Oppenheimer Prime Meats & Seafood

Back in his meat-packing days, Robert picked beef for the top steakhouses in New York, including Peter Luger’s, Smith & Wollensky and The Old Homestead. For the past decade, he has brought that same selective eye to his customers at Oppenheimer’s. It’s an art, it’s a skill, but many consumers still don’t quite know what the process actually is. So here’s a little demystification:

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is the agency responsible for grading meat and poultry. After the meat and poultry are inspected for wholesomeness, producers and processors may request to have the products graded for quality by a Federal grader.

Grading for quality means evaluation of traits related to tenderness, juiciness, and flavor of meat. USDA grades are based on nationally uniform Federal standards of quality. So that no matter where or when a consumer purchases graded meat or poultry, it must have met the same grade criteria.

Prime is produced from young, well-fed beef cattle. It has abundant marbling and is generally consumed by diners at the great steak houses and better restaurants. For the retail shopper, genuine USDA Prime beef is usually found only at the butcher’s, or at a larger market with an exceptional meat department.
Choice is high quality, but has less marbling than Prime. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib will be very tender, juicy, and flavorful and are well suited to all the same cooking techniques as Prime.
Select is very uniform in quality and normally leaner than the higher grades. It is fairly tender, but, because it has less marbling, it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades. This is the grade found in most supermarkets.

At Oppenheimer, we feature USDA Prime meats and never carry anything less than USDA Choice.

Dry-Aging – Meat is muscle, and muscle is composed of protein structures that break down with time. Dry-aged beef (always rib, short loin or strip) is hung or racked in an open cooler, allowing the air to fully circulate, at low temperature and humidity. After 14-21 days the meat becomes more tender and fuller-flavored as the natural enzymatic action in the meat breaks down those proteins and the connective tissues. The evaporation of moisture in the meat causes substantial shrinkage, as much as 15%, which is why dry-aged product is more expensive that “wet-aged” or fresh meats. But the difference in taste and texture is unmisteakble!

Trimming