Creekstone Farms
Creekstone Farms Reviews - Best Online Steaks
Here is a great company to add to your email signup list. They specialize in USDA Brand certified Black Angus, and if you visit their Special Page, you are almost sure to find a fantastic value for USDA Prime beef. Don't make the mistake we made and not order enough!
About Creekstone Farms
John and Carol Stewart founded Creekstone Farms in 1995 as they began to raise purebred Black Angus cattle on a farm in Campbellsburg, Kentucky. In 2003, they started processing Black Angus beef using their unique process starts at birth. Creekstone employs top management practices, which includes specific natural feed, free roaming throughout the animals lives, and nothing but the best in state-of-the-art processing.
- Creekstone Farms serves only the finest Black Angus cuts of beef, offering bone-in or bone-out on most cuts.
- Humanely treated cattle.
- Grass-fed, Corn-finished cattle.
- Their Premium, Black Angus Beef brand, is certified by the USDA.
- 1% of all Black Angus cattle meet the company genetic standards, and they are all American beef, not imported from Canada or Mexico.
An outstanding video by Creekstone Farms on their Premium Black Angus Beef
- All products are aged to perfection and shipped in individual vacuum-sealed packaging. All products, but the Brisket, are flash frozen to lock in flavor and freshness and express shipped on ice.
- The Brisket is shipped fresh.
- Creekstone also sells Superior natural pork in combination packages of delicious spareribs, pork butt, bone-in pork, and pork back ribs.
- The company offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
What is a Las Vegas Strip Steak?
There is some buzz in the beef industry about the discovery of a new steak called the Las Vegas Strip Steak. It is said to rival the NY Strip, and it doesn't need aging or marinating to be tender and taste great. We all know the NY Strip is harvested from the loin, the same area of the beef that produces the Filet Mignon, T-Bone, and Porterhouse Steaks. The Las Vegas Strip is harvested from the Chuck, and specifically the muscle under the shoulder blade. When we think "Chuck," we think Pot Roast, Flat Iron Steaks, Eye Roasts, and Chuck Steaks. These cuts are not known to be the most tender cuts, and no one could mistake them for a NY Strip.
It looks a lot like a Skirt Steak, but it doesn't have the grainy texture that punishes your jaw with over-chewing if you don't slice it across the grain. As you can see in the picture, ours didn't have the marbling associated with USDA Prime, but we found it be juicier than a sirloin. Whatever it is, we would agree that it is new. We couldn't say it is like a NY Strip, but we thought it was delicious.
Black Angus Las Vegas Strip Steak served with Perogies in Brown Butter and Sauteed Broccoli Florets
Our Creekstone Farms Review
Black Angus USDA Prime Las Vegas Strip Steak 14 oz. - $7.50 Each
We bought eight of these Las Vegas Strip Steaks from Creekstone Farms as a special offer package of eight steaks for $60, or $7.50 each. You can't get USDA Prime "Air" for $7.50, much a steak of this high quality. Your mind may try to trick you into thinking it's a skirt steak, but it's much more tender. Then, you might think it's a sirloin because it's so flavorful and juicy, but it's much more delicate than a sirloin too. A Flat Iron Steak comes from the same part of the body, but it's tough to find one this size, and without any flaws.
Here's what it is: It's damn good steak! We knew we got away with a steal and went back to get more, but Creekstone was sold out. This steak checks all the boxes for value and flavor. We wish they can be individually packaged, but we would only lodge that as an official complaint if we paid double the price, which is probably where it should be, if not a little more.
Black Angus Ribeye serviced with Baked Potatoes and Broccoli and Cheese Sauce
Black Angus USDA Prime Ribeye 12 oz. - $18
Our first impression of these steaks is that they seemed small, but we don't usually buy 12 oz. Ribeyes, and they looked like they had more fat (not marbling) than we are accustomed to with other Ribeyes we purchased online. Ribeyes and these especially are not steaks you are going to want to prepare for people who irresponsibly use their steak knives to cut around the fat and leave 60% of the steak on the plate. That would be an immediate qualification for departure in my house, including in-laws.
Long story short, more for me and the men! I confess these steaks exceeded their first impression. Like the Las Vagus Strip, these Ribeyes has a very robust "clean" steak flavor, which is the only way I can think to describe it. Even the fat was clean-tasting. To be honest, I wished there was more so I could cut and eat forkfuls that were 50% beef and 50% fat. Those were the best bites. Seasoned with just salt and pepper, these steaks were excellent.
Grilled NY Strip with Roasted White Potatoes on a Bed of Sauteed Onions with Pan Seared Bok Choy and Garlic
Black Angus USDA Prime NY Strip 12 oz. - $12
Here is another fantastic deal found at the Creekstone Farms specials page. It is pretty difficult to find Black Angus USDA Prime NY Strips for just $12. Plus, they came in a beautiful box of six, which make an excellent presentation if you want to share them as a gift, or neatly store in your freezer for an upcoming meal, or an entertaining event you may be hosting.
The marbling on these is incredible, and you can see it when the steak is frozen. The only thing we didn't care for was some excess fat that could have been trimmed from the steak. It is not quite grizzle, but it's not melt-in-your-mouth edible either. You can see it on the close up picture. We vacuum-dried ours to get all the water out of the steaks, and the marbling was even more prominent. We only added salt and pepper and tossed them on a hot grill. It's always nice to hear the instant sizzle when an exceptionally marbled steak hits the grill.
Taste-wise this NY Strip ranked right about in the middle of the twenty plus NY Strips we have reviewed. The texture was good, the steak was juicy, but the flavor didn't wow us over like most other Creekstone Farms products we have purchased. Even so, a steak of this quality for just $12 is a great value and a highly recommended "buy!" You could easily pay double and even triple for a steak with a little more flavor.
Black Angus Filet Mignon served with Sauteed Diced Potatoes, Onion Rings, and Sauteed Broccolini
Black Angus USDA Choice Chateaubriand Filet Mignon 12 oz. - $12.50 each
Bucket List Steak.
No, the price is not a typo. We purchased two Chateaubriand, 3 lbs. each, on sale for $100 ($50 each) and made 8 of our own 12 oz. Filet Mignon Steaks for $12.50 each. The Steak Gods looked down and smiled at us on that day, and special thanks to Creekstone Farms too.
We are really starting to like this farm. Not only has everything been excellent, but the prices have been below average, and way below average for the quality of beef we have enjoyed so far. Just look at that meaty beast of heaven on the plate. It a big steak, and it had a big, bold flavor to match. This is why you buy whole tenderloins, or in this case, the Chateaubriand, the best of the whole tenderloin, and make your own steaks.
We tried to go back and order about 25 more, but they were sold out, which can only mean one thing: America agrees with us! Filet Mignon probably doesn't make out top five favorite steaks, but this one does, and maybe a little higher because of the value. Even if they weren't on sale, this steak would cost $25 each, and still a fantastic value.
All Aboard the Filet Mignon Express
to Yum Yum City!
I have to admit, I was a little surprised these came back on stock, and at the same special price. The only thing any steak lover can do is order as many that will fit in your freezer. And maybe some extra if you want to have them right now. In the next day or two I'll cut these up into Filet Mignon steaks, vacuum seal them, and squirrel them away for the fall or the next entertaining event we host. Bonus thought: I will still have two Chateaubriand roasts in addition to my steaks.
Now I don't you want you to think I am an obsessive steak hoarder because I'm not. I am just hoping you get over to Creekstone Farms, get to the specials section and get a few of these for your own pleasure. You just do not see deals like this, and now it's happened twice.
Oh, and you get free shipping for anything over $100. C'mon!
Grilled Back Ribs with BBQ Sauce served with Broccoli and Cheese Sauce
Black Angus USDA Choice Meaty Back Ribs 10 lbs. - $89
We ordered these Meaty Back Ribs with dreams of having the Fred Flintstone Dinosaur Ribs. Ironically, we were searching the Internet and were surprised to see only a couple of websites had them, once being our friend Creekstone Farms. On the product page, we read other customers complain about there not being a lot of meat on them like there used to be. Since haven't had anything disappointing we purchased two racks or ten pounds worth. We grilled them with salt and pepper and added our secret sauce. They looked amazing.
My wife is a huge rib fan but refuses to eat everything without a knife and fork. She is also a very trusted critic of ribs. She has an angelic-like pallet for ribs and the ability to describe them perfectly in one sentence. Her exact words were: "The ribs are very tender, and cooked perfectly. The glaze is delicious, but there isn't enough meat on these to make it worth my while trying to eat."
I ate mine with my hands. You can see my first bite in the small round picture. These ribs do have some meat hanging off the sides, but getting anything out of the middle requires a lot of navigation and effort. The one bite you are going to get is quite special though. It is precisely what I wanted when I started my search, but there is not enough meat on them. Stay tuned. We have more ribs from the other rack to review.
Grilled Tri-Tip Roast served with Macaroni and Cheese and Grilled Asparagus
Black Angus USDA Prime Tri-Tip Roast 40 oz. - $23
This is not a steak that you see that much in local stores, if ever, and when we saw USDA Prime, we had to jump all over it. Three of these roasts came in a single order, which is just fine with us. It is a very versatile steak with a lot of flavor and much more tender than you would think. It comes from the bottom of the sirloin and could be called a Triangle Steak because of its shape. Typically, it is used for ground beef.
You can cook this steak as a roast as we did here. It also makes a fantastic pot roast in a pressure cooker, and it can be smoked just like a brisket. Most people will marinate it, but we do not marinate USDA Prime steaks. We did use our secret BBQ sauce because we are roasting this the same day we are making ribs. The sauce gave us a crispy bark crust which scored bonus points with our guests.
We almost always cook meat to medium rare, but by request, we let this one go a little more to medium well. We did it very slowly so the steak doesn't dry out, and it didn't. Our guests went nuts, and we thought it was pretty damn good too. It had the robust beef flavor, it wasn't chewy, so it had wonderful texture, the bark was terrific, but it was the juice that marinates the meat with every bite that made this a home run. An outstanding value at $23.
Broiled Top Sirloin with Baked Mac and Cheese and String Beans
Black Angus USDA Prime Top Sirloin Steaks 8 oz. - $7.50 ea
Being a new fan, and regular of the company, we picked up eight of these USDA Prime Top Sirloins for $60, or $7.50 each. We had some eyebrow-lifting experiences we never had before with this company, but we still think these steaks were a good buy.
First, our packaging broke during our defrost. Creekstone uses heavy packaging material for their steaks, but even the best can leak on occasion. That's why you always defrost on a plate or in a sink. Our second observation was the weight of the first two steaks we prepared. One weighed in at 6.7 ounces and the other at 6.8 ounces. They are supposed to be 8 oz. steaks. That may not sound like much, but it accounts for a 16% shortage, which would make the actual cost of the steak $8.70.
We broiled them with just salt and pepper for 5 minutes on each side, and they came out a perfect medium rare. Overall they scored in the middle of the pack for flavor and texture which was a disappointment given they are USDA Prime. We thought the value was still good just not in the top three like we are accustomed to from this company.
Braised Beef Short Ribs with Macaroni and Cheese and Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Black Angus USDA Prime Beef Short Ribs 7 lbs. - $60
When we reviewed Creekstone Meaty Dinosaur Beef Ribs, we were a little disappointed with the amount of meat on the bones. It would be hard for us to believe there could be more meat on these short ribs. The two ribs you see on the plate are smallest ribs we had in our order.
Their USDA Prime pedigree came through in their flavor, and paying about $8.50 a pound for USDA Prime ribs of this size and quality was a gift. We braised them in beef stock and roasted them for about 20 minutes to engulf the tender meat in a firm and crunchy bark.
These may be the best short ribs we have ever had, from any company. If you have freezer space, and you see them on sale as we did, we recommend you buy these with confidence and fill your freezer. That is of course after you make one or two orders for your own dining experience.
Bone-In Cowboy Ribeye with Pan-Seared Asparagus
USDA Choice Cowboy Bone-In Ribeye 35 oz. - $35
We picked up four of these on sale, and wish to remind everyone out there to subscribe to your favorite online steak company just to take advantage of deals like these! We didn't have to wait for 50% off to order these, a favorite of ours when football season comes around, but half off did make us reorganize the freezer so we can squeeze them in.
They are not USDA Prime, but it would be hard for most people to notice. These steaks are very flavorful and have just the right amount of fat to flavor the meat without being too fatty. We pan-seared ours in garlic butter to get that beautiful crust, and finished it off in a 350-degree oven for twenty minutes. We pan-seared the asparagus in the leftover juices white the steak rested.
Creekstone Farms has officially become our favorite source for steaks online. You can see how many different meats we've tried, and it would be hard to beat them for consistent quality and well above average value.
Our Conclusion
Creekstone Farms is relatively new service for us, and we have to say we are quite impressed. All aspects of this service feel like you're dealing with family and you have a distance cousin in Texas who knows what they are doing, and is going to take care of you - Texas style!
Black Angus beef is one of the most desirable brands available for sale in this country. To know Creekstone went through the extra expense to have the USDA certify the brand of the cattle, as well as the grade, gives us confidence and reassurance we are buying a high-quality product. We found the taste of their beef to be "clean," which we can only describe as a fresh, pure beef flavor. Even the fat that came with our Ribeye steak was enjoyable.
Value Specials
The next time you are ready to buy steaks online, we suggest you make daily visits to the Creekstone Farms specials page. Many other suppliers create packages with one or two amazing products then add some lesser desirable products to make the package larger and help maintain their margins.
When products go on special, you can generally expect savings between 10% and 25%. Not here. Creekstone Farm's specials
are all close to 50% off, and they change regularly. It is impossible not to add value to your shopping cart when you start your purchases in the specials section.
So far, everything we have ordered has been graded USDA Prime, and we would have to say Creekstone is among the lowest priced source for Prime-graded beef in the country.
Customer Tips
- Sign up for emails, and go through the process of creating an account.
- We would have preferred the Las Vegas Ribeyes came individually packaged instead of four per package. If you are senior or couldn't eat four steaks at once, you may want to call customer service to confirm if the products you are interested in are individually packaged.
- When defrosting, put your packaging on a plate or in Tupperware in case the cryovac leaks. Ours did.
- It would be a sin to overcook these steaks! We took ours off the grill at 108 degrees. The internal temperature rose to 128 degrees while the steaks rested.
Customer Service
We had some minor shipping and packaging issues that Creekstone customer service took care of for us. We found their representatives to be very helpful. In fact, it felt like were one of two calls they might get all year. Our call was walked from the person who took the call, to the person who was on lunch and would handle the call. We felt like our account was handled with white gloves.
Kevin Bouchard
BestOnlineReviews.com
Submitted Customer Experiences
Dear Chef,
Everything I learned about steak I learned from you and your website. When I had to make dinner for my boyfriend and his family, I chose the NY Strip Steaks from Creekstone Farms and I writing to thank you for a wonderful impression I made with his family. His Dad especially.
Here is a picture from my cell phone. It is not great or anything, but I am so thankful I followed your instructions on letting a steak rest. I never heard of that before, and I am not a stranger to the kitchen, although I wouldn't call cooking steak "my thing." But it is now! Thanks again!
-Sharon Briggs
Pleasant Hill, Iowa
Please Share Your Creekstone Farms Review!
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Additional References
- What is Marbling? - Best Online Steaks Blog
- USDA Certified Beef Programs - Companies certified with the USDA for the type and quality beef they sell. Creekstone Farms is listed.
- Creekstone Farms Website