Champagne taste, beer budget … save some money buying Rib Eyes, Blade Eyes and Strip Loins

Greetings Carnivores,

Today, let’s satisfy a primal urge. STEAK !!

My favourite cut on the beef carcass is, without a doubt the Rib Eye. When I’m feeling like splurging at a fancy restaurant, there’s no other choice for me. BUT, … when it comes to eating Rib Eyes at home, there are a couple of things you can do to lessen the financial pain at the cash register and STILL eat Rib Eyes !!

The anatomy of the carcass 101.

Although the beef carcass (and any other carcass for that matter) is sectioned into primal and sub primal ‘cuts’ the truth is a muscle doesn’t just stop and start at the designated dotted line on the big (click here) Beef chart (The American Angus Association) hanging on the wall in the Butcher shop. Here’s what I mean: take a look at the photo above. These four steaks I cut from the same boneless Rib Eye. Beginning with the one at the top, you can see the Eye is quite small and the cap is fairly big (this incidentally is the BEST steak on the carcass and the one I ALWAYS look for) but as you proceed down you see the Eye and Cap change places meaning, the Eye gets bigger until the cap disappears. The loin muscle runs almost the entire length of the animals back, beginning in the blade section and continuing all the way to the Sirloin Butt. Along the way it’s called a few different things too. The Blade Eye, Rib Eye, Strip Loin and finally ending at the Sirloin Butt.

Follow me here people … here’s how to save some money.

The next time you’re hankering for a Rib Eye, go to the Butcher Shop and ask your meat professional for some Blade Eye steaks cut from the first 4 to 6 inches of the shoulder closest to the Rib section. They should resemble the 1st steak in the picture above. The ‘Eye’ in the Blade section is the same ‘Eye’ in the Rib section (smaller and fattier than the Rib section but just as tender) and A FRACTION OF THE PRICE!!

You can still buy Rib Eyes cheaper too (not as cheaply as the Blade Eye mind you) by simply buying bone-in rib steaks or better yet a Prime Rib roast. If you get the roast just ask the butcher to ‘chine’ the bones for you. This facilitates cutting the roast into steaks at home by simply cutting between the bones.

And there you have it folks … I know there’s still snow on the ground but, let’s spark up the grill and put some meat to the flame.

Stay hungry Carnivores.

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