It is not uncommon to find a great deal on ground beef or steak, and decide to purchase the meat in bulk. To ensure the beef doesn’t spoil before you can consume it, you will need to freeze it. But you may be wondering if you can add seasoning, dry rub, or a marinade before freezing.
Beef can be seasoned with dry rub, seasoning, and marinade all before storing in the freezer. There are significant differences between adding seasoning to beef before freezing or adding it after cooking the meat.
Can you season beef before freezing
Seasoning ribs, steak, tenderloin, or any type of beef before storing in the freezer can help you save time on meal prep. It also doesn’t have much, if any, negative side effects on how the meat will taste.
Even though there isn’t any real difference to seasoning the beef before or after you freeze it, you do need to consider one thing. Garlic. Garlic becomes stronger and more potent when frozen, and it can quickly become the dominant flavor in seasoning when placed on the beef before freezing.
One way around this is to avoid using seasoning that contains garlic to flavor beef before freezing. If you are making your own seasoning, simply reduce the amount of garlic you add to the beef.
ESSENTIAL TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT FOR FREEZING FOOD
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How do you freeze seasoned beef
The way you freeze seasoned beef will depend on the type of beef, as well as how it is seasoned.
For dry seasoning, first apply olive oil over the beef, and then add your dry seasoning. Wrap each steak, tenderloin, or portion separately with plastic wrap, making sure to wrap it tightly.
Place in a zip lock or vacuum-sealed bag.
For marinated or sauce-covered beef, such as ribs covered in barbeque sauce, place the sauce-covered beef in a vacuum-sealed bag or an airtight freezer-safe container. Lay the bag or container flat to prevent the sauce from dripping off the beef and into the bottom of the bag.
Can you season ground beef before freezing
Seasoning ground beef before freezing is a great way to reduce the amount of time you spend in the kitchen preparing a meal. The most popular seasoning for ground beef is simply a little salt and black pepper, but you can also use bay leaves, basil, dry mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, sage, curry powder, thyme, cayenne pepper, and rosemary.
If you do use garlic to season the beef, remember that garlic’s flavor becomes stronger when frozen and it can overpower the other seasonings. Keep that in mind when selecting what seasonings to use.
How to freeze seasoned ground beef
Seasoned beef can be frozen fresh or cooked, depending on your preference. If freezing cooked ground seasoned beef, make sure to drain it completely before transferring the seasoned meat into a freezer bag or a freezable container. For fresh beef, tightly wrap the beef in plastic wrap and then place inside a ziplock bag, making sure to push out as much air as possible.
Ground beef is often frozen in 1 pound portions, but you don’t have to freeze in that amount. If you need higher portion amounts, consider freezing 2 pounds or more. If you won’t use a full pound, then simply reduce the portions to 1/2 pound each.
Once you have your seasoned portions divided, place the beef in an airtight ziplock bag designed for freezer use.
You can also use a rolling pin to flatten out the portions once they are in the bag, but before you place them in the freezer.
Hamburger patties can pose a little bit of an obstacle since they are generally frozen stacked on top of one another with a piece of wax paper between the patties.
The wax paper can stick to the seasoning and pull it off. However, if you’re seasoning with just a little salt and pepper, then stacking them with wax paper between the patties won’t make much of a difference. However, if you are covering the entire patty in a dry rub, you should freeze each patty separately.
Conclusion
You can for sure season beef before freezing without it having an adverse effect on the taste of the meat. The only potential issue comes when using garlic as a seasoning, since it’s flavor gets stronger when frozen and can overtake the other seasonings. Just remember to freeze the beef in a way that the seasoning and marinade doesn’t come off in the freezer.
