On Nov 17, 8:57*am, "Bill S." > wrote:
> Notes from a meat tasting dinner. *We were having both New York strip
> and ribeye steaks, one pair local with 36 days aging and one from
> Flannery’s in the US aged 52 days. *A beef tasting! *FWIW, the
> American beef was smoother in texture an more homogeneous, showing fat
> marbling throughout, while the Canadian beef had a few more voids in
> the stakes, more localization of the fat, and was generally tastier.

American beef is graded into several levels with USDA Prime being the
top level. It is well marbled with fat throughout. Next there is the
trim. The best steaks are completely trimmed of external fat as the
marbled interior fat in top prime grade is enough to internally baste
the steak and make it tender. Then there is the type of aging used.
Modern wet aging completely wraps the meat in plastic for aging. This
keeps water loss to a minimum and results in a milder taste. Nealy all
beef, except sometimes the top grades, is wet aged today. A few
companies still make the traditional dry aged beef, which is not
wrapped during aging. There is considerable loss in weight because of
water loss and because the outer part of the beef must be trimmed
more. However the beef has much more flavor and is very tender when
properly dry aged. Aging time for the best is usually about 4 to 6
weeks depending on the cut of meat. A few companies also sell Wagyu
beef from this Japanese breed now being bred in the US as well as some
other countries. It often sells for about 2 to 3 times the price of
the more usual types of beef.

For traditional dry aged beef, the top company that will ship all over
the US is likely Lobels' of NYC. See www.lobels.com . They sell only
high end USDA prime beef, sell only dry aged beef, and can provide
Wagyu beef. They are one of the most expensive butchers around, since
they will deal only with the very top qualities of beef and other
meats. Allen Brothers at www.allenbrothers.com is another good
source, especially for wet aged beef. They have very high quality wet
aged steaks if you select the fully trimmed and USDA Prime grade.
Unfortunately, unlike Lobels, they sell some lower grade USDA Choice
and meat that is not completely trimmed. They also have Wagu.

Of course there are other local good butchers scattered around the
company, most of which do not ship to all of the states. I don't know
if laws allow Lobels' or Allen Brothers to ship to Canada. Such laws
tend to be very strict, vary from country to country, and often can
change.