Freezing seasoned meat?

[TheMasticator]

Yesterday I bought a 4lb. rib eye roast, seasoned it with all over with a rub, and was about to throw it in the pressure cooker when I realized it was going to be WAY too much meat for the number of people eating. So I only cooked half of it, and its seasoned other half is currently sitting in my fridge. Can I freeze the meat with the rub on it, or is this a bad idea?

[THoey1963]

We buy the family packs of ribeye's when they go on sale. The wife will season up the whole batch and put a couple in the fridge for that night. The rest get wrapped in foil and then freezer bagged for future use. Only time we have a problem is if they get "lost" in the freezer and then that is due to freezer burn more than anything else.

[Dirtywextraolives]

Agree, we do the same thing. The salt in the seasoning mix never seems to have a detrimental effect on them at all......

[TheMasticator]

Got it. Thanks, team!

[Dirtywextraolives]

Yes, you can.

[greygarious]

Assuming the rub included salt, I would cook the meat, then freeze. If you freeze salted meat raw, you are likely to lose way too much of the meat juices in the thawing process.

Recipes for roasting which call for refrigerating salted raw meats ("dry brining") specify upper time limits and caution that the meat will be too salty if the limit is exceeded.

[GilaB]

Has it been previously frozen (perhaps by the store)? If so, cook it, then freeze. If not, you should be OK freezing now. The rule of thumb is that you can freeze meat/chicken once when raw, and once when cooked. The spice rub shouldn't make a difference one way or the other.