Steak Education

Guest Post by Jon Bailey, Omaha Steaks Brand Ambassador Recently I had the opportunity to visit behind the scenes at the Omaha Steaks headquarters facilities in Omaha, Nebraska (where else?). It was a fascinating tour that highlighted the care and precision that goes into hand-butchering each steak that eventually finds its way to homes all across the US. Since they’ve been doing this for 100+ years, Omaha Steaks has perfected butchering to a fine art. I guess that’s why the new Omaha Steaks Custom Butcher Services is becoming so popular. Omaha Steaks Custom Butcher Services While in Omaha, I met several of the butchers working to ensure each steak is of the finest quality and cut, and I learned more about Omaha Steaks Custom Butcher Services. Talking with Mark (who has been at Omaha Steaks for more than 40 years), he told me I could order any steak I wanted to my own specifications. Thickness, weight, shape – whatever I wanted. He even said they have a customer who orders special steaks custom-butchered in the shape of the state of Texas! Truly custom butchering, just like the old days? Yep, and these butchers aim to please with special orders. I started thinking about our friends back home, and how much we all love steak. The thing is, each of us loves a different cut – and there are so many choices. I like the super-flavorful rib eye steak, while Triton prefers the thick and beefy filet of prime rib. Our friend Paul typically chooses the New York Strip, while his wife Indra loves a juicy filet mignon. Until I learned I could get custom butcher services at Omaha Steaks, I would have served one type for everyone. Instead, I decided to contact Omaha Steaks Custom Butcher Services and order up a bunch of steaks cut especially for our friends’ special orders. I thought it would be fun to have a Steak Tasting party so we could all taste each other’s favorite cuts. How It Works On the Omaha Steaks website, there is an option under the Steaks drop-down menu to click Custom Butcher Services. I filled out the form to connect me with a Steak Expert, and shortly after that I was on a phone call with JC from Omaha Steaks. Once I explained the dinner party I wanted to organize, JC helped guide me towards a special order the butchers would prepare just for us. Through that initial phone call with JC, my order from Omaha Steaks Custom Butcher Services started to take shape. JC asked me how many people we would be feeding, whether they had big appetites, and what preferences in steak they had expressed. From there, he helped me choose a selection of customized cuts of several types of steak to feed our 10 guests: three 5-oz filet mignon steaks three 5-oz top sirloin steaks two 8-oz New York Strip steaks two 8-oz rib eye steaks two 10-oz filet of prime rib steaks After a quick consultation with a master butcher, JC confirmed that the experts agreed with the order we had organized. We were off and running, and the Omaha Steaks butchers went to work cutting steaks just for my custom order. Scheduled Delivery JC even worked with me to arrange delivery of my steaks just a few days before my event. It was smart of him to think about storage room in our freezer (of which there is precious little), and he asked if I would prefer to delay receipt of our steaks. The steaks arrived exactly as ordered, on the date I knew I could clear enough shelf space to store all those custom cuts. The telltale white Omaha Steaks shipping box was delivered to our front door, filled with my custom steak cuts and preserved with dry ice. There’s just something magical about opening the lid of that shipping box, allowing tendrils of dry ice “smoke” to escape. Packed in the bottom were several tell-tale boxes containing all the steaks I had ordered, flash frozen in the chiller at Omaha Steaks and delivered to me in perfect condition. Our Homestyle Steak Tasting Event Our Steak Tasting Event was much like a wine tasting party, where everyone samples several varieties of wine to taste the nuanced differences and flavors in each. Hosting our Steak Tasting Event offered guests several chances to taste different kinds of steak. Different cuts of steak taste unique from one another, due in part to the area of the cow from which it came. Here’s how we put together our Omaha Steaks Tasting Event: Ordered steaks from Omaha Steaks Custom Butcher Services. Planned a sampling of five different cuts of steak, ranging from extra lean to very marbled. Invited a varied group of friends with different tastes. Prepared the raw steaks on platters for presentation, with labels for each one. Encouraged some discussion from our guests about favorite cuts, and why. Grilled one of each cut of steak, and cut into bites for guests to try. Presented on platters with labels to identify each steak. Asked guests to try each cut together as a group, starting with the filet and working through to the prime rib. Asked for opinions. Although all the steaks’ flavors were delicious, we compared our favorites after sampling them all. Talked about how some people discovered new favorite cuts of steak, while others confirmed their same tastes from the start. Grilled the remaining steaks and served for dinner, along with great sides. Guest Involvement Was Really Fun Our friends had a blast at this party. Some called it a “Steak-A-Thon”, others called it a “Meat Fest”, but regardless they all loved learning more about different cuts of steak. Actually sampling them one bite after another allowed us all to truly taste the differences. There was so much laughter and discussion – who knew we could talk about steaks for two hours?!? Whether a person likes filet mignon or rib eye, it’s fun to know why certain steaks taste the way they do. Now when we all order our favorites from Omaha Steaks or send a steak gift box, we’ll be doing so with more knowledge about what to expect. Better yet, we can order the steaks we like with added features if we use Omaha Steaks Custom Butcher Services. You want a Fred Flintstone-sized cut of T-bone Steak? The butchers are ready for you. About the author: Jon Bailey is creator of the blog 2DadsWithBaggage.com. He likes exploring far away places with his family, home cooked meals like his Sicilian mama used to make, John Varvatos, and a front-of-the-line pass to just about anything. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.Shop steaks by cut, texture, flavor — whatever you prefer! We’ve got something for everyone.

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