OT: Omaha Steaks

[temery]

I love a good steak, but the cost keeps me to a couple a month. I've been getting ads and email about ordering meat online. Are online steaks really worth it?

 

[jleves]

Don't those come frozen? In my opinion, there is no such thing as a good steak that has been previously frozen.

While the cost goes way up, getting a good grass fed new york strip is worth the occasional splurge.

 

[seanmc94]

you're better off finding a good local butcher.

 

[Brian]

No. Received them as a gift. Way too small..better off getting in bulk at Sams's

 

[husky99]

Hit Stew Leonard's

 

[temery]

Hit Stew Leonard's

Not sure where that is. In my area I think Arnold's is the place to go.

 

[8893]

If there is a Meat House near you, give that a shot. Our local IGA has very good, fresh steaks and usually has a very good special each week on one of the better cuts. Most of the time it is good to great, but one in ten is less than good. Whenever we can, we travel a few towns away to hit the Meat House. Everything we've had from there is excellent (including chicken, bone-in pork loin chops and even sides), and the staff is excellent. They'll cut any steak for you, and they'll also age steaks for you. They always have a few aged cuts on hand too. They are not cheap but totally fair for the quality imo. And they have a frequent buyer card that gives you some pretty good discounts when you build up enough points. Definitely recommend checking it out if there is one near you.

 

[dtrumpet]

the meat house is tremendous but very expensive. If you're having trouble affording them now, the meat house is not for you. and in my opinion, stew leonards beef is poor. Their veal, lamb and seafood are great, but their beef seems to be subpar.
I've gotten Omaha steaks as a gift. Are they tremendous? no. are they better than what they cost? yes, definitely. They come individually frozen, thaw evenly and cook well. Wrap their filet mignon in bacon and toss it on the grill. Good stuff indeed.
The more rare you like your steaks, the higher quality they need to be. Omaha makes it to medium rare-meduim.

 

[BRS24]

If you calculate price per pound, even when Omaha is doing sales, or 50% off, etc, it's still cheaper to get steaks at a local store, and once you find a good butcher, that's easier than mail order. Highland Park market has good butchers and steaks. We used to go to HP rather than big box grocery store. I hear that Costco is also pretty good but have not tried it.

 

[Strummer]

Are online steaks really worth it?

Maybe.
Here's my advice - order a minimum order and try it. If you are a steak fan, you'll know.
Here at my place we raise, butcher, and eat all of our own beef. I've done many kinds of animals - Angus, Hereford, Scotties, milkers. What you get on the plate depends a good amount on genetics, a good amount on what the animal is fed, a good amount on how it was aged, and a substantial amount on how it was seasoned and cooked.

After many years, we have arrived at what we like, and what works for us. Here are my conclusions, in no particular order:

Angus is less preferred - it's popularity is a marketing scam more than anything.
Hereford is preferred for the beef breeds - tender and tasty.
Grass fed alone is typically not very good, and, even if fatted well on lush pasture, tends to have a poor flavor and often has a fishy flavor because of the omega concentrations that occur in the fat.
Animals that eat grass until 4 months or so before slaughter and then are grain fed or grain supplemented for the last 4 months are hands down the best.
Exotic breeds (highlander, longhorn, brahmin, etc) tend not to be very good.

2 weeks of dry aging in a cooler is best for flavor and tenderness, 10 days minimum, BUT, if you don't start with good beef, aging will not fix it, only make it marginally better.

Most beef that you can buy at Sams and so on is not good. Much of the ground comes from old milk cows. You can do well, however, if you buy "prime" (any of the three grades), and you can do okay if you buy "choice" (preferably choice +). Ignore sales pitches for "angus," as there is nothing about angus that makes it better, and many people who raise their own meat avoid angus because the breed has been compromised by the marketing.

This fact I know well - taste and tenderness is directly related to fat content. Well-fatted animals give you better meat, both in taste and tenderness. Maybe not the healthiest, but life is a series of choices.

BTW - the best animal we ever did was half hereford and half jersey (a milk breed). You don't see milk breed steaks ofter because they are slower growing and they produced less meat, but boy was that animal fantastic.

EDIT - BTW - freezing steak does not diminish quality at all, if it's done right - we've eaten beef 1 year old and it's as good as the butcher's tender I cut out of the carcass and cook 3 hours later. Better, in fact, because beef actually ages in the frozen state and becomes more tender. But be aware, that is ONLY well wrapped in a proper freezer, which is a chest freezer with manual defrost set at a nice low temp (about 0). If you have an upright that you go into 5 times a day to get a pop and it is auto defrost, your beef will lose quality rapidly. A good, extra large chest freezer uses about 4 bucks a month in electricity around here - well worth it if you have the space.

 

[ZenConn]

I love the Costco rib eyes, they're wonderfully marbled and has great flavor when just putting it on the grill with just salt and pepper. The other Costco steaks are not as good.

 

[mauconnfan]

Not sure where that is. In my area I think Arnold's is the place to go.

tom.

Arnolds is very good in our vicinity tom…….Ye Olde in Westside is also real good…….had some "Kansas City" steaks sent to me by one of my vendors over the holidays and they were very good, the tenderloins wrapped in bacon were special……….I guess they are a competitor of Omaha now.

 

[CL82]

I've had Omaha Steaks. They are okay. I agree that you can do better at a decent local butcher.

 

[UConnDad]

Maybe.
Here's my advice - order a minimum order and try it. If you are a steak fan, you'll know.
Here at my place we raise, butcher, and eat all of our own beef. I've done many kinds of animals - Angus, Hereford, Scotties, milkers. What you get on the plate depends a good amount on genetics, a good amount on what the animal is fed, a good amount on how it was aged, and a substantial amount on how it was seasoned and cooked.

After many years, we have arrived at what we like, and what works for us. Here are my conclusions, in no particular order:

Angus is less preferred - it's popularity is a marketing scam more than anything.
Hereford is preferred for the beef breeds - tender and tasty.
Grass fed alone is typically not very good, and, even if fatted well on lush pasture, tends to have a poor flavor and often has a fishy flavor because of the omega concentrations that occur in the fat.
Animals that eat grass until 4 months or so before slaughter and then are grain fed or grain supplemented for the last 4 months are hands down the best.
Exotic breeds (highlander, longhorn, brahmin, etc) tend not to be very good.

2 weeks of dry aging in a cooler is best for flavor and tenderness, 10 days minimum, BUT, if you don't start with good beef, aging will not fix it, only make it marginally better.

Most beef that you can buy at Sams and so on is not good. Much of the ground comes from old milk cows. You can do well, however, if you buy "prime" (any of the three grades), and you can do okay if you buy "choice" (preferably choice +). Ignore sales pitches for "angus," as there is nothing about angus that makes it better, and many people who raise their own meat avoid angus because the breed has been compromised by the marketing.

This fact I know well - taste and tenderness is directly related to fat content. Well-fatted animals give you better meat, both in taste and tenderness. Maybe not the healthiest, but life is a series of choices.

BTW - the best animal we ever did was half hereford and half jersey (a milk breed). You don't see milk breed steaks ofter because they are slower growing and they produced less meat, but boy was that animal fantastic.

EDIT - BTW - freezing steak does not diminish quality at all, if it's done right - we've eaten beef 1 year old and it's as good as the butcher's tender I cut out of the carcass and cook 3 hours later. Better, in fact, because beef actually ages in the frozen state and becomes more tender. But be aware, that is ONLY well wrapped in a proper freezer, which is a chest freezer with manual defrost set at a nice low temp (about 0). If you have an upright that you go into 5 times a day to get a pop and it is auto defrost, your beef will lose quality rapidly. A good, extra large chest freezer uses about 4 bucks a month in electricity around here - well worth it if you have the space.

This is great info. You are a wealth of beef knowledge.

 

[8893]

This fact I know well - taste and tenderness is directly related to fat content. Well-fatted animals give you better meat, both in taste and tenderness. Maybe not the healthiest, but life is a series of choices.

Truer words were never spoke. It's all about the marbling.

 

[Frank06830]

I would strongly advise against Omaha. Despite all the 50% off deals, their stuff is just not anything special. I' m being kind when I say this. If you notice nowhere do they mention Prime. Their stuff is Choice,not Prime and just plain disappointing.

Looking for a good steak, look for Prime quality beef. Stay away from Choice. Not many people know this but there are 5 grades of prime from A to E. Only top tier steakhouses get top graded prime, most restaurants, even good steakhouses don't serve the best top grades of prime.
So what can you do? As someone suggested, search out a good local butcher who deals with prime. But I know, this is often too expensive and most times you are looking at $20 LB. Stew Leonard's offers decent prime at OK prices. What I' be been doing is traveling down from Fairfield county a couple of times during the warm weather months to Arthur ave to Vincent's meat market. Here's where it could make sense for you Temery'. Their prices for prime strip steaks are about $10 LB, and they will cut them however you want and vacuum pack the steaks however you want them e.g . Individually or in groups of 2, 4 pr whatever. The vacuum packing I think makes them somehing to think about even with your drive.
I buy a whole side of strip and get about 12 steaks out of them (1 1/2" per steak) and he gives me a break at $8 LB. The quality IS PRIME. Great quality for the price you would pay for Choice in a super market. The fact they would vacuum pack could make sense for you to make a nice road trip to Arthur Ave. I bought the grass fed, higher priced prime for the $25 LB to compare. There is a marginal difference in taste between these and the Arthur Ave steaks I get, but no way makes up the difference in price.

Vincent's just launched a website (www.vincentsmeatmarket.com) . Check them out, they got a 29 out 30 Zagat's rating. As you might guess, I'm a big steak lover also, and I'm comstantly looking for the best steak for home or when going out to dinner. Nothing like a good steak, nice bottle of wine and UCONN game to watch. Hope this helps...happy hunting

 

[8893]

Looking for a good steak, look for Prime quality beef. Stay away from Choice.

I disagree with this. Either Prime or Choice can be excellent quality imo. I'm no expert, but I thought that the difference between top quality Prime and top quality Choice is that Choice has more marbling, i.e., more fat. As noted above, that usually means more flavor. But it is a matter of degree and distribution. If you go to Gorat's in Omaha, all they serve is Choice. And it's great. Better imo than Omaha Prime, which only serves Prime. Warren Buffet is a regular at Gorat's, and the guy could obviously eat anywhere he wants.

ETA: I just checked Gorat's website out of curiosity and I see that they were sold in 2012, and I now see Prime steak on the menu. Definitely was not the case when I was there around five years ago. Perhaps top quality Choice meat is not as easy to come by any more?

 

[Hoophound]

Maybe. Here's my advice - order a minimum order and try it. If you are a steak fan, you'll know. Here at my place we raise, butcher, and eat all of our own beef. I've done many kinds of animals - Angus, Hereford, Scotties, milkers. What you get on the plate depends a good amount on genetics, a good amount on what the animal is fed, a good amount on how it was aged, and a substantial amount on how it was seasoned and cooked. After many years, we have arrived at what we like, and what works for us. Here are my conclusions, in no particular order: Angus is less preferred - it's popularity is a marketing scam more than anything. Hereford is preferred for the beef breeds - tender and tasty. Grass fed alone is typically not very good, and, even if fatted well on lush pasture, tends to have a poor flavor and often has a fishy flavor because of the omega concentrations that occur in the fat. Animals that eat grass until 4 months or so before slaughter and then are grain fed or grain supplemented for the last 4 months are hands down the best. Exotic breeds (highlander, longhorn, brahmin, etc) tend not to be very good. 2 weeks of dry aging in a cooler is best for flavor and tenderness, 10 days minimum, BUT, if you don't start with good beef, aging will not fix it, only make it marginally better. Most beef that you can buy at Sams and so on is not good. Much of the ground comes from old milk cows. You can do well, however, if you buy "prime" (any of the three grades), and you can do okay if you buy "choice" (preferably choice +). Ignore sales pitches for "angus," as there is nothing about angus that makes it better, and many people who raise their own meat avoid angus because the breed has been compromised by the marketing. This fact I know well - taste and tenderness is directly related to fat content. Well-fatted animals give you better meat, both in taste and tenderness. Maybe not the healthiest, but life is a series of choices. BTW - the best animal we ever did was half hereford and half jersey (a milk breed). You don't see milk breed steaks ofter because they are slower growing and they produced less meat, but boy was that animal fantastic. EDIT - BTW - freezing steak does not diminish quality at all, if it's done right - we've eaten beef 1 year old and it's as good as the butcher's tender I cut out of the carcass and cook 3 hours later. Better, in fact, because beef actually ages in the frozen state and becomes more tender. But be aware, that is ONLY well wrapped in a proper freezer, which is a chest freezer with manual defrost set at a nice low temp (about 0). If you have an upright that you go into 5 times a day to get a pop and it is auto defrost, your beef will lose quality rapidly. A good, extra large chest freezer uses about 4 bucks a month in electricity around here - well worth it if you have the space.

Cool post. Different type of info than you usually get from most of us Yankees.

 

[TopDog18]

I disagree with this. Either Prime or Choice can be excellent quality imo. I'm no expert, but I thought that the difference between top quality Prime and top quality Choice is that Choice has more marbling, i.e., more fat. As noted above, that usually means more flavor. But it is a matter of degree and distribution. If you go to Gorat's in Omaha, all they serve is Choice. And it's great. Better imo than Omaha Prime, which only serves Prime. Warren Buffet is a regular at Gorat's, and the guy could obviously eat anywhere he wants.

I work at a local butcher shop and although there is nothing I love to eat more than a USDA Prime Strip Streak or Ribeye, there is nothing wrong with a USDA choice steak.

There are generally 3 main grades of Beef. Prime, Choice and Select. Prime is the top grade of beef, only 3% of all beef is graded Prime. Over 50% of all beef is graded choice. That being said, there are high grade choice steaks like Sterling, which is a can be almost as good as Prime. It all depends what level Choice, generally when buying choice, look for a label that says Choice or higher. As you said, the difference between Prime and choice is marbling. The more marbling, the more tender and flavorful the steak is. That's why generally I do not prefer grassfed steaks as there are generally lean because they are not feed any grain.

 

[progrocks]

Omaha - No
Choice - perfectly fine, but look at the piece of meat
Costco - the place to buy everything in life. They have good choice pieces and also prime, but I pick out the choice pack i like the most and freeze the extra's til i need them, usually gone within a month.

 

[temery]

What does "choice OXI" mean?

 

[Danzz]

I love a good steak, but the cost keeps me to a couple a month. I've been getting ads and email about ordering meat online. Are online steaks really worth it?

No they are average at best quality wise and way over priced. A lot of their income comes from corporate sales promotion/contest programs. Go to Costco or BJs. Their steaks are better quality and value.

 

[8893]

We had flank steaks last night, which I grilled. Always a solid choice for value and consistency, provided you follow a few simple rules about grilling and slicing. They also freeze very well in my experience.

 

[AJollyRancher]

Maybe.
Here's my advice - order a minimum order and try it. If you are a steak fan, you'll know.
Here at my place we raise, butcher, and eat all of our own beef. I've done many kinds of animals - Angus, Hereford, Scotties, milkers. What you get on the plate depends a good amount on genetics, a good amount on what the animal is fed, a good amount on how it was aged, and a substantial amount on how it was seasoned and cooked.

After many years, we have arrived at what we like, and what works for us. Here are my conclusions, in no particular order:

Angus is less preferred - it's popularity is a marketing scam more than anything.
Hereford is preferred for the beef breeds - tender and tasty.
Grass fed alone is typically not very good, and, even if fatted well on lush pasture, tends to have a poor flavor and often has a fishy flavor because of the omega concentrations that occur in the fat.
Animals that eat grass until 4 months or so before slaughter and then are grain fed or grain supplemented for the last 4 months are hands down the best.
Exotic breeds (highlander, longhorn, brahmin, etc) tend not to be very good.

2 weeks of dry aging in a cooler is best for flavor and tenderness, 10 days minimum, BUT, if you don't start with good beef, aging will not fix it, only make it marginally better.

Most beef that you can buy at Sams and so on is not good. Much of the ground comes from old milk cows. You can do well, however, if you buy "prime" (any of the three grades), and you can do okay if you buy "choice" (preferably choice +). Ignore sales pitches for "angus," as there is nothing about angus that makes it better, and many people who raise their own meat avoid angus because the breed has been compromised by the marketing.

This fact I know well - taste and tenderness is directly related to fat content. Well-fatted animals give you better meat, both in taste and tenderness. Maybe not the healthiest, but life is a series of choices.

BTW - the best animal we ever did was half hereford and half jersey (a milk breed). You don't see milk breed steaks ofter because they are slower growing and they produced less meat, but boy was that animal fantastic.

EDIT - BTW - freezing steak does not diminish quality at all, if it's done right - we've eaten beef 1 year old and it's as good as the butcher's tender I cut out of the carcass and cook 3 hours later. Better, in fact, because beef actually ages in the frozen state and becomes more tender. But be aware, that is ONLY well wrapped in a proper freezer, which is a chest freezer with manual defrost set at a nice low temp (about 0). If you have an upright that you go into 5 times a day to get a pop and it is auto defrost, your beef will lose quality rapidly. A good, extra large chest freezer uses about 4 bucks a month in electricity around here - well worth it if you have the space.

Does this mean milk steaks do exist?

http://www.comedycentral.com/video-...y-in-philadelphia-charlie-s-match-com-profile

 

[Dougsts]

I buy most of my steaks at Everybodys Market in Cheshire. They have a real good butcher section that will cut you any steak you want, as thick as you want it. I have never been disappointed with their beef, or their pork and veal chops and shanks.