Snake River Farms Sampler Pack – Product Review

The people from Snake River Farms sent me a sample of their American Kobe Steak Flight for review. After cooking their product Sous Vide style using my new Anova Precision Cooker here is my review and process to cook the steaks:

• Packaging Appearance: The product arrived in a heavy wall insulated cooler with dry ice.  This is great when shipping frozen product because they stay rock solid even if there is a problem with your delivery.  The steaks were individually vacuumed sealed in SNF branded plastic, and THOSE were inside a sleek black gift box with additional packaging material.  Even after thawing the product in the fridge for two days, there were no leakers and the plastic held up perfect.  They also supply a beautiful catalog with other items they sell, all of which looks very appetizing, a SRF hat, and some Espresso Brava salt.
• Product Appearance: The steaks themselves looks beautiful in their sealed package.  Each has a nice dark, almost burgundy color, meaning very little oxygen got into the package during processing.  I received ribeye, sirloin, and filet portions which all looked fantastic, but each had exceptional marbling. I even went as far as weighting each steak to insure they were at least the stated amount, and they were all on point. The ONLY thing I can negatively comment about is some of the similar items were cut in different thicknesses, but we all know each primal cut is unique, and can’t really take off any points for that.
• Cooking Process: I thawed the steaks in my fridge for two days, then I removed each from their package, and seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, and just a touch of granulated garlic.  I let them dry-brine in my fridge loosely covered in plastic wrap for about 5 hours.  I then re-vacuum sealed these steaks two to a bag.  I decided to sous vide the steaks, so I set up my Anova Precision Cooker to 134°F to give a nice medium/medium rare interior.  The steaks went into the bag, and into the water bath for about 1 hour and 45 minutes.  The steaks were removed, patted dry, and I added just a little extra salt to each.  In a cast iron pan, I heated up a shallow pool of avocado oil until smoking, which is around 520°F.  I seared each steak for about 45 seconds on each side, and then they were ready to try.
• Eating Experience: I pride myself on giving real reviews of products.  I am not paid or endorsed by any companies that send me product during the time of my review, but I can tell you honesty that these were the best steaks I have ever eaten.  I also had some family members try, and they will agree.  Each steak, regardless of cut, had perfectly rendered marbled fat throughout the steak, and a beautiful buttery texture.  Each was extra juicy, and the dry-brine enhanced the natural beef notes without overpowering it. The sous vide process gave me an even medium/medium-rare finish thorough the entire center of the meat, which is a bonus of sous vide cooking.  They developed a perfect sear from the cast iron and avocado oil, without any burnt or off notes.  I cannot think of anything bad to possibly say about my eating experience.
• Value: Even with the holiday special, the price is a little higher than some other competitors on the market, but due to the quality of the meat, this is still a good value.  This is a special gift box so it will never be as affordable as if you bough a good volume of individual steaks, or a primal cut and trimmed it yourself, but you are getting some of the highest graded meat in the U.S.  You also get the bonus of the product being handled and shipped in the best way possible, and even get a sweet SRF hat included in the box.
• Overall: This gift pack is a little on the pricy side, but as I said before, everything else about these products are just about perfect.  The only other comment I could complain about would be a little uneven thickness between the steaks in the package, but knowing meat, that is just going to happen.  The flavor, appearance, texture, and overall experience was outstanding, so I give the American Kobe Steak Flight a 4.75 out of 5.

NERDSTEAK is more than happy to review any food, beverage, restaurant, CPG or equipment items you have to offer.  Feel free to contact Mike directly at chefman316@aol.com to arrange for shipping of samples, or to schedule a review. You can also follow Chef Mike on:

LinkedIn – Twitter – Facebook – Pinterest – Instagram

 

Traina Foods® Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup – Product Review

Traina Foods – Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup

The people at Traina Foods (http://trainafoods.com) were nice enough to send me a sample of their sun dried tomato ketchup to review. After trying the product, this is what I thought:

• Packaging Apparence – The product arrived in a sturdy squeeze bottle with an overwrap label, as well as a foil/paper seal under the cap.  The overwrap on my bottles were actually a little off-centered. The Traina logo and the sun dried tomato ketchup fonts were a little fuzzy, but the black script and the tomato image looked very clear. My small concerns are that the full overwrap does not allow you to see the product on the inside, and a repeated use of a squeeze bottle with an overwrap label will eventually wrinkle and shift even more.
• Product Appearance – As expected, this ketchup is not as smooth as the leading brands, however it held together very nice when squeezed into a bowl.  There are visible pieces of tomato, but not big enough to be a chewy nuisance. It has a rich, dark red color, and just enough thickness to adhere to foods just like its traditional counterpart. When using it as a condiment for french fries however, you will need to give it a little more scoop action to get it on the fry.
  

  Traina Foods – Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup

• Eating Experience – This stuff tastes fantastic! I am a ketchup fan, but this definitely brings it to the next level. It has the deep, natural sun dried tomato flavor you would expect, with just the right amount of natural sweetness. It has a great acidity level, along with just a touch of onion and other spices.  I had the pleasure of trying this with homemade french fries, and on a prime beef patty melt. Again, it has just the right amount of sodium which was not overpowering, but complimented everything I ate it with.  Even after it sat in a bowl for a while, I did not see any signs of separation.
• Value – You get what you pay for. A 16oz bottle runs about $4.99 which is much higher compared to the leading ketchup brands, however this was made to be an upscale alternative. The Traina Foods website states it takes about 4 pounds of tomatoes to make one bottle of their ketchup, and sun dried tomatoes themselves already cost more that your average tomato.
• Overall – I personally think the packaging could use an upgrade, maybe either a printed on package label, or sticker label, but the flavor from the ketchup is outstanding. It has a much greater depth of flavor compared to the high sweet/salty/acid standard brands, a nice texture you would expect from a sun dried tomato product, and even though it is at a higher price point compared to the leading standard brands, it is well worth it! I give Traina Foods® Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup a 4.5 out of 5.

NERDSTEAK is more than happy to review any food, beverage, restaurant, CPG or equipment items you have to offer.  Feel free to contact Mike directly at chefman316@aol.com to arrange for shipping of samples, or to schedule a review. You can also follow Chef Mike on:

LinkedIn – Twitter – Facebook – Pinterest