Best Snake River Farms

Best Snake River Farms

Snake River Farms American Wagyu Beef


The real Japanese Kobe beef comes from a specific area of Japan and just can't be beaten. There is only about 3000 head of Wagyu cattle that qualify as Kobe so this unique distinction will cost you. Probably spending over $250 for a small steak if you can even find it in the US. If you ever get a chance it is a real treat to try at least once in your life.

Snake River Farms Alternative to Japanese Kobe

Available in the US is a different variety of “American Kobe” or “American Wagyu” beef. This beef is usually a cross of a Japanese Wagyu breed and an Angus. You get some of the super marbling and flavor of the Wagyu breed and the fast-growing high yield of the Angus.

The benefit of cross-breeding the Wagyu with the Angus is a super high quality of beef more affordable to the than the Japanese Kobe. Of course, an American Wagyu steak won’t be as good as a Japanese Kobe steak but it is close for a more reasonable price and availability is also a big concern.

That is the whole Kobe/Wagyu thing in a nutshell anyway. Please note, I include affiliate links within this post to support the maintenance and development of this site. There are more subtleties to the cuts and those articles will be here as I have time to try each cut and then report on my findings. You can't believe the difference between these great steaks

Are there good Prime steaks and great Prime steaks? Of course and that is where the Japanese grading scale comes in. Nearly all American Wagyu steaks would grade out as Prime due to the fat content and marbling so by using the Japanese grading scale you can start go figure out just how good a cut of American Wagyu beef really is. Prime sets a bottom standard of what a steak needs to be but that leaves a lot of room at the top end of the scale for American Wagyu and Kobe beef.

The BMS goes basically from 3-12 with 3-4 being average (a score of “3”), 5-7 being good (a score of “4”), and 8-12 being excellent (a score of “5”). The yield score is a letter grade A, B, or C depending on how much beef the carcass will yield. So the best score you can get on a Kobe steak is an A5. This is the best of the best. A3 and A4 are still very, very good but A5 or a high yield with a BMS score of over 8 is about the best you can get.

When you look at an American Wagyu steak or roast the first thing you will notice is how much more fat is marbled in the meat than a regular steak and this is where the exceptional flavor and texture come from. You really, really need to be careful to not overcook a Wagyu steak because if you do all the fat will render out of it and take away some of its charms.

One of the best ways to get your hands on some American Wagyu beef is to order online and Snake River Farms is one of the best places to get it. They offer a number of different cuts and the prices are good as well.

Snake River Farms has a grading of their American Wagyu beef: Black and Gold Grade. The regular American Wagyu beef has a BMS score of between 6 and 8 while the Gold Grade has a BMS score of 9+. The Gold Grade is the best of the best and while the prices might shock you at first you will notice the difference if you splurge and give it a shot. Below are some of the different cuts offered in the two different categories:

No matter which American Wagyu beef you go with I think you will be very impressed with the quality and you will see how it is a step above “regular” Prime beef. A splurge like American Wagyu beef probably won't be an everyday thing but is perfect for a special anniversary dinner, birthday dinner, or something along those lines. You can even get one of the roasts, cut it into steaks, and save some money that way.

Hopefully, you learned something about American Wagyu and Kobe beef and hopefully, you will give it a try one of these days.

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Snake River Farms’ American Wagyu Beef

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