prime vs Choice vs select

[126coupe]

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???

[dd74]

T-bone.

[alf]

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.

[Moses]

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.

[126coupe]

Originally posted by alf
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.

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!

[M.D. Holloway]

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

[alf]

Originally posted by Minkoff
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!

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?

[alf]

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).

[126coupe]

Originally posted by alf
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?

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

[Moses]

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

Money well spent!

[JavaBrewer]

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

[126coupe]

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!

[126coupe]

Kinda shaped like a P..............

[Joeaksa]

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

[craigster59]

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.

[snowman]

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.

[kqw]

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.

[RickM]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
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.


Joe A

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.

[vash]

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.

[vash]

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