Choice vs Prime


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Non scientific observation. I usually buy whole prime strip loins than cut them into a single roast from the "nerve" end and from there usually 8 or 9 steaks of about 1.5" thick. But, in this case I simply wanted to buy a strip loin for some roasts. So, I decided to buy a Choice grade from Costco. The observation here is I seem to have gotten more waste (gristle and hard fat) than from the Prime graded ones. On my 10+lb loin I ended up with nearly 2 full lbs of waste. I ended up with 3 roasts of about 2lbs ea, and another pretty healthy amount of "strap" and stuff I will trim a bit and grind to burger/chopped meat and I got 2 very thin steaks (because my wife likes very thin and WAY overdone steaks). So no sense in wasting prime grade meat on that :D But, I do think I ended up with a higher waste percentage than I do with Prime. It could have been simply this particular loin I bought as well so it's very unscientific.
 
I often find there is a thin line between prime and choice. I was in the store a few days ago and they had just filled the NY strips. Picked up a couple really nicely marbled choice steaks that tasted great.
 
With prices these days I picked up some. Choice NY’s from Costco, my friend did the same. We were both highly disappointed with them.
I will stick with the Costco prime Tri-tips, I guess.
You did get me thinking the other day that I’d like to cut up some of my own steaks. I may give that a try. You buy the whole tenderloin? Any tips?
 
Bruno said:
With prices these days I picked up some. Choice NY’s from Costco, my friend did the same. We were both highly disappointed with them.
I will stick with the Costco prime Tri-tips, I guess.
You did get me thinking the other day that I’d like to cut up some of my own steaks. I may give that a try. You buy the whole tenderloin? Any tips?
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I buy the whole tenderloins from Sam's Club and cut them into nice 2 inch thick filets. I then package in individual freezer bags so that I can remove only what I need. I give the tail of the filet to my son who makes stir fry with it. No waste. The pretrimmed filets seem to yield more meat. I have purchased the untrimmed which are less expensive but by the time it's trimmed no additional benefit.
 
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Carolyn Edelstein said:
I buy the whole tenderloins from Sam's Club and cut them into nice 2 inch thick filets. I then package in individual freezer bags so that I can remove only what I need. I give the tail of the filet to my son who makes stir fry with it. No waste. The pretrimmed filets seem to yield more meat. I have purchased the untrimmed which are less expensive but by the time it's trimmed no additional benefit.
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Im going to do this. Thanks for the input.
 
LMichaels said:
Non scientific observation. I usually buy whole prime strip loins than cut them into a single roast from the "nerve" end and from there usually 8 or 9 steaks of about 1.5" thick. But, in this case I simply wanted to buy a strip loin for some roasts. So, I decided to buy a Choice grade from Costco. The observation here is I seem to have gotten more waste (gristle and hard fat) than from the Prime graded ones. On my 10+lb loin I ended up with nearly 2 full lbs of waste. I ended up with 3 roasts of about 2lbs ea, and another pretty healthy amount of "strap" and stuff I will trim a bit and grind to burger/chopped meat and I got 2 very thin steaks (because my wife likes very thin and WAY overdone steaks). So no sense in wasting prime grade meat on that :D But, I do think I ended up with a higher waste percentage than I do with Prime. It could have been simply this particular loin I bought as well so it's very unscientific.
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Maybe not scientific, but sounds like a reasonable observation to me.

USDA inspectors grade by appearance, so there is always some subjectivity involved. You often need to ignore the grade and use your own observations to select a cut that fits what you want to do with it. Sometimes the way it's packaged, often by design, makes that difficult. As an example, I've found that Select grade briskets are usually a better choice for corned beef or pastrami. I end up with a lot less waste and everything else is almost irrelevant once it's cured and either smoked or boiled. Maybe it's just me, but paying more per pound for less usable product just doesn't make any sense.

I know, I know, there are people who live by grading. That's fine, but after working in a beef packing house way back in my youth, I know that can be a crap shoot. Meat department workers in most super markets aren't butchers and don't do much other than how to cut steaks and stew meat or grind scraps, so if you don't feel confident in selecting by appearance, a reputable butcher shop is usually a good alternative.
 
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I find myself comparing the two and going with whatever looks ‘more fresh’. Not very scientific, might not even be the right answer, but it makes me feel better. Bright red seems to win out. Can’t fault the grocery store workers. They may not get the time or training. We used to have two decent butcher shops in my area. They both went under.
 
Many intelligent comments on the topic here today. The grade is applied to an entire animal carcass based not only on appearance, but also on factors such as sex and age. Beef is much more variable than the other proteins as far as quality, both within an animal and from animal to animal.

My advice as a retail buyer is to study the individual packages to the extent that you can. Choose only the best packages and leave the less desirable ones to someone else that doesn't care about the topic as much as you do. I love the game of looking through dozens of T-bone steaks or whatever already cut and packaged on trays with clear wrap and choosing the ones that I think are the very best. Also, as stated above, not every preparation benefits from better grades.
 
Sadly when it's in the cryopac not much observation can be done. I do my best to look carefully but between the "juices" in the pack, labels and general lack of visibility I have to rely more on weight and grade. FWIW, I took one of the roasts to my dad's yesterday for supper made on his old Genesis and FWIW it turned out great! And the piece we took was from the "nerve" end so it will only get better with the other 2 roasts.
FWIW I began doing this because I was sick and tired of Costco blade tenderizing everything. But, I still liked the meat quality and pricing a touch better than Sam's. Also as of late our Rockford Sam's is still like shopping in a 3rd world country. Very little available meat (beef anyway). Though when I do buy a pre-cut piece it's at Sam's as they don't wreck the meat with those blades.
I do buy an occasional tenderloin but not a lot because it's a bit "rich" for my wallet. When I do I typically buy Choice grade. I cut the strap off to make tenderloin tips/shish ke bob, etc, I do a roast for a little Chateau Brian and the rest is made into steaks. I usually make Steak Au Poivre with those. Since tenderloin is not very flavorful it takes well to the heavy seasoning and the vermouth/cream/butter sauce I make from the pan drippings.
But wife and I prefer the Prime Strips for our actual "steak" eating. I get the best yield (finished steak/roast) to waste/chopped beef ratio from the whole strip loin. I can cut the steak exactly how I want them. (never under 1.5" thick). Anything less I classify as "sandwich steak" :D
 
I find that "upper 2/3rds" choice like Certified Angus Beef can be a nice price point and the most bang for your buck. It can be pretty darn close to prime. As far as briskets go I zoomed in a instagram picture from Goldee's the new number one on the Texas Monthly Top 50 and it looks like they are using Creekstone choice briskets, which are probably as good or better than a Sam's club prime.

Around Christmas I like to pickup some prime rib roasts on sale and cut them up into steaks
 
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