prime vs Choice vs select
 

One of my vises is a prime rib-eye steak ( corn fed of coarse )
Salt and pepper and butter only, no A1, ketchup or heinz.
A bottle of good cab sauv to go along.

Whats your favorite cut of beef???http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1141078116.jpg

T-bone.

Kobe beef is the best. Expensive though. Prime is a ***** to get in Seattle, need to know someone in the food industry. Most stores only carry Choice and down.

I can almost taste that steak just looking at the picture. Rib-eye is the king!

Try marinating in a zip-lok filled with Stubbs Beef Marinade. After a 24 hour bath in Stubbs, your steak will have died and gone to heaven.

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Had Kobe a couple of times, very good, but "different" than prime rib-eye. Too bad you cannot get prime up there. Its being more common place in So. CA. The prime steak restaurants do get best of the best of prime!

what is the classifications of Prime, Chice and Select? Is it linage? Diet of the bovine or fat content?

Could get Prime at steak houses, but not easily at G-stores. You could get Prime in So-Cal at G-stores? Sweet! What does it cost for Prime Rib Eye there?

From the USDA site...it is mostly about marbling

Buying Beef
Regardless of their quality grade, some cuts of meat are naturally more tender than others. Cuts from the less-used muscles along the back of the animal -- the rib and loin sections -- will always be more tender than those from the more active muscles such as the shoulder, flank, and leg.

Since the most tender cuts make up only a small proportion of a beef or lamb carcass, they are in greatest demand and usually command a higher price than other cuts.

Each USDA beef quality grade is a measure of a distinct level of quality -- and it takes eight grades to span the range. They are USDA Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter, and Canner.

USDA Prime, Choice, Select, and Standard grades come from younger beef. The highest grade, USDA Prime, is used mostly by hotels and restaurants, but a small amount is sold at retail markets. The grade most widely sold at retail is USDA Choice. However, consumer preference for leaner beef has increased the popularity of the Select grade of beef. Select grade can now be found at most meat counters.

Standard and Commercial grade beef frequently is sold as ungraded or as "brand name" meat.

The three lower grades -- USDA Utility, Cutter, and Canner -- are seldom, if ever, sold at retail but are used instead to make ground beef and manufactured meat items such as frankfurters.

Following are photographs of rib steaks in the top three beef grades, together with a description of the level of quality that can be expected in each of these grades.

USDA Prime: Prime grade beef is the ultimate in tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. It has abundant marbling -- flecks of fat within the lean -- which enhances both flavor and juiciness. Prime roasts and steaks are unexcelled for dry-heat cooking (roasting and broiling).

The rib eye in the photo was $19.00 per pound
It was over 16 OZ or $22.00

Money well spent!

Kobe is very very good, had it in Okinawa, but I still prefer my marinated tri-tip on BBQ with Sierra Nevada chaser.

Its time to eat ! before you ***** at me for over cooking, I like it Med. Rare ++ Still juicy and w this cab I am a happy camper!
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Kinda shaped like a P..............

A bit rare for me. Like it just with a hint of pink in the middle.

Hate to say it but I have found that Costco Rib-eye's are very good and at a descent price.

I normally marinate it in worstershire sauce and Lawry's seasioning for an hour before cooking. Have found a new way to make them taste even better. Put them in a ziplock bag, then put the marinate in the bag. Let sit for a few hours in the fridge, then transfer them to the freezer if you are not going to eat them right away. After a few weeks sitting with the spices they taste wonderful.

As well, never use any steak sauce. If a steak takes sauce then its not a good steak IMHO. A good charcoal fire is all that is needed, then a baked potato and glass of red wine or bourbon... Will have one just like this tomorrow night!

Joe A

Any decent cut of meat (rib eye, t-bone, New York} just needs to be rubbed with olive oil, dusted with mild dry rub (Montreal steak seasoning or pepper and garlic salt) and seared in a H O T cast iron skillet with a splash of red wine dancing around as you throw the steak on. Comes out great evey time. This works for even cheap cuts of meat.

A good cut of meat needs NO seasoning. Its well marbled, tender, jucy, has that well aged flavor that will not quit, makes you want more and more and more. Thats the definition of a good cut of meat. A little cab will just enhance the sensation more. Any use of spices like garlic, and even salt and pepper are not needed for the optimum cut. One key to all that marbeling is it MUST melt. If it is to thick as on an old cow, its no good.

But that special dry aged flavor is so scrupptous that it is just irresible. Cost be damned with a good cut.

Its just like that $400 dollar bottle of wine, you just can't say no to another sip or bite.

Ruth Christs is the most likely place to have this experience at a low cost public place of consumption.

Otherwise you just got to be a good republican or a darn good democrat to experience it.

Whatever cut I get, I ask the butcher to cut me at least a 1.5" thick.

The thicker the better.

Medium rare, a little horseraddish (corse), maybe a little steak sauce, garlic mashed potato's, asparagus, 1/4 head wedge of lettuce with a sprinkle of bacon bits and chunky blue cheese dressing, rolls, butter and a good glass of cab.

I'm with Joe on Costco. I find that there's always one or two diamonds in the rough when you go through their high quality selsction. IIRC, Costco started in the butcher business and is the largest beef retailer in the US.

Where I don't see eye to eye is I'll take mine a bit rarer.

Also, in these parts you have to go to a wholesale distributor to buy prime. Not offered in any butchers or grocery stores that I know of.

i consider that steak medium. i go a bit rarer. i like the rip eye cut just fine, but the fat content scares me. if i eat a steak, i choose the NY strip or go real lean with a filet. the leaner the rarer.

i dont like T-bones. to me, it is really two separate steaks, therefore it is difficult to cook both equally.

for me, preheat oven to 450. put a cast iron pan in it to heat up. get steak to room temp. rub with EVOO, kosher salt, fresh ground pep. get the pan out, set it on the stove set to high. turn on turbo function of vent hood. and sear both sides, finish it in the oven for a few minutes. take it out, let it rest and ponder a pan sauce....hmmm, meat.

oh, a steak is tastier if you drink some sort of gin during the cooking process.

ha ha, i like that one! thanks.

Mmmmm, horseradish and steak. My favorite.

I like Omaha Steaks. Can't get prime here either. Top choice is the best I've ever seen in the stores, even the specialty stores.

To be honest some of the Costco steaks I've had were equal to or better than Prime cuts from high end distributors I've dealt with. It's all in the pickin.

+1 The Costco steaks in my town are unbeatable. The rib eye is amazing.

Darn, youall are really deprived if the best you can get is Costco or Sams club steak!!! Around here you have to choose what kind of prime you like best. EG Dry aged, wet aged, not classified, or go to the wholesale outlet who will sell it to you as long as you buy a couple hundered dollars worth, which ain't hard to do. Then theres the real speciality beef, like the japs like, beer fed kobe beef and then theres still choices about which is best.

If you add steak sauce to $200/lb beef, your nuts.

Gotta go. Dinners fixen.

What??? The earlier you start, the better it all tastes!

Snow,

No one said anything about Sam's club here. Their meat is crap and I refuse to buy meat there.

Costco has consistantly good beef and at a good price in my area. Yours might be different but I had a rib-eye last night and may just have another one tonight.

Mmmm, Ribeye.

I'm also concerned about the high fat content in ribeye, so I started doing more NY strips. I've been following this method for the last year or so, and I've found it to be excellent. The results are every bit as good as the famous steak houses across the country.

Note: You need a cooker that can reach 6-800* for the sear and then cool down to ~400 for the cook.

Slicing a thin bite of about 3/16 of an inch also enhances the taste. Mmmm.... Medium rare.... warm center.....

Regarding good meat from supermarkets/warehouse clubs: at best you can get decent "high-choice" there IF you take the time to check though all the available stock and pull out the best individual roast or chop from their stock.

It will not be prime. It will not be properly aged.

A lot of times, you'll see some reference to "wet aged" which means absolutely nothing other than they let it sit in cryovac for a while. No benefit at all.

You can do a half-assed dry-age in your refrigerator in a week or so. It's not as good as six weeks in a meat locker, but it'll definitely improve any piece of beef that has intramuscular fat.

Seriously, if you think there's no difference, order up a prime rib steak from Lobel's and cook it side by side with your Costco steak. You won't even believe they came from the same species of animal they're so different...

Oh, and if you think I'm a meat snob, here's my favorite way to use select (dog food) grade meat to impress your friends. Buy a select tenderloin at the local warehouse club. The day before, strip it completely, season it however you like (finely chopped rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper is nice) and dust it with flour. Sear it in oil in a smoking hot iron skillet on all sides, then slow roast it in a 180-190° oven until it reaches 125° internal. I have a smoker and a dry rub plus smoking works too. Do not slice it, just let it cool to room temp then throw it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, when you're having a party, warm it up slowly to >100° internal, slice it thin and put it out for finger sandwiches, etc. It looks impressive, tastes fantastic and no one will know you didn't spend $25 a pound.

It's hard to believe that folks in some areas do not have access to a real Butcher Shop or stores that have a Butcher on the premises to cut you a steak.

RallyJon..Don't think you're a snob...as you know you can make a grown man cry by ruining a good steak.

I've been out to dinner and have one guest order their steak "well done" and another guest ask the waiter to "just knock the horns off the cow".

Anyone that orders a steak well done should not be allowed in public without their tin foil hat.

Doneness of meat is an interesting topic. Other than being queasy about the sight of red juices or maybe fear of bacteria, there is no reason to eat meat at anything other that the ideal doneness. I think some people order meat based on false beliefs or some kind of macho thing (knock the horns off :rolleyes: ) rather than for best taste.

Meat can be too rare. It's called raw. If you want carpaccio, that's fine--and delicious in it's own right--but beef just isn't cooked until 125-130°. It rapidly gets overcooked, and anything above 135° is losing flavor fast. But try eating veal or baby lamb at 125-130°. It's undercooked. Young meat doesn't firm up and have proper texture until 138-140°. Veal at 138° is exactly like beef at 125°.

I agree that meat can be too rare. However, my guest did actually get an almost raw steak, seared on the outside only....Oh well....

snowman where can I get Kobe beef?

I did some research

Allen Brothers beef $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
8- 10OZ prime filets $259.95

Kobe Filets 4-10OZ $419.95

Wow!!!http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1141320413.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1141320433.jpg

you can get an american kobe. a couple of local chains carry it here. one is andronico's. if i am trying to impress a chick or something, i go to a butcher. i wimp out and do the high end store butcher. i like seeing both sides of a steak before i plunk down the money. ever turn one over in that styrofoam tray to see the other side is grey? (gray?) i think beef is beef is beef. it is the ageing that concentrates the flavor. cost $$ because the butcher is losing mass in the meat. i always get a standing rib roast alittle bit funky, by self drying it in the back of my fridge. i put it into a box wrapped with cheesecloth that i change out regularly.

ok, ever eaten a ranchers self butchered beef? holy crap. the fat is yellow! he said that is what the last stop before the slaughterhouse is for. the feedhouse not only fattens them, but turns the fat white. the meat is tougher, but best decribed as "hyper beefy tasting".

Beautiful marbleing there but sorry, I would rather spend the money on my 911 than steak like this.

Would the average person really know if they are really getting Kobe beef rathar than a good cut of filet mignon?

Probably not....

Rick what Costco do you use? the one in wharton or the one in east hanover? They have a great butcher in Wharton...I go to Esposito's in East hanover...they have some aged stuff...like $10 lb for Rib steak...great people there too. I eat there for luch just about everyday

Grass fed beef can be real good. Up-State we call it "local" beef. Apparently that is the way it is done in Argentina.