Gastrodia elata has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating headaches, dizziness, and convulsive illness for centuries. G. elata has traditionally been processed by steaming or blanching to increase the content and quality of its main ingredients. This study aimed to identify changes in physicochemical properties and active ingredients of G. elata depending on the steaming time. Data of this study could be used to develop traditional medicine and health foods. No steaming was used as a control. Steaming time was 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, or 120 min. The drying yield according to the steaming time ranged from 20.2% to 22.9%, with the lowest drying yield at 120 min. As the steaming time increased, gastrodin content increased more than that in fresh G. elata due to inhibition of β-glucosidase enzyme activity, 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol condensation, and parishin decomposition. Steamed G. elata did not show higher total polyphenols, total flavonoids, or ABTS radical scavenging activities than fresh G. elata even with an increase of steaming time. The steaming time to improve the quality of G. elata may varied depending on the size of G. elata. Thus, it is important to set the steaming time taking these characteristics into consideration.