Omaha Steaks

I always wondered how they could truly be better than any other steak. To me, beef is, well, generally beef, no matter if if it comes from Omaha steaks or the local grocery. I can’t tell much of a difference…
 
Sac Arrow said:
But I got me a plan.
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I'm sure your plan is how to make lemonade from them lemons.

But more to the thread topic: Have you ordered beef from other mail sources with better results, or is this your first foray into this part of the supply chain?
 
RyanB said:
I always wondered how they could truly be better than any other steak. To me, beef is, well, generally beef, no matter if if it comes from Omaha steaks or the local grocery. I can’t tell much of a difference…
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Oh there can be a huge difference, although freshness plays a large part. That meat in your big box store has been shipped from slaughter house, to warehouse, to store, and probably was frozen at some point. I'm fortunate to have a fresh local butcher literally a block from my house, and that is real good beef.
 
Ravioli said:
I'm sure your plan is how to make lemonade from them lemons.

But more to the thread topic: Have you ordered beef from other mail sources with better results, or is this your first foray into this part of the supply chain?
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actually this was a gift from the neighbors.
 
I send Omaha products to people I don't like.

:D
 
I live in Omaha. Have lived here most of my life. We eat steaks, and we’re in Omaha, but for the most part we don’t eat steaks from Omaha Steaks.

That said, a very good friend of ours works at Omaha Steaks, and she gets really good deals - as you might imagine. We recently had some filets from there, and they were pretty good. They didn’t look horrible like the ones in Sac’s first post. Those looked pretty bad.
 
Reminds me…. Since I’m out of quadruped, I need to grill the winged biped that’s in the freezer
 
For special occasions, I make bacon wrapped beef tenderloin, and make a parmesan risotto as the side dish. Oddly enough, our local Kroger has prime tenderloin pieces in just the right size.

It's better than what I can get in any of the upscale grocers.
 
I drove through all of Nebraska once, west to east on I-80, shockingly didn't see one single cow. Thousands of acres of desolate looking farmland and not a solitary moo to be heard. I think Omaha steaks are a lie.
 
Many, many years ago, Omaha Steaks used to be fantastic. I don’t know what happened to them. Maybe the feed is different. Or different breed of cattle. Or some shortcut in processing. Definitely not the same anymore. I switched to buying from small family owned operations that produce grass fed beef.
 
RyanB said:
I always wondered how they could truly be better than any other steak. To me, beef is, well, generally beef, no matter if if it comes from Omaha steaks or the local grocery. I can’t tell much of a difference…
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My wife was almost vegan when I met her, but she realized she’d never actually had good beef until she ate the stuff my cousin grows.

He’s planning to retire next year...might have to go vegan myself after that. :(
 
Rushie said:
I switched to buying from small family owned operations that produce grass fed beef.
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That’s what I do too. A few of the local groceries here sell grass fed beef from a small family owned farm about 45 minutes away. Costs a little bit more, but it’s worth it to me.
 
I almost bought a beef tenderloin the other day. I can usually cut 8 or so nice size filets and get about a 2 lb roast out of the thick end. The chain meat usually ends up as fajitas or cheese steak sandwiches with lots of sautéed onions. That’s some good eating.
 
drummer4468 said:
I drove through all of Nebraska once, west to east on I-80, shockingly didn't see one single cow. Thousands of acres of desolate looking farmland and not a solitary moo to be heard. I think Omaha steaks are a lie.
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The Interstate highway system is a fantastic way to get from Point A to Point B, and not see a damn thing in between.
 
GaryM said:
I've heard a lot of good things about https://www.snakeriverfarms.com but I've yet to order from them.
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SRF briskets are used a lot by competition bbq teams that have the means.

As a judge and a cook, I have mixed feelings on that. Bbq was a way to take a tough, gnarly cut of beef and make it tender and delicious. SRF makes sure you are already 2/3 of the way there. I cam taste the difference. It’s good stuff, but $$$.
 
eman1200 said:
meat looks like sht and also looks overcooked. based on looks alone I think I'd rather have crockpot cole slaw and swiss cheese.
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Then why didn't you? It's not like you weren't there!
 
To be fair, they came from the same neighbor who is a meat cutter at Costco and who has hooked us up with awesome tri tips and NY strips, probably out of guilt for the Omaha steaks.

I think (hope) they are all gone. They were barely tolerable buried in spices and onions, but the hamburgers were pretty bad. Our go to source is Harris Ranch. And as a side benefit, they even have their own airport.
 
Rushie said:
Many, many years ago, Omaha Steaks used to be fantastic.
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I think they, along with most chain restaurants, have significantly cut quality to hold prices.
 
Matthew said:
...Bbq was a way to take a tough, gnarly cut of beef and make it tender and delicious...
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I tend to agree except for brisket. I gave up on brisket after dozens of attempts and never being happy. Then I read Aaron Franklin's book. He says you need the even marbling of Prime to make really good brisket. That tip, and a few others from his book, has me now making fantastic brisket. Matter of fact, it's on the menu for this holiday weekend :)
 
MICHAEL MAHN said:
I tend to agree except for brisket. I gave up on brisket after dozens of attempts and never being happy. Then I read Aaron Franklin's book. He says you need the even marbling of Prime to make really good brisket. That tip, and a few others from his book, has me now making fantastic brisket. Matter of fact, it's on the menu for this holiday weekend :)
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Sure, I’ll get the prime every time. But SRF sells American Wagyu. It’s on a whole ‘nother world.
 
MICHAEL MAHN said:
Then I read Aaron Franklin's book. He says you need the even marbling of Prime to make really good brisket. That tip, and a few others from his book, has me now making fantastic brisket. Matter of fact, it's on the menu for this holiday weekend :)
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Me, too! I have it trimmed, injected and marinating now. It goes on the smoker after work, for a family dinner tomorrow. I don't have Aaron's book, though I've watched a good number of his videos.

Unfortunately, this brisket isn't prime, and I realized this morning it has a distressing lack of marbling...but it had been in the freezer the longest and since it's my first full packer (I've only smoked flats up to this point), I wanted to practice on it. I've got a prime packer brisket in the freezer for later this summer.
 
GaryM said:
...I have it...injected and marinating now...
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Franklin uses just salt and cracked pepper. I might experiment with other stuff at some point but I'm a big fan of simplicity, and if it ain't broke....

I'm sure your brisket will turn out just fine, but if not, having failed so often myself, there are tons of leftover recipes which can mask just about anything :)
 
We have a family owned supermarket chain up here in Mass and NH and maybe a couple other states nearby. They started a display case with prime angus beef a few years ago, and the steaks and roasts from there are awesome. They are so good that it has ruined me for most restaurants, just not as good. The price ranges generally from about $9 to $16 per pound. One year after the holidays they had ordered too much so they were selling it at $6.99 a pound. If you are in the area give it a try.
 
PaulS said:
We have a family owned supermarket chain up here in Mass and NH and maybe a couple other states nearby. They started a display case with prime angus beef a few years ago, and the steaks and roasts from there are awesome. They are so good that it has ruined me for most restaurants, just not as good. The price ranges generally from about $9 to $16 per pound. One year after the holidays they had ordered too much so they were selling it at $6.99 a pound. If you are in the area give it a try.
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What's the name?
 
We are getting ready to pull the trigger on getting (another) freezer so that we can buy into 1/2 cow from a local farm that grass feeds and treats their livestock humanely. FanTASTIC beef, delicious pork... we'll have to go elsewhere for poultry. I suppose that folks living in areas that don't have farms nearby don't have this option, but do yourself a favor if you do have this option: stop paying to have your meat shipped to you by who knows who. Hook up with a local farm and get seriously, seriously good meat while supporting a local farmer and his family, not some giant conglomerate. If you buy a part of a cow, it may actually save you money. Otherwise, it doesn't cost that much more. Life's too short for bad meat.
 
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