Premium Meats MNL Comparison of USDA Angus Ribeye vs Brazilian Ribeye

For this year’s Christmas lunch, I wanted to cook steak for the family. I’ve purchased USDA Top Choice Angus Ribeye from Premium Meats MNL previously for my birthday, and was extremely pleased with the results. Having said that, I wanted to experiment a bit and see if other steak types might agree with me as well. I wasn’t THAT adventurous however, as I decided to stick to ribeyes for now, because I actually knew how to cook those already.

So, for today, I’ll be reviewing both the USDA Top Choice Angus Ribeye and the Brazilian Grass-fed Ribeye, and sharing with you my findings.

Both these steaks had the exact same 3/4 inch thickness and were cooked exactly the same – letting my salt & pepper soak in overnight, and using my trusty cast iron skillet to create that perfect sear.

Marbling and Flavor

At first glance, the USDA Top Choice Angus Ribeye wins hands-down. You can see the nice marbling all throughout the steak, where as the Brazilian Grass-fed Ribeye had relatively little in comparison. All that extra fat means an incredibly amount of beefy flavor is imbued into the steak, which is just omnomnom fantastic!

Tenderness

The USDA Top Choice Angus Ribeye wins hands down. I know they’re both ribeye, but the USDA Angus was a lot more tender and easier to cut and chew. I think this was my fault though. Upon researching (which I really should’ve done beforehand), grass-fed steak needs to be cooked at slightly lower temperature (at least 50 deg F) for 30-50% less time compared to its grain-fed counterparts! This is because grass-fed steaks come from cows that are pasture-raised on grass. They get a ton of exercise, and are therefore leaner compared to their grain-fed counterparts. This also means that over-exposure to high heat causes the muscle fibers to contract tightly and become rather chewy and dry.

No clear winner in this round, as I suspect I didn’t give the Grass-fed Brazilian Steak a fighting chance.

Price

Well, the Brazilian Grass-fed Steak is definitely a ton cheaper – pretty much at half the price of the USDA Angus Ribeye (Top Choice). If you purchase the USDA Angus Prime Grade Ribeye, the price difference would be even more considerable!

Verdict: USDA Angus Ribeye definitely wins – but also costs more (understandably)