Maggie’s steak test

[FjallJager]

I did an experiment earlier this year.

I bought 4 steaks from Walmart all New York Strips. 1 Bison, 1 Walmart Wagyu, 1 Prime and 1 grass-fed.

Cooked all of them the same; reverse sear finish on the BBQ to get the crust. Finished at medium rare.

Seasoned with salt and pepper.

My thoughts:

Flavor
1 Wagyu (had a very different flavor than the prime steak)
2 Grass-fed tie for 2nd
2 Bison tie for 2nd
4 Prime (I realize this is subjective, as a lot of people like the feedlot corn flavored prime).

Tenderness
1 Wagyu
2 Prime
3 Grass-fed
4 Bison

 

[supercorndogs]

You know how sometimes one apple or peach tastes better than the others? I pretty sure the same goes for animals. I would continue the experiment indefinitely.

 

[FjallJager]

There is zero reason to stop it, that is for sure.

 

[crunchy]

All I have to say is Ribeye-bone in.

 

[Beefmanne]

Buying your steak at Walmart would be your first issue.

 

[ironman56]

I smoked a waygu brisket last year it was the best brisket ever but too pricey to do very often.

 

[n2ishun]

Walmart Wagyu ?
Is that even a correct thing to say ?

 

[FjallJager]

Walmart Wagyu ?
Is that even a correct thing to say ?

They sell it here. It is heavily marbled, doesn't look like Japanese Wagyu but it is good.

 

[JBoomhauer]

Buying your steak at Walmart would be your first issue.

Walmart steak? Woof

 

[JBoomhauer]

Was there an unidentifiable flavor?

 

[Arc Light]

Buying your steak at Walmart would be your first issue.

The beef at our local Walmart is absolute garbage, not suitable for human consumption. Seriously, it's like they get the shit that everyone else rejects. Which makes total sense, being that it's Walmart.

Love a good steak myself, but I've cut back a lot as I refuse to pay the criminal prices that a good cut of meat goes for nowadays. It's easily doubled or tripled since the Covid scam began.

 

[n2ishun]

Real Wagyu

Walmart Wagyu

It's the same thing !!!!1

 

[alamo5000]

This might sound like a stupid or obvious comment, but a lot goes in to a good steak. Everything from what kind of beef, the diet of the animal, on to how it's cut and even how it's stored matters. A steak will soak up all of the funky smells and tastes from the freezer/refrigerator where it been kept.

In other words where you get the steak from matters a lot.

 

[FjallJager]

The word "real waygu" waygu is subjective.

Our waygu program in American stemmed from imported semen, so every waygu in America is a percentage. Not 100% pure.

Over the past 30 years that Waygu has been a thing, they have been crossbred, and I would say that most of the Waygu in America is probably 1/8th to 1/4 that we see as buyers in grocery stores.

Most American's are not ready for, and do not know how to prepare high percentage Waygu.

Let's put this another way, the certified Angus thing is also bullshit. Any predominantly black cow can be sold as angus.

Beef producers are in the sales business, if you think you are going to get anything that looks like your photo of Waygu in America without a lot of expense you are mistaken.

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

Everybody knows that if you want a legit piece of meat, you have to go to Omaha Steaks

 

[Jigstick]

Walmart Wagyu

Lololololololololololol

 

[n2ishun]

I'll let you in on how to get the best steaks you've ever had.
Go to a 4H auction.
The kids that raise the cattle are required to sell them at the end of their program.
The cattle have been treated like a pet and for the most part follow the kid like a puppy.
They are exceptionally healthy and have been fed nothing but the best corn/grain/hay/etc.
Look for the red angus, not the black.
Find the fattest one in the herd and buy it.
You're doing yourself a favor and helping out a kid in a respectable program....no short side there.
Butcher it your self if possible because the butcher will be ripping your ass off after seeing the quality of the steaks.
Win.

BTW this is how we got the steaks and burger, etc we fed hunters at the hunting lodge I used to run.
Never seen a single person complain about the meat....if anything they asked where to get it.
Kansas is much better than Texas for quality beef.......we have grass filled prairies instead of scrub brush filled deserts.

 

[7.62willdo]

It’s all crap compared to HANWOO beef, literally the most expensive in the world, only available in Korea……..

 

[Bacarrat]

American Wagyu is a mix of Japanese and whatever American Bovine they are using at the time. Same goes for Australian Wagyu. Now A5 or A4 Wagyu from Japan is something else totally different in flavor then the crap with call Wagyu in the states. Went to Tokyo in 19 and it's not even close to the stuff we get here in the states. Even the real A5 Japanese stuff thats imported. It's just different over there.

 

[FjallJager]

Concur had Kobe in Japanese steak house in Tokyo . Will never forget it

 

[Average guy]

If you are buying beef by the cut and not a whole critter are you really buying beef. Find a local producer and a locker that knows how to properly age beef. Fuck Walmart.

 

[eflyguy]

American Wagyu is mostly cross bred from pure blood Wagyu cattle (there are several types) and Angus.

You can get genuine Wagyu from Japan at Costco, Whole Foods, and some specialty butchers. Possibly elsewhere, just what's available here.

The Kobe variety is banned from sale to consumers. I believe 8 or 9 restaurants in the entire US are licensed and able to import it. I had it in Dallas. It was fine. I would never pay for it, I can cook a prime strip or ribeye and be just as satisfied (I cook sous-vide.) That was the night our regional director found out Amex actually does have a limit on transaction size, he had to split it with one of his reps (dinner with financial customer, I think it was close to $20,000 - there were about 20 of us in total.)

Comparing it to a prime strip is not appropriate unless the strip is heavily marbled, which is rare, but I have found some. It should be a prime rib-eye.

Most UK beef is grass-fed and, both here and there, I do not like it at all.

Bison is too lean and also grass fed.

If I buy strip, I only buy prime with marbling, but as it's hard to find and I only eat steak every few months, I go for prime rib-eye. Only from Costco. They only come in packs of 3 or 4, but I season and vacuum seal, then freeze. I can throw them in the sous vide for a few hours then finish on the grill or, more often now, in a skillet under a press.

 

[Marinevet1]

Concur had Kobe in Japanese steak house in Tokyo . Will never forget it

because you're probably still paying for it...........I spent 18 months in Japan, it's good, but not worth the money........

 

[chevy_man]

Why anyone who will boil a steak in a bag thinks they're enjoying steak I'll never get.

Grass raised mixed grain finished. A nice fat that isn't the tasteless grass fat neither the yellow blubber of a corn diet.

Let it come up to room temp, toss on a 600* grill for a minute or two each side depending on cut thickness. Salt. Done.


You can slow cook the tough cuts into tender niceties. Boiling a prime steak in a bag should be a punishable crime.

 

[Uahtrapper]

I buy a whole Beef each Year Finished perfectly.
When you add the cost of the beef and the processing it was 3.85 LB this year! And that includes all steaks cut 1.5 to 1.75 inches thick, and the Brisket Get out of here!! Anyone we have over Including Clients from NY to LA the Dakotas to the Delta , the Best they ever Had!!!
Find a good local Farmer / Rancher and have them finish it correctly. Then a freezer big enough. Most Hunters should already have one.
All for the Price of Hamburger at Costco....
Of course you have to Know how to Cook. LOL

 

[eflyguy]

Why anyone who will boil a steak in a bag thinks they're enjoying steak I'll never get.

Ignorance is bliss, for sure. I remember those days.

This was the ~10lb prime rib I cooked for Christmas. 24hrs in the bath at 131ºF, iirc, then finished in a 500º oven.

Here's one of those prime Ribeyes I mentioned. 125ºF for a couple of hours, then seared on the grill. Nice crust:

 

[notacos4u]

 

[notacos4u]

 

[notacos4u]

 

[triumph001]

 

[EddieNFL]

Been awhile, but I can still taste.

 

[Steel head]

Last week I got a big sirloin cap from the meat market.
Had to cut in thirds so I had fantastic steak for three days


I refuse to give Walmart a penny

 

[Partsunavailable]

The way meat is processed has just as much effect on the quality as the way the animal was raised and the genetics it comes from. A top notch locker that can age a carcass properly without temperature fluctuation will make a huge difference in your meat quality.

 

[FjallJager]

To me grass fed beef taste like elk.

 

[Salad_shooter]

I prefer to grill a few beyond meat burgers on the tail gate of my Honda crv whilst shooting my 6.5 creedmore at 75yds.

Meat is murder, im appalled by you all!

 

[FjallJager]

Every time I got to the commissary I complain that these soybean patties are stored next to real meat.

I have gone so far to write formal complains via email.

Doesn't do any good.

 

[502Chevelle]

I’ve ordered Omaha Steaks........once.

 

[hlee]

So, this is a “show me your meat” thread. Noted…

 

[Beefmanne]

Why anyone who will boil a steak in a bag thinks they're enjoying steak I'll never get.

Grass raised mixed grain finished. A nice fat that isn't the tasteless grass fat neither the yellow blubber of a corn diet.

Let it come up to room temp, toss on a 600* grill for a minute or two each side depending on cut thickness. Salt. Done.


You can slow cook the tough cuts into tender niceties. Boiling a prime steak in a bag should be a punishable crime.

Yellow fat on beef is from beta carotene, ie grass fed. Grain fed is white fat.

 

[Beefmanne]

So, this is a “show me your meat” thread. Noted…

Pm me.

 

[davsco]

the wife marinates and broils our venison and elk tenderloin and steaks in the oven, nothing better at any restaurant!

 

[Salad_shooter]

So, this is a “show me your meat” thread. Noted…

Show me yours and I'll show you mine

 

[hlee]

Show me yours and I'll show you mine

I think you want the “Have you seen my KAC?” thread...

 

[FjallJager]

I think you want the “Have you seen my KAC?” thread...

I was gobsmacked when I found out after retiring and going to work for the Department of Transportation that the CAC was a military only word.

All the other federal agencies were smart enough to know it was a bad name for a id card.

 

[chevy_man]

Yellow fat on beef is from beta carotene, ie grass fed. Grain fed is white fat.

So all the stuff with nice bright white they sell as grass fed isn't?

Rancher I get it from is almost clear, I assume from the mixed diet before slaughter. Either way, it tastes better than the grocery store.

 

[chevy_man]

Ignorance is bliss, for sure. I remember those days.

This was the ~10lb prime rib I cooked for Christmas. 24hrs in the bath at 131ºF, iirc, then finished in a 500º oven.

View attachment 7793058

Here's one of those prime Ribeyes I mentioned. 125ºF for a couple of hours, then seared on the grill. Nice crust:
View attachment 7793059

Oh God, you didn't!

Prime rib belongs in a smoker, even a cheater pellet smoker.

 

[theLBC]

chuck steak turns out like roast beef after 30 hrs in sous vide.

 

[Beefmanne]

chuck steak turns out like roast beef after 30 hrs in sous vide.

Chuck steak should be roast.

 

[scott5456]

There is so much wrong and mis-information in this thread I have no idea where to start.

 

[GreenGO Juan]

I have been doing these little flat Irons from Walmart lately, they have been coming out incredible. They are consistently the same. I generally eat fillets and New York strips but been on these lately.

There used to be a butcher in town that had delicious streaks but they are gone.