Meat isn’t always the easiest thing to slice. It’s made up of soft muscle fibers and a good deal of slippery fat, and sometimes liquids seep out onto the cutting board. All of this can make fine cuts difficult, or even a little dangerous. Luckily for us, and our delicate hands, there’s a safe way to temporarily alter the consistency of meat to get tidy, ultra thin slices. Stick it in the freezer.
Not for long, you just want to chill the meat to a semi-frozen state, which only takes about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how thick the cut is. Wrap the meat in plastic wrap, or place it directly onto a parchment lined baking sheet and put it in the freezer. Check on the meat after 15 minutes to see how firm it is. The meat should feel firm, but not hard, exactly. At the risk of sounding too specific, when you press it, you’ll feel that the warmth of your fingertip starts to melt the outer sheath of ice crystals. This feels different than a piece of chicken that’s deeply frozen.
Take the meat out of the freezer and place it on a cutting board. Holding the meat in your non-dominant hand, and using a sharp knife in the other, slice downward in a single stroke. The meat will be firm, but easily cuttable. It should require the same amount of effort as cutting through a melon, or delicata squash.
For paper thin slices get a knife that makes precision cuts:
The meat will slice into clean, flat pieces, and you can go surprisingly thin, depending on how sharp and thin your knife blade is. When you notice the meat is softening and your cuts require more of a sawing motion, pop it back in the freezer for another 10 minutes.
Note that you should avoid cutting completely frozen meat–that requires a lot of force. Force, ice, and a sharp blade is not a great combination. Set a timer, or do what you have to so that you don’t forget about the meat in the freezer, and you’ll have thinly sliced meat in just a little while.
Try this when preparing beef, pork, or chicken for stir fries, thinly slicing scallops for crudo, or practicing your home sashimi skills. You could even use this technique to meal prep, and shave several minutes off of normally long cook times. Thinly slice a pound of chicken breast, and portion out the pieces to freeze or use during the week. This method is usually used for preparing raw meat, but if you wanted to get thin slices for a cheesesteak, you could do this with leftover cooked steak.
