Which steak is better?

Rod Speed said:

James said:

Is it a good idea to freeze fresh steak when they are on sale?

Yes, and best to cook it frozen, not thaw it before cooking it.

Quoted message said:

Usually already frozen steaks are cheaper than fresh.

Just because they last a lot longer frozen.

Not eggsactly... they needed to be preserved before they'd rot...
frozen meat is preserved meat, frozen meat is no longer fresh meat...
frozen meat costs less (or should cost less) because freezing (and
thawing) causes meat texture, and flavor, to deteriorate. Btw, even
if beef has been previously USDA graded, once frozen that grading (by
law) must be uninstalled, like it was never there... only fresh,
unadulterated beef can carry a USDA grade... saline enhanced (or
otherwise cured) beef is not permitted a USDA grade either... there's
no such thing as USDA graded corned beef, the best one can hope for is
Kosher. Any beef purveyer shipping frozen product and insinuating
it's USDA Prime is misleading... any USDA graded beef by freezing
automatically reduces the texture and flavor of that beef by at least
a grade, probably two grades... in effect reducing it to stewing
beef. Ground beef cannot carry a USDA grade either.

Sheldon

Sheldon <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Rod Speed <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

James <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is it a good idea to freeze fresh steak when they are on sale?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yes, and best to cook it frozen, not thaw it before cooking it.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Usually already frozen steaks are cheaper than fresh.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Just because they last a lot longer frozen.

Quoted message said:

Not eggsactly...

Fraid so.

Quoted message said:

they needed to be preserved before they'd rot...

So the shelf life of frozen steak is much higher than fresh steak, so its usually cheaper.

Quoted message said:

frozen meat is preserved meat, frozen meat is no longer fresh meat...

Duh.

Quoted message said:

frozen meat costs less (or should cost less) because freezing
(and thawing) causes meat texture, and flavor, to deteriorate.

Its much more complicated than that. And it doesnt deteriorate, its just different.

Quoted message said:

Btw, even if beef has been previously USDA graded, once frozen that
grading (by law) must be uninstalled, like it was never there... only fresh,
unadulterated beef can carry a USDA grade... saline enhanced (or
otherwise cured) beef is not permitted a USDA grade either... there's
no such thing as USDA graded corned beef, the best one can hope for
is Kosher. Any beef purveyer shipping frozen product and insinuating
it's USDA Prime is misleading... any USDA graded beef by freezing
automatically reduces the texture and flavor of that beef by at least
a grade, probably two grades... in effect reducing it to stewing beef.

That last is just plain wrong.

Quoted message said:

Ground beef cannot carry a USDA grade either.

That wasnt even being discussed.

Michael \'DawgThree\ said:

James said:

Is it a good idea to freeze fresh steak when they are on sale?
Usually already frozen steaks are cheaper than fresh.

Yep. Vacume seal them if you have a sealer gizmo. If not, wrap them well
and put them in a freezer bag. Squish out all the air and then label the
bag with the contents and date.

As far as which steak is better... I dunno. I have my faves but I like
them all. To me Porterhouse and T-Bones are the best for grilling. I like
sirloin for grilling but use it in other recipes. Then there is flank
steak. Oh hell, I like almost all of them.

Wrapping tightly in ordinary freezer paper and clearly marking the
contents and date is the right idea.

Hi-Tech vacuum packaging only reduces freezer burn, does absolutely
nothing to maintain the texture/flavor of the meat. It's far less
expensive and there's much less effort involved if folks would simply
prominently date their meat purchases before freezing and then use the
older ones first and use them all within a moderate amount of time,
within less than three months for tender beef, less than a year for
toughter cuts. The argument about the savings from stocking up on
steaks on sale is horseshit... anyone who lives in the US can buy
fresh beef steaks on sale every day... maybe not every cut every day
but at least two of the most desireable variety each week, and the
choices rotate weeky.... there's more beef in the meat case of the
typical US stupidmarket at any given time than there is in many entire
countries. Anyone in the US who stocks up a big freezer full of meats
and whatever to last a year and longer is seriously paranoid/schizo
about going hungry... they're mentally ill and need to see a shrink...
very likely rasied by parents with an acute case of Depression
Mentality.

Sheldon

Sheldon said:

Michael \'DawgThree\ said:

James said:

Is it a good idea to freeze fresh steak when they are on sale?
Usually already frozen steaks are cheaper than fresh.

Yep. Vacume seal them if you have a sealer gizmo. If not, wrap them
well and put them in a freezer bag. Squish out all the air and then
label the bag with the contents and date.

As far as which steak is better... I dunno. I have my faves but I
like them all. To me Porterhouse and T-Bones are the best for
grilling. I like sirloin for grilling but use it in other recipes.
Then there is flank steak. Oh hell, I like almost all of them.

Wrapping tightly in ordinary freezer paper and clearly marking the
contents and date is the right idea.

Hi-Tech vacuum packaging only reduces freezer burn, does absolutely
nothing to maintain the texture/flavor of the meat. It's far less
expensive and there's much less effort involved if folks would simply
prominently date their meat purchases before freezing and then use the
older ones first and use them all within a moderate amount of time,
within less than three months for tender beef, less than a year for
toughter cuts. The argument about the savings from stocking up on
steaks on sale is horseshit... anyone who lives in the US can buy
fresh beef steaks on sale every day... maybe not every cut every day
but at least two of the most desireable variety each week, and the
choices rotate weeky.... there's more beef in the meat case of the
typical US stupidmarket at any given time than there is in many entire
countries. Anyone in the US who stocks up a big freezer full of meats
and whatever to last a year and longer is seriously paranoid/schizo
about going hungry... they're mentally ill and need to see a shrink...
very likely rasied by parents with an acute case of Depression Mentality.

Or they just dont understand the basics on how long the meat will be good for.

I choose to buy the meat uncut and cut it myself, so I get what I want cut wise
and I get to use the offcuts for other meals like curry so I do get the meat
quite a bit cheaper than buy buying it already cut up, and so do get to store
significant amounts of meat.

I do the same with chicken too.

On Sat, 25 Aug 2007 12:17:12 GMT, [email hidden] (Phred)

Quoted message said:

In article said:

Jimington <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Rod Speed <[email hidden]> wrote
> Phred <[email hidden]> wrote

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> Pity the 713 mm received at Rainbow Beach in the past 24 hours (to
>> 9 a.m. 24 Aug 07) just ran back into the bloody sea instead of into
>> a dam somewhere! ]

Quoted message said:

> Yeah, looks like Noosa has been washed out to sea too.

Quoted message said:

Might bring them down to earth for a while,

Or they might get washed out to sea |-)

Quoted message said:

they've been getting a bit uppity lately.

True.

Quoted message said:

I must query the 713mm, i sense somebody's poured a jug of water
into the gauge. Nearby areas didn't get within coo-ee of that amount.

It does look a bit sus. Tewantin and Double Is Pt both got a bit over
300 mm, but that's a long way short of 713 -- maybe they measured in
points and forgot to divide by four. :-)

I think you may have hit the nail on the head. In the small country
places nothing much has changed since federation, the metric system is
unheard of, even smoking rates are still at WWII levels. I've
personally seen an official measurement written down that way by a
person relieving the usual measurer.

However, it must be said

Quoted message said:

the met bureau guy seemed to be taking it seriously on the Country
Hour weather summary yesterday (24 Aug 2007).

That part of the world seems to have a history of unusual rainfall
events. I've always been suspicious of Inigo Jones's record from
Crohamhurst, for example. But then, maybe it takes a professional
weather forecaster to keep emptying the gauge before it overflows!

Quoting from the biog of Inigo Jones at:
<http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090511b.htm>

"In 1892 his parents bought a farm about sixty miles (97 km) north of
Brisbane and named it Crohamhurst after a property near Inigo's
birthplace. Inigo joined them there and on 2 February 1893 recorded an
Australian record for one day's rainfall of 37.714 inches (958 mm)."

{Did he *really* measure to thousandths of an inch?]

Quoted message said:

Yeah, I auto update the national rainfall map at 2pm.

Quoted message said:

>> Returning to topic: Oz MSA standards seem to be pretty reliable now,
>> certainly possible to get some really good chewing steak these days
>> fairly consistently (at a price!) instead of the traditional roulette!

Quoted message said:

> Thats a significant improvement for you denizens of the north.
> Tropical beef has never been that flash.

Quoted message said:

It seems to have improved in the past years. In fact i'd almost forgotten

about that.

Presumably we send the worst of the tropical beef to the yanks now.

They just grind it up and wouldnt even notice.

The "hamburger trade" was the saviour of the northern beef cattle
industry decades ago, and continues to be a major market for the
lesser quality beef. The yanks like the low-fat grass-fed product to
mix with their own stuff for healthier burgers. :-)

Cheers, Phred.

Jim.
http://inghamwebcam.com/
My dull website.