Would you freeze and defrost a chateaubriand or eat on the use by date?

[GreenEyes83]

Random question from a clueless chef... we ordered a chateaubriand from Waitrose as a "back up" option in case our turkey was substituted for a tin of peas at the last minute... anyway it's arrived and says to use by 28th. Does that mean it will be safe to eat on 28th? We have plans on 26/27th so can't eat it until the 28th. It is freezable though. Would you freeze and defrost or just keep in the fridge till the 28th?

Keep in fridge till you want to eat it, it’ll be fine they don’t go off on the day. Especially steak….

I wouldn't freeze the steak, it will affect the texture. Definitely safe to eat, bearing in mind it will probably have been hung up for weeks to mature before you bought it.

It should be ok to eat on 28th, although recently a couple of times (not Waitrose) I’ve noticed supermarket meats smelled a bit iffy on their date and I chucked them.

Perhaps it’s to do with the lack of lorry drivers or journeys taking longer than planned or fewer staff unloading the chilled goods in the supermarket due to isolating or having covid.

I’ve no idea what a chateaubriand is but if it can be frozen that may be the way to go if it unexpectedly doesn’t last as long as the manufactures anticipated due to things outwith their control in the chain.

Ah I see it’s steak. Good point re it’s been matured already. Prob ok then.

Ok thank you. I've since taken it out of the box and it looks nice and well sealed so I imagine it will be fine on 28th.