Of all the food we eat – this is the one that I’m happiest we found. When you need to celebrate something special and were thinking *maybe* you’d go out — I challenge you to order up a Snake River Farms American Wagyu steak and grill it up at home and serve with a very nice bottle of wine. These steaks are served at fancy restaurants. You can get the EXACT same steak dropped at your doorstep and save some of your hard earned cash.
Dave and I love, love, love these steaks and have shared them with our closest friends. When people eat these steaks (as Dave grills them) people oooh and ahhh. I’ve even seen eyes roll back while chewing. (NO joke! I’m looking at you Jody…).
There’s really no reason to overpay someone else to cook your steak when you can make the best meal so easily and economically. (Which is why many of our friends are now big SRF customers!)
Keeping it Very Real. #KeepingItReal
Snake River Farms meat is not inexpensive. You will not build a cart of products and checkout for less than a couple of hundred dollars. I have just used the words – save cash and economical to describe ordering these steaks and eating them at home. The reason I’m using these terms is that you can get high quality American Grown Beef that has been crossbred with purebred Wagyu cattle and have a very high end – exceptional meal – in your own home for much much less than what you’d pay to get these steaks out at a very nice restaurant.
Sometimes in life you splurge. If splurging on a steak is in your strike zone – then you should order up some SRF and do it yourself. Then it will be only half a splurge. 🙂
Eating SRF at a Restaurant in SD
Here’s an example. There’s a restaurant in SD that serves “American Wagyu”. They serve it for $17 per oz. Top level assumption is that it’s center cut – which on 6 oz would be $102 for the meat. Add some green beans ($16), mashed potatoes ($14), maybe some mushrooms ($15) a steak for your companion $102 and some wine which is probably 2X the cost of the bottle… and you are likely in for $400 – not including tip ($80) – maybe a surcharge (4%) and some tax and valet parking. Let’s just call it $500. (Note you didn’t have apps or a pre dinner drink….)
Cooking the same meal at home
Now – to have that same meal at home – Green beans, mushrooms, potatoes – maybe $15 total. Add some sour cream / shallots etc. $20. The wine was probably $75 from a wine store and the steaks would be about $130 for 2 – assuming you got our favorite – the SRF Center Cut Manhattan 6 oz. Total expenditure for your same dinner is about $225. So less than half of the cost of the same dinner out. #WhyEatOut
That’s why I say save some cash and economically eat at home. A special event is still a special event! You can have 2 of them at home – for the price of one out. Get dressed up if you must. Play some nice music. Maybe even set some candles on the table and get out the good china. Whatever makes you happy. But trust me on this. These steaks will make you happy. (If you are into that sort of thing!)
What are your recommendations / favorites ?
I have two favorites and a third recommendation. If I’m asked if I want some beef and we are having a steak there’s only one choice for me. Manhattan cut – Gold Grade – 6 oz steak. Dave grills this up (directions to follow) and I make a nice baked potato and maybe some spinach or other green – and a very nice bottle of wine and I’m in happy land. I’m thinking we haven’t had a dinner like this in a while – we may need to get one of these going soon now that I’m talking all about these steaks. YUMMO
Second option – if we are having been – and not going all in on a steak – I’ll pull out some tenderloin pieces or steak cuts (currently not available) and make my Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry. Using the SRF beef in this recipe elevates the dinner so much. Buying the tenderloin pieces or the steak cuts also makes the dinner super economical. I always add a few LBs of these cuts to any order I’m placing. Picture courtesy of Bridget’sKitchen !
Third recommendation is that we’ve bought the ground wagyu for amped up beef / wagyu burgers. These burgers need to be grilled at medium / low to keep them from losing all their juices. Often Dave will put them onto a cast iron skillet – onto the grill – making it an indirect cook. You could as easily do this in your kitchen but you’ll get a ton of smoke – so ensure the vent fan is going and maybe be prepared to disable the smoke detector. (from experience!)
Dave’s #1 favorite is the tomahawk. I think this must be from his cave man roots – but this is what he’d get every time if I weren’t involved. LOL. Picture courtesy of SRF…
Alternately, if the Cowboy Steak is on Sale, that’s the one Dave wants. All the BIG MEAT. Ha. Men… That’s over 2 lbs of gold grade wagyu beef. We ate off that steak for a few meals… Don’t tell my cardiologist, ok? 😀
What’s the difference between Japanese Wagyu and American Wagyu ?
SRF is not the ultra rich Japanese Wagyu that you’d get at a top notch restaurant – think Michelin – served in 2 oz portions…. But it is the most delicious, intensely marbled American Wagyu that trust me, you’d LOVE to have on your plate.
From the Snake River Farms web site:
- The difference between American Wagyu and Japanese Wagyu comes down to taste profile.
- Japanese Wagyu beef has extremely high levels of fat marbling, leading to a very rich flavor best enjoyed in small portions. Japanese Wagyu is often thinly sliced and served in yakiniku or shabu-shabu style dishes for this reason.
- American Wagyu beef is the result of crossbreeding traditional beef cattle with purebred Wagyu. The result is a perfect blend of famous Wagyu buttery marbling and the robust beef flavor that American beef is known for. It is the best of both worlds.
A little Wagyu Story…
One of my favorite stories of a Waygu steak ordering situation is that someone (let’s call him Mike) was at a very high end restaurant (think it was in Vegas). Mike wanted to order up some Wagyu steak – to try it out. The server asked if he wanted 6 oz steak (?) and the Mike said yes ! What Mike didn’t realize is that the price on the menu was PER OUNCE – not per STEAK. Mike proceeded to enjoy his 6 oz of pure Japanese Wagyu – which of course – was quite a lot of rich meat – and then the bill came. $600 worth of beef had been consumed… Mike was surprised and confused when the bill came. Let’s just say that Mike learned his lesson that day! (This was a couple of years ago…I suspect that Japanese Wagyu is far more than $50 / ounce these days in Vegas….)
Image by KamranAydinov on Freepik
How did we find SRF?
Dave was the one who found these guys. I’m always game for a new vendor or new food item – and happy to try it. So, So Glad we did. Everyone who we have shared this beef with has also become a loyal customer. That’s no Joke.
Dave found them on IG from of all people – a golf nut – who also happened to be a grilling nut. Not like I know anyone like that… So Dave wanted to try – and I was game and after that first order we were sold.
How often do we order ?
It depends… It depends on how much we have in the freezer (i.e. how much beef we’ve been eating) and how big the discount is that I’ve got. There are always coupons and discounts going on with SRF – you just have to watch for them. Today they are having a PRIME discounts – up to $100 off prime favorites. (July 2024) They always seem to have something on sale, so if I were you – I’d wait till my favorites are on sale and then I’d stock up and put em’ into the freezer and wait for the craving or the special dinner mood to strike. Then you just thaw out your steak and be on your way!
Note: Be sure to mark your steaks with the date with a Sharpie before you put it into the freezer. You obviously want to be sure to take out the steaks in the right order.
Alrighty – I hope this was helpful for you. I expect that if you order up some SRF steaks you will be more than happy with your purchases. I’ll post more on cooking these steaks in the Main Dish Category. You can search steak or beef and find the recipes.