Cartier (@cartier.63), a content creator in Nashville, Tenn., who is part car auction hunter, home cook, and dumpster-diving antiques dealer, had a run-in with the price of a rib-eye steak at his local Kroger, only to lose to a boneless grilled steak he mistook for a cheap steak.
Nashville Kroger shoppers fall in love with ‘BBL’ steak
Cartier found himself staring at an $18 rib-eye steak and hesitated. “I went to pick out my steak and I thought, Oh my God [expletive]: $18 for a basic rib eye steak that I have to take home and cook? never. “
Next to it is a slate three times the size, priced at $14. A freeze frame from the video shows the label: $23 boneless roast, with cuts designed for stews and slow cookers rather than skillets. But hey, it was on sale, so he figured, why not?
Cartier was attracted by the meaty area per dollar and grabbed it without a second glance. “I thought to myself, it can’t be that bad,” he said.
He puts butter into a hot pan and pours what he jokingly calls “GMC Yukon XL Steak” onto the surface. The sear looks gorgeous—golden, crackling, and full of false hope. He carved it with confidence.
“I took the first bite and chewed it for about three minutes. It felt like I was eating a pair of Timberland boots,” he said.
Roasting, unencumbered by heat and good intentions, accomplished what chuck did without hours of low, slow moisture: it grabbed the leather. His parting wisdom carries the resignation of a man who’s lost a fair fight: “Don’t buy these giant BBL steaks you see in the grocery store.”
Peanuts Gallery Reviews Kroger Shopper’s Roasted Chuck Fail
“That’s grilled Chuck Bros,” one person pointed out. “It takes 8 hours to cook beef broth, beef bouillon, and French onion soup in the slow cooker.”
Another person made a key point: “Man. Just get a sirloin, tri tip, or flat iron steak. If you can find them, hang steaks and round steaks. Both are cheaper than rib eye and tastier. Stop thinking of roasts as steaks. They’re cheap for a reason – they take all day to cook.”
Others are just joking. “You fry the stew,” one commenter said. “We all thought so…that’s what he did,” admitted another.
Watch wallets in stores: The beef price squeeze is real
The failure of Cartier’s bargain comes amid a wider squeeze at meat counters for budget-conscious consumers. This is especially true since the pandemic, and even more so last year.
According to NPR, beef prices have increased by more than 50% since 2020, and the number of U.S. cattle herds is at its lowest point in more than 70 years. Ribeye and other prime steaks now average more than $12 per pound, and shoppers are increasingly looking for cheaper, tougher cuts. Or they’ll end up walking past the beef aisle entirely for cheaper fish like chicken, pork or tilapia.
For the record, roasted chuck works great when simmered low and slow. The connective tissue that turns a Cartier dinner into a shoe breaks down perfectly in hours of moist heat.
Now, if he knows what to look for, he can actually get what he wants from the clip. His mistakes weren’t necessarily cuts. Most skilled butchers can identify and extract Denver steaks (and ribeye steaks) from the same roast, but knowing where to cut is key.
AllHipHop reached out to Cartier (@cartier.63) via TikTok messages and comments and Kroger via email. We will update this story if either party responds.
@cartier.63 Worst steak I have ever had in my life #cookwithme #cookinghacks #cookingfail #steak ♬ Original Sound – cartier.63
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