Omaha Steaks

[XtienMurawski]

Omaha...Somewhere in middle America.

In continuing with my recent spate of requests for advice, any of you guys have any opinions on Omaha Steaks? Any of you ever gone for any of their offers? Tried any of their...um...meat?

The only person I know who has had one of their steaks liked it. I think that was Tom in his big time meat phase. They just sent me an offer where they'll send me about a thousand pounds of meat (steaks, porks, even twice baked potatoes) for about fifteen cents. Trying to find out if it's worth it.

Thanks, meat puppets.

"Why does he keep callin' me meat?"

-Amanpour

[Brandon Clements]

They're ok, so if you can get them cheap I'd go for it. You can get better stuff by going to a local butcher shop, though, and for cheaper than the normal list price.

[sluggo]

I've ordered from Omaha Steaks a few times. Good stuff.

[stusser]

Not even close worth the money. You can often get a better steak going to a supermarket and picking out a nicely marbelled ribeye. Omaha steaks are wet aged and not prime meat. They are shipped frozen and have a mushey unappetizing texture.

If you want to pay top dollar, buy the best (http://www.lobels.com/store/main/beef.asp). And yes, I did mean the superlative "best" not "best in the area" or "best for the money" but the best. In the world. If you haven't tried a real dry-aged USDA prime steak, well, you should. Real steak tastes much better than you think it does.

If I didn't live 15 minutes from Peter Luger's (the best steakhouse in the world) I'd order from Lobel's all the time.

Edit: If your deal is cheaper than your supermarket, go ahead and buy from them. But I'd wager it's at least twice as much money per pound, even after the discount. Their frozen twice baked potatoes are amazingly unhealthy but actually pretty good.

[Gryndyl]

Ah, but Lobel's sells grain fed beef. That automatically puts them out of the running for the absolute best possible steak. Grass fed is where it's at 8)

[BrewersDroop]

Beer fed all the way, baby! The best steak I ever has was in a small out of the way restaurant in rural Japan.

[Jason McMaster]

Well yeah, Japan definitely has the best steak. Kobe beef.

[Aszurom]

Kobe - because you can't beat their meat.

[Jason McMaster]

there is/was a butcher around here that used to advertise. Their slogan "Southeastern meats JUST CANT BE BEAT". I wish I was making that up.

[stusser]

I had kobe beef teppanyaki in japan. It was very tender but not flavorfull. Lobel's is better.

[Post-It]

I'll second Lobel's steaks. They are fantastic, albiet pricey.

[VegasRobb]

Ah, but Lobel's sells grain fed beef. That automatically puts them out of the running for the absolute best possible steak. Grass fed is where it's at 8)

No link?

I was impressed the one time I was able to try a Kobe steak. A little pricey ($175ish) though. I had to try it at least once.

[Alan Dunkin]

You friggin spoiled beefeaters..

"Gourmet" steakes seem way too expensive for me. I'll just scavenge the local Kroger's, thanks.

--- Alan

[Atman Binstock]

I live for Lugers. Unfortunately they are steakgasmic for me like 1/4 times - the other 3 are only awesome.

Kobe beef is amazing, but it's so different it's like entering a new dimension of beef.

I'm heading off to Buenos Aires for basically a steak vacation. Anyone have some suggestions?

[stusser]

Steak is southern america is always fresh; they don't even wet age it, so it can be very tough, watery, and not very flavorful. But on the other hand, you can get it every meal and rodizio/churrassceria's are fun as hell.

Basically you sit down, and there's an enormous buffet with everything from sushi to salad to shrimp cocktail on it, all meant to fill you up before the meat arrives. Each table gets a little card, green on one side and red on the other. Green means more meat, red means you're about to die of gluttony. The servers come around every 14 seconds with enormous hunks of grilled beef, chorizo, lamb, chicken, you name it, if it bleeds they have it on a stick. You point to them and they slice off a hunk with (no lie) a frickin' machete and put it on your plate. Great stuff. Definitely hit up a rodizio if you're going to be in southern america.

[BrewersDroop]

"Southern America" as in the southern United States or southern America as in the continent of South America?

[stusser]

As in argentina, south america, where buenos aries is located.

In the southern US they chicken fry their steak and serve it with milk gravy. Which is damn good too.

[Alan Dunkin]

I think he means South America.. they do a lot of grazing/farming there with livestock... all that high altitude and little else to do makes the cows and camel derivatives very gamey...

--- Alan

[walTer]

Well put my vote in FOR Omaha...

Their rib-eyes are mucho tender and very flavorful.

I have to say though, yes the price is a drawback. As for delivered frozen etc.. yeah but they are vacuumed sealed and frankly I enjoy the heck out of them.

Look for a good deal plus once you order, they will give you some kicker deals later in the year- check your mail- I have gotten some pretty good mega-deals from them.

EDIT: If you can find Kobe Beef (or US raised in the style of Kobe beef, buy it. screw the price but at least try it once)

[Enidigm]

.. as to the original post.

I have used Omaha Steaks several times. Generally speaking, i find their meats acceptable. The Filet Mignons are nice, but then so is anything wrapped in bacon. Their hamburgers are shit imo; they may be good quality sirloin, but are pressed into a fatty McPatty. I've never tried their higher end products.

My favorite item was oddly their fish; for a frozen meal they came out pretty good, and better than i (used) to be able to cook fish (though i'm handy with grilled Salmon now). Stuffed Sole with Scallops; again, pretty low end but i preferred it to the meats.

Oh, and i tried the stuffed potatoes. Not shabby, again.

Really Omaha is just a frozen subsitute for cooking, at least when i used them. Generally a 20$ steak at your favorite meat market will turn out as good or better. But... when your late, or in a hurry, and for some reason just need a steak, Omaha isn't a bad choice.

Edit: Oh and you get a great styrofoam box :).

[stusser]

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/tasting.asp?tastingid=17&iSeason=4

You will need to register (free) to view this. Also search for omaha on foodie sites like egullet, etc, they all agree with me. Omaha steaks are roughly mass market supermarket quality for 2-4X the price.

Of course taste is subjective. There's no right or wrong. But if there were, I'd be right and you would be wrong.

[Enidigm]

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/tasting.asp?tastingid=17&iSeason=4

You will need to register (free) to view this. Also search for omaha on foodie sites like egullet, etc, they all agree with me. Omaha steaks are roughly mass market supermarket quality for 2-4X the price.

Of course taste is subjective. There's no right or wrong. But if there were, I'd be right and you would be wrong.

ha most true, esp., with meats.

The only meat i like "rare and juicy" is Prime Rib at the Country Club, served with a tablespoon of horseraddish. Everything else has to be lean and well done. I can stomach a medium, of course, but well done, with a good charred outside, is definately preferred.

Omaha Steaks are not good enough, imo, just to eat raw, like some Kobe Beef might be (in theory); they really depend upon how you cook them. And they are so lean, relative to most grocery meat, if you pan fry them you'll need to add some oil, and maybe even bacon if you grill - that is if you like your meat juicy.

[Duality]

In the southern US they chicken fry their steak and serve it with milk gravy. Which is damn good too.
Its perfect for the round steak. A cheap cut of meat that's always on sale.

Course, I'm sure its fattening as all hell, since you're supposed to fry the steaks in bacon grease.

[Alan Dunkin]

It's called chicken-fried steak. Hell I thought it was available everywhere.

It's not bad if done right. Serve it on toast with some mashed potatoes and decent (white) gravy. Oh yeah.

--- Alan

[bago]

Ruths Chris: Pretty damn good steak with their 1800 degree ovens and nice cuts able to give you beef sushi.

Quattro at whistler. Their wine is Stupidly overpriced (I paid 40 for a bottle of 4$ wine), but their filet mignon is heavenly. Easily one of the best steaks I've ever eaten.

[jpinard]

What if you're poor and want a bunch of meat (to freeze)? Any option cheaper than the sueprmarket (besides roadkill)?

[triggercut]

What if you're poor and want a bunch of meat (to freeze)? Any option cheaper than the sueprmarket (besides roadkill)?

Be clear on this: any time you freeze any sort of meat, you are doing irreparable damage to the flavor of it. Frozen steak, chicken, or fish that is thawed and cooked will never, ever taste as good as a similar product that hasn't been ruined by freezing.

[Nick Walter]

What if you're poor and want a bunch of meat (to freeze)? Any option cheaper than the sueprmarket (besides roadkill)?

Be clear on this: any time you freeze any sort of meat, you are doing irreparable damage to the flavor of it. Frozen steak, chicken, or fish that is thawed and cooked will never, ever taste as good as a similar product that hasn't been ruined by freezing.

Technically true, but won't matter to most folks. Usually people aren't going to cook a meat right to expose it's full flavor anyway, or are going to cover the flavor with heavy seasonings/sauces. So warning people not to freeze meat is sort of like warning people to only use synthetic oils in their Porsche to prolong the life of the turbo. It's correct, but irrelevant to 99.5% of the population.

[VegasRobb]

Isn't the cost pretty much the same when you compare buying a huge amount of meat to freeze versus shopping at the market? Timewise, it's probably better to buy bulk and freeze.

[Jason McMaster]

Freezing won't do much that would harm the average persons oppinion of the taste of a steak.

[stusser]

This is true, but if I'm going to pay $30 for a steak, I don't want it frozen.

BTW, it is very likely that nobody reading this has ever eaten fresh shrimp. Shrimp are frozen immediately after harvesting, on the boat.

[Jason McMaster]

I won't disagree with you on that point, but the idea that it completely destroys the meat and it's no longer fit for human consumption is a little much. The higher quality meats should never be frozen if you're going to pay that much for them.

[Nick Walter]

I won't disagree with you on that point, but the idea that it completely destroys the meat and it's no longer fit for human consumption is a little much. The higher quality meats should never be frozen if you're going to pay that much for them.

It just goes to show that there is no topic too bizarre for someone to get snobby over it on an internet forum.

I bet if we had a thread about necrophiliacs we'd encounter people bragging about how they only bang 3-4 day old bodies and it's ludicrous how most of the population doesn't realize the degree rigor mortis really enhances sexual pleasure.

[VegasRobb]

I won't disagree with you on that point, but the idea that it completely destroys the meat and it's no longer fit for human consumption is a little much. The higher quality meats should never be frozen if you're going to pay that much for them.

It just goes to show that there is no topic too bizarre for someone to get snobby over it on an internet forum.

I bet if we had a thread about necrophiliacs we'd encounter people bragging about how they only bang 3-4 day old bodies and it's ludicrous how most of the population doesn't realize the degree rigor mortis really enhances sexual pleasure.

Not cool, Nick! After all, this is a thread about *meat*.

[Nick Walter]

Not cool, Nick! After all, this is a thread about *meat*.

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have posted that but I just couldn't resist. You should have seen the much worse first draft that had discussion of frozen bodies. :twisted:

[Timemaster Tim]

BTW, it is very likely that nobody reading this has ever eaten fresh shrimp. Shrimp are frozen immediately after harvesting, on the boat.

I've eaten fresh shrimp. Delicious. Also, pricey.

[chet]

You have to buy it right, straight off the boat when they pull up. We did this when we lived in New Orleans. Besides the mess of cleaning fresh shrimp, the taste was not noticeably better, if anything more "fishy". But I think at the time we were paying $2 a pound, so that was nice.

Chet

[Chowhound]

This is true, but if I'm going to pay $30 for a steak, I don't want it frozen.

BTW, it is very likely that nobody reading this has ever eaten fresh shrimp. Shrimp are frozen immediately after harvesting, on the boat.

I have. Buy them live at the market to prepare at home, and at from the live tanks at better Chinese restaurants. Add to that list, live crab, live lobster, live fish. I would venture to say that butchering a cow, cutting off a ribeye and throwing it on a grill would taste better than Omaha, Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Flemings, Lobels, Smith&Walensy, etc.

[BrewersDroop]

I would venture to say that butchering a cow, cutting off a ribeye and throwing it on a grill would taste better than Omaha, Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Flemings, Lobels, Smith&Walensy, etc.

Beef should be aged to allow the connective tissues to breakdown, making it more tender. Aging also tends to cause water in the tissues to evaporate which helps improve the flavour.

[stusser]

It's not only tenderness and water loss, the bacteria also denature some of the proteins, changing the flavor entirely. Fresh beef tastes very different from properly dry aged. Surprising to see someone named chowhound say this... I always thought your name came from chowhound.com, but I guess not.

I've had fresh shrimp too, also at chinese restaurants. But only a couple of times, and the taste wasn't noticeably better.

[Alan Dunkin]

Ha, shows what you know.

Stick to beef! :)

--- Alan

[Chowhound]

Well, if you go with the assumption that live animals, freshly killed, cleaned, prepared, cooked and served taste much better, I would assume the same about beef.

I've never had a steak fresh off the cow, so to speak, so I cannot attest to how it compares with one which has been dry or wet aged. But I have had chicken, duck, pork, all sorts of seafood, prepared and eaten within an hour of its death - and I can say that it tastes vastly better than their counterparts you buy off the butcher or fresh meat/seafood areas in supermarkets or specialty stores.

[Talisker]

Getting back to the offtopic at hand:
Definitely hit up a rodizio if you're going to be in southern america.
Was visiting a friend in Salt Lake City a few years back, and he took me out to the Rodizio Grill (http://www.rodiziogrill.com/) there -- holy sweet god, I've never had meat like that before or since. Not that I've never had an individual cut of meat that was better, mind you -- but rather, there's so MUCH excellent meat that they're literally shoving at you, and so much variety... I think one of the offerings that day was Brahma Bull? Something like that, egads. Meat heaven! Even though my friend moved away from SLC a year ago, I'm almost to go out there again just to eat.

Here's a nice writeup (http://www.utahrestaurantguide.com/rodiziogrill/) I found while googling for the restaurant's page. Oh, and there's also one in Denver, apparently.

So, why can't kickass restaurants like this one be the ones to morph into chains? I'd trade the local Logans, Applebees, Ruby Tuesday, Branns, and whatever else is around here for a Rodizio in a meat-induced hypertensive heartbeat.

[stusser]

Geez that's cheap too... rodizio here in NYC starts around $40. If you happen to be here, i recommend churassceria plataforma. Good stuff.

[Alan Dunkin]

I may have to start a cheese snobbery thread soon. I'm not one, but am curious to see who is.

--- Alan

[bago]

Maillard Reactions. Learn em and love em.

[triggercut]

I won't disagree with you on that point, but the idea that it completely destroys the meat and it's no longer fit for human consumption is a little much. The higher quality meats should never be frozen if you're going to pay that much for them.

Uh, right. Not sure anyone--especially me--ever said as much, either, Emily Litella.

My point was this: *if* you have the option of a local butcher shop, that's the way to go. They hand-cut their steaks, and if you establish a good relationship with your butcher, he'll clue you in when they have a solid price break on different cuts.

Hey, if we're talking ground beef or lower-graded meat, sure, go ahead and freeze it. No biggie. But freezing a good NY or KC strip, or a Porterhouse, or center-cut filet, or bone-in ribeye? That I don't get. Those cuts of beef cost enough as it is, especially since you're usually forced to buy USDA Prime or Choice when you buy them. Freezing Choice-grade meats is something I can shrug off, but freezing prime-grade is like buying a Porsche and then painting it AMC Gremlin orange metal-flake. Support the local guys--hit up your butcher. Your taste buds will thank you.

[triggercut]

I would venture to say that butchering a cow, cutting off a ribeye and throwing it on a grill would taste better than Omaha, Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Flemings, Lobels, Smith&Walensy, etc.

Beef should be aged to allow the connective tissues to breakdown, making it more tender. Aging also tends to cause water in the tissues to evaporate which helps improve the flavour.

Yep. Dry or wet-aging beef 21-30 days is the way to go. Most butcher shops keep pretty careful track of how they age and for how long, and love to talk to their customers about it if you ask.

And, as Chet and others have said, if you're ever lucky enough to be able to buy shrimp, lobster, hell--any fresh fish right off a boat, do it. The difference in taste is striking.

[Jason McMaster]

Be clear on this: any time you freeze any sort of meat, you are doing irreparable damage to the flavor of it. Frozen steak, chicken, or fish that is thawed and cooked will never, ever taste as good as a similar product that hasn't been ruined by freezing.

Seriously, you sound like a surgeon. Maybe irreparable damage is a bit harsh for this situation? We're talking about meat, not about huffing.

[playingwithknives]

Kobe beef is very nice, ive had that prepared teppan yaki at some outrageously expensive Suntory resturant in Singapore.

As for beef, Scottish Aberdeen Angus beef, roasted in the largest joint you can afford/fit in the oven, nothing else touches it.

[triggercut]

Be clear on this: any time you freeze any sort of meat, you are doing irreparable damage to the flavor of it. Frozen steak, chicken, or fish that is thawed and cooked will never, ever taste as good as a similar product that hasn't been ruined by freezing.

Seriously, you sound like a surgeon. Maybe irreparable damage is a bit harsh for this situation? We're talking about meat, not about huffing.

By "irreparable damage to the flavor", I meant "it won't ever taste as good as when it was fresh". Not that it'll kill you, and not, even, that it won't be delicious...but, steak especially, is deliciouser if you have access to a good local butcher and can have him give you stuff that's been dry or wet aged and climate-controlled. Costs an extra buck or two a pound, but c'mon. It's steak! Live it up!

[bago]

Yeah, think of the fact that the water in the cells would expand and burst the cells, allowing certain enymes to mix, causing unfavorable reactions at a cellular level.

[Jason McMaster]

I'm not saying you should freeze steak it's... nevermind.