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One of the things that you should pay close attention to is the USDA grading system. It’s broken down into three main classifications:

Prime – Best

Choice – Second Best

Select – Worst

The main aspect that separates each score is marbling. The best way to describe marbling is the white streaks that flow in your steak. The more streaks of fat the better the grade.

When shopping you may notice meats that don’t fall in this category. One example is Certified Angus Beef or CAB.

Certified Angus beef is a brand that has its own grading scale. CAB comes mostly from black Angus cattle. When graded on the traditional USDA system, CAB typically falls somewhere between Prime and Choice.

Another example of something outside of the USDA classification system is Kobe/Wagyu. When it comes to these two categories it is good to have an educated butcher in your back pocket.

Alight, so here it goes…. Kobe beef is actually a place in Japan that is known for its Waygu or translated to “Japanese Cattle.” True Kobe beef is very very hard to come by in the US. Maybe, just maybe the high-end, big-city steakhouse might carry it. If they do, ask for documentation before buying it.

American Waygu is probably what most people are commonly seeing at their local Costco or maybe on TV. American Waygu is typically a breed of Japanese Waygu crossbreed with an American Black Angus.

We have packages that are perfect for any size tailgate. Here are some of our favorite options! To Pre-order, use one of the links below, and select the location you would like to order from!

If you have questions, call 517-306-9002, or use the chat box on the screen to message us directly!

3-4 Person Sampler

• Half Rack of Ribs
• 1/3 lb of Pulled Pork
• 1/3 lb of Brisket
• 1 Sausage link
• 1 Order of Chicken Tenders
• Your choice of 3 Sides
• 1 Bottle of Michigan Mustard
• 1 Bottle of Sweet & Savory
• $79.99

5 Person Platter Brisket and Ribs

• Full Rack of Ribs
• Generous Portion of Brisket
• 1 Large Hot Side (Mac & Cheese or Baked Beans)
• 1 Large Cold Side (Potato Salad or Coleslaw)
• 5 Detroit Made Buns
• Paper Plates, Plastic Ware, and Napkins
• 1 Bottle of Sweet & Savory
• 1 Bottle of Michigan Mustard
• $125.00

5 Person Platter Pork and Chicken

• Generous Portion of Pulled Pork
• Generous Portion of Chicken
• 1 Large Hot Side (Mac & Cheese or Baked Beans)
• 1 Large Cold Side (Potato Salad or Coleslaw)
• 5 Detroit Made Buns
• Paper Plates, Plastic Ware, and Napkins
• 1 Bottle of Sweet & Savory
• 1 Bottle of Michigan Mustard
• $88.50

Check out the time we fed the MSU Football Team!

Darrell’s Market in Mason recently expressed interest in a display shelf for our sauces. Our talented employee, Jacob Spare, was up to the task. He has this beauty finished in no time!

Make sure to check this out next time you visit Darrell’s.

Say hello to our sauces newest home, Gorman’s Food Market in Lansing!

Thank you to everyone over at Gorman’s for being so accommodating.

Which local store should we check out next?

Detroit Frankies opened a new location with our Reo Town friends Good Truckin’ Diner! You know we love supporting great local businesses! So, Matt Gillett stopped out to collaborate on a BBQ Pizza!

Starting tomorrow (7/13/2021) Detroit Frankie’s Wood Fired Brick Oven will offer the option to get ANY of their pizzas with Saddleback Sweet & Savory Sauce at either location.

They will also offer a signature Saddleback BBQ Pizza! Featuring Chicken, Banana Peppers, Onion, Bacon and Saddleback Sweet & Savory Sauce. We think that you’ll love it!

Please be sure to support Detroit Frankies and Good Truckin Food at their new location on Pennsylvania in Lansing! – Tell them Saddleback Matt sent you!

Watch the full video here!

Mondays are TRIPLE REWARDS Points Mondays!

When you place an order on Mondays you will receive TRIPLE the normal rewards amount. That means that for every dollar you spend, you’ll receive 3 points instead of 1! What does that mean? Basically that means that you will be getting 15% back for all of your orders placed on Mondays! That’s a pretty sweet deal if we do say so ourself. Available at both locations on Mondays.

We want to thank Governor Whitmer for this very thoughtful letter! Thank you to our Customers, Subscribers, & Employees that made it all possible. We are all in this together!

“On behalf of the State of Michigan, I want to express my gratitude for all that your small business has done to help our state get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst historic challenges, you rolled up your sleeves and pitched in to help your fellow Michiganders. By donating meals to children in need during COVID-19, you put the well-being of others first and made a difference in your community. I could not be prouder of the resilience, creativity, and compassion that your business has shown. Thanks to hardworking, selfless Michiganders like your team at Saddleback BBQ, we are emerging from the pandemic stronger than ever.” – Gretchen Whitmer. Governor of Michigan.

This is also such a relief because as you may recall, we wrote a very respectful letter to the Governor which was signed by 100+ other restaurants and bars. At the time we wrote it, we were very worried that it would be seen in a negative light. This letter shows us that our worries were unneeded.

We are extremely delighted that she recognized that we were being respectful of her important role in the state and that we were only sharing the perspective of many in our industry at the time. It’s such a breath of fresh air that we could have a disagreement while being respectful and courteous to one another.

If you’d like to learn more about what Saddleback BBQ, our Customers, our Subscribers, and our amazing employees did during COVID, go here!

https://www.saddlebackbbq.com/saddleback-bbqs-covid-timeline

Thank you so much!

– Travis Stoliker & Matt Gillett

Our sauces are now on the shelves of three Gordon Food Service stores! If you’ve been following our page for any time, you know getting our products into a national retailer has been one of our biggest goals. This is our first major breakthrough! There’s a chance if all goes well we could be on the shelves of GFS stores across the country.

We have a 60-90 day trial period to prove there’s demand for our BBQ Sauces. This means in the coming months if you purchase a bottle of sauce from GFS, not only will you be buying a delicious product, you will also be helping us attempt to achieve our goals.

Our mission is to display that Midwest BBQ is as good or better than any other barbeque. That is why we so prominently display the map of Michigan on each of our bottles. We want people everywhere to notice the prominence of Michigan’s BBQ scene.

Thank you, everyone, fingers crossed.

The addresses of the three GFS stores we’re in:

5912 W Saginaw Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917

454 E Edgewood Blvd, Lansing, MI 48911

1851 Newman Rd, Okemos, MI 48864

Introducing the Pumpkin Spiced Brisket Latte & Meal!

It all starts with a locally sourced Michigan Pumpkin shaved to provide the essence of Fall. Then we carefully extract the magical flavors from a Pumpkin Spiced Latte & inject it into a Certified Angus Beef Brisket. Next, we smoke the brisket on our all-wood smokers. After about 12 hours on the smoke, we slice the brisket pencil thin and top it with whipped cream, cinnamon, & pumpkin shavings. Supplies are very limited.

Tag your friend below that is addicted to Pumpkin Spiced Lattes and they will be eligible to win one!

BONUS! We are now offering the Pumpkin Spiced Brisket as a Latte Drink! We blend the Pumpkin Spiced Brisket, Whipped Cream, Cinnamon, & Shaved Pumpkin to a liquid. We pour it over ice & top it with a slice of brisket, whipped cream, and spices.

PRO-TIP! If you’re looking for an extra kick, we recommend adding some Captain Morgan or Caramel Vodka for a truly glorious autumn morning.

From the people that brought you the Brisket Candle & Brisket vape.

Should you Have Staff at your Catering? This article goes over the three types of events we offer: On-Site, Delivery and Pickup so you can determine the best option!

Tips for Picking Up a Large Amounts of Food. Over the past 6 years, we’ve learned many Do’s and Dont’s when it comes to large events.

How to Keep Food Hot for a Long Duration. The last thing you want is cold food, learn how to ensure this doesn’t happen.

How Chafers & Sternos Work: https://www.saddlebackbbq.com/how-setup-chafer-sterno-set-my-catering

We wanted to provide some tips we’ve learned for setting up your order once you get the food to your venue:

• Position the items in line from least popular to most popular. Usually, that means putting cold sides first, then warm sides, then ending with your meats.
• Put your sauce out at the far end of the table.
• If you are providing plates, consider the size of the plates. The larger the plate, the more food people will take. If portion control is important, go with a slightly smaller plate.
• For pick-up orders, we do provide serving utensils.
• If you have coleslaw, be sure to stir it well before serving.
• If you are using chafing dishes and sternos, you can count on getting 4 hours of heat.
• For packaging leftovers, we have found that gallon Ziploc bags work well.

Our catered events are broken into three main segments: On-Site, Delivery, and Pickup. We will go through each and talk about the pros and cons.

ON-SITE

On-Site means you will have staff at the event for the duration of the meal.

When you have Saddleback’s staff is on-site we are responsible for:

• Setting the food
• Serving the food – unless you would like the guest to serve themselves, this leads to faster lines
• Answering all questions about the food
• Replenishing pans of food
• Cleaning our serving station
• Packaging the leftovers

So what are the downsides to having staff on-site? Saddleback, like most catering companies, charges for each hour of labor the event will need. So if the event requires 3 people to be on-site for 4 hours, we will have to charge 12 hours of labor.

Typically, for any wedding we highly recommend having on-site staff. It’s not an absolute must, but it does alleviate all effort for the guests. We also recommend staff for any events that will need frequent replenishing of the pans of food — Each pan has about 15lbs of food, so if you are ordering many types of food with more than 15lbs of food it may be a good idea.

Another option aside from having staff on-site for the duration of your event is to have the food delivered. When Saddleback delivers a catering event, we will set everything up for you. We light the sternos, place the food in the chafing dishes, and organize all of the food.

DELIVERIES

As the name suggests, we will deliver the food, but we will also set your event up for success.

When we deliver food to an event, we will:

• Arrive at your desired location and unload all of the foo
• Organize the placement in the most optimal order
• Light the sternos and set up the chafing dishes
• Provide disposable serving utensils

Deliveries are our most popular type of catering. They take almost all of the work out of food at an event. We highly recommend these!

PICK UP

Great for smaller events (80 people or less)

Just let us know what time you would like to pick the food up, we will have it ready. The food will come packaged and ready to be served. We pack the food in large aluminum containers that fit perfectly in chafing dishes. We also have a post explaining best practices for pick up orders, you can find that here: https://www.saddlebackbbq.com/tips-picking-catering-order

*** Some things to keep in mind, our dates fill up quickly. If you need your event catered on-site we will need more time to plan the event. We can provide food for pick-up caterings on very short notice. If you’re in a pickle and need food quickly, we will direct you towards pick-up. ***