Is Costco's 4-Pound Gourmet Steak Box Worth The Price?

A good steak can make any meal feel elegant, but with beef prices nearing record heights, hearty and more desirable cuts are more expensive than ever. Costco offers an appealing butcher's box of high-quality steaks, which, given the store's reputation, should be a good deal. But is it actually?

Rastelli's Angus Steak Box is available at Costco for $139.99, which gets you two each of the following hand-cut steaks: a 5-ounce filet mignon, 6-ounce sirloin, 10-ounce New York strip, and 10-ounce boneless ribeye. Rastelli's also sells the same steaks separately, except for the filets mignon, which are 1 ounce bigger than those in the Costco box, and the sirloins, which come in a pack of four instead of two.

Surprisingly, building your own box on Rastelli's website comes out to $20 less than Costco's price. Even though Rastelli's $19.99 shipping charge for orders under $200 makes these two carts practically the same subtotal, you're still getting 20% more filet and two whole sirloins free compared to the Costco version. So, even though Costco's 4-pound gourmet steak box arguably isn't worth the price, is there a reason to pay so much for Rastelli's meat?

Rastelli's wet-ages its steaks for at least 28 days. Wet-aging is a simple tenderization process common in the beef industry. Shortly after being cut, the meat is vacuum-sealed in its own juices. This results in a softer bite that preserves much of the steaks' fresh-cut flavor, and experts especially recommend it for leaner, premium cuts like these.

Another major factor in these steaks' quality is that the cattle were 100% antibiotic-free and free to roam. Anyone who knows how to read meat labels knows that phrases like "free to roam" are unregulated for beef, but many of Rastelli's other livestock, including its pork, lamb, and Black Angus cattle, are raised in large, open pastures. Conditions like these create a lower-stress environment for the cattle than feed lots, resulting in better-tasting meat.

Rastelli's Angus Steak Box also gets a flavor boost because every cow is 100% grass-fed, a natural diet that results in beefier flavor and leaner meat. But less marbling means there's a proper way to cook grass-fed beef without ruining it. These steaks will cook much faster than corn-fed beef, so lower the cooking temperature and aim for a doneness no more than medium-rare to medium. The bargain is too good to ruin with tough, dry meat.