Scoring release notes

Every change to the algorithm

Each time the scoring rules change, a new version: what changed, why, and what it moved. The rules in force are the scoring canon; site and data changes are in the changelog.

v8.2 · 2026-10-18

A price no check has confirmed for 8 weeks leaves the ranking; dry, then wet aging has its own value

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-18

What changed

A steak whose price no check has confirmed for 8 weeks leaves the ranking until one does, like a steak sold out for six weeks. It stays on the site, listed under the board, and its own page says why.
A price is confirmed by our weekly check reading the seller’s page, or by a member’s price check: the price and size they saw, the same as ours or not, with a link to the seller’s page or a screenshot of it. An admin accepts it; an admin’s own is recorded at once. Either goes in the steak’s price history.
Aging has a value for dry-aged, then wet-aged (“dry-aged 5 to 10 days, then wet-aged to 21 days total”). It scores the better of its two readings: all its days as wet-aging, or its dry days alone with the dry-aging premium. It never scores less than either.
A member’s aging fact carries the days its source states (all its days, and for dry, then wet, its dry days), which the admin who accepts it checks. Older facts keep reading their days from the source’s quoted words.

Why

Owner: prices turn stale after 8 weeks; a listing whose price nobody can confirm shouldn’t keep its rank on an old price. Any member can confirm one with a link or a screenshot, and an admin can too. A reviewer couldn’t record Seven Sons’ dry-then-wet protocol: the aging values were dry, wet or not aged, with the days only in the quote.

What moved

Three listings had no confirmed price in 8 weeks and leave the ranking: Good Chop’s Boneless Beef Ribeye ($21.13/lb, last confirmed Jul 13: its page shows no price without a subscription) and two of Omaha Steaks’ Private Reserve ribeyes (last confirmed Jul 13 and Aug 9: Omaha blocks our reader).
Good Chop had one ranked steak (#24, 4.8), so it leaves the seller board too (#12). Omaha’s Grass-Fed Ribeyes steak, whose best version was one of the Private Reserve listings, goes from 4.6 to 4.2 (#28 → #31), and Omaha from #19 to #20 on the seller board (4.0 → 3.8).
Every steak below #24 moves up one or two places; no score changes but Omaha’s. D’Artagnan’s nine listings (its site has blocked our reader since Sep 28) leave on Nov 23 unless a check or a member confirms them.
No accepted fact is dry, then wet yet; Seven Sons’ proposal is waiting for review.

v8.1 · 2026-10-11

Price for its cut: a steak priced under its cut’s median earns up to 3 more price points

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-11

What changed

A steak priced under the median of its cut adds up to 3 points to its 0–10 price score: nothing at the median or above, all 3 at half the median or less, in a straight line between. The price score still stops at 10, and still counts only in proportion to how well the steak eats (v8.0).
Its cut is every version on the board of the same grade and aging method (dry-aged Prime, wet-aged American Wagyu), each at its cheapest size. With fewer than 4 of them, it’s the same grade; with fewer than 4 again, its grade group (Prime and Prime+; Choice, Choice+ and Select; Wagyu; ungraded and house grades). It’s the same set the steak’s page compares it with under “Where it sits on the board”, which now falls back to the grade group rather than the whole board.
The dollars-only score is unchanged ($13/lb scores 10, $90/lb scores 0), and so are the $ marks: they still show the quarter of the board a steak’s price falls in.
Each steak’s Price row and the board’s Price popup say what its dollars score, its cut’s median, and what its cut adds.

Why

Owner: a Prime steak with four $ marks might be a great deal if it’s the cheapest Prime. Price was scored only in dollars across all grades, so a Wagyu or Prime priced well under what its cut usually costs got no credit for it. The price score is more honest when it also rewards a good price for the cut.

What moved

61 of the board’s 126 versions are priced under their cut’s median and gain; none loses points. One steak moves 5 places, and none moves more.
Wild Fork’s Wagyu Beef Ribeye ($34.98/lb against a $103.05 median for Wagyu ribeyes) rises from #13 to #8 (5.5 → 6.3) and is now Wild Fork’s best steak. Wild Fork rises from #8 to #6 on the seller board (5.4 → 5.7).
Meat N Bone’s $25.58/lb G1 Choice+ (median $51.99) rises from #7 to #4 (6.0 → 6.5). Snake River Farms’ SRF Gold Wagyu ($63.20 against $85.85) stays #9 (5.8 → 6.2).
Pat LaFrieda stays #1, now with its 30-day dry-aged bone-in Prime ($52.63/lb against a $69.22 median for dry-aged Prime, 7.7); its 45-day version goes from 7.3 to 7.6. Riverbend’s Prime stays #2 (6.6 → 6.9).
Steaks at or above their cut’s median gain nothing and slip as others pass them: Chicago Steak Company’s Australian Wagyu ($129.98) goes from #38 to #41, Riverbend’s Choice from #3 to #5. Wild Fork’s $21.98 Prime was already near 10 on price, so it gains only 1.2 before the cap and goes from #8 to #10 (5.8 → 6.1).
Seller board top five unchanged in order: Pat LaFrieda 6.9, Riverbend 6.7, 44 Farms 6.4, Snake River 6.2, Good Ranchers 6.0. Porter Road goes from #6 to #8.

v8.0 · 2026-10-09

Value is quality per dollar: price counts in full only when a steak eats well

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-09

What changed

A steak’s price counts in full only when its cut quality, its grade and aging scores combined in our weights’ proportion, is 7 or more. That’s about Choice+ aged three to four weeks, or Prime aged three. Below that its price counts in proportion, so a cut quality of 3.5 counts half. A cheap steak that doesn’t eat well isn’t a value; a cheap one that does still wins.
Weights: grade 20% (was 9%), price 30% (was 37%), aging 25% (unchanged), healthy 15% (was 18%), raising 10% (was 11%). Price is still the largest single measure.
The Price popup and each steak’s Price row say how much of its price counts and why. A member’s own weights get the same rule; the Lowest $/lb sort is still by price alone.

Why

Owner: the worst-tasting steak was #1, super healthy, super cheap, super bad, and its reviews agree. Grade and aging were only a third of the score, so a cheap, clean, mediocre steak beat a great one.

What moved

Wild Fork’s Organic Ribeye (ungraded, wet-aged 17 days, $18.98/lb) falls from #1 to #19 (7.1 → 5.0). Wild Fork’s best is now its USDA Prime Ribeye at $22/lb (#8), then its Wagyu (#13) and USDA Choice (#18).
Steak board top five: Pat LaFrieda’s 45-day dry-aged Prime (7.3), Riverbend’s Prime and Choice, D’Artagnan’s Angus, 44 Farms’ Choice. Meat N Bone’s $26/lb G1 Choice+ is #7.
Seller board: Pat LaFrieda and Riverbend 6.5, 44 Farms 6.4, Snake River #16 → #4 (5.2 → 5.8), Good Ranchers #5. Sellers of ungraded grass-fed beef fall, because their grade counts for more and holds back how much their price counts: ButcherBox #3 → #10 (6.5 → 4.8), Rastelli’s #6 → #16, Moink #9 → #18, Primal Pastures #11 → #20, White Oak #11 → #24, Old Salt and Seven Sons down about eight places.

v7.7 · 2026-10-09

Organic: pasture-raised, and a 0.2 add-on

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-09

What changed

Organic cattle graze pasture through the grazing season (7 CFR 205.239), so an organic steak now counts as pasture-raised (finish not stated) where its listing and seller say nothing about raising. The listing’s organic claim is more specific than the lowest type its seller lists, so it counts over that too. Anything the pages say about raising stands.
Organic’s add-on drops from 1.0 to 0.2. Its no antibiotics and no added hormones (v7.6) and pasture already count in Healthy and Raising; the add-on covers only what’s left, organic feed and the certification. With a member’s own weights it still moves with their raising weight.

Why

Owner: organic was being counted twice, once as its markup and again in Healthy, so the markup should shrink; and organic means pasture as well.

What moved

Wild Fork’s Organic Ribeye Steak goes from 7.9 to 7.1, tied with Pat LaFrieda’s 45-day dry-aged Prime; it keeps #1, being cheaper per pound. Its raising was already pasture-raised (Wild Fork’s lowest listed type); it now comes from its being organic. Wild Fork goes from 6.3 to 6.1 on the seller board.
No other ranked ribeye is organic.

v7.6 · 2026-10-09

An organic steak counts as no antibiotics and no added hormones

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-09

What changed

USDA Organic beef comes from cattle never given antibiotics (7 CFR 205.238) or hormones to promote growth (7 CFR 205.237). So a steak whose listing (or seller, of all its beef) says it’s organic now counts as never given antibiotics and no added hormones wherever its listing and seller say nothing about them. Anything they do say stands.
Its steak page says where that came from: “USDA Organic means it.”

Why

Owner: isn’t organic beef by definition no hormones or antibiotics? It is: the USDA Organic standard requires both, so an organic steak says it.

What moved

Wild Fork’s Organic Ribeye Steak ($18.98/lb, wet-aged 17 days) rises from #8 to #1 on the steak board (6.4 → 7.9): its antibiotics and hormones were not stated, and it’s organic. Wild Fork rises from #8 to #7 on the seller board (5.9 → 6.3).
Rastelli’s Organic Grass-Fed Ribeye already stated both; it stays off the ranking (sold out for six weeks). No other ribeye on the board is organic.

v7.5 · 2026-10-08

Limited delivery takes 0.25, and says so in red

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-08

What changed

A seller that doesn’t deliver nationwide loses 0.25 from its score and each of its steaks’ scores (was 1.0). Scores stay to one decimal, so a steak that would score 6.8 scores 6.6.
Wherever its delivery line shows (under the seller and steak on both boards, its own page, each steak’s page and the compare page), a red “Deduction for limited delivery options” comes first, then what we know of its delivery: “Local delivery only, free over $35”.
The deduction shows as −0.25 wherever it’s listed.

Why

Owner: local delivery can’t cost a whole point. It should be a small deduction that’s prominently flagged, the same for every seller that doesn’t deliver nationwide, with what we know about its delivery beside it.

What moved

Wild Fork, the only seller that delivers locally only, rises from #16 to #8 (5.1 → 5.9); its best ribeye is #8 on the steak board. The sellers it passes each drop a place with unchanged scores.
Wild Fork’s delivery terms, from its own How it works page: free delivery over $35 where it delivers (“*Free delivery not available in all areas. Orders under $35 include a handling fee.”).

v7.4 · 2026-10-07

Price counts twice as much; steaks sold out for six weeks leave the ranking

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-07

What changed

Price now counts twice what it did against each other measure: 37% of the Beef Score. The others keep their proportions: aging 25%, healthy 18%, raising 11%, grade 9% (were price 23%, aging 30%, healthy 22%, raising 14%, grade 11%). An organic steak still adds a full point.
A steak that’s been sold out at every price check for more than six weeks, seen on at least three days, leaves the ranking until a check finds it in stock. It stays on the site: in a list under the board, on its seller’s page, and on its own page, which says why. Our weekly checks began on 28 September; before that the July research is the only check.

Why

Owner: when a company offers a low price on meat, it needs to show more in the ratings; double price’s impact (owner chose 37% over a 46% share). A steak that’s been sold out for more than six weeks shouldn’t hold a place on the board, but shouldn’t disappear from the site either. Rastelli’s #1 organic ribeye, $34.99 for two, has been sold out at every check since 13 July.

What moved

Seller board: Pat LaFrieda #1 (6.8), Riverbend #2, ButcherBox #3 (6.3 → 6.5), Porter Road #4, 44 Farms #5 (6.8 → 6.4), Rastelli’s #1 → #6 (7.8 → 6.3; its sold-out organic ribeye is off the ranking, so it’s scored on its $32/lb grass-fed ribeye). Low-priced sellers rise: Good Ranchers #12 → #7, Good Chop #16 → #8, Wild Fork #21 → #18 (4.5 → 5.1), Omaha and Kansas City up a place or two.
Expensive sellers fall: Snake River #9 → #15, D’Artagnan #7 → #12, Meat N Bone #9 → #13, Holy Grail #16 → #22 (12 of its 17 ribeyes are sold out for six weeks; its live store has one ribeye in stock, a Sanuki Olive A5 we don’t list yet), Mr. Steak #19 → #24, Lobel’s stays last (2.8 → 2.4).
15 listings leave the ranking for being sold out six weeks or more: 12 at Holy Grail and one each at Rastelli’s, Porter Road and Mr. Steak. 50 ranked steaks.

v7.3 · 2026-10-07

One steak per grade group: Prime, Choice, Wagyu, ungraded

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-07

What changed

A steak is now one purveyor’s ribeyes in one grade group: Prime (Prime+, including Prime 850 Club, and Prime), Choice (Choice+, Choice and Select), Wagyu (A5, American and crossbred), or ungraded and house grades. The board ranks its best version; its other bone styles, aging methods and lengths, ways of raising and sizes are options under it. This replaces v7.2’s grade, aging method and raising. A seller can have at most four ranked steaks, and its score is their average.
A row of sizes is one product: a grass-fed or organic ribeye is never filed as a size of a different ribeye (Wild Fork’s grass-fed Choice ribeye sat under its Choice ribeye, and its Reserve ribeye under its Organic one).
An accepted member fact about aging for all a seller’s beef counts at once, the method from the fact and the days from the source’s quoted words. The fact form has an Aging topic and a “ribeye we don’t list” topic.

Why

Owner: Pat LaFrieda had five rows on the board, too many for one seller. Group on the major grades, and show the top-ranked steak in each group, whatever it is.

What moved

50 ranked steaks, down from 84; no seller has more than four. Pat LaFrieda has two: its 45-day dry-aged Prime boneless ribeye (#2, 7.7) and its High Choice filet (#11).
Seller board: Rastelli’s #1 (7.8; both its ribeyes are ungraded, so one steak), Pat LaFrieda #2 (6.4 → 7.0), 44 Farms, Porter Road, Riverbend, ButcherBox. Sellers whose averages had included fresh or lesser versions rise: D’Artagnan #13 → #7 (5.1 → 5.7), Meat N Bone #17 → #9 (4.9 → 5.6), Crowd Cow #18 → #13, Holy Grail #19 → #16, Mr. Steak #22 → #20. Wild Fork rises from 3.5 to 4.5, also because the weekly check now reads its FAQ (“All of our meat is wet-aged for 17 days”).

v7.2 · 2026-10-07

A steak is also how its cattle were raised

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-07

What changed

A steak is now one purveyor’s ribeye at one grade, aging method and way its cattle were raised. Before, it was grade and aging method only. So a grass-finished ribeye and a grain-finished one at the same grade and aging are two ranked steaks, not one steak with the other as an option.
How a seller’s score is made is unchanged: the average of its ranked steaks, now counted this way.

Why

Since v7.0 more listings read as grade or aging not stated, so different products at one seller were folding into one steak, for example a grain-fed Wagyu cut under a grass-finished ribeye. Raising is a fact about the steak, so it’s part of what a steak is.

What moved

83 ranked steaks, up from 79. Four steaks split: Meat N Bone’s grain-fed Wagyu cowboy steak from its grass-finished ribeye, Crowd Cow’s pasture-raised bone-in ribeye from its Uruguay grass-fed offer, Seven Sons’ Delmonico (its page says grass-fed without the finish) from its grass-finished cowboy cut, and Wild Fork’s grass-fed tomahawk from its organic ribeye.
Seller board: Meat N Bone #14 → #17 (5.1 → 4.9), Crowd Cow #17 → #18 (5.0 → 4.8), Seven Sons #10 → #12 (5.3 → 5.2). Pat LaFrieda, Snake River Farms, Good Chop, Old Salt and Four Sixes each move up a place with unchanged scores.

v7.1 · 2026-10-06

A member’s accepted fact counts as a statement about all the seller’s beef

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-06 (members propose facts with a source; an admin checks the source)

What changed

A fact a member proposed and an admin accepted (its source says it) counts, from the moment it’s accepted, as a statement about all the seller’s beef: where the listing and the seller’s own pages say nothing about antibiotics, hormones, raising or organic (for raising, also over the lowest type listed), and alongside them for welfare certifications.
A member’s third-party source (a certifier’s listing) earns the same confirmation boost and green check as a certifier’s own list. The weekly evidence check also reads the source’s quoted words with the phrase dictionary.
The steak page marks such a fact “A member’s source about all its beef, accepted by an admin.”

Why

v7.0 read member facts only through the weekly check, so an accepted fact didn’t count until the next Monday, and only if the dictionary could read its quote. An admin has already checked the source, so it counts as the seller’s statement about all its beef.

What moved

Snake River Farms rises from #16 to #12 (5.1 → 5.2): its accepted BQA certification counts. Moink stays #6 (5.7 → 5.8): its Animal Welfare Approved certification, from a member’s certifier link, earns the confirmation boost. ButcherBox, White Oak Pastures and Old Salt’s accepted certifications were already on their pages or certifier lists. Nothing else moves.

v7.0 · 2026-10-06

Every fact from the words on the page: one rule, a phrase dictionary, no interpretation

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-06

What changed

Each steak’s grade, aging, raising, organic, antibiotics, hormones and welfare are now the facts the weekly evidence check reads from saved copies of its listing and its seller’s own pages, with a fixed phrase dictionary (version 1.2). They replace the listing records and seller claims from our July research.
One rule settles each fact: the listing’s own words first (completed by a fuller statement the seller makes about all its beef); else what the seller says of all its beef; for raising only, else the lowest type the seller lists anywhere on its site; else not stated, which scores at the bottom. A claim about one line of beef (“our pork”, “our Natural Prime”, “our organic beef”) doesn’t carry to the others.
When a listing’s words contradict the seller’s statement about all its beef, the listing’s words count, and the steak page shows the seller’s statement in a “Contradicts with” popup, for information only (owner, 2026-10-06).
Antibiotics, hormones and welfare are now each steak’s own facts, not the seller’s, so the board’s Herd marks and filters can differ between one seller’s steaks. A welfare certification earns the confirmation boost when the certifier’s own published list confirms it.
An organic statement about all a seller’s beef now counts for its ribeyes, as any other all-beef statement does. Before, only a listing’s own words did.
A listing whose page blocks every reader keeps what our earlier research recorded of it (shown as such) until a copy can be read or pasted: Omaha Steaks’ three blocked listings.
The steak page shows each fact with the words it was read from and their source. The seller page shows what its own pages say, about all its beef and about some of it. The July claims move to a collapsed “Earlier research” panel and no longer score; delivery and shipping still come from them.
The weights, ladders and the steak and seller rules are unchanged.

Why

Owner: harden the scoring so it isn’t prone to judgment calls. It’s evidence-based math: what are the claims, what is the evidence, are there specific claims about the cut; if there are no cut claims, use the evidence-based purveyor claim; the same for every product we list. A listing’s words win over the purveyor’s overall statement when they contradict, and the contradiction is only shown.

What moved

Seller board: Rastelli’s is #1 (6.8 → 7.0), then 44 Farms, Porter Road, Riverbend and ButcherBox. Good Ranchers falls from #1 to #8 (7.4 → 5.5): its pages say all its beef is grass-fed and grain-finished and graded “USDA Choice or higher” (Choice), and its no-antibiotics and no-hormones statements are about its chicken and pork; its brand page’s “No Antibiotics or Added Hormones” banner doesn’t say whose.
Good Chop #3 → #13 (6.8 → 5.1): its antibiotic and hormone statements are about its chicken and pork. Pat LaFrieda #7 → #11 (6.6 → 5.2): its statement that its cattle never get antibiotics or added hormones is on its own wholesale site, chefandrestaurantsupply.com, which the evidence check didn’t read, and its 45-day option says “45 Days” without saying dry. [Corrected 2026-10-07: this note first said that site was another company’s. It’s Pat LaFrieda’s own. It’s now read (dictionary 1.5), and Pat LaFrieda is back to 7.0, tied for #1.] Wild Fork #10 → #23 (6.0 → 3.5): “we strive to partner with farmers that raise their animals without hormones or antibiotics” is an aim, not a statement about all its beef, and all its beef is wet-aged with the days not stated. Lobel’s #19 → #26 (5.1 → 2.8): its Prime is “corn-fed”, which scores as feedlot; its antibiotic and hormone statements are about its Natural Prime line; “dry-aged up to six weeks” is a most, not a number of days.
Risers: Crowd Cow #21 → #17 (4.6 → 5.0), each ranch offer now read from its own section; Holy Grail #23 → #19 (4.3 → 4.6), “the ranchers we work with – no hormones, no antibiotics”; Mr. Steak #26 → #22 (3.3 → 3.8).
Steak board: Rastelli’s Organic Grass-Fed Ribeye stays #1 (8.1 → 7.8). D’Artagnan’s Angus ribeye rises from #9 to #3 (“Equivalent to Choice-Plus”, “Wet aged a minimum of 21 days” on its page) and Meat N Bone’s grass-finished ribeye from #35 to #7. Pat LaFrieda’s 45-day ribeye falls from #2 to #14 and Meat N Bone’s G1 from #5 to #25 (its page says USDA Choice). 79 steaks are ranked, as before.
Of 260 live listings read: grade from the listing for 185 and from an all-beef statement for 4; aging from the listing for 99 and an all-beef statement for 80; raising from the listing for 35, an all-beef statement for 39 and the lowest type listed for 154; antibiotics stated for 62 and not stated for 198. Eight listings contradict their seller’s statement and show it.

v6.1 · 2026-10-06

How the cattle were raised: one standard rule, no interpretation

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-06

What changed

A purveyor that lists one type of raised beef has every one of its steaks scored as that type, whatever the listing says. A purveyor that lists two or more has each steak scored as what its own listing explicitly says, or else as the lowest type it lists.
The types a purveyor lists are every type it states anywhere on its own site: about, FAQ and collection pages, and product pages. “Grass-fed” or “pasture-raised” on its own isn’t a separate type when the purveyor states a fuller grass-fed or pasture-raised type it’s part of.
This replaces v6.0’s rule that completed a listing’s unstated finish from the purveyor’s lines. A listing that leaves something out at a purveyor with two or more types now scores as what it says.
Unchanged: grain-fed with no pasture or grass claim scores the same as a conventional feedlot (owner, 2026-10-06).

Why

Owner: we need standard rules that don’t require interpretation. If a purveyor has one type of raised beef, each of its steaks gets that type; if it has two or more, each steak gets what is explicitly said about it, or the lowest type the purveyor lists. If a purveyor says all its cattle are raised one way, there is only one option, whatever an individual cut’s page says.

What moved

Meat N Bone stays #9 but falls from 6.4 to 6.0: its Miyazaki Wagyu page says the cattle are grain-fed, so its lowest type is now grain-fed, and its ribeyes that don’t say score that way. Its G1 boneless ribeye goes from #1 (7.8) to #5 (7.2).
Omaha Steaks falls from #22 to #24 (4.6 → 4.3): its Private Reserve Wagyu page says grain-fed, now its lowest type.
Rastelli’s rises from #6 to #4 (6.7 → 6.8): its grass-fed listings say grass-fed and grass-finished, its one type, so its Organic Grass-Fed Ribeye is #1 (8.1).
White Oak Pastures, which says all its cattle are grass-fed and grass-finished, scores every steak that way, as before. Wild Fork’s grass-fed and pasture-raised lines stay two types; its silent listings still score as pasture-raised.

v6.0 · 2026-10-06

One row per steak, raising and organic read from each listing, and a seller’s score is the average of its steaks

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-06

What changed

A steak is one purveyor’s ribeye at one grade and aging method. Its best-scoring version is ranked (on a tie, boneless, then the cheaper); its other bone styles and aging lengths open under it with their own scores and no rank. Before, each bone style and aging length was its own ranked row, so one seller could fill the top ten.
How the cattle were raised is now read from each steak’s own listing, not taken from the seller as a whole: all 260 live listings were read on 2026-10-06, and 69 say. A listing that doesn’t say scores as the lowest line its purveyor states. A listing that leaves the finish unstated (“grass-fed”, “pasture-raised”) scores as the lowest of its purveyor’s lines that fits it, so White Oak’s “grassfed” listings score as grass-finished, the only line it states. With no line that fits, a listing scores as the most it says: “grass-fed” as grass-fed and grain-finished, “pasture-raised” as pasture-raised and grain-finished, “grain-finished” with no pasture or grass claim as conventional.
Organic is a scored item: a steak whose own listing says USDA Organic adds 1.0 to its Beef Score, counted through raising. A seller-level organic claim, or an organic listing for another product, doesn’t count for a ribeye.
A seller’s score is the average of its ranked steaks, and its Cut, Herd and Price parts are the averages of theirs. This replaces the eight seller axes (grade, clean, grass-fed, finish, welfare, delivery, price, aging) and the rule that grade, aging and price came from its single highest-rated steak. Aging is 30% of every steak’s score, so a seller whose ribeyes aren’t aged can’t rank high.
Members’ own weights in Settings are now the five steak measures (aging, price, healthy, raising, grade) and score both boards for them. No member had saved weights, so none were lost.
The steak measure called “happy” is now called raising. Its ladder, the welfare bonus and every other weight and ladder are unchanged.

Why

Owner: the top list is a list of steaks, not purveyors, so each steak should appear once with its options under it; either a steak is pasture-raised or it isn’t, so raising is a fact about the steak, and when we have to guess it gets the purveyor’s lowest line; organic matters and should be worth about a point; and a seller’s score should be the average of its ranked steaks, so sellers that don’t age their steaks can’t rank high.

What moved

The ribeye board has 79 ranked steaks; the other 55 versions (bone styles and aging lengths) open under them. Before, all 134 were ranked rows.
Two ribeyes are organic: Rastelli’s Organic Grass-Fed Ribeye rises from #21 to #2 (6.6 → 7.8) and Wild Fork’s Organic Ribeye from #48 to #18 (5.7 → 6.6). Meat N Bone’s G1 boneless ribeye is #1 (7.8); Pat LaFrieda’s 45-day dry-aged Prime is #3 (7.7).
Seller board: Good Ranchers is #1 (7.4, one ribeye), then 44 Farms, Good Chop, Riverbend and Porter Road. Sellers with unaged ribeyes fall: D’Artagnan #1 → #13, Snake River Farms #4 → #17, Holy Grail #6 → #24, Pursuit Farms #20 → #27 (last). Meat N Bone falls from #2 to #9 and Pat LaFrieda from #3 to #7: their averages include unaged ribeye filets and expensive Wagyu.
Sellers that say some of their beef is grain-fed with no pasture claim score their silent listings as conventional on raising: Lobel’s #7 → #19, Allen Brothers #25 and Mr. Steak #24 → #26. Wild Fork states only grass-fed and pasture-raised lines, so its silent listings score as pasture-raised; it rises from #19 to #10.
Crowd Cow’s Certified Piedmontese ribeye was listed as grain-finished; its page says 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, and the name is corrected.

v5.0 · 2026-10-06

Seller claims count near the top; a third party’s confirmation adds a small boost

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-06

What changed

A seller’s claim now scores just under the top of its ladder on the seller’s word: never given or raised without antibiotics 9 (was 6, or 10 when worded “certified”); no added hormones 9 (was 6, or 9–10 when worded “certified” or NHTC); grass-fed and grass-finished 9.75 (was 10). Lower rungs are unchanged.
A third party’s confirmation — the certifier’s own listing, USDA paperwork, a lab — adds a boost that depends on what it confirms, never on who confirmed it: hormones +1, antibiotics +1, grass-fed +0.25, welfare +0.2. “Certified” wording without a confirmation no longer scores by itself.
Every welfare certification scores the same, 9.8 (10 when confirmed), whoever issued it — including BQA and Audubon, which weren’t on the scale. Before: Animal Welfare Approved 10, GAP Step 5+ 9, AGA 8, Certified Humane 6, GAP Step 4 6, American Humane 3. Two certifications still count once.
On the steak board, healthy uses the same antibiotics and hormones scores; happy’s raising scores are 0.25 lower unless confirmed, and any welfare certification adds 0.8 (1.0 confirmed) instead of 0.3–1 by certifier.
Confirmations come from the certifier check of 2026-10-06, which looked for every seller on the certifiers’ own lists (Certified Humane, GAP, American Humane, A Greener World, AGA, Audubon, Land to Market, Regenerative Organic and USDA’s registries). ButcherBox’s Certified Humane and Old Salt Co-op’s Audubon certification are confirmed; ButcherBox’s GAP Step 4 isn’t (GAP lists ButcherBox for chicken only).

Why

Owner: we already count sellers’ claims, so a third party’s confirmation should add only a little, more for some measures (hormones) than others (humane treatment); and we don’t rank certifiers against each other.

What moved

Most seller scores rose, because antibiotics and hormones claims now count near the top: D’Artagnan 6.5 → 7.6 (#1), Meat N Bone 6.4 → 7.4 (#2), Pat LaFrieda 6.4 → 7.0 (#3).
Snake River Farms rose from #10 to #4: its BQA program now counts as a welfare certification. Old Salt Co-op rose from #26 to #18: its Audubon certification counts, and is confirmed. ButcherBox is #5 (6.6), with its Certified Humane confirmed.
White Oak Pastures fell from #5 to #9: its “certified” antibiotics and hormones claims aren’t on USDA’s registries, so they score like everyone else’s claims (9) while other sellers’ claims rose to meet them.
Steak board: 40 of 134 steaks moved 10 or more places. Pat LaFrieda’s 45-day dry-aged Prime ribeyes stay #1 and #2 (7.7). Wild Fork’s and D’Artagnan’s grass-fed steaks rose about 15 places; White Oak’s ribeyes fell about 20.

v4.0 · 2026-10-05

Aging by days, and aging weighs 30%

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-05

What changed

Steak aging is now set by the days the seller states, whatever the method: no days stated 3, 14+ days 5, 21+ 6, 28+ 7, 35+ 8, 45+ 9. Dry-aging adds 2, and dry-aging on a grade where it’s unusual still adds 1 more, up to 10. Before, wet-aged scored 3–6 and dry-aged 7–10, so every wet-aged steak scored below every dry-aged one. A steak sold as not aged still scores 1.
Aging’s weight on the steak board rises from 22% to 30%. The other four factors give up 8 points in proportion: price 26% → 23%, healthy 24% → 22%, happy 16% → 14%, grade 12% → 11%.
Seller scores now use their top steak’s own grade and aging scores, the same numbers the steak board shows for it. Before, the seller board used coarser versions: aging was dry 8, not aged 3, anything else 6, ignoring days; and a house grade scored 6 there but 5 on the steak board.
A seller with no priced steak has its aging claim scored on the same days ladder.

Why

Owner: wet aging was over-penalized next to dry aging, days aged are a better differentiator than wet or dry alone, and aging should weigh more. Using the top steak’s exact scores carries out the 2026-10-02 rule that a seller is rated on the ratings of the best steak it sells.

What moved

Steak board: 63 of 135 steaks moved 10 or more places. Pat LaFrieda’s 45-day dry-aged Prime ribeyes are now #1 and #2 (7.0).
Long wet-aged steaks rose: Chicago Steak Company’s 40-day Australian Wagyu (+35 places), Omaha Steaks’ 35-day Private Reserve cowboy steaks (+33), Kansas City Steak Company’s 28-day ribeyes (about +30).
Steaks sold as not aged fell: White Oak Pastures’ grassfed ribeyes (−21 to −25 places), Pat LaFrieda’s High Choice filet (−23). Dry-aged steaks with no days stated fell too: Porter Road’s Cowboy Cut (−21).
Seller board: D’Artagnan is #1 (6.5), Pat LaFrieda #2 (6.6 → 6.4), Meat N Bone #3. ButcherBox fell from #1 to #4 (6.6 → 6.2): its top steak states no aging and is a house grade, now scored 5 as on the steak board.
Crowd Cow rose from #24 to #14 (4.2 → 5.2): its top steak is now a Choice+ ribeye. Wild Fork Foods fell from #16 to #23 (4.9 → 4.4): its top steak is now its house-grade, 28-day WF Reserve ribeye.

v3.5 · 2026-10-05

Seller claims count as stated; the best claim on an attribute counts

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-05

What changed

A seller’s claim counts whether or not a third party has confirmed it. Claims no third party backs carry an orange “Seller claim” mark.
When a seller holds several claims on one attribute, the best one counts. Before, whichever was read first counted.
A value that isn’t on a scale yet is recorded and shown, and scores like no claim until it’s added.
Members propose facts, not scores. Score proposals, and the score overrides they could create, are retired; none were in force.

Why

Owner: err on the side of the seller — we aren’t a third-party watchdog. Members’ numbers went around the rules; facts go through them.

What moved

No score changed.
Recorded: White Oak Pastures’ Certified Humane, GAP Step 4 and Savory Institute EOV; ButcherBox’s Certified Humane, from the certifier’s listing; Snake River Farms’ BQA and Old Salt Co-op’s Audubon certification, which aren’t on the welfare scale yet.

v3.4 · 2026-10-02

Sellers scored on their highest-rated steak

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-02

What changed

A seller’s grade, aging and price come from its highest-rated steak on the board (an in-stock one over a sold-out one; ties to the cheaper per pound). Antibiotics, hormones, pasture, welfare and delivery still come from its claims. A seller with no priced steak is scored from its claims and benchmark price.

Why

Owner: seller scores should use the ratings that match the highest-rated steak they sell.

What moved

ButcherBox became #1 and Pat LaFrieda #2, on its 30-day dry-aged Prime 850 Club ribeye.
Crowd Cow rose from #23 to #14 and Pursuit Farms from #25 to #15. Rastellis fell from #11 to #25: its highest-rated ribeye is an ungraded, unaged grass-fed steak.

v3.3 · 2026-10-01

Wet-aged below dry-aged; local-delivery deduction

Decided by: Owner, 2026-10-01

What changed

Steak aging: dry-aged 7–10 and wet-aged 3–6, so every wet-aged steak scores below every dry-aged one. A steak not stated as dry-aged is scored as wet-aged, including one described only as “aged”. A steak sold as not aged scores 1.
A seller that only delivers locally loses 1.0 from the score, on both boards.

Why

Owner: dry-aging is the costlier process and should count only when the seller says so; most shoppers can’t buy from a local-only seller.

What moved

Riverbend Ranch, whose site says its beef is aged 21 days without saying how, fell from #1 to #8 on the steak board. Pat LaFrieda’s Prime 850 Club dry-aged ribeye became #1.
Wild Fork Foods, which delivers only near its stores, lost 1.0.

v3.2 · 2026-09-28

Aging days count only when the seller states them

Decided by: Owner, 2026-09-28

What changed

Research had recorded 14 days of aging whenever a seller said “aged” or “dry-aged” without a number, citing a USDA minimum that doesn’t exist. Days now count only when the seller states them; 41 listings were corrected.

Why

Owner: score what sellers actually claim.

What moved

41 listings rescored on their sellers’ own words; those without stated days score as days not stated.

v3.1 · 2026-07-14

Value-forward steak board; hormones and steroids are one measure

Decided by: Owner, 2026-07-14

What changed

Price became absolute value across all grades ($13/lb scores 10, $90/lb or more 0) instead of relative to the cheapest steak of the same grade.
Steak weights: price 26%, healthy 24%, aging 22%, happy 16%, grade 12% (were price 20, healthy 22, aging 18, happy 18, grade 22).
Dry-aging on Choice+, Choice or Select adds 1.
Added hormones in beef are growth steroids, so steroids were folded into hormones: healthy is antibiotics and hormones averaged, and the seller Clean axis drops steroids.

Why

Owner: a shopping site should surface value, not just grade.

What moved

Well-priced, dry-aged, clean, pasture-raised Choice and Choice+ steaks rose to the top; over-priced Prime and Wagyu sank.
Riverbend Ranch became #1 (healthy 5.7 → 8.0).

v3.0 · 2026-07-13

The steak board: five factors per ribeye

Decided by: Owner, 2026-07-13

What changed

Each ribeye listing scored on five factors: grade 22%, healthy 22%, price 20%, happy 18%, aging 18%. A missing claim scores at the bottom. Price was relative to the cheapest steak of the same grade; “aged” with no days counted as 14 days.

Why

The site moved to ranking individual steaks you can buy.

What moved

The first steak board.

v2.0 · 2026-07-12

Seller scores from claims: eight axes

Decided by: Owner, 2026-07-12

What changed

Opinion-based tag scores were replaced by eight ladders read from each seller’s claims: grade 26%, clean 22%, grass-fed 12%, welfare 10%, delivery 10%, finish 8%, price 8%, aging 4%. Members can set their own weights.

Why

Scores should come from evidence, not opinion.

What moved

The board became grade-led; Prime sellers rose.

v1.0 · 2026-07-12

First published scores

Decided by: Launch

What changed

Taste 30%, healthy 25%, cost 20%, happy 15%, texture 10%, from research tags.

Why

Launch.

What moved

All scores were marked as agent-researched, awaiting verification.