But appearances, unfortunately, are deceptive. The steak had been in the freezer for a while. Not eons, but at least six months, and it had developed a distinctly stale note and some freezer burn. I don't think long freezing is necessarily a problem in and of itself. The issue, I think, is packaging. The steak wasn't vacuum packed, but in a sealed plastic tray exactly as purchased from the supermarket. Those plastic trays may be airtight, but they sure as hell don't stop freezer burn and substantial build-up of frost. I've used vac-pack meat, including steak, that's been in the freezer a lot longer than that, and it's been fine. Admittedly, in the case of ribeye the waters are slightly clouded by the fat content, which is always more vulnerable to going 'off', even in the freezer; but I've had this happen with rump too so it's definitely not just the fat.
So the lesson is, if you're going to keep meat in the freezer for longer than a couple of weeks, it's worth taking the time to package it airlessly. I've found simply using an airtight ziplock freezer bag works fine - just squeeze as much of the air as you can out by hand before closing the seal. It saves space in the freezer, too.
I ate the steak, though. It wasn't that bad.
