Dry Aged Wexford Angus Rib Eye Steak

Stafford’s Butchers is family run and owned.  We hand-rear our own Angus cattle on our farm in Killanne.  Killanne for those people who don’t know, is a slice of heaven situated in the foothills of the Blackstairs Mountains in the County of Wexford.

It is a place where community is important and neighbours are good friends, it has stunning scenery and top quality grass.  We may be biased but we have been told that you can taste the difference in our tender beef and steak.  Our beef is literally delivered from our gate to your plate.

Our cows are fed on grass and clover for 9 to 10 months of the year, roaming free in the beautiful lush meadow fields in the foothills of the Blackstairs Mountains. In the cold wet winters we bring our cows into sheds for their welfare and fed on silage, fresh cut spring grass. https://www.bordbia.ie/globalassets/bordbia2020/farmers–growers/grass-fed-standard/grass-fed-beef-standard-revision-02-draft1.pdf

All our beef and steaks are dry aged and matured for 6 months, unlike supermarket beef and steaks that are wet aged matured so it does not loss any weight in moisture loss.

The ribeye steak is derived from the ribeye muscle, which is situated between the ribs and the backbone of the animal. This muscle does less work and contains more fat compared to other muscles. The marbling of fat within the meat contributes to its tenderness and enhances the flavor, making it incredibly juicy and flavorful when cooked.

The ribeye steak is characterised by the distinct “eye” of fat that runs through the center, giving it the name “rib eye.” This fat melts during cooking, further enhancing the tenderness and flavor of the steak. The outer edge of the steak may also have a layer of fat that adds flavor and helps to keep the meat moist during cooking.

When it comes to cooking, ribeye steaks are very versatile. They can be grilled, pan-seared, broiled, or even cooked on a barbecue. Due to the steak’s marbling and fat content, it is best cooked to a medium-rare or medium level of doneness to ensure the fat melts and the meat remains tender and juicy.

How to Cook the Perfect Steak

Your steak has to be at room temperature before you start cooking for more tenderness. If the steak is cooked straight from the fridge, the meat would stiffen up and become tough to eat.

Use a generous number of salt and pepper to season the steak, and gently press it into your meat along with your fingers. The thicker the cut of steak, the greater salt and pepper you should have.

Use a whopping pan in order to smoke steak. Cast iron pans perform most optimally for this particular meal. Get the pan nice and hot, you can add the oil. Wait for the oil to heat, it needs to just commence to smoke before adding the steak. Add the steak and push it down inside center with the fingers to be sure the entire steak is touching the bottom from the pan.

It’s extremely important to only flip the steak once during cooking. Moving the steak around while cooking it’s going to only drain it of essential juices and lead into a less than desirable result. For rare, cook 2-3 minutes within the first side, then flip the steak. About 1 1/2 minutes in the second side, melt butter into your pan. Spoon the butter above the steak, ensuring to pay the entire steak. When the steak is only about finished, transform onto it’s back, fat side down. Cook for approximately 30 seconds to lessen and soften the strip of fat. Remove steak from pan, and baste again with butter in the pan. Leave to relax, then slice if desired.

You can test doneness with the steak by comparing the firmness from the steak to regions of your hand. Rare is on the thumb muscle, near your palm, medium is close to the outer side of your thumb, and well-done is how your wrist meets your hand

The development of the grass fed standard for Irish beef has involved ongoing, active consultation between Bord Bia and key stakeholders including producer organisations and industry.

Grass Fed Irish Beef

Qualifying animals must be from farms that are members of the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS). However, the first 9 months of an animal’s life may be spent on non-QA farms.

The grass fed standard is built on two key criteria, namely:

• A minimum of 90% of an animal’s diet during their lifetime on a fresh weight basis must be grass or grass  based forages
• The annual average days of grass stands at 220 days with an allowance of up to 40 days where soil type or weather may prevent longer grazing seasons.

Bord Bia’s overriding principle in the development of the standard was not to seek any additonal information from farmers over and above what is currently collected as part of SBLAS audits.

Bord Bia’s rationale to create a grass fed standard to market Irish beef is based upon evidence from extensive research conducted with approximately 13,000 customers and consumers across Europe and in key international markets. The research highlighted a significant market demand for grass fed products. Grass fed is a term that consumers are familiar with that holds positive associations as premium, natural and healthy. Consumers also believe that grass fed cattle lead more ‘natural’ lives outdoors and are more likely to be treated ethically. Furthermore, Ireland is already strongly associated with grass fed production and the grass fed standard allow us to robustly verify claims we wish to make around our production systems.

This evidence points to a real opportunity to use our existing grass fed strengths to create a nationally verified standard and deliver upon a clearly identified consumer desire for ethical, premium, natural and healthy beef.

The grass fed label will be incorporated into Bord Bia’s promotional activities for Irish beef from the autumn onwards with the aim of differentiating Irish beef from our competitors and in doing so help maximise the returns from the marketplace to the benefit of Irish beef farmers. Given the current market difficulties arising from COVID and the continued uncertainty in relation to Brexit, it is more important than ever that the sector utilises every advantage it has to position Irish beef positively in the marketplace.