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Porter Road

• Made By: Porter Road
• Price: $15 to $25 Buy Now!

Porter Road is an online meat purveyor who partners with various farms in Kentucky and Tennessee. All cows are pasture-raised outside and given non-GMO feed. They recently sent me several steaks of theirs to try out for free.

I was able to try their chuck roast, New York Strip and boneless pork chop, in addition to two of the more obscure cuts they sell: the teres major and Denver steak. Using them, I made several different dishes to try.

I cut the chuck roast in half to make 2 steaks. Then I cooked them at 131°F (55°C) for 36 hours, until they were completely tender. I served them with some simple sherried mushrooms. They ended up very tender and tasted great.

The New York Strip I cooked at 131°F (55°C) for 5 hours and finished it in a cast iron pan. It was full of great flavor, though it did have a little strip of toughness down the middle.

The pork chop was excellent! It had a nice fat ring on it and was full of rich flavor. I cooked it at 138°F (59°C) for 4 hours then finished it in a cast iron pan. I served it with a bright tabbouleh salad. This was probably my favorite piece of meat.

The teres major is similar to a beef tenderloin filet, though a little less tender. It is very lean but still has decent flavor, especially because of the dry aging. I didn't get a shot of the final dish, but I cooked it at 131°F (55°C) for 2 hours and finished it with a torch. Next time I'd let it go 5 hours just to tenderize slightly more.

I really like Denver steaks in general. They are from near the chuck, but not as tough as a chuck roast. They are rich and full-flavored, and using sous vide removes the toughness from them. I prepared this one at 131°F (55°C) for 9 hours with some thyme and a cumin-garlic spice rub, then chilled it and seared it in a cast iron pan.

What We Like About the Porter Road Steaks

It's always hard comparing the quality of various steaks, because they can vary so much, but Porter Road was really enjoyable. The beef was rich and flavorful and the pork was excellent.

I like that they have different, interesting cuts available. Most of the meat is also shipped fresh, which is different than most of the other online companies. Shipping fresh also means you can sous vide directly in their bags, which you often can't do with frozen shipped beef because the dry ice can make holes in the packaging.

Their pricing is inline with other high quality steaks and their website is also easy to use.

What We Don't Like About the Porter Road Steaks

There wasn't much to dislike about the meat. In general, I prefer a little thicker cuts so I can get a better post-sous vide sear, but these weren't bad at all.

Why We Recommend the Porter Road Steaks

All in all, I really enjoyed the meals I had with the Porter Road steaks. They have a lot of flavor, good tenderness, and were easy to use and cook. If you are looking for some great steak that is raised in a more humane method, then Porter Road is definitely worth looking at.

Interview with Porter Road

I also had the opportunity to interview Chris and James.

Jason: What do you feel sets your meat apart from other beef? Both the typical grocery store beef, but also the other high quality online meat purveyors?

Chris and James: It's really apples and oranges. We take great care at every single step of the process to ensure that we're offering our customers a better product. It begins on the farms where our animals are raised -- the animals are gently weaned from their mothers, then spend 365 days a year on pasture, before a short, low-stress trip to our facility -- all of this is not only more humane for the animal, but it improves the flavor and texture of the end product. After processing, we dry age all of our beef carcasses whole for 14 days, before our team of highly skilled butchers hand-cuts and trims each delicious piece.

Jason: What is your favorite cut of meat? And what do you think is the most under-appreciate cut?

Chris and James: Favorite: Denver Steak. This is a great cut to keep handy because no matter what cooking method you want to use, whether it be a quick sear on the grill or a low and slow braise in the oven, the Denver Steak will work like a charm.

Under-appreciated: Boneless Sirloin. It's a leaner cut, but it packs a ton of flavor and is easy to cook - it's our go-to for a weeknight meal.

Jason: The availability for a lot of your products seem to come and go, can you explain the reasons behind that?

Chris and James: We practice whole animal seam butchery - this means that we utilize every part of the animal in some way or another. It also means that for every 2 teres major, 2 picanha, and 2 tri-tip, we create about 250 lbs of ground beef. Because these rare butcher's cut aren't available to most customers at their local meat counters, they are always in high demand. We would love to be able to provide every customer with exactly his or her desired cut all the time, but we have a responsibility to utilize each animal fully before harvesting the next. Thankfully, we cut beef everyday, so we are always replenishing, but some items sell out within seconds from our waitlists.

Jason: You work with several partner farms, how do you ensure quality and consistency across them?

Chris and James: Our farmers are like family to us. We visit our farms regularly to check in and help our farmers scale and improve as we grow. They are aligned with us on building a healthier, more sustainable food system, and we trust them to maintain our standards. It's incredibly rewarding to visit our farmers and have them show off their newest beef pasture or hog area -- they take so much pride in what they do.

Jason: How did you make the decision to dry age all of your meat? And why was 14 days the magic number?

Chris and James: Dry aging is a no brainer to us because it helps tenderize the meat, creates a rich flavor, and allows moisture to evaporate creating more dense and flavorful cuts. We made the less common choice to dry age whole carcass because we want every single ounce to have that delicious meaty flavor. At 14 days, we find that the beef has started to take on rich umami flavors, but isn't yet what one would consider "funky" -- it's unique while still approachable.

Jason: A lot of your meat is shipped fresh, how was that decision made? Are there any challenges that has introduced?

Chris and James: Shipping meat fresh is not easy. We chose to always ship our steaks and chops fresh because those are the cuts that are most affected by the formation and melting of ice crystals, which causes damage to the muscular structure of the meat. And, we think that those are the cuts our customers are most excited to dig into immediately.

While shipping perishable products efficiently is always a concern, shipping fresh meat requires an extra level of diligence, from packing with extra biodegradable insulation to keeping a close eye on weather conditions across the country.

Jason: I know your meat isn't graded. Why did you opt to go that direction?

Chris and James: We are decidedly operating outside of the commodity meat system, which is where grading lives. Because we don't sell through traditional meat channels, we aren't required to have grading, and it's an added expense we've chosen to spare so we can keep our prices as accessible as possible. Anyone who is familiar with the look of a Prime cut can look at our meat and know that the quality and marbling is incredible.

If it sounds right for you, buy one today!

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