With the Christmas holiday being the time when Standing Rib Roast is most frequently ordered from our Meat Departments, I thought I would help clear up some confusion.  Ninety-five percent of customers ordering from us ask for a Prime Rib - this is both right and wrong.  Wrong in the sense that “Prime” refers to a grade of meat, but right in fact because even the USDA allows the term “Prime Rib” to be the retail name for any grade of beef cut from ribs 6 through 12 of the Rib Primal area of cattle.  That’s as technical as I’m going to get….the real point is that we want you to know there are different grades of meat and that they are all going to have different attributes.  When ordering we suggest you refer to the roast as a Standing Rib Roast to avoid any confusion, then we can inform you of the different options we offer so you can make the decision best for your holiday celebration.

Our most popular Standing Rib Roast selection is Certified Angus Beef. Certified Angus Beef is the highest grade of choice beef available.  It is a USDA selected program and it must meet (no pun intended) 10 stringent requirements to be selected for the brand’s high standards. Many of the requirements other choice grade beef programs can’t deliver.  It is renowned for its consistency…always juicy, tender and flavorful.

At Andronico’s we offer Prime Grade Standing Rib Roasts,too.  Prime grade has an even higher marbling score than Certified Angus Beef.  Marbling refers to the flecks of fat within the muscle that deliver the rich flavor you expect from a Standing Rib Roast.

You should also know about a couple of other options for Standing Rib Roasts at Andronico’s. We offer a local Grass-Fed Beef Standing Rib Roast and an American Kobe Style Beef Standing Rib Roast.  Our Grass-Fed Beef is California grown and 100% pasture raised.  It is the leanest of our Standing Rib Roast options and has a different flavor profile than our other corn finished selections.  American Kobe Style Beef is highly marbled, even more than Prime grade.  Both Grass-Fed and Kobe will be in limited supply, so if one of them is your choice…order ASAP.

Our Certified Butchers can help you if there is still some confusion.  All our butchers are extremely knowledgeable about the different grades of beef and will provide custom preparation that will make your roast ready for the oven.  We can help with selecting the right size and provide cooking tips, also.

For a truly memorable holiday meal choose a Standing Rib Roast from Andronico’s!