Chairman's Reserve

[MattP]

Got a 12.8 pound packer to smoke for Memorial Day (don't worry, it's in the freezer!). Noticed it doesn't seem to list USDA grading on the packaging, rather it's Chairman's Reserve (brand?). What are your thoughts on where this might rank when compared to the USDA scale?

I did a very quick skim on Google and saw a reference somewhere stating their quality is usually not quite prime, but better than choice. Would you guys agree?

 

[Bob Bass]

Matt,

Is it a Tyson ? http://www.tysonfoods.com/Business-to-Business/Fresh-Meats/Branded-Programs/Chairmans-Reserve-Premium-Beef.aspx

 

[MattP]

I think so? That's the same Chairman's Reserve logo that's on the packaging. I can take another look tomorrow, when I'm not too lazy to go to the garage, to try and verify.

 

[John Segura]

The manager at my local meat market says this brand is good and they don't get them in too often. I think he said it was upper 2/3rd of choice, not quite like prime like you mentioned. I tried a CR brisket once and didn't notice much difference. But that was only one cook. It's all about the quality of the brisket, thickness, marbling etc.. Either way cook it right and you'll get good results.

 

[Chris Allingham]

The link posted by Bob shows the marketing spiel: http://www.tysonfoods.com/Business-...-Programs/Chairmans-Reserve-Premium-Beef.aspx

Used to have a high-end market near me that sold Chairman's Reserve beef. It's good stuff. But I don't like the fact that it's not USDA quality graded. You're trusting Tyson that it's somewhere in the range of high-Choice / low-Prime.

 

[Bob Bass]

Hi Chris,

Basically Tyson's equivalent to CAB, but with steer breed unknown... or so it seems.

Although, if Prime, can be only Steer or Bullock, never Cow

 

[MattP]

Thanks for the feedback, all. Overall I wasn't too worried about quality, but was curious to see what "those in the know" here thought of the brand. Out of the half-dozen places I've checked, this particular store and Costco are the only two I've seen that carry packers, so if people remarked that they were crap, I'd avoid going to this store for packers.

 

[Jim S]

There is only one place I know of near me where I can buy Chairman's Reserve. I'll say this, whenever I've bought it, the stuff was well worth any extra cost. I've bought CR porterhouse & similar cuts that should have been labelled prime +. The only comparable marbling I've ever seen was on a piece of American Kobe, at 65 bucks a pound.