I cooked beef steak(2 inch thick soft cut steak) sous vide for 4 hours, 131°F/55°C, then put it in a ice-bath then to freezer(-4°F).
If I defrost it, how long can it last in the refrigerator(it is set to 37°F) after defrosting?
As far as I know the shelf-life of vacuum packed sous vide steak in refrigerator is about a week.
Is shelf life of cook-freeze-defrost steak also same? or should I eat it within day or two after defrosting?
Hiro, why would you remove steaks from your safe freezer to sit in your 37F refrigerator? You know you can cook from the frozen state, don’t you?
There are several variables at play with your refrigerated length of time question. What is the actual temperature being held in the location of the SV cooked steaks in your refrigerator? That’s what is crucial, not a temperature setting. Ideally the lower in the refrigerator and the closer to 32F, the longer you can hold the steaks. That said, a week should be quite safe at 37F. I’ve held refrigerated SV Pasteurized cooked meat a lot longer, but under optimum conditions such as using perforated shelves to allow fan-driven 31F air circulation.
The important factors are the time and temperature of the SV cook and the total length of time the meat is in the Temperature Danger Zone, that’s 40F to 140F. It’s been my practice to always limit the total cumulative time meat is in the TDZ to a maximum of 4 hours.
If you thaw steak directly from the freezer to the refrigerator there should be nothing different in safe holding times as there has not been additional time in the TDZ. Please don’t leave meat to thaw at ambient temperatures.
Once you decant meat from the SV vacuum packages the 72-hours-and-out-it-goes-clock starts, even under continuous refrigeration.