once, then freeze what I don’t eat until I thaw (in fridge based on your video) and SV weeks later.
Thanks for the videos! I love that you’ve removed years of experimentation for me by sharing your results!
Hi, I have frozen both types, Ie with and without seasoning. I have found that the steaks with seasoning frozen beforehand actually makes for a juicier and more tender steak. It's almost like it got dry brined a bit. The only caveat is that I use a lot less salt (half the amount) than if I had just seasoned a fresh steak and bagged and cooked it since the salt seems to penetrate more. tldr: big takeaway is that it's okay to season, just use half the amount of salt.
Paul Li Cool, thanks Paul!
Great show guys. If the steaks were sous vide cooked prior to frozen, which would be the best method to reheat and sear? Thanks
Fascinating experiment. Ninja knows his beef! Thanks guys!!
Please experiment to reheat frozen sous vide cooked meat in several ways (microwaving, re-sous vide, thawing and then re-heat)
Am I cutting myself short on flavor?
To cut down on prep time, I'll often season my steaks before vacuum sealing and freezing. Then when it's time to make something, I just drop the frozen bag into the sous vide. So far, I've been happy with the results.
After watching this video, I was surprised that you so easily picked out the frozen version. I'm now wondering if there's an advantage to waiting to season until after they thaw?
Love the channel. I was a sub before you were famous!
I had been thinking about this since I had two pichanas in my freezer and I was wondering if I should've just cut them, season and freeze, then put in the Sous Vide, or defrost then prep. This video answered my question! Thanks guys!
My bet is that a steak cooked from frozen will be very close to the thawed-overnight steak, if given a bit more cooking time. I would like to see the experiment repeated. (Assuming you can still find someone who wants to eat steak.) Take the best of the current batch as a control (the thawed overnight steak). Compare with 2, 3, and 4 hour cooked-frozen steaks.
My bet is the 3 hour steak will match the control. :)
Well said Preston. I think that should be the next experiment.
I will know this weekend, since I have some frozen steaks ready to go, but most places say you can go from freezer to water as long as you increase the cooking time by 1 hour.
I agree, when I cook from frozen, I try to add about 45 minutes more
Totally agree... I cook my frozen steaks for 4 hours. I cook thawed or fresh steaks for 3 hours. I haven't ever liked a 2 hour steak... but I usually buy choice, not prime, so that could be a difference.
Makes sense, time adds tenderness.
The quality the editing of your videos is oustanding cheeers
Thanks for this video guys! I've got some nice ribeyes seasoned and sealed in their bags in the freezer and was going to put them frozen into the bath this weekend. I'll be thawing for 24hrs now!
One option I would have liked to have seen is sous vide cooked, frozen, then thawed/brought to temp by sous vide, then seared. When I get a bunch of steaks I cook then freeze, so I can thaw quicker without a 2 hour cook. Then a quick sear and I’m eating.
That was good to know. Always wondered which way was best for defrosting meat. Thanks Gaga, love your videos.
Love your channel. Just started Sous Vide cooking. So far, so good.
Hey, please make experiment about how the steak lasts in the vacuum bag AFTER sous vided and how it differs to the ones that is in room temp, waterbath, chilled, or froze.
This episode made me smile so much. Someone needs to make an AMAZING and DEEEEELICIOUS reaction compilation
This is like really really good TV but 100x better than TV. Top quality episode guys
If you are defrosting in water in a sealed package make sure you are keeping ice in the water the whole time. This keeps the water at 32 degrees throughout the steak thawing process. What happens in the case in this video is the water temp rises up making the steak temp uneven as it thaws. The goal is to make sure the water stays 32 degrees throughout the thawing.
Thank you for doing all of the work.
I think the cooking time for the frozen is the issue. Maybe try to cook frozen steaks for 2, 3 and 4 hrs and see the difference. I am actually thinking it will be sutble difference. But would love to know.
agreed . I always add a minimum of an hour to anything frozen.
Guga have you ever dry brine a steak and freeze it. Then defrost it and cook it. VS defrost and dry brine and cook? Does it taste the same????
Which greens are you sprinkling your steaks? What can you recommend?
I was about to throw some frozen steaks in the sous vide but figured I should check the channel first. I guess I'll let them sit in the fridge and eat them tomorrow. Thanks Guga!
Your welcome! Enjoy your steaks brother
Mennny Timezzzzz !!! Love it
Hi guru. Would like to ask if I purchase a block of frozen steak (Japanese Wagyu), I thawed it in refrigerator , then cut into smaller size , repack and refreeze it until I need to use it. Will it affect the taste since it’s thawed twice... ?
If one was to grill the still frozen one would turn out best. It’s allows to get a good crust with keeping the overcooked to a min. And yes the only cooking method to get a perfect temp throughout is sous vide any other overcooks part of it.
Surprising results. Very helpful. Thank you.
I enjoyed all your videos. I just bought a circulator and the main reason was to get tender meats out of lower cuts of beef but so far all I find are recipes for higher cuts of beef. May I use sous vide method on lower cuts to obtain a delicious and tender result?
That's where sous vide really shines. Time = Tenderness. A Chuck Roast at 131°F. for 24 - 36 hours eats like Prime Rib.
Good as always! Are you planning to make a pre sear experiment? I see more and more people pre searing and most seem to like it.
Just out of curiosity, why do you use Joule just for defrosting and you prefer Anova for every sous vide?
Good to know! Though I assume a non frozen steak would taste even better if vacuum bagged at room temperature?
Ninja, I love your channel! Have you considered doing a video of comparing two steaks which are the same cut, preparation and cooking method?
Would you consider cutting the same steaks but from two different sources and compare the two? I think while it's interesting comparing different cooking techniques and cuts, I also wonder if there is a significant variance within the meat itself.
I love the Star Wars paper towel. Thanks
Now I'll have to try the slow defrost. I wound up with a bunch of frozen steaks after breaking down a standing rib roast, and I've just been throwing the frozen steaks directly in room temperature water while the sous vide brings them up to final temperature. They've been delicious, but if they can be better, I want that.
I need those Star Wars paper towels ASAP. Another awesome video Guga.
New subscriber here. I’m absolutely in love with your channel. I love your guys’ personalities and all your food looks amazing. I’ve literally watched over half your videos in only a day. You’re so addicting!!
I am new to SV and have a question. He took the frozen steak, thawed it in the SV then added the spice, resealed and tossed it in to cook. So why is that way better than the frozen just added into the SV? It thaws then cooks basically the same way right? Or is it the thawing at a different temp that does it?
If so what temp/time should you use for the SV thaw?
Then what would be best practice, if you want the easy/fast way? Take it from frozen, put it in a lower temp bath for a set time, then increase the temp to 131 etc... to cook?
Is that basically the same thing? Would that give the same results?
Also does it really matter if you add the spice (and herbs if you use them) before the freeze or is it better to just thaw the meat and add spices before the cook like he did?
I know SV takes more time but my goal is to be able to make fast dinners after work etc.. So I am just trying to understand a bit more the best way to do this.
I guess right now it is best to just take the frozen meat out and put it in the fridge overnight then cool it. Don't always have the time to plan though.
I would love to see more experiments on this topic.
You should do a sous vide of regular grocery store steak and tips on how to really make great sous vide with the grocery store steaks.
for what i know, for sous vide frozen meat, you need to give extra 30min to 45min extra depends on the thickness of the steak to get the best result.
This is the sort of info that is very useful to me. Thanks, guys for a great channel.
Great video!!! What about a cheap 2 inch steak vs an expensive 2 inch steak????