Botched a whole ribeye primal last Friday and saved it with a trick

I was breaking down a whole ribeye primal at the shop around 3 PM and my knife slipped on the cap, tore a big chunk off one of the steaks. Ended up with about a 6 ounce piece that was just mangled and useless for the case. I cubed it up on the spot and sold it as kabob meat for $5.99 a pound and it was gone within an hour. Has anyone else turned a bad cut into something that actually sold better?

2 comments

2 Comments

williamhenderson3d ago

You know what nobody's bringing up is how this kind of stuff actually makes you think about pricing differently. That $5.99 a pound for kabob meat is probably way better margin than selling it as a steak if you think about it. Steaks have to look perfect and you're competing with every other shop in town on price for those. But kabob meat? That's pure profit from scraps. Plus you're building a reputation as the place that has interesting stuff like fresh cubed meat ready to go. I'd honestly start doing that on purpose with some of the tougher cuts too, not just the mistakes. The more you can turn a "problem" into a specialty item people want, the less waste and the more money you make.

iris_schmidt3d ago

Exactly, @williamhenderson. I've done this myself with beef chuck that was too beat up for steaks. Turn it into stew meat or kabob cubes, slap a higher price on it, and people think it's a specialty. The markup covers the extra labor of cutting it, and you're not stuck with a slow-mover. The trick is getting the cut sizes right and making sure the marinade suggestions are posted nearby. Customers don't buy "scraps" but they'll grab "ready to grill" every time.