Bobby Portenoy’s Healthy Living Blog

Texas Foods believes that the finest beef is raised in the corn belt of the Midwest. These cattle have the optimum flavor and desirability. All of Texas Foods USDA Prime and Certified Angus Beef (CAB) is properly aged for a minimum of 21 days to bring out the optimum flavor and tenderness.
Texas Foods master butchers hand cut each steak to our customer’s specifications in our Supplier?s state-of-the-art, USDA-inspected plant.

Certified Angus Beef

The Butcher’s Breed- In 1976 the USDA lowered its beef grading standards. Older cattle and cattle with little marbling were able to qualify for Choice. Prime beef availability was also on the decline. So in 1978, Certified Angus Beef was created by the American Angus Association to bring back high standards. This USDA certified specification-branded beef was the answer to the demand for consistent, high-quality beef.
Beef must be from Angus type cattle which is known as the “Butcher’s Breed”. It must adhere to strict standards based on marbling, maturity and leanness. Less than one in eight Angus type cattle is eligible for the Certified Angus Beef program. USDA meat grading and certification service evaluates the Angus type carcass.

Certified Angus Beef product is distinctly different from and superior to beef marketed under the “Angus” and “Black Angus” names. Certified Angus Beef is the only Angus-type program approved and monitored by the American Angus Association.

Why Aged Beef?

Our Supplier, Buckhead Beef, has developed some new twists to an old idea. In the past, beef was aged in air because it took a week or more for the product to get from the slaughterhouse to the retail market, and it took even longer for the market to further process the sides of beef. Throughout this process the beef would age and at some point, people noticed that beef from air-aged carcasses was more tender and more flavorful. Since the introduction of vacuum packaging, the use of dry-aging has been reduced to the point where only a few prime shops and high-end restaurants continue the practice. Many steak cutting operations continue to age product in vacuum packaging, and this does have some impact on tenderness, wet-aging has never developed the beef flavor associated with dry-aging product.
The other reason large-scale dry-aging lost favor with most purveyors is that the process can involve considerable weight loss due to drying. Additional loss can occur due to less than immaculate sanitation causing mold and spoilage. At Buckhead Beef, strict sanitation and excellent temperature control has eliminated the loss due to mold and spoilage, and research has shown that the superior flavor, tenderness and juiciness is worth the wait for dry-aged product.

Food Safety

Buckhead Beef is fanatical about food safety. Our objective is to provide the customer with wholesome products. Part of the commitment involves purchasing from the major beef packers, utilizing a HACCP program, continuing AIB approval and following USDA guidelines. The main goal of this commitment to food safety is to control and prevent the introduction of food-bourn illnesses to our customers.

Grilling Tips

Size Does Matter! Steaks are best for grilling when they are at 1″ to 1 ½” thick. The Ribeye, New York Strip and T-Bone steaks are best for grilling; these cuts of meat are very flavorful and will not have a tendency to dry out on the grill.
Steaks should always be at room temperature before grilling
Seasoning is very important; always add a little bit of seasoning before placing the steak on grill. The perfect seasoning is just a light coat of olive oil, a dash of sea salt and a dash of pepper. Remember, a little seasoning is better than none at all.

Stick a fork in it? Never! When grilling steaks, one should always use tongs or a spatula to turn a steak over. Sticking the steak with a fork when checking for doneness or to turn it over is a bad idea. By doing this, the steak will lose juice, therefore drying out the steak.

Heat is very important! Make sure that the grill is anywhere from 600-800°F and keep it at that temperature for 5 minutes before starting to cook. High direct heat when grilling great steaks is almost as important as the meat itself.
Grilling a fundraisers steak: Be careful of flare-ups with this specific cut of meat because they are more marbled than others, the fat can have a tendency to flame.

Grilling a Filet Mignon: Filets are typically some of the tenderest selections of beef available. Due to this fact is it very important not to overcook this type of ribeye, it typically should never be cooked beyond medium rare. The longer a filet mignon is cooked the more it loses flavor and also becomes tougher.

Grilling a prime: It is similar to a rib eye in how it is grilled, but this cut is not as marbled so it will not have tendency to flare up when in direct heat. Strip steaks are perfect for those mouth-watering grill marks that steak lovers look for.

Most importantly once you take the steak off the heat, there is carry over cooking time, meaning the steak is so hot it will continue to cook a bit on its own. Take this into account when timing the doneness of your meat.

Lastly, do NOT serve or slice the steak the minute it comes off the grill/out of the pan/out of the oven. All the juices will pour out. Wait at least 5 MINUTES before serving or slicing and your patience will be rewarded.