Back when whole tenderloins were on sale for $3.99 US, I bought an extra one and froze it to see how it would hold up. They came sealed in plastic (cryovac I think is the name for that packaging.) I thawed one out today and as before, I cut several slices out of the middle to cook like fillets. They had been frozen since November for a total of about 3 months and there was no sign whatsoever of deterioration.
I prepared them with cracked black pepper, garlic and some peanut oil and seared them in a cast iron pan, leaving them fairly rare. The ones I prepared fresh like this were really tender. These were a little chewy. It's possible that I just got a tougher piece of beef, but I'm more inclined to blame the freezing process. I know that cooking beef well can toughen it and I wonder if freezing results in similar results.
I put the rest of the beef in a mini-WSM and smoked with box elder, black walnut and a little hickory and mesquite. It took 2 hours to get to 142° whereupon I took it out and it's resting. Here are pictures before it went on and after it came out (prior to resting.)
I'll be curious to see how this comes out compared to the tenderloins I prepared fresh. If it's chewy like the fillets, I probably won't freeze beef again.
Edit: Update with picture of beef after it has rested about an hour:
I prepared them with cracked black pepper, garlic and some peanut oil and seared them in a cast iron pan, leaving them fairly rare. The ones I prepared fresh like this were really tender. These were a little chewy. It's possible that I just got a tougher piece of beef, but I'm more inclined to blame the freezing process. I know that cooking beef well can toughen it and I wonder if freezing results in similar results.
I put the rest of the beef in a mini-WSM and smoked with box elder, black walnut and a little hickory and mesquite. It took 2 hours to get to 142° whereupon I took it out and it's resting. Here are pictures before it went on and after it came out (prior to resting.)
I'll be curious to see how this comes out compared to the tenderloins I prepared fresh. If it's chewy like the fillets, I probably won't freeze beef again.
Edit: Update with picture of beef after it has rested about an hour: