I have been wanting to do this for a while and yesterday was finally time to do it. I tested 4 bone in ribeyes from 4 different online sources to see how they all stack up. I picked bone in ribeyes since all 4 sources sold that particular cut. They were all different sizes though. Here are the contenders:
Nearly 3 lb "Cowboy" bone in prime ribeye from Snake River Farms
19 oz bone in ribeye from Porter Road
2 lb ribeye from Gebbers Cattle through Crowd cow
22 oz Prime bone in ribeye from Market House.
All 4 of these steaks were very well marbled and all had good pieces of cap on them. I reverse seared them on my kettle. It was a bit tricky getting them all to be done at the same time and at the same internal temperature. The big SRF 3 pounder obviously went on first and took right about 2 hours to get up to temp. The 2 lb one went on about 45 minutes after and the two smaller ones went on after that. Here are a couple pics of the finished products:
I sliced them up and my wife, and a couple friends, and I dug in to give them a good taste test:
In the pic above #1 was Porter Road, #2 was Market House, #3 was Gebbers, and #4 was SRF.
There really were no losers in the bunch. Eat any of them individually and they would have been some of the best ribeyes you would eat. Threaten to take away all my grills and I would probably say I preferred the Porter Road one the best. It had the strongest beefy flavor, was nicely marbled, and had a great texture. The one from SRF had maybe a more classic, clean ribeye flavor and had the silkiest texture. Gebbers brought a little gaminess to the party, especially the fat. My friend thought that one was the best. And the one from Market House was very delicious but didn't have anything unique that really stood out. Just a solid ribeye overall.
If I did this test again the results might be different. All 4 of these steaks were very, very close in overall flavor and texture. It is like comparing a 98/100 steak to a 99/100 steak. Definitely better than anything I have ever eaten from the grocery store or Costco.
All in all it was a very fun test. It had been quite a while since I had eaten a ribeye and these didn't disappoint. I went back for tastes of the different steaks multiple times and tried pieces of cap, edge pieces that had a great sear on them, pieces from the middle, fatty pieces, lean pieces, etc. to see what stood out. Every time I would take a bit of one I would think it was better than the last so it was really, really tough to pick any that stood out above the others.
And here is the aftermath:
I did a more complete write up at http://completecarnivore.com/bone-in-ribeye-taste-test/ if you want to read a bit more.
Nearly 3 lb "Cowboy" bone in prime ribeye from Snake River Farms
19 oz bone in ribeye from Porter Road
2 lb ribeye from Gebbers Cattle through Crowd cow
22 oz Prime bone in ribeye from Market House.
All 4 of these steaks were very well marbled and all had good pieces of cap on them. I reverse seared them on my kettle. It was a bit tricky getting them all to be done at the same time and at the same internal temperature. The big SRF 3 pounder obviously went on first and took right about 2 hours to get up to temp. The 2 lb one went on about 45 minutes after and the two smaller ones went on after that. Here are a couple pics of the finished products:
I sliced them up and my wife, and a couple friends, and I dug in to give them a good taste test:
In the pic above #1 was Porter Road, #2 was Market House, #3 was Gebbers, and #4 was SRF.
There really were no losers in the bunch. Eat any of them individually and they would have been some of the best ribeyes you would eat. Threaten to take away all my grills and I would probably say I preferred the Porter Road one the best. It had the strongest beefy flavor, was nicely marbled, and had a great texture. The one from SRF had maybe a more classic, clean ribeye flavor and had the silkiest texture. Gebbers brought a little gaminess to the party, especially the fat. My friend thought that one was the best. And the one from Market House was very delicious but didn't have anything unique that really stood out. Just a solid ribeye overall.
If I did this test again the results might be different. All 4 of these steaks were very, very close in overall flavor and texture. It is like comparing a 98/100 steak to a 99/100 steak. Definitely better than anything I have ever eaten from the grocery store or Costco.
All in all it was a very fun test. It had been quite a while since I had eaten a ribeye and these didn't disappoint. I went back for tastes of the different steaks multiple times and tried pieces of cap, edge pieces that had a great sear on them, pieces from the middle, fatty pieces, lean pieces, etc. to see what stood out. Every time I would take a bit of one I would think it was better than the last so it was really, really tough to pick any that stood out above the others.
And here is the aftermath:
I did a more complete write up at http://completecarnivore.com/bone-in-ribeye-taste-test/ if you want to read a bit more.
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