Oh shoot yea I totally forgot to address that part lol. Thawing overnight in fridge is your best way to go, that lets them thaw out nice and slow.
If you’re ever in a pinch, though, use the cold water bath method. Put an empty bowl in your sink, put in steaks (still in their cryovac), then run a SMALL stream of cold water into the bowl. If you don’t keep the water running, after some time the water in the bowl will drop to the temp of the steaks, and the thawing process will slow down. By keeping water running (again, just need a little bit), you’re expediting the process. Depending on the size of the steak, will thaw it out in a few hours tops.
And it’s personal preference if you need to get them to room temp before cooking… Maybe Dad and I are lazy, but we usually just go from fridge to grill, ha. And we like to keep it light on seasoning. Salt before cooking, then a nice finishing salt and pepper when on the table
I’m not saying its recommended, but I had the 135 day aged ribeyes after I think nearly 2 years in my freezer, and they were AWESOME! I think you can stock up and freeze the dry aged vacusealed steaks with confidence.
Sometimes I’ll put them in the sous vide with a set temp of 10-15 degrees C. Faster than the sink method but not too jarring either. Never had an issue with the resulting meat.
One other question - is it possible to get un-Frenched racks? That rib meat is a shame to waste…