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:

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Food Factoids – v1.

Rapid fire food factoids…AAANNNDDD…GO!

• The Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend is the current world record holder for hottest chile with over 2million SHUs.
• It is recommended that honey should not be fed to infants, the elderly, or people with weakened immune systems due to the honey naturally containing botulism spores.
• The myth of a McDonald’s hamburger lasting 12 years due to chemicals in the meat is false.  With little moisture, small size, and topical seasonings, the burger dehydrates before it can spoil almost preserving it like jerky.
• The optimal doneness for a steak is medium-rare.  This allows most of the marbled fat to render and provide and juicy and flavorful steak.  Too rare, and you will have unrendered fat which will not provide optimal taste…too well and you will have excess fat and moisture loss.
• The juice that comes from steak is nat actually blood.  It is called myoglobin, and is only found in the bloodstream during injury.  It normally resides in muscle tissue, which is the part we commonly eat.
• It does not matter if you use Crisco, margarine, butter, lard, canola oil, vegetable oil, olive oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, or palm oil…they all contain 9cal/gram of fat.  There are other positive and negative health concerns associated with each, but they still supply the same amount of calories.
• 80% of the world’s nations eat bugs as a form of food.
• Heavy mayonnaise weighs less than regular mayonnaise.
• One of the main flavoring agents in Worcestershire sauce is anchovies.
• Taste, texture, and apparence actually have little do to with the flavor of food compared to its odor.
• There are more Subway restaurants on the planet than there are McDonald’s.
• There is only one McDonald’s in the world that does not have golden arches. it resides in Arizona, and is turquoise so it does’t clash with the natural red rock formations.
• Durring emergencies, coconut water can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.
• Alaskans eat more ice cream per capita than any other state.
• Cotton candy only costs about $0.06 to make, making it one of the most profitable snacks at any state fair.
• Bubblegum will melt at 125°F.
• It is estimated that 40% of all bottled water is actually standard tap water with no additional treatment.

Add to the list!

Bacon Bleu Cheeseburger Crusted Filet – Need I Say More?

I would like to state right here and now, that I am the originator of the ‘Burger Crusted Steak’.  I used the same burger meat I created yesterday, and packed it around a beef filet, then made magic happen.  This is how you do it…(dun da dun da dun dunnnnnnn):

First you make your bacon bleu burger mix:

• 2 pounds of 90/10 ground chuck (90% lean)
• 1-1/2 pounds raw applewood smoked bacon (pureed in food processor into a paste)
• 8 ounces gorgonzola cheese
• 1 Tbsp. black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 Tbsp. granulated garlic

Take a 6 ounce beef filet and flatten it to about 1/2 inch thickness, then season with salt.  Take your ground meat mixture, and liberally pack it around the steak:

On a grill set to super high, grill for about 5 minutes on each side, turning 90° half way through:

Place the burger-steak-beast on a small sheet tray, and bake in a 375°F oven for about 6 more minutes to have a nice medium-rare center (you can adjust your cooking time here to your preferred doneness).  Remove from oven and let sit for at least 5 minutes before cutting into this bad boy and having a party in your mouth!

If  winning was a Bacon Bleu Cheeseburger Crusted Filet…this would be it.  Hopeful this starts a new trend with all the hipster-foodies out there, and I get the occasional shout-out.  \\..//