Prime Beef ~ When In Doubt, Ask

[thirdeye]

Through beef shortages and price increases my Sam's Club has always managed to stock some USDA Prime beef during the holidays. I like buying the primals....like a short loin or full tenderloin, wet aging them and cutting my own roasts or steaks.

Yesterday Mrs~t~ asked what Prime grade stuff was in the walk-in cooler, and mentioned wet aging. Low and behold they had a couple of cases of beef tenderloin that were due to hit the meat case next week for Thanksgiving. The kill date was mid-October, so right now they have 30 days of wet aging on them. I like 30 to 35 days in my beer fridge, but a commercial walk-in is the perfect controlled temp.

A quick price check at Creekstone Farms, and an 8# one from Sam's hit the cart. Here is my standard cutting method, so now it's deciding which way to roll.

 

[bauchjw]

I can’t wait to see which way you go!

 

[Sowsage]

thirdeye , whats your go to use for the chain?? Ive been cutting into thirds and then pounding out flat ,cooking and slicing thin for sandwiches or tacos.. Not real sure what else to do with them. Hard to find recipes that talk about using the chain and I hate puting all that$$$$ into a grind.

 

[jcam222]

I cube the chain and use it for something like Korean beef or stir fry with shrooms and onions.

 

[chef jimmyj]

That is a nice hunk of Meat.
A good portion of the Chain can be cleaned up with very little Sinew. I like to marinate for Tender Tips Sandwiches. Some of the Chain has A LOT of Sinew that is edible cut in thin, across the grain, slices or ground to add to Burger meat...JJ

 

[thirdeye]

thirdeye , whats your go to use for the chain?? Ive been cutting into thirds and then pounding out flat ,cooking and slicing thin for sandwiches or tacos.. Not real sure what else to do with them. Hard to find recipes that talk about using the chain and I hate puting all that$$$$ into a grind.

Pounding out works great as does grilling or stir fry for Mexican food. If you are careful not to over cook things like beef tips and noodles are good.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Gonna be some good eating in your future! What was the price? Just out of curiosity.

Ryan

 

[thirdeye]

Gonna be some good eating in your future! What was the price? Just out of curiosity.

Ryan

$25.48/lb. The Creekstone Farm price, also Prime grade, worked out to be $43.57/lb.

 

[BaldEagleOne]

Through beef shortages and price increases my Sam's Club has always managed to stock some USDA Prime beef during the holidays. I like buying the primals....like a short loin or full tenderloin, wet aging them and cutting my own roasts or steaks.

Yesterday Mrs~t~ asked what Prime grade stuff was in the walk-in cooler, and mentioned wet aging. Low and behold they had a couple of cases of beef tenderloin that were due to hit the meat case next week for Thanksgiving. The kill date was mid-October, so right now they have 30 days of wet aging on them. I like 30 to 35 days in my beer fridge, but a commercial walk-in is the perfect controlled temp.

A quick price check at Creekstone Farms, and an 8# one from Sam's hit the cart. Here is my standard cutting method, so now it's deciding which way to roll.

View attachment 516547

View attachment 516548

I just smoked a tenderloin that didn't come with the long tail. However, it wasn't flexible enough to wrap the tail on itself, and there was enough variation in thickness that I cut it into 3 sections and tied up the largest section, including the chain. Temp was at 225F, and the 2 smaller sections took an hour to get to 135F while the largest section took 2 hours. All turned out perfectly medium-rare.