Let’s play a game called “spot the difference” ribeye steak version! Today we have two steaks: one is a classic beef ribeye steak and the other is a bison ribeye steak. We’re going to cook these babies up and share the results with you.

If you haven’t noticed, bison has gained a lot of popularity over the years. Why? Compared to beef, bison is leaner, has fewer calories and is lower in saturated fat. At Red Meat Lover, we talk a lot about the importance of intramuscular fat because the fat is where it’s at! Since bison has less fat content it has fat marbling (or intramuscular fat) which makes the meat more tender.

Before we get in to the recipe, we want to thank our friends at Meat N’ Bone who sent us these steaks. They offer a range of heritage-bred, all-natural, ethically-raised meats sent right to your door! One of the things we want to point out that these are very similar looking cuts, even though they come from different animals. We are really
impressed with how well these steaks are trimmed as well.

Bison vs. Beef

We evenly salted both steaks exactly the same. Why? Well, we recently did a steak experiment where we determined that salting your steaks at least an hour before cooking really helps turn up the tasty.

Now it’s time to turn up the heat and cook this meat. We’re going to get these steaks cooking right here in this cast iron skillet. Why are we using a
cast iron skillet? Well, it delivers a nice, consistent even heat throughout the cooking process. We cooked both steaks to a nice medium rare temperature or 135 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once the skillet is nice and hot, go ahead and hit it with some avocado oil. There is some debate about whether you oil the pan or the steak. We always oil the pan. What’s your preference? Once the oil is warmed up, it’s time to throw on the steaks! Cook them for about two minutes on each side. When the internal temperate is 125 degrees Fahrenheit and rest for five minutes.

Check out this recipe: Grilling and Reverse Searing a Bison Tomahawk Steak

The Official Taste Test

Both steaks were cooked to a perfect medium rare with great looking color. We want to point out just one difference. It looks like the beef ribeye has a slightly better crust on it than the bison.

First, we tasted the beef ribeye steak. This is a steak we are used to, I mean, prime beef is just so good. Ribeye steaks are typically a more fatty cut of steak which can add a lot of richness.

Second, we tried the bison. We would have had absolutely no idea that this was bison. It tastes just like a traditional beef steak. It has some really nice chew to it. The one thing that stuck out is just not as rich as the beef steak. Now that could be an excellent thing, especially if you’re looking to monitor your fat intake.

In conclusion, both steaks were absolutely delicious! If you guys are looking to try this out, you can get yours today from Meat N’ Bone by clicking here. As always go ahead and join our weekly newsletter or even better subscribe to our YouTube channel so you can keep learning how to cook meat made easy. We release a new video every single week.

And with that, we will leave you with a riddle: What did the buffalo say to his son when he left for college?

-Bison