Okeechobee Prime Meat Market Prime Steaks are hand-cut by Master butchers applying the same artisanal standards pioneered by Master butcher Ralph Lewis eight decades ago. The result is perfectly trimmed and consistently cut prime steaks and roasts beyond compare. Combined with our proprietary aging process where we dry or wet age the beef prior to cutting results in exceptional flavor and incredible tenderness in every bite.
Aging is the technique that makes even the finest meat more tender and flavorful. Meat is placed in our custom-built refrigerated coolers where temperature, humidity and air circulation are carefully controlled for designated times. During this natural process, the beef’s enzymes break down and tenderize the meat, giving it a unique flavor and ensuring utmost tenderness.
In wet aging, meat is placed in vacuum-sealed bags, which prevent moisture from evaporating, and aged under controlled conditions. Enzymes break down the meat’s complex proteins from the inside out, producing meat that is more tender, sweet and juicy with a flavor unique to this process.
Dry aging is how beef was aged until the mid-1980s. Our dry-aged beef is stored in our custom-designed dry aging cooler where a complex process incorporates an intricate and delicate balance of time, temperature, air circulation and humidity. Over time, as the beef ages openly, it is exposed to air inside the coolers and ages from the outside in, forming a hard crust around the edible tissue. Once aging is complete, this firm outer crust is carefully removed, leaving meat that is significantly tenderer and that has the distinctive ‘beefy’ delicious flavor imparted by dry aging.