Mikhail
Babbling Farker
It is not just the quality of the meat itself, but I have found the cutting has gotten much worse as well. I see things packaged as steaks that I would not cut up for stew meat.
The prime cuts of steak at my Costco look like the choice at best
from my local The Fresh Market.
At least here in FL..the Prime at my fresh market is well marbled and very good typically (its similar to a Whole Foods type store) and the choice beef at my Publix has steadily gotten worse over the last 5years IMO. If I can even remotely help it I won’t buy beef there which is sad because I love publix for everything else the service the ribs, butts etc. I have an Earth Fare local as well and I can’t even eat there grass fed but the grain choice steaks are usually a notch above super market quality. I know publix sources most of there beef locally so I’m not sure what happened to the quality of beef in central Florida as it used to be good..
My thoughts on that, there is such a huge demand for these commodities and the farmers are in such a rush to get the animals to market that the animals don't have time to mature and develop to a top quality grade of meat, so we end up with a product that was rushed (perhaps some by hormones) to maturity in order to fill consumer demand. It makes me want to try organically raised animals to see if there is a difference.
There is also a lot of pressure for leaner beef. To many, marbling just looks "fatty". If it doesn't sell well, stores don't stock it.
It's the feed that they finish the cattle on that determines the quality of the finished product...
I've worked for 37 years in the animal nutrition industry...Mostly in the production end...I can tell you that many (not all) feedyards are finishing beef cattle on garbage that cattle were never meant to eat...This guarantees a predictable rate of gain per dollar that beef producers need. It's all about the money...And as long as we keep buying the crap, they will keep putting it out...
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Like SmokeFreak, I spent many years in agribusiness and still watch commodity prices on the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The weird thing is that Live Cattle futures in nearby months have tanked for some time now. I've been expecting $2.00-$4.00/lb. drop in boneless ribeyes, for example, for over 4 months. Hasn't happened yet. I thought maybe restaurant demand is so great that it's supporting high beef prices; could be.
But if we believe, as experienced meat people, that the quality of beef we can get hold of has declined while prices haven't, I can only believe that a good bit of milk cow beef has entered the market, parading itself as steer beef. That's my read and I'm sticking to it. The clue? What I've noticed is thicker muscle sheathing, which indicates an older bovine. Shifty farkers!
I have a good friend who works for JBS (worlds largest meat processor). Grading is still the same but the best cuts go to high end customers. He too felt that what grades as prime now is hit or miss. We raise purebred black angus and feed them high quality finish rations. I was told most of it goes overseas.
The better grades of beef are going overseas where there is demand for it and the ability to pay for it.
I’ve not necessarily noticed. This site has made me a much better selector of meat. I’m also much more comfortable walking away when I don’t see what I want.
Brisket (regardless of grade) thick even flat, nice round point, white fat and kind of floppy.
Pork- good pork color- white fat- smaller cuts, no two packs. I’ve had really good luck lately with smaller picnics, Boston butts, hams etc. I pay a tad more for the smaller single packs, but Imbgood with that. Ribs- back and spares I buy the smallest I can find in the bin. If all are big thick/I pass
Chicken- no purple or gray green blue. Needs to be somewhat white fat with a faint yellow tint and fresh looking meat. I’m not opposed to a fat yellow hen, but it’s probably going to end up soup or dumplings. Needs a good complexion??? No feathers hanging. Again I find the smaller birds taste better.
Steaks: guess I’ve been fortunate. Porterhouse and Ribeyes are mainly what I purchase. I’ll buy Tbone if they look like porterhouse.
I don’t buy big batches of meat anymore. I’m pretty flexible so if one meat doesn’t look to my liking Ill move along until something looks great.
Probably why I don’t notice it.
Pork- good pork color- white fat- smaller cuts, no two packs. I’ve had really good luck lately with smaller picnics, Boston butts, hams etc.