Prime Rib: When is Prime Prime?

[jwagnerdsm]

I just can't fathom a great product from a huge company like Excel or, especially, Cargill. But if you say it's so, I believe you. I believe that one reason we see such high prices right now is because of all the concentration in the meat industry. This is particularly a problem in the pork industry, but is becoming more alarming in the beef industry as well. Saveur has an excellent piece this month on a butcher shop with some notes on the slow death of the independent butcher. Fat Guy and some others have said before that if you don't have your own butcher -- someone who knows you and knows his product -- you won't ever experience protein nirvana (that's me paraphrasing. Apologies to FG is I put too many words in his mouth). Anyway, I'd encourage everyone to try some of the independents out there. They offer wonderful products and their economic health is important to everyone who values good, wholesome food.

[robyn]

<<Sorry for the commercial, but the Sterling Silver line is good stuff.>>

Didn't in any way mean to disparage your former client. As someone who cooks for perhaps 2-4 people in a home setting - the cost doesn't bother me (no matter what it costs - it's cheaper than eating a steak at a place like Ruth's Chris or Morton's). I believe you can order off the web site I looked at - and I will take another look at the offerings there. Robyn

[Chad]

<<Sorry for the commercial, but the Sterling Silver line is good stuff.>>

Didn't in any way mean to disparage your former client. As someone who cooks for perhaps 2-4 people in a home setting - the cost doesn't bother me (no matter what it costs - it's cheaper than eating a steak at a place like Ruth's Chris or Morton's). I believe you can order off the web site I looked at - and I will take another look at the offerings there. Robyn

Don't worry about it, I buy my meats from YBMeats here in Wichita, an independent butcher. They dry age their meats for a minimu 21 days and will custom cut whatever I want. I'm currently in negotiations with their manager to wrangle meat cutting lessons. Every beef & pork carcass comes from a couple of small farms about 25 miles away. Discovering them was a true relevation.

I only mentioned Excel, specifically Sterling Silver, as an example of one of the big meat companies trying to do the right thing -- at least with one line. I don't know anything about Cargill except my personal experiences with the underlings at Excel -- and the under-underlings who run the Sterling Silver line. Those guys are fanatics about beef quality. I suspect that is slowly being eroded as Sterling Silver grows to encompass pork, deli meats, et al. But when I was working with them, it was like dealing with Moonies, a cult-like devotion to high-quality beef.

Dunno if that extends to the rest of Excel, the rest of Cargill, or anything else. But I do know that fairly recently there was a small core of beef zealots in charge of the Sterling Silver line. If you can find it (and don't have an independent butcher you can rely on), give it a try. You might be surprised.

Chad