where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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!

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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....

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

+1 :tu

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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?

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

Is it just used with steaks

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

I go to the local butcher shop

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

ok noob quieston... whats a PID?

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

Fareway Grocery Stores. Amazing selection and prices.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

nice... which electric smoker do you have?

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

Bradley 4 rack stainless.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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. :)

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

dammed if I know :r

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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!

Re: where do you buy your meat?
 

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.