Where to buy steaks

Eelpoutguy wrote:

I don’t know what Cub you go to, but all the ones around my place stink.

x2 for steak anyway, Cub has great deals on pork shoulders/butts and chicken thighs/drummies pretty regularly tho.

Matt Moen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>nhamm wrote:</div>
I’m with sinker. Give me meat and I’m happy. Do hope one day I’ll develop the time and taste buds for fine cuts and butcher shop discrepancies.

Says the guy who said his taste was so refined he could taste mud on ‘sippi walleyes…..I’m just sayin’.

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
I don’t know what Cub you go to, but all the ones around my place stink.

x2 for steak anyway, Cub has great deals on pork shoulders/butts and chicken thighs/drummies pretty regularly tho.

East side Cub seem to be a lot better than the West side of the cities that I can attest to with my experience of staying on the west side for the winter and spring. I venture around Stillwater and Woodbury and County Market in Hudson (prety much same as cub). I have not been to the cottage grove cub though. We are talking east and south.

I fancy myself a bit of a bovine connoisseur and an expert on the subject of steaks. I worked at Omaha Steaks for a couple of years in college slinging beef over the phone so you get to know the cuts and best ways to prepare them. Couple things:

1) Price and quality are independent variables – you can spend little and get a great steak or vice versa. Grocery stores have multiple distributors, even the smaller chains, so quality can sometimes be inconsistent. However, you can get a great steak, you just have to watch for the quality when shopping. You should almost always buy at the butcher counter versus the pre-packed steaks if you can, though.
2) The key to a good steak is prepping it right and cooking it correctly. Most people under or over marinate steaks and most people overcook them. A good piece of meat just needs a salt rub and about 24 hours to marinate in the fridge. More power to you if you like different flavors to your meat, but it kinda defeats the purpose of a steak.
3) Always put meat on the grill at room temp and then let stand for at least 5 minutes after you take it off. Remember, the meat continues to cook after you take it off.
4) Undercook your steak slightly so as it rests it gets done the to the proper temp. If you want med rare, cook slightly over rare and then let rest. I prefer medium rare for almost all cuts except for a good filet. I like that rare plus.
5) Get to know your cuts and what affects their flavors – fat or marbling is key to certain cuts and if you overcook you burn off that marbling. Some of the cuts considered tougher can be great grilling steaks if you know how to prepare them….flank steaks are some of my favorites but if you prepare wrong you’re better off eating the sole of your shoe.

I always try and cook with the grill temp as hot as possible, limit the times you open lid, and try not to flip the steak a bunch. For an inch thick NY strip at 500 degrees I’ll cook 3 minutes on one side, flip for two, then flip again for two.

Matt Moen wrote:

3) Always put meat on the grill at room temp

This works well for steaks, but don’t apply this to bigger cuts of meat(pork shoulder for instance), and I’m not even sure about a really thick cut steak to be honest.

The time it takes for then entire chunk of meat to come to room temperature could be more than you actually want meat exposed/not chilled(especially for non-beef meats).

For large chunks like a pork shoulder, it won’t even really be feasible. What you will be left with is chunk of meat with a cold center and a room temp outer layer, which will then inhibit your ability to cook it evenly all the way through. If the outside is at 65 degrees when you throw it on the grill and the inside is at 50 degrees, how are you going to manage to evenly cook it? You’ll end up overcooking the outside to achieve your desired doneness in the middle, or undercooking the inside in order to not overcook the outside.

Again, totally feasible on most smaller steaks, but don’t extrapolate to larger chunks of meat! Not that Matt was suggesting you apply it to other stuff, I just wanted to mention it as I’ve seen people try to do it for big hunks o’meat and it’s not doing them any favors.

Too bad you guys don’t have Fareway’s by you, they put Hy Vees and most others to shame.

We are getting some people in the know here.

I would recommend a hot fire, direct heat for steaks that have excellent marbling and are 1 inch thick or less.

I would recommend a moderate heat source that is offset for steaks that are well marbled and are 1 inch and thicker. I like to toss a chunk of wood on top of my charcoal fire too. I use lump coals but that is for an other subject matter. Google a reverse sear. I use a digital thermometer to monitor my steaks, Iowa chops, and b/s chicken breasts (for all things grilling and smoking).

Denny O wrote:

We are getting some people in the know here.

I would recommend a hot fire, direct heat for steaks that have excellent marbling and are 1 inch thick or less.

I would recommend a moderate heat source that is offset for steaks that are well marbled and are 1 inch and thicker. I like to toss a chunk of wood on top of my charcoal fire too. I use lump coals but that is for an other subject matter. Google a reverse sear. I use a digital thermometer to monitor my steaks, Iowa chops, and b/s chicken breasts (for all things grilling and smoking).

Reverse sear or bust!

I love Fareway!! Hy-Vee is too proud of their meats! That is also why I spoke of Thielen Meats in Little Falls, I stop in there every year on my way home from LOW.

Denny O wrote:

I love Fareway!! Hy-Vee is too proud of their meats! That is also why I spoke of Thielen Meats in Little Falls, I stop in there every year on my way home from LOW.

Hyvee invented an 8oz steak at a 1lb. Price. Can find a pork butt or ribs at a decent price, but if it’s beef….never from HyVee. Also never use gas grills, gas is for cars and getting out of a bad date night.

Kowalskis for the best prime steaks. Spendy but consistently superb.

I just want to add if you aren’t grilling on charcoal or wood you aren’t grilling. Pellet grills aren’t made for steaks either!

cant beat a tomahawk from Costco! prime! baby prime!!

Kwik Trips have the 5oz sirloins for $.99 each, limit of 5. They are actually very good. Give them a try. We vacuum seal a bunch and they keep really well. Just saying.

philtickelson wrote:

Reverse sear or bust!

Meh. Sous Vide for 1 hour at 125-130 degrees (pending preference) and hit with a searzall or bust…

brentbullets wrote:

I just want to add if you aren’t grilling on charcoal or wood you aren’t grilling. Pellet grills aren’t made for steaks either!

unless you have Pitboss

404 ERROR wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>philtickelson wrote:</div>
Reverse sear or bust!

Meh. Sous Vide for 1 hour at 125-130 degrees (pending preference) and hit with a searzall or bust…

Geese! When I have a steak I want to eat it now not waiting for it to cook that it takes longer than going to the store to get it at theilen meats 100 miles away.
Its just a piece of meat. A bunch of sticks burnt down to coals in the middle of the yard will do for me.

To the other Iowa boys here I moved up to the cities 3 years ago and let me tell you the hyvees up here blow the ones in Iowa away I used to strictly do my steak shopping at fairway but boy oh boy the selection hyvee has up here is some of the best I’ve seen we have a fairway down in Faribault but I haven’t bothered to make that trek yet

I’m spoiled and grew up on a beef farm. So I go to the uh… Freezer for a steak

But I prefer tenderloins!!

404 ERROR wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>philtickelson wrote:</div>
Reverse sear or bust!

Meh. Sous Vide for 1 hour at 125-130 degrees (pending preference) and hit with a searzall or bust…

I mean, technically I’d put that in the ‘reverse sear’ bucket, just a more pure form of it than throwing it on a smoker or something at 225 degrees and then searing at the end.

But I mean, I’m totally impressed with your fanciness.

philtickelson wrote:

But I mean, I’m totally impressed with your fanciness.

It’s quite a bit easier being there’s no need to monitor steak temp and you can leave it in for even hours longer than needed with little to no ill effects on the meat…

I guess being lazy makes me fancy? I’m glad I could impress such a person with a history of belittlement and condescension on these forums…

Story over. Good day.

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If you buy an 18 pack of PBR at Kwik Trip they now give you a free 5oz sirloin steak!

Needed beer for batter for a fish fry this weekend and got a free steak!

riverruns wrote:

If you buy an 18 pack of PBR at Kwik Trip they now give you a free 5oz sirloin steak!

Needed beer for batter for a fish fry this weekend and got a free steak!

NOW THAT’S DEAL!!

1hl&sinker wrote:

Personally I like meat and if you like meat you don’t have to go to these butcher shops to get good meat….

Look for meat on sale like chuckeye

The chuckeye is a great cut for the grill and very reasonably priced. Personally I wait for New York Strip to go on sale for the whole strip and buy one of those. They cut to your size free and wrap as you want. I have the strip cut and plastic wrapped, then do my own vacuum sealing.

All this steak talk got me hungry. I now have a Hackenmueller’s porterhouse aging for the weekend.