Pro Tip for Good Eats

[alamo5000]

I like to try different things so recently I was at my local HEB. They had some Waygu chuck roast on sale. It was insanely marbled and looked really good.

Since it was really thick (2-2.5" inches) I portioned it out into individual steaks. It gave me at least 5 good size steaks, but you should probably cut it into 6 steaks considering the size and thickness as well as side dishes. It works out to be around $6-$7 per steak.

I sous vide one at 129 degrees and then seared it off.

The result? Probably one of the best steaks I've ever made. Top 5 for sure. It was a cross between a filet mignon and a rib eye. It was cut like a filet and it had the super soft texture of a filet, but it tasted like a rib eye. For around $6 per steak I am definitely going to be doing that again.

Instead of buying a lesser grade of a cut like a rib eye, this was a super high grade of meat, but but it was a lot cheaper. Prime grade rib eye is around $22 per pound, but this was less than half of that. I think I paid $9 per pound. If you get Prime grade chuck roast it's like $7 per pound.

I definitely recommend trying it out.

 

[XLR308]

Man i miss HEB, up here in colorado the closest we have to it on the Western slope is city market. Not even close and half of them for some reason stink like a open dumpster when you first walk in though the slidingndoors.
Might be all tje hippies and bums.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

When we go to Texas to visit family, my wife plans hitting HEB like a grocery tourist.

 

[XLR308]

When we go to Texas to visit family, my wife plans hitting HEB like a grocery tourist.

The artisan cheese and wine sections are pretty decent for grocery store, seafood sections in stoors around houston are usually pretty good as well.

 

[XLR308]

I like to try different things so recently I was at my local HEB. They had some Waygu chuck roast on sale. I was insanely marbled and looked really good.

Since it was really thick (2-2.5" inches) I portioned it out into individual steaks. It gave me at least 5 good size steaks, but you should probably cut it into 6 steaks considering the size and thickness as well as side dishes. It works out to be around $6-$7 per steak.

I sous vide one at 129 degrees and then seared it off.

The result? Probably one of the best steaks I've ever made. Top 5 for sure. It was a cross between a filet mignon and a rib eye. It was cut like a filet and it had the super soft texture of a filet, but it tasted like a rib eye. For around $6 per steak I am definitely going to be doing that again.

Instead of buying a lesser grade of a cut like a rib eye, this was a super high grade of meat, but but it was a lot cheaper. Prime grade rib eye is around $22 per pound, but this was less than half of that. I think I paid $9 per pound. If you get Prime grade chuck roast it's like $7 per pound.

I definitely recommend trying it out.

I will definately give this a try. My B-day is coming up in a cuople weeks so that is a Porterhouse occassion.

 

[alamo5000]

The artisan cheese and wine sections are pretty decent for grocery store, seafood sections in stoors around houston are usually pretty good as well.

If you go to Central Market, which is also owned by HEB they have an INSANE cheese section. They have an entire aisle of cheeses from around the world and a cheese expert on staff to answer any questions.

Shopping there is definitely not cheap but it's a good experience for sure.

 

[TheGerman]

Did HEB change into more of a premium store at some point?

When I lived outside of Ft Hood, the subdivision (Pershing Park for any of you Ft Hood people) backed up to a HEB and it was the grocery store everyone went to as you could walk to it. This was around 1990; it was just a regular grocery store to any of us at that time.

 

[XLR308]

Did HEB change into more of a premium store at some point?

When I lived outside of Ft Hood, the subdivision (Pershing Park for any of you Ft Hood people) backed up to a HEB and it was the grocery store everyone went to as you could walk to it. This was around 1990; it was just a regular grocery store to any of us at that time.

Key word " Fort Hood "
Yes they have changed quite a bit since the early 90's.
I was born and raised not far from there in Marble Falls.

 

[alamo5000]

Did HEB change into more of a premium store at some point?

When I lived outside of Ft Hood, the subdivision (Pershing Park for any of you Ft Hood people) backed up to a HEB and it was the grocery store everyone went to as you could walk to it. This was around 1990; it was just a regular grocery store to any of us at that time.

HEB now is easily one of the best run grocery store chains anywhere. Their selection and quality of things is quite good.

It really just depends though on the market and where it's at. All the ones near me are new buildings and great management. I've been in some older ones that were, just old, but in general they are growing like crazy as a company.

Also Central Market is definitely a high end place. It's run by HEB as well. Need French Cheese actually from France and some caviar? That's the place to go.

 

[Maggot]

Key word " Fort Hood "
Yes they have changed quite a bit since the early 90's.
I was born and raised not far from there in Marble Falls.

Owned a home in Llano for many years.

Whole Foods in Austin made everybody else pick up their game. Howard E Butt and co. rose to the occasion.

Just rried Waygu beef and it looks like theres no going back.

 

[alamo5000]

When we go to Texas to visit family, my wife plans hitting HEB like a grocery tourist.

It definitely depends on where you are going exactly. Some places might have a lot older of a store and other places might have a lot newer of a store. The new ones that are in relatively nice neighborhoods are going to be up there with your expectations.

 

[acudaowner]

tried 4 of his recipes and they turned out amazing ( amazing to me ) . I wanna try grilling one at the range that or a bushel of crabs at the range lol we have a fairly nice smoker that would be a great tow behind to make range days extra special ( has not happened yet )

 

[alamo5000]

Owned a home in Llano for many years.

Whole Foods in Austin made everybody else pick up their game. Howard E Butt and co. rose to the occasion.

Just rried Waygu beef and it looks like theres no going back.

I've tried it a couple of times but this particular experience is head and shoulders above just about anything else I've tried.

That particular cut of meat that I mentioned is a home run for sure.

Other things I wasn't as impressed with.

 

[Threadcutter308]

HEB sounds pretty good. Up here in the northworst, we've never even heard of HEB.

We do have a local IGA Market that has a twice yearly meat sale. I lay in bone in and boneless rib roasts (Prime Rib) at $7.99 to $8.99 a pound. It's Choice grade and the Butcher says that Prime grade is available, but it's $23.00 per pound. I've been really happy with the Choice grade. Apparently, in that cut, Prime is actually tough to come by.

They also have great prices on various Pork cuts and Chicken. I buy cut up fryers for anywhere between $1.79 and $2.29 per pound. Roughly the same for Pork when you find it on sale.

 

[alamo5000]

One area where HEB definitely excels at is their relationship with farmers and ranchers. Some grocery store chains never meet or even know where their stuff comes from. They just buy in bulk from some huge brokerage dealing in whatever meat or something else that they want.

HEB on the other hand has direct relationships with farmers and ranchers and they definitely don't play games with it. They have far superior supply chains and really good in store management. It's sort of like the Chik Fil A of the grocery store world. Need to find something? "It's my pleasure sir"...

The supply chain thing is a huge deal though. It sets them apart.

 

[XLR308]

Owned a home in Llano for many years.

Whole Foods in Austin made everybody else pick up their game. Howard E Butt and co. rose to the occasion.

Just rried Waygu beef and it looks like theres no going back.

I went to school in Llano for a while, they were one of our mian rivals in football and track.
I love that whole area of the Hill Country.

 

[XLR308]

tried 4 of his recipes and they turned out amazing ( amazing to me ) . I wanna try grilling one at the range that or a bushel of crabs at the range lol we have a fairly nice smoker that would be a great tow behind to make range days extra special ( has not happened yet )

Were do you shoot at ?

 

[Pharmseller]

seafood sections in stoors around houston are usually pretty good as well.

You people actually buy seafood? From a store?

 

[n2ishun]

The real tip.
Go to a 4H auction.
Yes, little kids in 4H raise cattle for their project.
The cattle are treated like a pet, fed well, tended well, no feed lot trash.
At the end of the project the kids are required to sell the cattle at an auction, it teaches them all aspects of the business....cool right ?
You're going to be buying right from the school kid and the 4H project so the money is going to a very good place, you'll be doing for the community at large.
Look for the fattest red angus steer.
Trust me there, not black, red.

Last time I bought one it scaled out 900 lbs of beef, was near 1600 on the hoof.
Makes wagyu look like average grocery store shelf beef.
Still have some steaks and maybe 50lbs burger meat left.
About time to get another...
BTW, they do hogs and lamb too

 

[XLR308]

You people actually buy seafood? From a store?

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You had to go there didnt you ?
" Thou shalt not covet thou neihgbors freezer "

 

[Bigfatcock]

I got a handjob behind the HEB in Lampasas.

 

[Maggot]

You had to go there didnt you ?
" Thou shalt not covet thou neihgbors freezer "

I feel ya, dawg. Living in SW Oklahoma he choices for fresh fish are between little and none. Could be a trip to
San Diego in the future.

 

[TheGerman]

HEB now is easily one of the best run grocery store chains anywhere. Their selection and quality of things is quite good.

It really just depends though on the market and where it's at. All the ones near me are new buildings and great management. I've been in some older ones that were, just old, but in general they are growing like crazy as a company.

Also Central Market is definitely a high end place. It's run by HEB as well. Need French Cheese actually from France and some caviar? That's the place to go.

Yeah they must have stepped it up as I've heard people talk about HEB a few times now and was always like WTF.

Back then, their claim to fame was that locally, there were basically the only store around that had live lobsters around the holidays.

Now for some nostalgia.

The HEB was in a strip mall/shopping mall with a parking lot in the middle. Right next to it was some giant furniture store. The field we played baseball in was behind the furniture store and some of us had gotten to the point of being able to crank a MLB sized homerun which would land on the roof of the place.

There was a McDonalds in the parking lot area, where I had my first ever McRib. Across from it was a Whataburger, which was superior to McDonald's in every way.

Other end of the shopping strip was a Kmart back when they were massive and I'd buy baseball card packs there while looking to retire early off of Jose Canseco (I think?) rookie cards.

Next to the Kmart was Peter Piper's Pizza, which made Chuck E Cheese pizza look like some Gordon Ramsey gourmet shit, but it had like 100 video games including TMNT. Also, if you knew when to kick the TMNT game after putting a quarter in, it would give you 2 or 3 times the credit.

And finally, on the other side of the road from the strip mall was a Denny's. This is where my first 'too cool for my parents' lunch happened with my friends and I where after not realizing I didn't have any money left for a tip and the waitress getting angry at me, I told her that her tip was to make sure to look both ways before crossing the street.

But yeah, HEB was kind of shit.

 

[XLR308]

All this food talk now i have to put in Unforgiven and stuff my face.
You guys have a good night.

 

[Pharmseller]

I only smoke salmon when I have a bunch of it. Too good to turn into a snack.

Last weekend:

Collars are my favorite.





P

 

[rhsc]

It's not just their high-end stuff that's good, but virtually everything in the store that has their "H-E-B" brand on the label is better than major national brands. Hell, even their peanut butter is exceptional - the crunchy style has a deeper toasty flavor, and a little oil will pool on the top if you let it sit a couple of days, just like the old style non-homogenized peanut butter.