Grocery Store vs Butcher Shop Steak - Steak Experiments

Ever wondered whether the premium to buy a steak at the butcher shop is actually worth it? We're putting two USDA prime steaks head to head against each other to see if we can tell the different in a blind folded taste test.
#Butcher #Grocery #Experiment
Items we used in this video:
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► My go to Salt (Fleur de Sel) - amzn.to/2poRRbC
► Kamado grill - amzn.to/2Cu8glH
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► My go to salt (Kosher) - amzn.to/2RFN83S
► My go to salt (Flaky Salt) - amzn.to/2poRRbC
► Cast iron skillet - amzn.to/2xctTIg
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► Butchers block - amzn.to/2QItG4a
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[@BBQandBottles]

I think the main take away is if you know how to pick out a steak from your local grocery store, you can get a pretty good outcome. Should we make a video on what to look for when picking a steak?

[@denis_kleshchev]

Yes please :)

[@MarkNedostup]

Absolutely

[@gdawgs34]

Yes! That would be very helpful!

[@tkjho]

If a butcher helps his customers to pick out the good steaks only, what does he do with the not-so-good ones? Save them all for his own family? Cut them up and sell them as stewing beef? Donate them to a food bank?

[@adjithwk257]

Yes please, this is what im having trouble with the most

[@eryk3146]

Butcher shop is gonna be more consistent than the grocery store, but man I’ll say this, Costco doesn’t mess around with their meats and are always a good buy. Great video

[@elianasmith6330]

Your video presentation was not only informative but engaging as well. Thank you for providing such valuable guidance!

[@larryinacatsuit1895]

Where I live it is actually cheaper to buy from the butcher than the grocery

[@profwilliams2772]

Great Video!!! I had no idea who would win. I usually get grocery store steak, but I think- after this- I might have to do my own taste test!!! Would love you to do a taste test with one of those online steak delivery companies, which come frozen, and a store bought steak. Thanks!!

[@serahchava8469]

The first time a see a person that explains things so well. next to Doctor Grande. Well done you are a professional

[@BBQandBottles]

Thanks Serah 🙏

[@DadGummitMan]

Support the local butcher if ya can. Great vid.

[@nickr3441]

Not for double the price

[@ladyg3nius]

I tried but it's just so expensive

[@BrianJacobson]

I love these comparison videos. They are fun.

[@ferrariskinniboi4020]

Very authentic! Thnx for your honesty

[@Lincolnzz]

This is why as much as I want to support local, I usually end up grabbing steaks from Sam's club. The local butcher here in my small town is double the price when it comes to Prime steaks. They are a bit closer on Choice, but still hard to justify for me. They do have a larger selection, so when I'm looking for seafood, or different cuts like picanha they get my business.

[@cryptoboner2181]

Costco steaks here. Just went to my first butcher the other day and was not blown away.

[@marcstevens8576]

With what the markets tell you, a regular consumer can't tell apart prime, choice, select or Tanner. Worked in supermarket for 16 years & their Gold Medal Meat was something the owners wouldn't even take home with them. Best to become friends with The Neighborhood Butcher. He'll give you The Real Stuff, considering meant is his main product. One can't purchase diapers, toilet paper, razors, or fruit cocktail in a neighborhood Butcher Shop....

[@MarkNedostup]

Another very well-presented and informative video. Also really like your cutting board. You mentioned butcher shops having a connection to local farmers. I haven't found any like that -- they seem to get their meat from the same distribution chain as supermarkets. You can get great frozen meat directly from farmers at a farm market, but to have a shop that sold this as fresh meat would be fantastic.

[@timothyzimmerman8962]

Informative video, I would have thought there would have been a bit more of a difference. Depending on where you live and the type of grocery stores around you, the helpfulness, the sourcing of the meat, selection, etc. may be significant factors. In our area we are blessed with several large family owned grocery stores that have almost butcher shop quality meat departments as well as many local butcher shops. Can't go wrong with either. Thanks for the video. Keep up the great work.

[@JakeSpeed1000]

This doesn't cover consistency. May you get a great steak from the grocery sometimes and a great steak from the butcher every time . I know my grocer is hit or miss.

[@BBQandBottles]

That’s a really good point. I was in the grocery store today and just took a look to see what they had and it was a big swing and a miss.

[@andrewmcbride8162]

great video, thanks for taking the time to do the comparison

[@dychejs]

Glad you all are doing blind testing now! Even with these results, unless saving money is the main driver, go see the local butcher at least some of the time. These are your neighbors after all.

[@ghidraa9340]

He basically said " It's not the steak it's the cook".

[@octavio3839]

Someone hand me a tortilla. Ill eat both

[@WorryDontAbout]

Great freaking video, I always wondered that

[@fayjaimike]

I love these experiments!

[@jacobwhitley5606]

As someone who worked at a custom butcher shop most beef sold over the counter comes vacuum sealed mostly broken down. It's literally the same as the store. Here in Utah most butchers sell Miller Blue ribbon beef. You can't just buy someone's cow that they have butchered doesn't work like that.

[@jasonkanhai8218]

So basically, ur saying it doesn’t make sense financially to go to a butcher .

[@thephilosopher5799]

Depends

[@ravinderpannu5717]

solution-: be buther yourself

[@Renilou2]

Most grocery stores use a system called atmospheric packaging that uses Carbon Monoxide for Raw Meat to keep it red. The color of the beef does not indicate its fresh. It can set out for 9 days and still look red and it will be unfit to eat. Local butcher all the way as long as they do not use carbon monoxide in packaging.

[@happysnapz]

Hey, first off.... awesome videos thanks for the constant experiments and great advice. I tried dry brining 48hours last Saturday on a tomahawk steak.... I cooked it and it was like eating a bag of salt.... I just patted dry and sprinkled Kosher salt all over and left in the fridge....brought it to room temp then cooked as I normally do.... salty salty salty 😀😀🤣

[@BBQandBottles]

Sorry to hear that. If you try it again, just use as much salt as you would normally season your steak with... so it doesn’t end up being too salty.

[@H4KnSL4K]

Like the ending!

[@nuki82]

Love you keep it honest

[@NoName-ot8kl]

This was so good!! 😆

[@TheAviator789]

It will be tough to sell the difference between two NY striploin's cooked on a Kamodo Joe over charcoal, both steaks aren't so thick so they are going to cook quickly, meanwhile, both of them will be infused with the flavor of the charcoal you have used which looks restaurant quality. This is how influential these Kamodo BBQs are with steaks, they perfume the steaks with a charcoal fire to the point where you won't tell the diference until you maybe compare an NY strip to a cheap hanger steak. If I was to buy a steak from my local butchers here in Ireland ( We have the best beef in the world) - I would go for a 3 finger thick 1.2 kg Porterhouse steak. This youll be able to taste the difference over a Kamodo !

[@dillonpi9294]

This is the guy that nobody wants to talk to at parties

[@mothman-jz8ug]

Most of the cooking channels on KZbin come from someplace(Clown World) where everyone has a butcher shop 2 doors down, and fresh seafood is available 24/7 across the street. In the land of reality, few people have such a thing going on. For me, a trip to a butcher shop would be around 75 miles (one way) and, in addition to roughly 4 hours to go there, shop, and drive back but would also cost roughly $22 dollars for Creepy Joe era gas. The choice for me, and several million others, come down to this: Grocery store or nothing.

[@jorgeisaacguerrero]

Thanks

[@sherri082772]

Buy at your closest Costco, buy the whole loin & cut your own steaks, cheaper and taste as good...especially if u dry age them😋😋, thanks 4 the comparison, keep up the great content!!

[@BBQandBottles]

That’s definitely an option. We have a video on how to breakdown your loin from Costco here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJelk2WEnrWqhdk

[@kriisyoos3524]

thank you

[@3eyeWatching]

Grocery store beef pumped with antibiotics VS grass fed beef from your local butcher.

[@JackSilver11]

Nice video. I was always wondering about this. I also now understand why people buy those egg smokers.

[@zachattack5742]

I personally stopped going to the grocery store and went to my local butcher shop. Of course the grocery store got thinner and was out for long.

[@christianbaker2755]

Honestly if you all just bought quarters and halfs from local ranchers and butchers it averages 5 a pound (currently)for the cow and you come out on top. A quarter averages around 150+ lbs of product. Average around 60lbs of ground in a quarter. It's insane to me people buy fake meat at the store when for decades we went to farmers and butchers first.

[@seasonsofrefreshing7386]

This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing friend. Let's stay connected!

[@Getouttahere78]

There is nothing better than freshly cut steak. One never knows how the meat has been handled at the grocery store.

[@BBQandBottles]

Yeah, I agree. I think in the end, the reason I’m the grocery store steak had the grey band around it was because it had been out at the grocery store for a day or two and wasn’t as fresh.

[@Max-yn2vf]

I can tell you, for grocers like giant, it depends on the department, but that job is their livelihood. When the meat department is good they take their job seriously, cutting the meats and wrapping them up as soon as the whole cut is done. It is done in a room that is between 30-40 degrees Farenheight. ALSO I actually saw at a different Giant from where I worked at that they had dry aged beef for 19 bucks a pound. When I tell you my jaw DROPPED. The one thing I wouldn't advise is getting the crab cakes from the display case. We use jumbo lump canned crab and normal lump crab, but on the receipt we give you, it says nothing about actual crab in the ingredients. Anyway, love the vids, this is really interesting.

[@adjoaaj7593]

The only seasoning is salt?

[@RAYSHIO]

IMHO the difference would be more noticeable if you didn't add any seasoning.

[@meat_loves_wasabi]

My butcher doesn’t sell meat at double the price of grocery stores... it’s more like extra 20-30% for the same grade & cut

[@furinaメpininfarina]

I always buy beef from local butchers.

[@juanrod121]

I’m switching over from grocery store meat to local butcher tomorrow purely because i want to eat healthier and am scared now of store mean an products cause of chemicals an preservatives . I no longer trust stores an can’t keep eating foods that are killing us slowly . Does anyone have recommendations where I can find clean meat an food and anyone have info on how bad grocery store meats really are ? Plz respond thanks

[@GoatRoper911]

Our grocery store HEB has butchers that will cut your steak like you want them.

[@yu-ger-bloob-highway3521]

I’ve noticed a sort of...should I say, processed taste? From my local grocery steaks sometimes. Not always but every once in a while the steak has a subtle gritty-ness to it that I can’t quite describe but is a very distinct if subtle taste. To be fair it’s usually a thinner lesser quality steak so that could very well be the reason but it’s very inconsistent. When I do get that taste, it’s still all around a good steak but about 3/4 I start to feel slightly nauseated. May try a local butcher and see how it fairs

[@jernigan007]

My local grocery stores dont sell Prime, but my butcher does. Even the butcher's choice steaks are better than the grocery store steaks. I guess i need better stores

[@wsmproductions6604]

Beef in general is way cheaper at my butcher than in grocery stores and the meat is top quality 👌

[@SO-ro5gr]

Made steak like this, and the grocery beef gave me no more toots than the other. ( I work at a grocery store most dep, and have converted back to my local butcher!!!.)

[@marcussr20]

You look like the guy from that movie Stepbrothers. Not sure which one though...

[@m.jackson0846]

Great video! I only buy milk and ready meals from the butchers.

[@jazzbandtrio8569]

I found an identically marbled choice new york cut than your prime butcher....

[@ronaldyeater3322]

I always butchered my own game, some friends game, would buy beef quarters, pigs ect through butcher, but had 2 butchers before covid, I'm in RI. Both had to close, anyone knows a good butcher in RI? Lol? Damn markets don't even have a butcher. SUPPORT YOUR BUTCHER, the money you pay is worth it, take a whole filet, roast, clod, from sam's.. if you don't know what doing will loose more money, can combine scraps to grind.. if don't your loosing more than quality.. I love a reverse sear on a strip, but for comparison I would've just cooked direct.

[@billfalconer21]

I like watching your videos and you do a great job at it , but the main reason a butcher store steak and a grocery store steak may very based on the fact the beef should start out with minimum good quality beef grade in Canada AAA (triple A beef )or choice beef in USA is the aging factor. You can have the best beef available but if l it is not aged a minimum length of 21 days ( also I am referring to wet aging, dry aging is a whole different topic) it does not have the same tenderness and taste as beef sold less than the 21 days minimum aging . Unfortunately because of the shrinkage incurred and dollars lost in aging beef very few stores carry out this aging procedure . So the next time you are in a grocery store or your local butcher shop ask them how long they age their beef. Also a little advice when shopping for steaks on special at a grocery store especially during prime BBQ season, is to shop and purchase the steaks as soon as the ad for the steaks breaks ,.Chances are the steaks later in the week that are advertised are fresher and not aged as long as the steaks that the store had on hand when the ad started .

[@lyndakempland4559]

That's good, I can't even afford the grocery store steak! 😆

[@babounce100]

Well done No pun intended

[@Kehua800]

American steaks are not as good as European, so it will be similar but try that experiment in the UK bug difference. Grass fed for a starts

[@Evan-bv8bh]

Nowadays butcher is about the same price as supermarker

[@cameronkivisto2710]

Love it

[@BBQandBottles]

Thanks Cam!

[@andrewachal9828]

Who grills with the steak up like that?? Terrible grill marks 😂😂😂

[@YourSooFakeSauce]

isn't it going to just be turned into poop?

[@mo_rhec6293]

i used to love grilling steaks now i use cast iron

[@leethurston4774]

You must be Canadian if you used a toque

[@dimmacommunication]

Due to this BS lockdowns going to the butcher has become problematic... :( I loved my old butcher's selection

[@budzlightyear2212]

Don't forget American beef over meat from south of the border

[@michaelmcdermott2070]

so much for 2x the $$$$

[@randylester9702]

Bull shit you save big and get better beef at butcher if you buy quarter or half beef

[@wbbwbb2622]

They look plastic they dont even look real , i dont think real meT exist anymore