K_in_the_kitchen, have you ever bought pork butt from Butcher box? I bought a few and they were really good. Then I bought one that was like total blubber and we were lucky to get enough meat off it for two people for one dinner. I contacted them and they were good and gave me another one for free. Well, we tried it and it was just as horrible. I am not ordering any more. Don't understand what happened there! Then for the New Year, we decided to buy two really big Rib eyes and they were super expensive. I didn't mind because we have not eaten out for probably two years and just wanted to celebrate the New Year with a super nice meal. Well, instead of getting two huge rib eyes, they sent 4 rib eyes. There are the normal ones you can get any week. I was pretty furious. I emailed them and they said I got the same amount of weight of the 4 steaks as the two steaks I had ordered. I said yes that might be true but what I got was like apples and bananas. Not what I wanted and would not have agreed to what they sent if they had contacted me. They grumbled a bit but refunded me the cost. I have been pleased other than these issues. What also gets me is that they offer something and they seem to run out. I got in on the large rib eyes and then they ran out. So, let's say they had 200 of them and I put in for them before they sold out, what happened to my steaks? They let me choose it, charged me for it and then substituted something else.
I got one pork butt from ButcherBox, but it wasn't great so I decided not to try that again. You're right -- it was very fatty and I didn't get nearly as much meat from it as I expected.
I did buy two of the thick ribeyes, but we haven't eaten them yet. I also got 20 of the regular ribeyes; I ordered a big box in January and that was the first time I'd seen ribeyes, and I have a ribeye lover. But they're just okay, not fantastic -- we like the NY steaks better. But you are so right -- cooking method is so different for the thick steaks vs. the thin ones. The thin ones cook to medium rare in 8 minutes on my grills straight from the fridge. I bought the thick ones because I want to try them with sous vide.
I also bought cod (6# for $40) and it has been a slog to get through. No matter how I cook it we don't like it. The salmon is fine and the halibut was quite good. I think there are 6 pieces of cod left and I'm going to cook it for the dogs.
First couple of tri-tips we ate were good, next couple were only okay. Sirloin cap (culotte) has been better. Top sirloins weren't worth it.
Oh, and I bought 6 packages of the thick cut bacon back when they were on the Black Friday sale, and they weren't good either. Their regular bacon is better. They only sent 5 packages of the thick cut bacon, but I called and they credited me $9 for the missing package, saying they had run out and didn't have anymore to send. That was a weird box, which arrived open, and was also missing a 2# bag of salmon. The customer service rep was really great and had me check everything over, and when I found a small puncture in a pack of NY steaks they added a package to my next order at no charge, and also sent the missing salmon.
I will say this though: I've ordered grass-fed beef for 14 years now, and the quality is always hit or miss. I think ranchers don't have as much control when the animals have to feed themselves, lol. They're at the mercy of the weather and other factors affecting the pasture. The best pastured pork I've gotten is from Stemple Creek, and the bone in chops were amazing.
I've gotten better at figuring out the true cost of what they offer as choices in the custom box, and now I won't choose the meats I know they sell for a lot less. They sell whole chickens for $15 (or less), but the "value" of each item in the custom box is $26.50, so chicken isn't a good choice. Or they'll offer 1# of breakfast sausage as a choice, when it costs $4.20 per pound when on sale (5# at $21).
We have a few things new to try this month: the breakfast sausage and the apple gouda sausage (Niman Ranch). We tried the grilled chicken breast and it's quite good although very peppery.