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]

Originally Posted by 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!

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

+1

[sevans105]

Originally Posted by tupacboy

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]

Originally Posted by sevans105

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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