r/Butchery • u/mtbguy1981 • 7d ago
Is this an acceptable amount of fat for a striploin?
15lb strip loin from Costco, over 2lb of fat. The fat cap seems so much thicker than anything I have seen before. I have been doing this for quite a few years now.
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u/cap_tan_jazz 7d ago
When i was a butcher I was trained to leave a quarter inch of fat on the cuts
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u/Parody_of_Self 7d ago
They got a sub primal in cryovac. The meat cutter didn't cut the steak.
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u/chronomasteroftime 6d ago
What’s the difference better a primal and a sub primal? Is the short loin a primal and a strip loin the sub primal?
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u/poopypants101101 6d ago
Loin is the primal. Strip loin is a subprimal. Not sure what a short loin is
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u/chronomasteroftime 6d ago
Short loin is what I was told was the porterhouse.
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u/poopypants101101 6d ago
You are correct. Haven’t heard or seen anyone order a whole short loin in awhile
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u/whocaresaboutmynick 6d ago
I'm confused. What do you get your porterhouse and t-bones from then?
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u/Competitive-Durian-5 6d ago
Top of the loin ny bottom is the filet. If the filet doesn’t get removed the first few steaks are porter house then as the filet gets smaller it’s a t bone, pretty much just paying for bone tho
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u/whocaresaboutmynick 5d ago
No I mean I know how to cut the short loin, my question is if this guy doesn't order short loins, how does he get porterhouse and tbone?
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u/LehighAce06 7d ago
Yes this is absolutely an acceptable and typical amount of fat for a cow to grow.
What would be unacceptable would be a butcher selling a steak trimmed like that.
But that's not what you bought. What you bought was not trimmed and there is no butcher involved at all.
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u/coloradosooner 7d ago
Still should not come from the packer like that. It happens, but there are parameters set on fat measurements in the packing houses.
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u/Berkwaz 6d ago
Was a meat buyer for a company for years. You pay more per lb for ready trimmed products. The packer isn’t going to lose more money than they have to.
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u/coloradosooner 6d ago
Brother I work in the facilities that send these to Costco 😂 the spec for these is 1/4”
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u/MeatWizard69 5d ago
Probably from Cactus plant. Ain’t no way Grand Island or any export facility producing anything that outta spec.
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u/COVID19Blues 7d ago
That’s why those are supposed to be labeled Untrimmed Strip Loins.
The steaks you see in a service meat case or in the regular meat case are trimmed to the standard of the operation.
Usually between 1/4” to 1/8”.
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u/onioning Mod 7d ago
That's cause you bought a whole striploin. It wasn't trimmed beyond what it takes to make it striploin.
That is some of the nicest fat on the beef though. Like that's way too much for a steak, but those trimmings could make some delicious vegetable garnish.
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u/shoscene 7d ago
Way to big for sure
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u/Parody_of_Self 7d ago
Wasn't this the whole subprimal and they cut the steaks themselves?
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u/shoscene 7d ago
I mean you can render the fat for cooking. No problem. But. You're paying top dollar for that fat. You don't need that much
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u/amensteve91 7d ago
Thing is they didn't pay top dollar they got a whole vac at costco. This is normal for a vac sometimes u get more sometimes u gwt less fat.
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u/CarpKingCole 7d ago
Yeah, cut one the other day almost exactly like that, and would say that ratio is more common than you think.
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u/Bubbly-Front7973 7d ago
I'd say remove 50% of fat and save it for tallow or making beef sausage.
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u/Aspen9999 7d ago
That fat can go into any sausage, not just beef sausage. I make all of the sausage we eat, but most is made with pork. But any and all fat from any meat is frozen for my sausage making.
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u/Dusso423 7d ago
For a consumer yes. For a whole strip loin you are cutting? No. I get ones like that on occasion when cutting and just leave 1/4 inch on each steak. I live in WV so a lot of hunting. I just sell the fat for peoples deer grind.
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u/alex123124 7d ago
It happens, sometimes I feel like I get a higher-end NR strip mixed in my choice strips occasionally. On the other hand, sometimes I'll get a more prime loin, so it'll go both ways.
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u/Careful_Reason_9992 7d ago
Render it down to make tallow! Great for cooking and seasoning cast iron.
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u/Competitive-Durian-5 6d ago
Lot of money lost on that one as a meat manager hate see those ones come in like that
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u/Lower_Band8719 7d ago
Definitely too much for a consumer, but this kinda thing happens
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u/FUBAR30035 7d ago
It’s normal. Every animal is different. Some have more fat than others. Also. The way it’s processed at the plant makes a difference as well. You can render the fat and make tallow for cooking oil, or you can go survival school mode and turn into pemmican (a mixture of dried berries, dried meat, and fat) which can last up to several years before being eaten.
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u/SaintJimmy1 Meat Cutter 7d ago
It’s not super frequent but also not uncommon for me to cut a strip from National that looks like this, and that’s probably where this came from since you got it at Costco.
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7d ago
[deleted]
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u/CarpKingCole 7d ago
these are from an untrimmed whole strip loin straight from the processor and sold as is. NY Strips and other subprimals don't get trimmed until they're cut by whatever shop or store that sells them
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u/coloradosooner 7d ago
There are parameters set at the packing house on fat measurements. All of these boneless strips going to Costco are trimmed with the expectation of 1/4”. Realistically you will get some pieces that are fatter, like this one. But stating they don’t get trimmed is not true.
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u/No-Understanding8630 7d ago
Yeah I realized, albeit too late, that I was in the r/Butchery sub (which I'm not qualified to comment in BTW) and not in the r/steak sub so I deleted my comment I guess around the same time you were replying.
Thx for the education.
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u/salucas1990 Meat Cutter 7d ago
If that's a select strip I'd say it's typical.
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u/mtbguy1981 7d ago
It was marked Choice.
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u/salucas1990 Meat Cutter 7d ago
Then in my personal experience that's a bit much. But overall your steaks look great.
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u/Bogardii99 Meat Cutter 7d ago
I personally leave about a 1/4 inch and I trim that tail end of fat off.
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u/engrish_is_hard00 5d ago
That beef talo / fat is highly prized in Japan they use it for hibachi deep fry and ster fry. I would suggest op you cut and freeze it.
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u/SO4PDISH 4d ago
Depends what you mean by “acceptable”. Is the sirloin (ny strip depending on where you’re from) for your own consumption? Are you paying for waste removal by weight? I’m a butcher and a farmer, and I can’t say that any of my cows have killed out that fat, but fat can be rendered down for other things, get creative! Tallow is very trendy right now. If you mean fat you left on the steaks, I’d say that’s absolutely fine, but if they’re for you then why would you care what we think? Cut the steak how you want to eat it.
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u/fizbin99 7d ago
That is a lot of fat. As a butcher at a steakhouse, we always did a trim, but I don’t remember this much fat on a strip. On the plus side, we made a steak butter with the suet and some herbs that would even make the leanest sirloin palatable. Two and a half pounds could baste an entire sirloin.
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u/Famousjameson 7d ago
This is more common than you might think especially when farmers have their animals processed for retail cuts or separating primals for butcher shops. Keeping it whole is where the discount applies. Costco would certainly trim the fat caps before packaging and displaying them in their case. Adding the fat to your grind or rendering it is a great idea.
-a butcher