Buying Meat in General

[tommykendall]

Just trying to stir up some action on this dead Friday night.

You go to the store and see beef, pork, and chicken in every cut under the sun. You could be at Costco, Sams, a restaurant supplier, or any one of multitudes of big grocers in your area. Many of the ribs I've seen have ice particles on them. Most of the chicken is certainly frozen before hitting the shelves. As a general discussion matter - WTF is fresh versus frozen? What is going on with your meat before it hits the shelves? Anyone out there know?

 

[cayenne]

Well...like most I guess...I buy what is on sale. For smoking...I think it is easier to go with cuts that ar cheaper. For standing rib roasts...I try to be more discerning on the grade. I've actually found sources down here for Prime grades of meat...vs. the Choice or Select you usually see...at least as far as beef is concerned.

But, for smoking....I generally only so far do beef that is brisket cut. So, grade doesn't, to me. play a part in it.

As far as I know..pork is not graded that way....so, I just go by sale price vs. what it looks like.

Yard bird? Well, when cut up...visual...whole chickens sometimes hard to see...but, here inthe south, we raise a TON of them...so, is usually fresh.

And on the odd chance for seafood (I'm still trying to find good ways to smoke/grill seafood) I live in NOLA...so, that isn't much of a problem as far a freshness goes. I'm workng on smoked and then fried soft shelled crabs when season comes around...

Hard to discrimate on fresh vs. frozen...so much is frozen..but, quick frozen meat, any meat as long is it is done VERY soon after kill....is good. The only thing to me that hurts is if it is frozen and thawed repeatedlly.....this tends to affect the texture and break down the muscle structure in a bad way...


For smoking in particular...I try to go for as whole cuts as I can....preferrably in cryo-vac bags and whole as possible. If I can find a meat packer here, I'll go for that, and I guess getting as close to the kill as you can is better......

Anyway, that's my midnight ramblings....



K

 

[Neil]

I only buy "dark" steaks. Neighborhood gocery a mile away reduces price to $2.99/lb. on all steaks when they start to discolor from aging. Last Monday morning got just under 10 pounds (8 steaks) of porterhouse for less than $30! Briskets I buy at Sam's or Wallyworld. Ribs and Butts, where ever they are on sale and pork loins and tenderloins at Sam's.

 

[BigBelly]

It's all a shame TK! Your local area stores are part of one huge conspiracy to fool meat buying consumers across the nation.

 

[BigAl]

I only buy "dark" steaks. ...

And look what it has done to you.....weeds growing out of your hat!!! or is that rib bones? :lol: