Had my first Omaha Steak the other day

[Rabrrrrrr]

They were having a special intro deal so I ordered some sirloins and hamburgers and received them last week. So, I fired up the frying pan (have no grill) and pan fried a couple sirloins. They were very tender, and quite tasty. Definitely high quality beef. But compared to the beef I can get at Fairway, which is just as excellent and cheaper, Omaha Steaks in no way - IMO - justify their expense.

I think Omaha has pulled the American dream - convince people that their beef is better and is worth a lot of money. It is definitely better than regular beef one gets at the grocery store, but one can get comparably good prime beef at the grocery store. And save money.

Anyone have any thoughts one way or the other?


I *did* have a lot of fun playing with the dry ice. :-)

[Saltdog]

1. Omaha steaks

Being a Nebraskan (so I'm biased), I'd have to say that pan frying doesn't allow you to get the best flavor from the steak. If you have a friend with a grill, then I'd suggest picking up a few more steaks and having a grill party and see what you think then.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Pan frying is the only way I do steaks, so I have a good history with it

as a method, which is to say, I have done enough that I know good from bad when pan frying. Might not get out ALL the flavor, but if that's true for all the steaks I've pan fried, then it's no longer a relevant variable.

Grilling, of course, is my preferred method, but until I have a grill that's not an option. :-)

[Whitacre D_WI]

11. Depending upon the cut, I like them better in a pan.

Ribeyes (my favorite cut) especially.

Canola oil in a cast iron skillet, 2 minutes per side to sear (sprinke sea salt on the side facing up), then into a 500-degree oven to finish up to a perfect medium-rare.

Finish with a pad of butter and some fresh-ground pepper, and voila!

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. I have had some pretty damn good pan fried ones

that I made, too!

And one advantage to pan frying is that one can make a sauce from it, which I love to do. A little mushroom broth, some garlic and shallots, perhaps a swizzle of wine, mayhaps some cream, then cook my aspargus or green beans in the sauce for a minute or two, and voila! yum yum.

[Saltdog]

13. Results

But, what if pan frying tends to make steaks taste similar in quality? Then the variable isn't out of the equation.

I've had the opportunity to eat in some of the best steakhouses in the country and they all grill their steaks. Actually, they use superheated grills that allow them to sear the outside quickly followed by a faster than usual cooking of the meat to preserve the flavor.

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. Because I don't think that pan frying makes them taste similar

Not that I've ever noticed. Ribeye still tastes like ribeye, porterhouse like porterhouse, sirloin like sirloin, hanger like hanger, etc.

Though as i did say in the post your responded to, I agree that grilling gives a better flavor - at least for me, I love the taste of a grilled steak.

But I don't find that pan frying limits the range of tastes at all.

[GOPisEvil]

15. Get thee a cast iron grill pan!

Gets hot like a normal cast iron skillet, but you can have those fun little grill marks in your meat.

If it's well-seasoned, it should impart a nice flavor to the meat as well.

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. I've long been tempted to get one

Oddly enough, I have no cast iron pans at all. I was supposed to get my mother's, but I don't what happened - I have a feeling they are still boxed up in storage. Lots of stuff my sister and I haven't gone through yet. Thank God she's storing it all, not me. :-)

[GOPisEvil]

19. I bought my cast iron skillet at a resale shop a few years ago.

I just cleaned it really well, and re-seasoned it in the oven, and it's wonderful. I bought the grill pan a couple years back. I think it was about $20. I can get "grilled" meat even in the dead of winter!

[Don_G]

2. Comparable Beef Can Be Found At A Local Meat Market

Or a local high-end grocery store.

As for fun with dry ice, I was there when a block fell off a delivery truck in front of a chemical plant....

[GOPisEvil]

3. My dad buys their beef when he gets a good deal.

For instance, when they throw meat in for "free". I have to admit, it's very tasty beef, but I think I can get the same quality locally. In fact, there's a local producer of organic beef that is comparable in price, yet of higher quality. For special occasions, I go with them.

[Bonhomme Richard]

4. I agree. I didn't find it any better than good local beef. n/t

[r_u_stuck2]

5. Received a gift

A friend sent me a gift of steaks, potatoes, and something else I can't remember what it was, from Omaha Steaks. My package was mailed from Miami Florida.

I was not impressed that the meat was any better than anything I could get locally, and the potatoes sucked.

[AngryAmish]

22. Have you ever heard anyone say that their local beef sucked?

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. I have - there's beef available here I won't buy

as there was in my WI hometown.

Though I would never say carte blanche that ALL local beef sucks, neither would I ever say ALL local beef is excellent.

Ths issue is that Omaha touts itself as a very expensive but-well-worth-it exceptional cut of beef that, gosh darnit, you just ain't gonna find anywhere else.

I'm glad to see that so many share my opinion that the beef is good, but not necessarily any better than beef one can find locally. Not ALL local beefs, but some.

[DoverFrank]

6. Sirloins arent the best test I dont think

I think a rib eye, filet, or tenderloin would be a better comparison. Nothing wrong with a sirloin but if you want to compare it with grocery store cuts, a better cut of meat would be more indicative of the quality.

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. Considering the OUTRAGEOUS prices they want for ribeyes, etc.,

I would never buy them. If I want a steak that expensive, I wanta restaurant wrapped around it.

Their prices are ridiculous.

But if they can't make a sirloin better than the sirloin I get at the store, I doubt that they could make a ribeye better than one I can get at the store.

[Whitacre D_WI]

9. I get dry-aged prime ribeyes at the local meat market.

Not cheap (something like $20 per pound), but WAY less than Omaha.

And ain't no steak better.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Ooh, I'm droooling

ribeye is my favorite! yum yum.

And yeah, even at $20 a pound, you're saving a lot of money compared to Omaha.

[ACK]

16. You know what the really crappy part is?

You have to live in some seriously diverse urban area or a high end snob area to find a decent local butcher shop nowadays.

WTF is that about?

It is just sad. I am just old enough to remember the local fish market and the butcher my grandfather got all his meat from for the restaurant.

What a difference does it make. I remember finding a butcher shop in the Atlanta area and --- Wow! --- that was great meat. I mean perfectly marbled Boston Butt for BBQ and a steak that was to kill for.

_

[Rabrrrrrr]

20. Or in small smaller towns

My family village of 6,00 still has a couple butchers who still have great product. Thoguh sadly, that damnable WalMart, and now the SuperWalMart (with grocery store) is likely gonna send those butchers into retirement.

Really sucks.

I remember growing up, even in my hometown of 50K, we had a number of independant butchers when I was a kid. Now the only butchers are in supermarkets. We had a great butcher by my high school, place that had been there for 50 years or more in the family, that had tremendous beef. That's where we'd buy our sides of beef from (until my cousin started raising beef, then we got it from her, and THAT was the best beef I've ever known - and we bought it like lobster, going out to the field and saying "That one!"). Anyway. Great local butcher, but out of business, along with the rest of them, about the time I got into high school in 1980s.

[ACK]

21. That happened for my town much earlier with the supermarkets

Its sad. The meat was just soooo good.

The Boston Butts for example are the perfect cut of meat for real Southern Pulled Pork BBQ.

The ones you get in a lot of supermarkets are either too lean or or just covered in fat the wrong way. The marbling if you take my meaning is not right and you don't end up with enough meat.

Oh well....

_

[amazona]

17. agreed so not worth it

Someone sends these every year as Christmas present and I hate to think of the waste. Oh well. I mean, they're OK, they're not terrible, but they're certainly nothing special.

[denverbill]

23. Midwestern corn-fed beef is the best in the world, no doubt.

But I don't think you can enjoy it at it's best after it's been frozen.