meat prep

I’ll probably repeat this sentence a few times over the course of this blog. I don’t love working with meat. Let me rephrase that. I do not love cleaning up after trimming raw meat. It’s bothersome. I am ready to rock and roll and make something great and I am stuck cleaning and wiping and making sure no little bacteria’s have scampered off to reek havoc on the next dish I make. So I like to handle the raw meat once in preparation for using it for several dishes. Additionally if I happen across a great little flank steak on sale, but it’s not on the menu, I buy it and rather than freezing it whole or rearranging my menu plan, I prep it for easy use later.

My family loves steak sandwiches, steak nachos, steak fajitas, stroganoff, beef stir fry….well you get the point. I bet your family does as well. I’m making steak nachos in a few days, you will want to check back for that recipe!

This is how I suggest freezing steak strips. Take a minute and rinse the steak. Pat it dry and lay it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Pop it in the freezer for about one hour. This makes the meat just firm enough to slice easily with a sharp knife. Genius.

Remove the meat from the freezer and quickly cut it, cross grain, into thin strips. I like to leave them in long strips because it gives me the option to cut it further later, or use it in all its long marbled fat glory.

Now, lay the cut strips on your parchment lined baking sheet, in a single layer, and put them in the freezer until they are firm. This takes about an hour. Add any seasonings you might like; I freeze mine just as they are so that I keep the variety of future use wide open.

Put the frozen strips in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer until you are ready to use them. I like to use them within a few months. Let’s be honest… sliced prepared steak…busy schedules… this meat is not hanging out in the freezer for long. It’s easy to grab a handful and start cooking! According to the FDA steak can remain frozen for 6 to 12 months. Remove as much air from the bag as you can and if you know you won’t be using it in the near future overwrap it with freezer paper or double bag it. Remember, for this post we are not thawing a steak, slicing and freezing. We are working with a fresh piece of meat, freezing only until it becomes firm and then continuing the freezing process. Does that make sense. We don’t want to thaw, freeze, thaw freeze…. well you get the idea. If you have questions on this do some research on that FDA link.

**I use the parchment I have lined the pan with to put layers between some of the meat.