where do you buy your meat?

[tupacboy]

had a discussion with a friend who swears costco meat taste better then anyone else...

i'm more of the guy i look for ads and buy what's on sale... i feel the way its prepped and cooked is more important... for example i picked up ranchers reserve tri-tip today at $3.50 a pound... (found a interesting article on ranchers reserve.. http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_love_tender?page=1)..

but he SWEARS by costco has more flavor in the meat itself...

some people swear local butcher gives you better beef... but i think local butcher can cheat you more then a local chain cause he has more to gain from it..

what are you're thoughts?

anyone buy from restaurant depot? i just got a membership there

[sevans105]

I bought a steer here and had it processed locally. It's kind of a timeshare thing. I "bought" the whole steer, but I get fresh beef all the time. Been rolling through that. Best beef I've ever had. Dry aged beef is frikkin awesome!

[FUEL]

I bought a steer here and had it processed locally. It's kind of a timeshare thing. I "bought" the whole steer, but I get fresh beef all the time. Been rolling through that. Best beef I've ever had. Dry aged beef is frikkin awesome!

Ha! Must be a MN boys thing as the "rents" do that as well but add in a pig or two here and there and wild turkeys.

My parents have been doing that since the 70s. Dry aged beef is the ONLY way to go IMHO. And no need to pay that BS $100 a steak Mannys price ;-) Scott should know about them.

[markem]

Buy what you want where and when you want it. It isn't like there is some magic source. Is the meat tastes good to you and it is a price you like, I say go for it.

My dad was a butcher before moving in to management. I have loads of experience breaking carcasses by hand. What I happen to like is locally raised, grass fed beef raised organically. That's just me and product of where I live. If I lived in Kansas City, I may choose differently.

My nephew works for Costco in Denver and he swears by the Costco beef and so do many of my friends.

[CigarNut]

Our local New Seasons market has very good "organic" (grass fed) beef. Actually, they have good everything: pork, lamb, chicken, beef and fish.

I also like Costco beef -- a lot. I think that because of the volume of business that they do that they can buy a better grade of beef and ensure that everything is consistently aged, etc. In any case, Costco New York Strips and Rib Eyes are fantastic.

We recently bought a share of a cow that was grass fed, etc., and the ground beef was fine but I did not like the steaks. Particularly any of the bone-in steaks. I was told that this was due to shorter aging. Whatever the reason, I will never do it again.

[cobra03]

We have several old school family owned buchers around here that have been in business forever. I love going to them. You cant beat the personal touch and I like to support a local family business when I can.

[tupacboy]

you guys got me curious on the dry aging... youtube makes it seem a lot easier then i expected... alton brown straight wraps it paper towel for 3 days lol... is it safe to do in my everyday fridge or should i go out and buy a mini fridge to dry age?

was looking at these: http://www.drybagsteak.com/ but at that price point i'm leaning toward just buying a mini fridge...

one guy on youtube has a rack that its drying from over salt... is that really necessary?

any tips / pointers are greatly appreciated....

[sevans105]

http://www.seriouseats.com/

These guys changed my steak lovin world. 60 day Dry aged beef, sous vide at 136 for an hour then onto a screaming hot cast iron skillet just enough to crust the exterior. So fantastic. Like change your religion good. Restaurants can never come close to how frikkin good that is.

[tupacboy]

damn... you actually bought a sous vide water oven? or just vacuum and put in water?

[tsolomon]

We buy our meat from Costco. I think it's good quality meat at a decent price.

[68TriShield]

My last quarter beef I bought was from Aubry,a local farmer.
Grass fed and the best meat I have bought in a long time,it tastes totally different than any store bought I have ever purchased.

[elderboy02]

We have several old school family owned buchers around here that have been in business forever. I love going to them. You cant beat the personal touch and I like to support a local family business when I can.

+1 :tu

[sevans105]

damn... you actually bought a sous vide water oven? or just vacuum and put in water?

Made my own. Cooler, heater, PID controller, aquarium recirculator. Seal a meal for the vacuum. Completely changed how I do proteins.

[TJarv]

Made my own. Cooler, heater, PID controller, aquarium recirculator. Seal a meal for the vacuum. Completely changed how I do proteins.

Does the heater maintain a consistent temperature, or do you have to constantly add hot/cold water to regulate it?

[sevans105]

Heater maintains. The Heater is dumb. Just on or off. The PID controller keeps it within 1° F. It really comes in handy for big grill outs. I can do 10-15 steaks to a perfect medium rare and hold them that way for hours. Pull them out, throw them on the grill to char the outside...so awesome. Never had so many compliments. People scoff, but science wins. Blind taste tests, sous vide always wins.

[TJarv]

Does that process actually cook the meat at all, or just break it down to make it more tender?

[sevans105]

It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. good steaks I'm just going for temperature consistency. doing it this way, I can get the whole steak to perfect med rare, edge to edge.

For tougher cuts, long time breaks the connective tissue down without removing all the moisture. 48 hour med rare Fork tender chuck roast is a unique experience.

[FUEL]

Heater maintains. The Heater is dumb. Just on or off. The PID controller keeps it within 1° F. It really comes in handy for big grill outs. I can do 10-15 steaks to a perfect medium rare and hold them that way for hours. Pull them out, throw them on the grill to char the outside...so awesome. Never had so many compliments. People scoff, but science wins. Blind taste tests, sous vide always wins.

Need my phone # to text me your address for that next event?? If I recall you are only about 15 miles from where I went to college I'm pretty sure making it only about a 100 mile trek!

City maybe with my name...maybe, no?

[TJarv]

Is it just used with steaks

[sevans105]

actually I'm an hour south of St James. I'm down in Fairmont near the Iowa border. And you are always welcome down here....planned party or not.

Sous vide is for tons of stuff. I use that process regularly for chicken breasts, pork chops, seafood, anything that benefits from precise temperature control. I don't use it all the time but I do use it a couple times a week. Do a bit of google searching and you'll find a ton of resources. being very specific with the temperature is critical though. you are cooking things just enough, but generally not sterilizing, so pay attention and make sure your temperatures arent too low for too long

[mosesbotbol]

I like Costco beef but it really needs time to set up. It's too bloody; I like it after 2-3 days of paper towel "dry aging" for most thick cuts.

[Mr.Weeee]

I go to the local butcher shop

[FUEL]

actually I'm an hour south of St James. I'm down in Fairmont near the Iowa border. And you are always welcome down here....planned party or not.

Sous vide is for tons of stuff. I use that process regularly for chicken breasts, pork chops, seafood, anything that benefits from precise temperature control. I don't use it all the time but I do use it a couple times a week. Do a bit of google searching and you'll find a ton of resources. being very specific with the temperature is critical though. you are cooking things just enough, but generally not sterilizing, so pay attention and make sure your temperatures arent too low for too long

Hey now, be careful what you post as one day you might just find a 6'3" 255lb white guy with a travel humi under one arm and his weiner dog under the other a tap tap tapping at your chamber door.

[sevans105]

James, if you head this way and don't stop, then I'll be upset. You and your weiner dog are welcome. Ilk feed you both and we'll light some things on fire.

[Chainsaw13]

Anyone interested in finding local farmers that raise pastured, grass fed meats of all sorts and veggies, check out localharvest.org.

[tupacboy]

ok noob quieston... whats a PID?

[Chainsaw13]

ok noob quieston... whats a PID?

A proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller) is a generic control loop feedback mechanism (controller) widely used in industrial control systems. A PID controller calculates an "error" value as the difference between a measured process variable and a desired setpoint. The controller attempts to minimize the error by adjusting the process control inputs.

In the case of a sous-vide system, it would regulate the temp. I built one for my electric smoker that does the same thing. Works great.

[mosesbotbol]

In the case of a sous-vide system, it would regulate the temp. I built one for my electric smoker that does the same thing. Works great.


A buddy of mine spent 1K on a PID for sous-vide. It keeps a temp like no buddy's business. Serious stuff.

[maninblack]

Fareway Grocery Stores. Amazing selection and prices.

[Chainsaw13]

A buddy of mine spent 1K on a PID for sous-vide. It keeps a temp like no buddy's business. Serious stuff.

For that much, it should. But I"m guessing he's using it for more than home cooking.

[jdakine]

Living in Hawaii is great, but when it comes to buying good beef, we are very limited. The local beef has gotten better over the years, but it does depend on what you are planning to cook.

Costco does carry a good selection of beef and now offers Prime in a few different cuts. When Whole Foods first opened on Maui a few years ago, they brought in Prime and we would pay through the nose for it.

At the end of the day, eat what you like, buy what you like and enjoy the good times.

[The Poet]

Buy meat? Who the hell can afford to buy meat!

[tupacboy]

A proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller) is a generic control loop feedback mechanism (controller) widely used in industrial control systems. A PID controller calculates an "error" value as the difference between a measured process variable and a desired setpoint. The controller attempts to minimize the error by adjusting the process control inputs.

In the case of a sous-vide system, it would regulate the temp. I built one for my electric smoker that does the same thing. Works great.



nice... which electric smoker do you have?

[Chainsaw13]

nice... which electric smoker do you have?

Bradley 4 rack stainless.

[sevans105]

A buddy of mine spent 1K on a PID for sous-vide. It keeps a temp like no buddy's business. Serious stuff.

Dude, that's crazy. I mean, yeah you could spend that much for insane levels of precision, but why? I got mine off of e Bay for 39 with shipping. It keeps it plenty precise for my needs.

[sevans105]

Ooooooohhhh. You are probably talking about an immersion circulator. Yeah, those can get spendy. Mine is a total kludge system compared to that. Same result, just not nearly so pretty. Rat rod vs BMW. Both will get you down the road, just a bit difference in style. :)

[mosesbotbol]

Ooooooohhhh. You are probably talking about an immersion circulator.

Ya, that is what he has. Not to mention he has a vacuum tumbler to prep meat!

[Felixcigar]

Whole Foods or The Fresh Market: excellent meat, and it helps when you make friends with the butcher.

[OLS]

My boss is a big Costco guy, and TO MY MIND, it is more of a "I shop at Costco, you don't' kind of thing.
He swears by everything Costco, and I will admit, the place DOES what it sets out to, but I think he would
even tell me his Costco socks are warmer, that kind of thing. But for me, no matter where you buy your
meat, the smart man buys reduced whenever he can, and in bulk when he can't. I just cut up a whole ribeye
and had a steak last night and it was terrific. NOT because it was bought one way or the other, but because
I was hungry as hell and a little sick, and it made me feel good. All that said, NOT A FAN of Walmart meat.

When there was still a Piggly Wiggly in this town, that's where I bought my meat.

[OLS]

A proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller) is a generic control loop feedback mechanism (controller) widely used in industrial control systems. A PID controller calculates an "error" value as the difference between a measured process variable and a desired setpoint. The controller attempts to minimize the error by adjusting the process control inputs

NO, REALLY....what's a PID? :r

[markem]

NO, REALLY....what's a PID? :r

It's a device for interatively calculating an offset to set point with the desired effect of continually minimizing differential measurements.

[OLS]

you guys got me curious on the dry aging... .

There is a thread in the asylum, TB, that covers the WHOLE process with photos and results. Just search.

[OLS]

It's a device for interatively calculating an offset to set point with the desired effect of continually minimizing differential measurements.

No really.....what is it? ;)

[markem]

No really.....what is it? ;)

dammed if I know :r

[Chainsaw13]

NO, REALLY....what's a PID? :r

It's a device for interatively calculating an offset to set point with the desired effect of continually minimizing differential measurements.

No really.....what is it? ;)

dammed if I know :r

Dammed if I know too. I just know i set a temp I want my smoker to run at,and the little black box does it's best to keep it there.

[OLS]

I have never been able to go all in and shop at a butcher shop, even though we have some very fine ones in Memphis.
I have never been a person who can see great quality, real or perceived, and ante up for it, always thinking that I can
'make do' with the lesser item, old school parents, old school kids. But the idea of it is certainly romantic and has
a cache' that I think is important to some people. If I ate more beef, or was a connoissieur, I think I could
develop a sense of it, I certainly love the finest bourbon I can drink, and smoke the finest cigars I can find.
But it doesn't carry over to the rest of my life. I drive the cheapest car the lot had available new. My bedroom
is only a few degrees warmer than it is outside at night, I'd rather pile up the blankets than heat that room. I sleep
much more comfortably. So yeah, I love 'reduced for quick sale' beef. I occasionally risk the pork, and rarely the chicken.
I have never had an issue with beef, even for jerky.

[jjirons69]

Another +1 for Costco. I love those giant pound ribeyes. High gas grill heat, 3.5 to 4 min a side and that's it. Warm, bloody in the center , nice char lines - never tough and always tasty. I'd love to have a local butcher, but I don't. I would definitely pay them a visit pretty often.

BY THE WAY, Costco socks are the warmest socks on the planet, Brad. :D

[Blueface]

Some at a local market called Western Beef that has incredible prices but I have acquired a taste for Prime beef and find myself often at Fresh Market (like a Whole Foods).
Pricey as heck but the marbling is to die for.

[mosesbotbol]

Meat is so expensive these days, I am strictly buying the tough cuts and working magic with them. Beef cheeks and shoulder; sign me up.

Even beef bones are expensive!. Finding a real butcher is no easy task. Pre-packaged bones are like $2+ a pound!

[CigarNut]

My wife picked up two T-Bones at Costco yesterday; grilled them medium rare and they were fantastic. These were USDA Choice, but occasionally Costco has Prime -- and we love that too.

One of our local stores (New Seasons) also has excellent meat -- not just beef, but lamb and pork.

[mosesbotbol]

...occasionally Costco has Prime -- and we love that too.

Tough pick between the Prime shell sirloin or Choice strip as they are the same price per pound.

[CigarNut]

I'd probably go with the Strip...

[mosesbotbol]

I'd probably go with the Strip...

I usually do.

[pektel]

Some at a local market called Western Beef that has incredible prices but I have acquired a taste for Prime beef and find myself often at Fresh Market (like a Whole Foods).
Pricey as heck but the marbling is to die for.

Here's a nice article about surviving Whole Foods:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-maclean/surviving-whole-foods_b_3895583.html

On Topic:

I buy my meat locally. I'm friends with the offspring of a local butcher in town. Sure, it costs a little more, but I'd much rather keep my money local. I prefer to support local people instead of corporations.

[billybarue]

I have been pleased w/ Costco for the price. Far superior in cost and price to chain grocers. I try not to buy much beef from costco though.

Right here in ft Wayne we have one of the few Wagyu (Kobe) beef operations. Joseph Decuis farms (and restaurant). It's a splurge and I don't do it but once every couple months or so.

Seven sons Farms, also right here (Roanoke, IN) has excellent all-grass fed pasteured beef. They have started a great delivery program with many excellent farmers/producers and they deliver to as far as Cincy and Chicago. Check out their sites:

http://sevensons.net

And

http://www.honoredprairie.com

Gunthorp farms is on "honored prairie" - excellent poultry


I hope we are returning to the small scale family farmers. Their product is more money, and not all would want to budget to afford it, but it's worth it to me.

[OLS]

Haha, nice one JJIrons. I am with Moses on the go cheap and work magic aspect.
I do not go in for all that much steak, but I put away a lot of jerky and I DO LOVE a good
roast cooked the way the cajuns do it. SO I surf sales on chuck roast as well as baby back ribs
to keep the freezer as stocked as I can, small as it is. My pick of a whole ribeye last month
was RARE indeed. I am glad I did it, but I always regret it some when I think of how
unimportant steaks are to me and how much I paid. But give me a Rival jerky maker and
whatever beef the store can't sell by whatever date they choose and I am happy.
The ribeye is marked in yellow to show where I found a friend's FACE in the marbling. Lucky
it wasn't Jesus.

[mikesr1963]

Growing up, we bought a beef cow each year and had it butchered. Literally picked it out live and selected it. Did the same thing with a hog. Many times we even cut and sectioned the dead animals ourselves. I find it easy to look and meat in the store now and pick out good pieces/cuts. Local supermarkets are fine after 10 years of home butchering.

[azar]

This thread reminds how lucky I am married a ranchers daughter and I hunt. We get our beef, pork, & chicken from father in law. No drugs and each year we pick out of the herd what we want. Then there is also deer and elk 100% natural. It truly saves us a lot of cash. It does cost me a little but most part not as much as the store.
Mack

[mosesbotbol]

This thread reminds how lucky I am married a ranchers daughter

Lucky man.