You will most likely love roast beef, thanks to its sweet aroma. It is very easy to prepare, you can either smoke it, use a crockpot to make it, or bake it. You can make use of your roast beef in a variety of different ways. We are not only referring to the deli’s lunchmeat standard roast beef but we are also talking to those whose memories go back to their family’s Sunday dinners. Any way you prefer to use roast beef is very fine, you cannot go wrong the way you use it and this makes it able to feed several people at a time, and then you have some leftovers.
When you have the leftovers, what do you do with it? Are you allowed to freeze your roast beef? Roast beef can be frozen and it is quite a very simple process to do. All you need is an air-tight storage material that will help you store it properly.
What we want to check out in this article is how you can freeze roast beef. Starting by telling you a variety of information about roast beef, the process of freezing which is simple, and the proper steps of how you can go about it. You are encouraged to continue reading to find out more about how you can freeze roast beef.
The Guide to Freezing your Roast Beef
Let’s start by informing you that the instructions we will give to you in this article can be easily applied to all types of roast beef that is available. Typically, your roast beef lunch meat is made by shaving down roast beef. The reason why we made this statement is to make sure you understand that the steps we will discuss below can successfully help you to freeze any kind of roast beef irrespective of how the roast beef has been cooked, prepared or cut, the instructions below will still work well to freeze the roast beef.
It is self-explanatory to understand what roast beef is and it is considered to be a very large slab of beef which is usually roasted. It originated from England but has now become very commonly eaten in Australia and North America.
You can roast your beef by using many methods, but using an oven is considered to be the most popular method. Traditionally, your roast beef that is leftovers are usually used for stuff like fajitas, sandwiches, and some other various things, this is usually after you have coked and initially served it.
Preparing and Using your Roast Beef
Using an oven is the most popular traditional method used to prepare roast beef. As the world evolves thanks to technology, people have started using an instant pot, a crockpot, or even smoke their roast beef. They are all wonderful methods that you can use but what we will share here with you is the simple traditional method to roast your beef inside your oven. This is just for you to have the basic knowledge of what we want to freeze. Potatoes, carrots and Yorkshire pudding are usually added to roast beef as sides. Follow the instructions to prepare your roast beef in an oven below:
- The things you will have to use include seasoning, a very large pan, and your beef sirloin. A lot of recipes only use pepper and salt while others use onion and garlic. You are allowed to season it by following a particular recipe or season according to your choice.
- Allow the oven to preheat to a temperature of 425°F.
- You can then reduce the temperature to about 375°F after you have allowed it to roast for 15 minutes at the first temperature. You may then add your veggies or potatoes to the roast after you have reduced the temperature.
- The estimated cooking time per one sirloin pound is 15 minutes. For example, your sirloin of 10 pounds will have to use about 150 minutes (two hours and 30 minutes) to properly roast at that temperature.
- Endeavor to baste your meat throughout the baking process with the meat’s natural juice contained inside the pan. With this, the meat will be well kept from drying out.
- Remove your meat from the oven after the cooking time and allow it to rest for up to 15 minutes.
- You can then carve your roast meat and serve.
You can see that there is no complicated process involved in making your roast meat, the only thing is that you will need a little time because the beef is a very large beef portion.
Uses for Roast Beef
You can use roast beef for a variety of things, most especially the leftovers. Your roast beef is very versatile and it is simply regarded as meat and you can be sure you can use meat in almost everything. Check below for some of those things you can use roast beef for:
- Omelets
- Quesadillas
- French dip sandwiches
- Use for hash
- Can be made into a Philly cheesesteak
- It could be shred and used for casseroles or enchiladas
- Beef stroganoff
- Noodles and beef
- Some portions can be used for cold cut sandwiches
- Used for lunchmeat in deli-cut slices.
There are several other things that your roast beef leftovers can be used for and the listed above are only a few things they can be used for. You should not limit yourself to the above listed, you can also try some other things you may use your roast beef for.
Freezing your Roast Beef
After you have used your leftovers but you are still left with some others that you are likely not to use within the safe timeframe, you can proceed to freeze it. It is quite easy to freeze roast beef, it is either you freeze it as whole meat or you split the beef into different portions. You are recommended to separate some portions so that you will not have to worry over any such thing as leftovers again in the future when you use it from the freezer. You don’t need to follow our way, you can also use your preferred way. If you have cooked the roast beef to temperature, you can store it inside the refrigerator for about five days, this should be properly done by using an air-tight method.
Remember to allow the roast beef to properly cool at room temperature before you place it inside the freezer. This should be within two hours after you gave cooked them irrespective of your storage method. Check below for the instructions that will help you freeze the roast beef properly:
- To retain the roast beef’s moisture so that it will be kept from drying out, use a dual-layer to store the roast beef.
- You need to first wrap the roast beef inside plastic wrap or foil.
- Put the wrapped roast beef inside airtight containers or heavy-duty freezer bags.
- As long as you properly wrapped and stored it, the roast beef can stay safe inside your freezer for about six months. You could allow the date to extend, but our recommended time has been stated above.
Using your Roast Beef After Freezing
So you are done freezing the roast beef, how then can you re-use it? It is quite a very simple process to do that. The first thing is to allow the roast beef to thaw inside your refrigerator overnight before using it. If you have to, you could use any fast defrost method. You may also reheat the frozen roast meat directly inside your oven depending on your choice.
It is very simple to reheat roast beef and using an oven is the recommended method because it will help preserve the texture as well as the flavor. All you have to do is to reheat the roast beef at a temperature of 350°F for about 10 to 15 minutes. A stovetop or a microwave can also be used to reheat your roast beef.
Related Questions
Can You Tenderize Roast Beef After Cooking?
If you noticed in our description of preparing the roast beef, we recommended that you should allow it to rest for about 15 minutes after you have roasted it. That resting time will help to tenderize the roast meat and it allows the juice to move through your meat without any further cooking. You will also get the meat to get a bit more tender. You may also add beef stock as you reheat and then allow the meat to rest so that the tenderization purpose can be achieved.
Can You Reheat your Roast Beef More Than Once?
Even though you can reheat the roast beef safely on several occasions, we do not recommend it. If you follow the storage process, you will be safe to do it. You must, however, not that each time your roast beef is reheated, the quality is reduced, as you reheat, the quality depreciates.
When You Reheat Roast Beef, Does it Dry Out?
If you want to prevent the roast beef from getting dry out when reheating, reheat it at a lower temperature. You can also use foil to wrap your roast beef so that you will naturally retain its moisture when reheating and it will stop it from drying out.
