Keeping Beef Wellington warm vs delaying cooking after assembly

Question

I'm making Beef Wellington again and this time, I have to pick up my wife from the airport (about 60-90 minute round trip) before we eat it.

I want us to be able to eat as soon as possible once we get back home, but I'm not sure if it's safe to keep the cooked wellington warm on a low heat in the oven.

If that is in fact a bad idea: Could I do all the assembly with the pastry and just keep that in the fridge until it's time to cook? Does this increase the cooking time?

I'm making the full filet size BTW.

Answer 1

Food safety wise, as long as you keep the food above 50C it should be fine. However, due to the nature of the BW, you’ll probably end up having a very soggy pastry if you do so.

Refrigeration is an option:

Depending on if you will you pre-cook or just sear the loin:

If you pre-cook, you’d normally want the pastry to crisp as quick as possible, and then you can serve. So I don’t think it’s a good idea to refrigerate the pre-cooked loin.

If you just sear and assemble, as long as you have made sure the beef is well-rested and the filling of the assembly is as dry as possible, you can keep in the fridge even over-night.