Father’s Day is coming up and if you’re looking for a special treat for a meat-lover, look no further than your front door. Consumer Reports tasted steaks from several mail-order companies to find out which ones are a cut above the rest.
A blind panel of eight tasters from Consumer Reports sampled popular filet mignon and rib-eye cuts from Omaha Steaks, the Kansas City Steak Company, and Snake River Farms.
“The companies didn’t know that we were testing these steaks. They didn’t send them to us. We bought them just as any consumer would,” said Consumer Reports Editor Perry Santanachote.
The panel looked at everything from the packaging to the steaks’ appearance, aroma, flavor, and texture.
Snake River Farms
Snake River Farms was voted “Editor’s Choice.” The filet mignon was everyone’s favorite, and the cowboy steak was a stunner that would make any meat-lover happy.
But Snake River Farms filets didn’t come cheap — at $8.50 an ounce — and the 40-ounce rib-eye cost $158, or $3.95 an ounce.
Kansas City Steak Company
Voted “Best for a Crowd,” the Kansas City Steak Company’s filet was $5.83 an ounce, and the 18-ounce rib-eye was about $70, or $3.96 an ounce.
“Most tasters liked this ribeye the best even if it wasn’t the prettiest,” said Santanachote.
Omaha Steaks
Omaha Steaks was voted “Best Value.”
“Neither the filet nor the ribeye were anyone’s favorites in the taste test. But we really appreciated how beautifully butchered and well-marbled the steaks were,” Santanachote said.
Omaha was the least expensive of the three. Its filet was $4.76 an ounce and the rib-eye cost $3.54 an ounce.
Santanachote says many tasters compared Omaha’s steaks to a really good supermarket steak — a perfectly fine option and an especially good value.
The steaks from all three companies come frozen and packed with dry ice, so Santanachote noted there’s no pressure to eat them as soon as they’re delivered.