Via Tom Smith, I see WSJ is reporting a steep drop in the prices in USDA Prime beef at supermarkets, owing to an increase in available supply because high end steak restaurants aren’t doing so well in this economy.
The piece is an excellent primer on buying and cooking steaks, although I strongly disagree with this:
Given a choice between cuts of USDA prime beef, Mr. Raichlen says he would choose a New York strip or a T-bone in order to take advantage of the firm meat, which tastes lush and juicy when well-marbled. But take a page from top steak houses and don’t bother buying prime tenderloin, or filet mignon. This cut is only slightly marbled, so buying prime barely changes the eating experience.
Nonsense. A nice cut of Prime tenderloin is spectacularly better than an ordinary Choice tenderloin. It ain’t even close.
Believe me, I’ve tried — and tried and tried — because the former can be double the price or more. But you’re better off with half the steak. While Prime filet is not particularly marbled, it’s also highly unlikely to have chunks of the inedible, hard fat or the disgusting veins that one routinely finds in the Choice variety at the local supermarket.
