Alderspring Ranch Grass-Fed Beef

Reviewers say that Alderspring Ranch is the best purveyor of grass-fed beef available by mail order. This beef is dry-aged, which experts say concentrates flavor and adds complexity. This steak is said to be rich and meaty, with a slight chewiness that reviewers say is a small price to pay for this kind of flavor. Grass-feeding has some distinct advantages over grain-feeding: it's more sustainable, and the beef may be healthier for the consumer, since studies suggest that the fatty acids in grass-fed beef may reduce heart disease and cancer risk. Lobel's steaks (*est. $53 per pound for boneless strip steaks) are top-rated overall, but its cattle are grain-fed.

We found a single professional review of Alderspring Ranch beef at Slate.com. Mark Schatzker pits grass-fed beef against other types of beef, including Wagyu, dry-aged, "natural" and wet-aged. We wish the sample size had been larger, and we wish that Schatzker had reviewed more than one type of steak (he tests only rib-eye), but this is the only review we found that compares so many different types of steak.