5 Reasons Why We Love Porter and York

There is prime rib and then there is USDA PRIME RIB. The best of the best. The king of kings. The center point of your holiday jubilee. While your holiday gathering may look at little different this year, it may make it the perfect opportunity to try your hand at our famous Melt-In-Your-Mouth Prime Rib Recipe. And what’s the point of making prime rib if you’re not actually using USDA prime beef? The best of the best. The king of kings.

We’ve being making prime rib for close to 20 years. It’s safe to say we’ve bought dozens of prime rib roasts over the years. After adopting it as a Christmas tradition, we quickly learned not all brands are the same. That Costco Prime Rib? Sorry to say, it won’t end up like the prime rib you order at your favorite steakhouse. Same goes for Whole Foods and Sprouts (yep- tried them all!). It takes more than a “prime” grading to replicate your favorite steakhouse staple.

Traditionally speaking, we never order prime rib online. Why? Fresh meat is 10,000x better than meat that’s been frozen. If we’re spending our hard-earned cash on prime rib, we want it fresh and we want it high-quality. Did you know many online butcher shops don’t release the grading of their meat? You have to take their word for it. Sorry, but I’m not spending top dollar on beef that I don’t know the rating of. Enter Porter and York.

Porter & York is a small purveyor of premium meats including beef, pork, lamb, chicken and seafood. They started out supplying meat to some of the countries finest steakhouses, but branched out and is now delivering the same quality meats direct to consumers.

5 Reasons Why You’ll Love Porter And York:

1. Fresh Vs. Frozen

Porter and York delivers fresh, never frozen, prime rib! FRESH PRIME RIB. And you don’t even need to suit up in a mask and hand sanitizer to get it (or rely on the famously unreliable Instacart shoppers). We’ve only been to a grocery store 5x since March (legit fact), so having a high-quality butcher store online to shop from is EVERYTHING this holiday season.

2. QUALITY

Let’s be frank. When it comes to prime rib it’s all about quality. If we wanted a chewy, dense steak we’d buy just that. When we make our Melt-in-Your Mouth Prime Rib Recipe, we expect it to melt on our tongue like butter and have a robust flavor. The buttery soft texture is what makes prime rib the king of kings. Upon first bite, I was immediately transported back to Las Vegas in 2001 where I had my first bite of prime rib at an upscale steakhouse. Quality in the restaurant industry has gone down remarkably since then, so we haven’t been able to replicate that exact moment until now. That is how high quality the beef is.

3. HAND CUT TO ORDER

Your meat is cut to order the day it ships! It’s cut specifically for you, unlike other online butchers shops who cut your meat 2-3 days prior to receiving your order. Once cut it’s trimmed up, vacuum-sealed and shipped same day. One important thing to note: we didn’t have to trim any portion of our prime rib – it was meticulously butchered. Even better? It arrives boned and tied. It’s 100% ready for seasoning and cooking.

4. AGED 28 DAYS

All primal cuts are aged for 28 days! We checked out some of the other online butcher shops and many advertise a “long 14 day aging period”. The main benefit of aging is to improve tenderness and to intensify the flavor. 14 days isn’t going to accomplish that. It sure isn’t something that support the high price tag that usually comes along with said meat.

5. DELIVERY MADE EASY

At checkout you can select the day you want your order to deliver. No surprise deliveries when you’re not home. This makes it super easy to schedule your holiday order, well in advance. Once delivered it’s good in the refrigerator for another 6-7 days. BONUS– since it’s delivered fresh, there is no need to remember to defrost your prime rib days in advance!

PRIME RIB COSTS

Let’s get down to numbers. Prime rib can be expensive, depending on how you look at it. It has a high price tag, but it’s a huge hunk of beef, waiting to be carved up and shared. Or not. This year, with the paired down gatherings, you may get to keep the good grub to yourself. Prime rib makes for excellent leftovers. We used the leftover bones to make Instant Pot Bone Broth. This paired down holiday thing is suddenly looking better and better.

The 4-bone USDA Prime Rib weights between 8-10 lbs, and feeds 8-10 people. (*Note- the site says 8 people, however you can easily get 10 servings from it). That calculates to around $23 per hearty slice. These days choice ribeyes are closing in on $20. For a few extra dollars we’d rather enjoy prime rib.

Have a larger family? The 7-bone USDA Prime Rib weights between 15-17 lbs and feeds between 15 and 17 people. Again- the website says 15 people, however you can easily get 17 servings from it. That also calculates to $23 per hearty slice.

Need a more inexpensive option? No worries. Porter and York has a boneless prime rib roast that calculates to $13 per serving for the USDA Prime rated roast. They also have a USDA Choice option for under $10 per serving. You’d be hard pressed to find a decent steak at that price.

While we always recommend going with the USDA Prime rated cut if you’re trying to rival a steakhouse prime rib, their USDA choice is a good alternative if you’re looking to keep costs low. All their cuts come from the top 8% of USDA beef (the top 2% being the USDA Prime cuts) so even the USDA choice option is a great option. It will be higher in quality that the local grocery store for sure.

SHIPPING TIP

Score FREE SHIPPING with a $250 Order. If you grab the 4-Bone Prime Rib, like we did, grab an inexpensive item, such as the 2-Pack Lamb Porterhouse ($22) or Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon ($22), to get you over the $250 free shipping threshold. You’ll end up saving money!

You can be sure, come Christmas, we will be enjoying a roaring fire, mugs of mulled wine and prime rib from Porter and York. Not everything this holiday season will be different.

Disclosure: I partnered with Porter and York for this review, however all opinions expressed here are my own.