GettinBye, I’ll be staying right next door to you at Mahoe from January 1-12, so PM me about getting together if those include your dates. I’m an inveterate (and finicky) steak guy and bring them down on occasion, and have done a lot of research on the subject of freezing, etc., so wanted to weigh in on the subject, and just augment the great advice you’ve already obtained from other posters about packing a cooler.

First of all, what I’ll add is that if you vacuum seal and then freeze the steaks, you need not worry about them going bad in 24 hours, even if they fully thaw out as long as they stay below 42 degrees; in fact, you’re likely good for 36 hours if you pack the cooler properly. As an aside, one myth is that you cannot safely consume steaks that have thawed and then been frozen again - but it’s just not true; if they are vacuum-sealed, you can do that without fear of the meat posing a health risk. All of the companies that sell high-end steak online plan for them to be in some state of thaw by the time they reach a consumer, and here’s a good mini-treatise on that subject of defrosting and refreezing, among others: Refreezing Thawed Meat Properly | Steak University (mychicagosteak.com).

Moreover, given your timetable, even if your steaks have fully thawed by the time you get to VG, they will probably have defrosted safely because it will have occurred slowly and in a chamber that likely has not exceeded that threshold of 42 degrees. Because vacuum-sealed steaks will last two weeks in the refrigerator even after they have fully thawed, you’ll be fine even if you want to save some of them for consumption toward the end of your stay.

The proper vacuum sealing is crucial, and if your butcher has a Cry-O-Vac™ or similar machine, have him or her do it for you. Otherwise, if you don’t want to purchase a home appliance for future use ($40-$80 on Amazon), see if you can borrow one from a friend and use theirs. MAF