Comments on: USDA Prime at Costco

By: Brian @ Wongside » Costco: To buy or not to buy…

Brian @ Wongside » Costco: To buy or not to buy… — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 17:33:13 +0000

[...] my opinion, they left out the item at Costco which is near and dear to my heart: Prime Grade Beef. The price has gone up a few bucks since that article. It may be due to the proximity of the [...]

By: Brian @ Wongside » Costco: Love/Hate

Brian @ Wongside » Costco: Love/Hate — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 00:10:27 +0000

[...] great products: inexpensive wetsuits, highly rated batteries, cheap gas, and let’s not forget great meat. They also have an unbeatable return policy. But on the other hand, I’m discovering that [...]

By: Chris Burgess

Chris Burgess — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:44:39 +0000

Well I am a costco member in Canada here it is AAA beef and we have the canadian prime as well. let me tell you its the best beef in the world. It tastes like butter has been put in the steak. Thats the AAA Alberta Beef Buy the whole you will save so much money feeze it with spice and telling you it will be the best beef ever. Anyhow the price lately has been 13.49 a kilo while the whole is 10.99kg for a striploin Safeway is 22.49a kg

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:19:43 +0000

Hi Carole, I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. That's rather unfortunate. While I don't have any personal experience with their return policies, I know Costco has one of the best in the business. I've heard of people returning all sorts of stuff to Costco, some of them with questionable ethics. I would definitely encourage you to seek redress from them for this unfortunate mishap.

By: Carole Barenys

Carole Barenys — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:49:43 +0000

I purchased 3 NY steaks–prime– at Costco; two of them were satisfactory, after some extensive trimming. The third was almost inedible. It was riddled with gristle, yet the side presented in the package showed a nice marbled piece. But the flip side was a disgrace. I got stuck with that piece because I did not want to burden anyone else with it. This was a total ripoff, at more than $32 for 3 steaks. I am going to seek redress.

By: Brian @ Wongside » News Release!

Brian @ Wongside » News Release! — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:11:36 +0000

[...] July 2008, I found USDA Prime beef at Costco. I wrote about my incredible discovery as well as a follow up post with pictures, and my adventures [...]

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:32:19 +0000

I didnt even know what prime was until I bought it at costco. i saw the marbling of the ribeye and had a feeling that it was gonna be a damn good steak, that and the fact that it cost $3 more per lb than choice. I went home and decided I should grill a ribeye for myself and…holy crappitydoo! It was the most flavorful and tender steak i’ve ever eaten. I hope costcos continue to sell the prime meat cuz I’d kill the calf myself for a bite of prime! You think its ok to freeze prime meat? Dont want frost to settle on the meat in the freezer. but then again, i shud invest in a machine that vacuum seals plastic bags to avoid freezer burn.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:08:36 +0000

Hi Dimitri, thanks for posting. Though my original post stated it’s rarely ever carried, I’ve been able to pretty consistently find the Prime grade beef at my local Costco in Mountain View, CA. I don’t always buy it, mind you, but it’s nice to know it’s available. I have had difficulty finding it at other ones when I’ve looked. Must be a regional/city thing.

I hadn’t thought of it being due to the poor economy, but I suppose you could be right. The original post was back in July, before the economy got really horrible, so I’m not sure they’re directly correlated, though they could be.

In any case, it’s a lucky thing for us as consumers who get our choice of the finest beef available. You’ll definitely be eating the top 2% of all beef when you sit down for dinner.

I don’t know if they sell the primal cut, though that would be a good question to ask. I do know they sell cases of meat, which are 50-100+ lbs. A bit overboard for my purposes.

Have you ever dry-aged beef at home? I’d be interested to know your process.

By: Dimitri Taranov

Dimitri Taranov — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:03:07 +0000

Just bought some prime New York strip at Costco today. I am just as excited about this as you. Hope it becomes a regular feature there. At $9.99/lb the price is incredible. I guess, with the bad economy there is a lower demand for them at the steakhouses that normally buy most of the prime beef.

I bought the trimmed steaks. Forgot to check if they have the primal cuts of the same meet. I am interested in this so that I can try to dry-age it at home.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:21:34 +0000

Hi Jan, thanks for the comment. I’m surprised you dug this post up seeing as how it’s over 7 months old. I guess that just goes to show that if it’s on the Internet, it’s forever. In any case, I did some research on your comment, and the evidence does seem to indicate you are correct. I don’t remember where I originally learned my information. I’m a huge fan of Alton Brown (Good Eats), and I’m fairly certain that I learned it from him. But I’ll have to go back and look at the old episodes to be sure. In any case, I’m pretty sure he’s the one that made the distinction of prime rib vs. standing rib roast being made by the USDA grade of Prime. Hard to believe he’d make a gaffe like that. But I’ll have to take a look…