Can You Sous Vide A Frozen Steak?

There are few things more mouthwatering in this world than a perfectly cooked steak. Unfortunately, cooking the perfect steak at home can sometimes be challenging, especially if you've forgotten to take the meat out of the freezer. Although you can cook steaks frozen, the process can be tricky to get right as the inside will take longer than the outside to get done, potentially resulting in overcooking and a tough steak. Of course, instead of grilling a frozen steak outright, you can try the sous vide method.

If you've never done it before, the sous vide method works by using a circulating bath of hot water, produced by an immersion circulator, to cook vacuum-sealed food. An extremely precise way of cooking, sous vide gives chefs much more control over the temperatures they use than other cooking methods. When it comes to cooking frozen steaks this way, sous vide gives you the benefit of preserving as much moisture as possible, leaving you with an exceptionally juicy and tender cut of meat with a strikingly soft texture. Likewise, the method allows you to cook steak more evenly because the whole steak is submerged and heated on all sides. 

Moreover, using sous vide to cook a frozen steak gives you the benefit of locking the flavors of marinades and seasonings into the steak more than grilling, where the marinade and seasoning can burn away or fall off in the pan. With sous vide, because everything is contained in a vacuum-sealed pouch, everything gets cooked together, resulting in a vibrant flavor.

No matter what cut of steak you're using, the sous vide method works best when the meat is contained in a vacuum-sealed bag. However, if you don't have a vacuum sealer, you can still sous vide a steak by using a freezer-safe bag (nothing too flimsy, mind you). You'll just want to remove as much air as possible when sealing it. This can be done by submerging the bag in water, leaving about an inch at the top so you can seal it. The water will push out excess air, leaving you with a tightly packed steak.

As for how long it will take to sous vide a steak, you can expect it to take much longer than it would on the grill. A 1½-inch steak cooked at 130 degrees Fahrenheit should take roughly three hours. The name of the game is low and slow. However, the exact length of time will depend on the steak's thickness. Now, if you're using a particular recipe that calls for thawed steak, you should add an extra 25% to the cooking time when cooking from frozen.

To finish off a sous vide steak and give it a bit of extra texture, you can quickly sear it in a hot pan. This will give the steak a nice crust, and though it's not truly necessary, it adds a bit more oomph. Once the steak is done, you'll really be able to notice a difference in its flavor and texture. Sous vide steaks are incredibly flavorful thanks to the rendered fat that's melted through them and remained locked inside, while their juiciness will be second to none.