WHILE household budgets are being slashed across the country it is still nice to treat yourself from time to time. And what better way to do so than a premium supermarket steak? (unless of course you are a vegetarian, don’t like steak or prefer to go to a butcher).
Those caveats aside, and assuming you are also too skint to go out for the next three years, all you meat lovers will want to ensure you get the best bang for your buck as you ditch the sausages for one night only.
So we have done the hard work for you by almost scientifically examining two premium cuts from two of the biggest UK retailers, Aldi and Tesco, to see whose fillet steak you should serve up for that special occasion.
Without further ado, let’s quite literally tuck in.
Head to head
Aldi
The packet says: British reared and matured for the most flavoursome and tender steak.
- Cost: £5.99
- Price per 100g: £3.52
- Stated weight: 170g
- Matured: 30 days
Tesco​
The packet says:Â This lean cut of beef is well know for its tenderness and rich flavour.Â
- Cost: £7.95
- Price per 100g: £3.79
- Stated weight: 210g
- Matured: 30 days
From the off
The Tesco steak is bigger but so is the price and the cost per 100g favours Aldi coming in a marginal 27 pence cheaper by weight.
Both steaks look great and despite their size differences they look very similar. Both are a lovely a vibrant red hue, the Aldi steak does seem to have slightly more intramuscular fat (white lines) on the surface.
Definite bonus points for Aldi on two fronts though:
- Their tray is 100% plastic free which is a great addition. (The film though can’t be recycled on either steak.)
- It is a Silver medal winner in the World Steak Challenge. Obviously no one has ever heard of this, but it is an award nonetheless.
The weigh-off
Tesco’s pack’s stated weight was 210g but incredibly it chunked in at 230g. That is not far off a 10 per cent increase on what is advertised. Tidy.
Aldi on the other hand underdelivered in this instance. The pack stated 170g and then delivered a mediocre 164g. That is around 3.5 per cent less. And that is not good.
Comparing price vs the actual weight, Aldi comes in at £3.65/100g and Tesco actually comes in cheaper at £3.46/100g. And these days every little really does help.
While we appreciate meat cutting isn’t an exact science, this is exactly why most butchers sell on weight rather than fixing every lump at an exact number.
The cook-off
What can we say? We used a combination of butter and oil and aimed for a medium rare result at around two to three minutes per side.
The look-off
They both look fantastic, you wouldn’t be disappointed if you were served this in a high-end restaurant.Â
The results are in!
It’s been a real day of swings and roundabouts. While the Tesco steak appeared to cost more it was also quite a bit heavier than stated and was in fact cheaper per 100g over the Aldi steak.Â
But when push comes to shove in a pure taste test for us the Aldi steak wins through.
It just seemed to have a marginally better flavour, but it honestly was negligible.
It was an incredibly close call, both pieces of meat are fantastic and premium but if we had the choice again we would go for the Aldi.
So the Aldi fillet steak is, in our unscientific opinion, the top of the chops.
Why not treat yourself and let us know what you think? It’s all a matter of taste…
