There are two ways to preserve meat – chilling and freezing. Chilling involves keeping the meat at temperature between 0 to 5oC. On the other hand, freezing is done at temperature below the freezing point, at -18oC. This is a stronger form of preservation where water in the meat are frozen to ice crystals.
Chilling is a short form of preservation that typically lasts around 3 to 5 days. It keeps the meat fresh and retards the growth of microorganisms. Chilling is also used for aging of beef, either through wet-aging or dry-aging.
As for freezing, it is a longer form of preservation that can lasts from weeks to months. Typically, we do not recommend freezing for the smaller steak cut especially if it has been sliced from its original slab. This is because the flavour could be lost and results in a lower meat quality. The texture could also be altered and dried out as a result of ice crystals perforating the cell wall of the meat.
For larger cuts such as Tomahawk, it is still acceptable to be frozen but it is recommended to be either tightly wrapped or vacuum-packed. This is to prevent freezer burn where the meat becomes grainy due to the toughening of the tissues.
