Yes, You Can Sous Vide A Frozen Steak. Here's How

If you consider yourself an experienced home chef, you may be experimenting with new cooking methods like sous vide. You might even be up for finding more convenient ways to utilize this fancy, upscale water bath to cook a variety of foods. While you can certainly use a sous vide to cook pork chops and tender cuts of beef, this sophisticated technique can also be used to cook frozen steak. Believe it or not, preparing frozen steak sous vide-style isn't all that different from using room temperature beef. According to Matt Kreider, the Executive Chef at Steak 954 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, frozen steak simply "takes a little bit longer to defrost and come up to temperature." More specifically, the main components you'll need to adjust in the cooking process revolve around when to season your meat and suggested cooking times.

The four basic steps of sous vide cooking are centered around prepping, packaging, cooking, and finishing your meat or vegetable of choice. "If you were going to start from frozen, make sure to marinate or season the steak in the bag so that seasoning or marinade can penetrate the steak during the cooking process," Kreider advises. If you're starting the process with unseasoned frozen steak, simply transfer your steak to a vacuum-sealed bag with select herbs and seasoning before cooking. Fortunately, if you're pressed for time, you can also season your steak right before serving.

When you're preparing frozen steak with the sous vide technique, adjusting your cooking time is essential. First, set your water bath to your preferred temperature which ranges anywhere from 120 degrees Fahrenheit for rare steak to 156 degrees Fahrenheit for well-done steak. As a general rule, increase your cooking time by a minimum of 25%. Depending on how thick your cuts are, you may need to leave your meat in the water bath for an extra hour or two to reach your desired temperature.

While the sous vide method assures your meat is precisely cooked, overextending your cooking time may affect the quality of your steak. Leaving your steak in hot water for too long may cause your meat to pull apart too-easily or become overly soft. Therefore, keep an on the probe thermometer for the most accurate results.

Once your meat is up to temp, remove from the bag and pat dry. Whether or not you're able to marinate your steak in the bag before cooking, you still have more opportunities to add flavor in the final stages of preparation. Season cooked meat with salt and pepper and briefly grill or sear your steak in a hot pan. Feel free to add aromatics like minced garlic and fresh herbs or treat your steak to a boozy compound butter with added brandy.