The Popular Steak Cut You Should Think Twice Before Cooking From Frozen

You may be tempted to pull a steak from the freezer and cook it from frozen, but despite being a simple solution when you've forgotten to thaw out a steak for dinner, it's not always the best idea. Just because you can grill a frozen steak doesn't mean you should — especially if you're working with cuts thinner than 1 inch or thicker than 1.5 to 2 inches. With a steak as thick as a T-bone, it can be pretty hard to heat the center to your desired temperature without overcooking the outside, resulting in a tough, chewy texture.

When you toss a frozen T-bone steak on the grill, the exterior will cook super quickly. The inside of the steak, on the other hand, will remain frozen. This means that the exterior will cook thoroughly, and perhaps even char, all while the inside barely reaches medium-rare. Safety isn't the issue here (you'll still be able to thoroughly cook your steak, even if it takes a while) — it's more of a quality problem. You'll get vastly different cook levels throughout your steak, and bites that contain a mix of very-well-done exterior with a rare interior typically aren't anyone's preference.

If you're opening your freezer and staring at a frozen T-bone that sounds like a pretty good idea for dinner, no worries. There are a few different techniques you can use to thaw frozen steak fast, allowing your T-bone to cook more evenly than it would if you tossed it onto the grill straight from the freezer. If you have some time on your hands, put your frozen steak in a Ziploc bag and place it in a bowl (or sink) of cold water for an hour or so. If you're in a time crunch, you can also microwave your steak using the defrost setting. In this case, you'll want to zap your T-bones for about three minutes per pound of steak — err on the side of less time, and check the steak regularly to ensure it's not starting to cook.

It's also important to consider how long frozen steaks have been sitting in your freezer to ensure their flavor isn't negatively affected. You shouldn't keep T-bone steaks in the freezer for more than a year. Just like cooking a steak from frozen, it isn't really a matter of safety, but the quality of your steak can be negatively affected if it hangs out in your freezer for too long. Thawing your steak before cooking it leads to more even results, so try setting a reminder on your phone to put your steaks in the fridge the night before you plan to eat them. That way, you're not stuck scrambling with quick defrost methods.