ANY OF you ever try

[Lenardo]

american kobe beef or kurobuta pork?

i'm thinking of ordering some and trying it... for a special meal


the cost....well a 4lb kurobuta ham costs 65 dollars, 4 6oz pork chops is 60 dollars


the beef...well lets just say its expensive (less expensive than true kobe beef though which is like 100bucks a lb.)

the sampler pack of the beef

2- 5oz sirloins and 1 half pound burgers is 55 dollars

[Soygen]

That better be some fuckin' beef.

[Lenardo]

lets put it this way,,,as far as i know,, kobe beef is the highest grade beef in the world...

[Bodhidharma]

Well you've got Kobe beef... and Wagyu beef.

Kobe beef comes from Wagyu cattle, but for a piece of meat to be called Kobe beef, it MUST come from Kobe, Japan.

As we all know, land + grain are really high priced in Japan. So part of the high cost of Kobe beef comes from that fact alone. Plus add in the price of shipping it across the ocean. Then add in the fact that it's about the most marbleized beef that you'll ever see. All of those things make it incredibly expensive.

It's that breed of cattle that produce such highly marbled beef. For those who don't know what marbling is... it's how the fat is mixed in with the muscle of the beef. When uninformed people go to the store to buy steaks, they often get the ones that are a solid mass of meat... they think, "Ewww look at all that fat! I don't want to eat that!" Well, what they don't know, is that those are the WORST steaks you can get. You want all that fat mixed in, because it makes the steak so much more tender and juicy. The more fat swirled in with the beef, the more tender and succulent the steak will be, if cooked correctly! If you cook the heck out of the steak, all that fat melts, and you're left with a lump of burned meat which tastes like ass.

So anyway... the higher the "marble" look of beef, the better it will taste.

They do breed and raise some Wagyu cattle here in the US, but the farmers typically ship them back to Kobe, Japan so they can be processed and earn the official "Kobe beef" title, then they're shipped back to the US.

I've never had it, but I'd think having a "Kobe beef" burger would be a travesty. It's like taking an incredible prime rib, and grinding it up into burger. Sure it probably tastes good, but damn what a waste.

I'd be kind of leary of anyone selling meat under the name "American Kobe beef". I'm not sure if there are laws against using the name Kobe when it really hasn't been processed there... but really then all you're paying for is the Kobe name. Shipping it to Japan just so they can carve it up doesn't make it any better than if it was carved up here in the US, you're just paying extra $$ for shipping overseas to AND from Japan, just so it can be labled Kobe.

If you can find Wagyu beef, I'd expect it to be cheaper, but just as good as Kobe beef. Again since all you're really paying for then is the Kobe name. Just my take on it all.

[Lenardo]

cannot ship beef to japan, its banned atm..and vice versa

this farm USED to do that...they are calling it american kobe because they are using the wagyu cattle and cross bred them with black angus...shrug..

[Bodhidharma]

Where are you getting it from?

[Lenardo]

haven't bought it yet...

snake river farm is the farm that does it

[Senadin A]

There's a company here that offers something similar to Kobe beef, it isnt the "real" Kobe beef but damn nice. I had some and it was quite awesome.

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

Eh, I was raised on a beef cattle farm and also love steaks so I'll toss in my 2cp as well. For those prices you mentioned I just can't see it being worth it. While I'm sure it's top notch, anything like that your just paying too much for the name and or reputation.

If it's for a special meal, I'd look for a specialty meat shop and buy some of their best steaks and concentrate more on preperation and presentation of the meal. I also spent almost 6 years in food service and learned that presentation can go along way in turning what might otherwise be a good meal into a great meal.

[jago668]

I'm going to have to roll with Tamsin on this. I grew up on a ranch as wel. I don't see the beef being that much better for the price. As his advice, find a really good butcher and buy steaks from there. Be cheaper and the quality will not be that much lower I'm thinking. Plus if you do that you can get a better cut of steak than a sirloin as well.

[Lenardo]

TELL THAT to the japanese that pay like 80bucks a pound for kobe beef..

i'm gonna TRY it when i have some extra cash...for a special meal. otherwise i'll stick to what i can get locally

[Jimlass]

I had the great pleasure of having a Kobe steak at a Gary Rhodes resturant at a City of London charity do.

I died and went to heaven.

Previously I have experienced Aberdeen angus and Argentinian hung steaks (both great) but the Kobe was just great.

The money for it is silly, but the result is nice.

[jago668]

Yeah, but the price. I can get a good ribeye 12oz ribeye for about $12-$15. There is no telling what that would cost as Kobe, what $80? So I can feed 6 people a good ribeye for the price of just me eating the same Kobe steak. While it might be better, I don't know that it would be 6 times as good. I know I'm not going to spend the money on it, maybe if someone were to buy me one. /shrug Just my opinion though.

All I ask is no matter what kind of steak you get. For the love of God don't burn it to a crisp. If you want boot leather with steak sauce on it, by all means just buy boot leather.

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

I understand Len. Let us know how that goes when you do try it. As far as what the japanese pay for it, I'm not sure that's a great indicator but just my 2cp.

Also, I'll agree about over-cooking steaks but I'm guessing Len isn't a mid-well/WD kinda guy. I could be wrong.

I know when I used to be in the biz we normally just frowned at the mid-well steak orders, but ordering a steak WD(well done) was considered some kinda insult to the cooks. I know many a times we would tell the waitress to go back to the table and suggest they order a burger or ribs instead...lol. Of course, it was mostly in jest and they never did but having cooked some steaks to WD I'd agree they'd have been better off with the other two. Being in a busy kitchen you generally didn't have time to let a steak sit on the grill that long so often a WD steak involved various techniques such as the ole 'skillet on top of the steak' which cooked it faster due to reflective heat and the weight fo the skillet would help to squeeze out any juices from the steak. Not my idea of an ideal meal..but that's just me. :lol:

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

I, perhaps, missed the point Len was trying to make. And for that I apologize.

Len wants to try Kobe beef....period. Len will try it no matter what is said here so I'm cool with that. I did the same thing back in college with silly priced vintage port. Same thing only different :lol:

My final word is kick back and enjoy it. Let us know what you thought of it. And above all, have fun with your food!

[Lenardo]

ALWAYS :)

[jago668]

Aye, by all means try it. I'll give nearly anything a try once. But stilll, it is damn expensive.

[Lenardo]

well i ordered 2 10oz ny strips and 2 8oz top sirloins for 90 bucks or 22 bucksish a steak...

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2423864 :lol:

[imalwayshungry]

When uninformed people go to the store to buy steaks, they often get the ones that are a solid mass of meat... they think, "Ewww look at all that fat! I don't want to eat that!" Well, what they don't know, is that those are the WORST steaks you can get. You want all that fat mixed in, because it makes the steak so much more tender and juicy. The more fat swirled in with the beef, the more tender and succulent the steak will be, if cooked correctly! If you cook the heck out of the steak, all that fat melts, and you're left with a lump of burned meat which tastes like ass.

You have to be careful with marbling... the point of having fat inside the meat is that when cooked, the fat will melt and 'baste' the meat from inside. If the marbling isnt fine enough though, the fat will stay solid and youll be left with nasty rubbery chunks of fat that no one likes to try and chew on.

Be sure to let the steak rest for a good 5 minutes after taking it off the grill. This lets the juices redistribute, making the steaks much, much better.

And for gods sake, most importantly - let the steaks reach room temp. before cooking! Take them out for 30mins to an hour before cooking, setting them on a metal cooking sheet works great as the metal will help conduct the cold away from the meat. Many a great steak has be ruined when placed on the grill ice cold.

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

I think it's time to let us know how that went Len. And if you froze them, well....I just don't know what to say :oops:

[Lenardo]

they come frozen tamsin

they were very good, the wife loved the top sirloins

think my next order (for her birthday) will be a few filet's

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

Glad to here it turned out well :)

I've never ordered steaks so wasn't sure it they came frozen or just well chilled express delivered.

Reminds me, I saw your post about kitchen knives and while I don't quite have the: http://www.cooking.com/products/SkuPopUp.asp?Sku=198043&x=61&y=8

I do have the http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=109297

Back when I was in the industry they didn't have all these newer models, but I always went with the Four Star series since being in a restaurant they were just much more durable. Never had to worry about running them through a 175 degree dishwasher messing with the wood. I'll grant you that for household use, the Gourmet series looks good :wink:

Edit: Also for quick cleaning, we used to just dip the Four Star Series in a pot of boiling water for instant sanitation...lol. Tough suckers. :lol:

[Dooyas]

You must not forget, true kobe beef gets fed beer and massaged its entire life, so far my goal of naming myself a kobe cow has not worked and my wife will not massage me. :\


But like most say, reports indicate that kobe is definatly the best in the world, at least I live in Alberta that has the second best, mwhahaha

[jago668]

Hrm. I used to drive my steaks to the butcher while still on the hoof. Too bad my parents don't do that anymore. Though since it is just them at home now I doubt they could eat that much meat anymore.

I do miss ransacking the freezer though.

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

Well, I've got a 1/2 beef coming my way next week from a small local farmer. Should be around 450lbs mostly cut for steaks, but a good 125lbs will be ground. Total cost is looking to be around $700 so the per pound price is incredible. Will update on how it cooks/tastes.

[Tazer]

I'm sure Kobe is wonderful, but damn, how can you beat the flavor of a ribeye? Certainly not the leanest cut you'll find, but omg.. so good.

[Lenardo]

YOU CAN EAsily beat the taste of ribeye...

kobe ribeye :P

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

Yah, think the fact that Kobe beef comes in all sorts of cuts be it Sirloin, Ribeye, Fillets, or even high dollar burgers was missed.. :lol:

P.S. Should have my 1/2 beef by end of this week. Was all hand fed with mostly natural grains and corn, some supplements to that diet like molasses and grain, etc. The guy even was so careful as to not disturb the cattle as he loaded em up on the way to the slaughter house to avoid any adrenaline build up. Now I just gotta clear more room in my freezers...lol.

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

Well, cleared out my freezer. Even found some blackberrys from 1968...lol. But anyways, first off I wanted alot of steak cuts and I was still kinda disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I grilled a sirloin that was at least 26oz. Thursday and almost melted in my mouth, but it was alot more ground beef than I expected. Probably 175-190 lbs of ground beef out of 300lbs of beef. So the rest was mainly sirloins, ribeyes, T-bones, Porterhouses, chuck steak, cube steak, and arm steak.

Having said all that, yeah, it was worth it. Total cost was around $560 for the beef and $125 for the processing so figure $685 for a bit over 300lbs of beef. And the ground beef has got to be around 90/10 so that stuff isn't cheap. Heck, it really might be closer to 94/6 but I haven't cooked enough of the ground beef to get a precise feel for the fat content.

So, now I have a well stocked freezer and the guy I bought the beef from wants to know if I want a whole pig for the fall. Probably around 180lbs give or take and I'm thinking about it. I have a weakness for pulled pork BBQ :D Should be able to get some nice shoulders and butts out of that, some ribs, and rest in sausage.

[Shotan]

To be honest,


If someone gave me a nice cut of real kobe beef, I mean the REAL stuff where the cows drink beer and get massaged daily with sake....

I would eat that sucker raw.

Kobe beef is simply that good. But damn, the price of it.

[Tamsin Dyresoul]

Hell, if all it takes is drinking beer and a massage, I'll sell my ass tomorrow for the kind of money kobe goes for :lol: God knows it's been chewed on by enough people already :wink:

[Shotan]

Ya, Kobe beef have a pretty good life.........

... til they get slaughtered