Our Baby Back Rib Portions are one of our most popular items. However, we always get a lot of questions on what they are and how to cook them.

These portions are 1, 2 and 3 rib portions of baby back ribs. They are not in ‘rack form’ but they are extremely easy to cook and very forgiving on the grill/smoker/oven. They are baby backs, so they are extremely tender and have great flavor.

Best of all, they are very affordable. These ribs are about half the price of our normal baby back ribs (and much less than half the price of the other guys). They come in a 10lb case, so they are perfect for a bbq DDI or a lime in the backyard.

So, here is a little video on how Jason from Blooms cooks his Baby Back Rib Portions. Most of the ribs in this video were smoked and grilled, but it’s also extremely easy to cook in the over if you don’t have a grill or a smoker. Any questions on the recipe please don’t hesitate to shoot us an email: jason@bloomsimports.com

I always like to take a look at grocery stores around Trinidad to see what they have to offer in terms of steaks. Most of the time the steaks you come across are frozen cut clod steaks, with the occasional portion controlled strip or tenderloin.

I was browsing a store in Diego Martin and came across a line of steaks that I had only seen once before. A while back we had actually researched the brand to see if it was something we wanted to carry.

For a minute, let’s forget the fact that these Ribeye steaks are selling for $100TT per pound. If you read the fine print, you’ll notice that these Ribeyes (and every other type of steak in this line) are ‘Enhanced with 20% of a FMI patented solution’. What exactly does that mean?

There are several different reasons that a consumer would want and a company would ‘marinate’ their steaks with a solution prior to end-use. Sometimes, this is done with a natural tenderizer that helps ensure the steak is cooked tender each and every time, even when cooked thoroughly.  A lot of restaurants will use these steaks because they are required to cook steaks to ‘well done’ for some customers. It allows them to provide the customer with a tender steak, no matter what the end temperature. Tenderized steaks are perfectly fine and are usually delicious. We carry a few tenderized brands for this reason, but we will have done quite a bit of research to make sure the line of tenderized steaks we offer are marinated correctly.

In the case of the steaks above, the ‘patented solution’ being used is a salt solution with a few additional ingredients (water, ammonium hydroxide, etc). This is done to allow them to take a cheaper cut of meat and make it cook/act like a more expensive cut of meat. Remember, steaks like Ribeye are tender because of the marbling of fat throughout the meat. When that fat heats up, it melts into the surrounding muscle/meat and makes it tender. With lower-end/cheaper cuts of beef, you lack the marbling throughout the steak. Therefore, when the steak is cooked you do not get the ‘tender’ effect.

So, are tenderized steaks fine to eat? Sure. A lot of people prefer them because they help achieve a very tender steak even if you aren’t a ‘Pro Griller’.

Should they be $100 a pound? Absolutely not. The steaks pictured above are not Choice or even Select grade Ribeyes. They are what the beef industry calls Utility. These primal cuts are much much cheaper than purchasing a Prime, Choice or Select version of the meat. The usual reason is the marbling and/or the size of the primal cut. So the steak above was probably very cheap to begin with, it was cut into 16oz portions and then soaked in a solution to make it act like a expensive steak. Remember, when you are buying something that is claiming 20% solution added, you are paying a ‘Ribeye Price’ for salt water. A steak such as this should actually be much cheaper than it’s USDA Choice counterpart. It’s a lower grade steak and 1/5th of the weight is actually salt water. (our Choice Ribeye steaks usually sell for $70tt a pound).

Again, tenderized steaks are perfectly fine and just a matter of personal preference. However, it should not be treated as something that should command a higher price. The packaging may look nicer, but it doesn’t mean you are getting a nicer steak.

Happy Grilling!

As many of you know, we offer free delivery of items within Port of Spain. All we ask is that the order amount be over $200TT. For those of you living outside of POS, we now do pick-ups at our Cocorite location Monday Thru Friday from around 11 am until 5pm. And also now on Saturday from 9:30am until 12:30pm.

To ensure your meats are delivered perfectly frozen, we now employ the use of our Keep It Cool freezer bags. These bags work better than ice chests and guarantee your meats reach your door step as cold as they were in our freezer.

After a long search, we have finally found a consistent supply of high quality Crab Meat. This crab meat is in 5lb packs and is a product of the USA. So no more picking shells out of your meat before you mix it up. This is also ‘net weight’ which means you aren’t paying for water, you are paying for crab.

If you are a crab back producer OR know of someone who is, please have them contact Jason to discuss pricing and quantities they would like. We have done quite a bit of research and are confident we can provide customers with the best pricing on a higher quality product.

Kobe beef refers to cuts of beef from a specific breed of cattle, Wagyu. Much like Black Angus, Hereford, and Charolais are specific breeds of beef cattle. Because of it’s texture and marbling, it is said to be one of the finest breeds of cattle available. It’s considered a delicacy in Japan, which eats quite a bit of beef per capita. It’s said to surpass the PRIME classifications set by most of the grading bodies of other countries.

In order to carry the Kobe label, this beef must be from the Kobe region of Japan. Now-a-days, the Japanese are commissioning a very select few American breeders/farms to raise some of this cattle for them. This allows a lot more access to Kobe beef for people like us down here in Trinidad. There isn’t much of a demand for Wagyu/Kobe beef in the States yet, but the demand is slowly growing.

Supposedly, Wagyu cattle live a luxurious life; they eat organic grains, drink Japanese beer and sake mash, and even listen to tranquil music while getting daily massages.