Something went sideways here......while I give HEB credit for milking the "American Waygu" designation for all that it is worth, this is a bit much lol.
(And for for that price for "Wagyu" I want white-lace-over-red-table-cloth, as it were!)
It’s not frozen, and you get to pick it out instead of someone picking it for you.
I check it out and haven’t really ever found a steak that I just have to buy. The better deals seem to be on the things where you rarely see prime as an option like roasts of skirt steak.
A neighbors kid is an apprentice butcher @ HEB, from talking to him they get sides of beef and then cut them the way they want. They seem to try different things from time to time trying to figure out what will sell other than the steaks.
I've bought Choice with better marbling for far less. On the other hand , last I checked Lengua is going for over $13/lb. I used to pay $3-$4/lb. Meat prices make no damn sense right now.
With the sloppy butchering on the one pictured, I’d probably decline. However, isn’t American Wagyu usually 50% Wagyu and 50% Angus? I’ve seen American Wagyu a lot more expensive than that and for a strip looks phenomenally marbled to me. Anyway, it comes down to preference and budget. If the steaks below didn’t have knife marks through the middle, I’d be picking up a couple to try. I look at it like what steak can you order in a restaurant these days for $30 and am I probably going to cook it better anyway? My wife says she’d rather I cook her steaks than a restaurant.
I've bought Choice with better marbling for far less. On the other hand , last I checked Lengua is going for over $13/lb. I used to pay $3-$4/lb. Meat prices make no damn sense right now.
Good observation on the "no damn sense..." thing. A buddy of mine who retired from the beef industry sends me industry insider reports. There's a lot of herd culling going on this year as feed prices and drought stifled pastures make normal supply processes difficult. That means there's meat on the hoof still going into the processing plants which is keeping current supply up stabilizing part of the pricing scenario, though wages and transportation, as well as packaging prices equate to some price increase at the market. There may also be some opportunity pricing on the most popular cuts. Reports range between 10 and 20% reduced herd sizes compared to prior years. The expectations are that supplies will be much tighter next year and beyond as the reduced input manifests itself. Recovery will take awhile but won't start till production costs come back into line (if ever). And even if that were to miraculously happen tomorrow it takes about two years to go from calf birth to butcher. Hang on....................................
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