How to Thaw Frozen Steak the Right Way
When your Daily Steak PH order arrives frozen, the cold-chain is working the way it should. But what happens after delivery is on you, and how you thaw the steak matters as much as how you cook it. The wrong method ruins texture and wastes good beef, especially on marbled cuts where fat distribution makes all the difference in the pan.
The fridge method: always the first choice
Move the sealed pack from your freezer to the fridge and give it 12 to 24 hours. For thicker cuts like the Giant Ribeye (₱1,449), the Gold Angus Ribeye (₱1,649), or a Porterhouse (₱999), lean toward the full 24 hours or a bit more. Smaller packs like the Saikoro Wagyu 500g (₱689) are usually ready closer to 12 hours. If you ordered on a Friday night and plan to cook Saturday evening, just move the pack to the fridge as soon as it arrives.
The fridge keeps the steak at a consistent, safe temperature throughout, so no part of it warms too fast. That's why the texture stays tight and the juices stay inside the meat where they belong. When it's ready, the pack should feel uniformly soft, like chilled raw beef, with no frozen patches or stiff spots in the centre. If part of it still feels firm, give it another hour or two.
One thing that surprises people: beef in its vacuum pack often looks darker, even a deep purplish red, through the plastic. That's normal. Once you open the pack, the beef blooms back to a brighter red within a few minutes of contact with air.
Never thaw on the counter
Leaving a sealed steak on the counter may seem faster, but the outside surface reaches unsafe temperatures while the centre is still frozen. Even thick cuts thaw unevenly this way. It's a food safety issue as much as a texture one, and unlike the fridge method, you have no control over either. If you've done it before and gotten away with it, that's luck, not technique.
The cold-water shortcut
If you forgot to move the steak to the fridge, submerge the sealed pack in a bowl of cold, not warm, water. Change the water every 30 minutes to keep it from warming. A standard ribeye-size pack thaws in 60 to 90 minutes this way. Keep the seal intact so no water contacts the beef, and cook it immediately after it's thawed.
This works fine in a pinch, but fridge thawing gives you more control, especially for heavily marbled cuts like the Prime Meltique Giant Ribeye (₱1,499). That tallow infusion renders best when the steak enters the pan at an even temperature.
Let it sit before searing
After fridge thawing, pull the pack out and let it rest on the counter, still sealed, for 30 to 45 minutes before cooking. A fridge-cold steak on a screaming-hot pan cooks unevenly: the outside sears hard while the centre lags behind. You end up with a grey band under the crust instead of the pink through the middle you wanted.
Only cut the vacuum seal when you're ready to season and start cooking. The surface stays dry during the resting period, which means a cleaner crust once it hits the pan.
For the full searing method, the steps in how to sear a ribeye at home cover every cut in our range.
Can you refreeze?
If you thawed in the fridge and plans changed, you can refreeze as long as the steak never got above fridge temperature. Texture takes a small hit with each freeze-thaw cycle, so cook what you defrost when you can, but don't throw it away if something came up. One refreeze is safe, and the difference in quality is barely noticeable if the pack stayed properly cold throughout.
Ready to keep a stash in the freezer? Build your basket and order on Messenger, delivered cold across CALABARZON and Metro Manila.