Where do you buy your meat?

Doc

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Normally we buy our meat at a local grocery store named Krogers. A semi large mid western super market chain.
Last week while on vacation we ended up in a Sam's Club and bought some steaks there. We grilled them out tonight and they were simply awesome. I have to wonder if we've been missing out and didn't realize it. If I could get that good of a steak from them every time, I'd put up with the traffic and travel a few miles out of the way more regularly.

Where do you buy your meat, and are you happy with the product you get?
 

Fisher's Mom

Mother Superior
Super Site Supporter
That's exactly my experience here, too, Doc. Sam's has the best meat around and it's the only place I get mine now. And, it's the same price as elsewhere for much better grades. A butcher store might be better, but I just don't know any near me.
 

Love2"Q"

New member
i will go to an fancy place for certain things ..
its called the fresh market ..
for most of my meat i go to BJs wholesale ...
i buy most meat in bulk ..
 

RobsanX

Potato peeler
Super Site Supporter
I buy it at the Piggly Wiggly, unless it's something special, then I buy it here.

Wmeats.com

I've some really good, massive burgers from Sam's, but nothing else. I know that Walmart pumps their steaks with solution. Is that the same at Sam's?
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I buy most of my meat here http://www.kyagr.com/Main.aspx?procedure=show_page(8022) though strictly local. I also buy from Kroger's, Miejer's as well as Whole Foods. I would guess 80 to 90% of my meat comes from my local grower. Now I'm a member of Sam's here but haven't been too impressed with the meats they get to date and have never bought any from them. I might add I only buy from behind the counter nothing packaged and on their regular shelves. I pay premium prices for it but I really don't care in that regard.
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
We have Kroegers here as well Doc, and actually, one of the things I pride Kroeger on is their meat selection. It’s always top notch here, and they carry hard to find cuts like Buffalo, ground veal, etc. A bit pricey compared to Wally World, but their meat….AND their produce is always great here.

But, above Kroegers, I LOVE Publix. They are out of this world with simply the best of the best and the freshest possible. You pay a little more, but the quality is outstanding.
 
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Keltin

New member
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Oh.....if you can ever find a Winn Dixie, try them. They pride themsevles on their meat (and rightfully so).....but many are going out of business these days.
 

joec

New member
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Try this copy it and load it in your browser it works that way for me but doesn't seem to work from the link posted either though it is the same.
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Been buying at Sam's for years.... Costco seems very similar.


Who owns and runs Costco? I’ve always thought of Costco as Target’s answer to Sams.

Walmart = Sams

Target = Costco

I have no idea if they are affiliated, but it feels that way to me. Target is like Wally World, but nicer, and a bit more expensive. But many times, it’s worth the extra price for the higher quality and faster service (they always have MANY registers open).
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
In order of preference, but not always convenient...

One of two butchers that I like
Fairway
that godawful Shoprite
 

lilylove

Active member
Lamb...we have one butchered every year
Beef (except for the heart that we get free from the lamb guy) at Safeway
Chicken, pork ...safeway
Oysters (during summer)...farmers market
Shrimp, clams, muscles, and fish except for salmon that Paul's dad catches) safeway used to be the only choice but a new seafood market just opened!!!
Wild game ... hubby! :)
 

Adillo303

*****
Gold Site Supporter
Day to day meat at a local supermarket with a really great meat section and a butcher always on duty.

I have a card for The Restaurant Depot. You can get the whole range there from vacuum packed prime down to select whatever you want. You do have to buy in quantity.

Costco has excellent meat around here.


Special company, special meal. There is a place called Market Basket. It is Gourmet all the way, the best of the best. You do pay for the privilege. Hence, special meals only.
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I'm a Sam's shopper. Their red meat beats everything around here. I buy in bulk, bring it home, and re-wrap and freeze.
 

buzzard767

golfaknifeaholic
Gold Site Supporter
My fishing buddy Dave used to own some supermarkets and he will be the first to admit that the best meat in Naples, specialty store prime beef excluded, is at Sam's Club. DW & I have been buying pork ribs and rib eyes there for years.
 

chowhound

New member
I'm looking for a new place after my pork chops fiasco. There's a butcher in Erie I used to buy from years ago. I'm going to stop in there and check them out again soon.
I used to belong to Sam's, but the membership didn't outweigh the savings. I might give that another shot, too.
But basically I look for a deal where ever.
 

JoeV

Dough Boy
Site Supporter
Wal-Mart meats come pre-packaged with some kind of gas in the packaging that makes them look like a balloon and gives them an extended shelf life. Much of their meats are injected with stuff that I prefer to avoid. Sams, on the other hand, has in-house butchers that cut most of their meats and package them right there. No unwanted tenderizers or other liquids to bulk up the weight like Wally World.

We like to buy meat from Sams and from a small grocer that packages their own Ohio grown livestock and Amish organic chickens, both with no additives to add weight or shorten your life (IMHO). We also LOVE to get meat from Fligners in Lorain Ohio. The largest meat counter in Ohio, and they have their own USDA meat inspectors in house. they also supply restaurants and institutional buyers in a 5 county area.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Wal-Mart meats come pre-packaged with some kind of gas in the packaging that makes them look like a balloon and gives them an extended shelf life. Much of their meats are injected with stuff that I prefer to avoid. Sams, on the other hand, has in-house butchers that cut most of their meats and package them right there. No unwanted tenderizers or other liquids to bulk up the weight like Wally World.

We like to buy meat from Sams and from a small grocer that packages their own Ohio grown livestock and Amish organic chickens, both with no additives to add weight or shorten your life (IMHO). We also LOVE to get meat from Fligners in Lorain Ohio. The largest meat counter in Ohio, and they have their own USDA meat inspectors in house. they also supply restaurants and institutional buyers in a 5 county area.

Actually WalMart pumps their meat with a saline solution which is why I won't even look at meats from them.
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
If they do pump in a saline solution, how is that different than a brine, injection, or rub you do at home. Not only would the solution help preserve the meat longer (no rancid green if you miss that cook out target date by one day), but also pre-marinated.

A saline solution is just that.....salt and water. We all cook with it and even add it to our food as we are cooking and eating. It's not like we're talking about green alien enemas here.

Personally, never had a problem with Wally World meat. I've actually found cuts there I can't find elsewhere. And remember, Wally World and Sams are the SAME. Same supplier!
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Other than you are paying for the weight of the solution which adds about half the wight to the meat it also isn't aged properly. Now if you like it go for it in my case I want my meats properly aged and not pumped full of salt water.
 

Keltin

New member
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If we are paying for the weight of the solution, then that is crap.

Aged properly is a loose term and hard to come by. Even local meat houses here cut and freeze. It’s sad to me to walk into a meat house and see everything frozen, but it’s going that way. From chopping block to vac-bag, that’s the way it is these days.

Even the local guy we buy from that taut free range beef at an extreme premium freezes everything. The only way to get “warm” meat from him is to commit to a whole side.


And hell, even butchers with front meat cases are displaying signs of “Previously Frozen”. It’s the game. They all play it.
 
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joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Well I buy mine in sides so that should tell you way I don't buy from Walmart. Hell I prefer Kroger to them by far. I buy my ground meats in roasts then grind in myself. As I said earlier I prefer good meat not the junk Walmart sells.
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Then again, think of it this way. Anytime anybody touches a product before you get it, cost is added. You have to pay the workers. The more people in the loop, the more it costs you. Look at a whole pork loin at 99 cents per pound or pork loin chops at 4.99 per pound. Same meat, but a 4 buck difference. The more they touch, the more the price.
 

Keltin

New member
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Personally, Kroeger and Publix have the better meat selections for me, and I use them. But if I'm at Wally World for TP, RedBox, or Wine, I'm not above getting some lunchmeat and ground beef. Even the occasional Hormel Roast....which is prepackaged by Hormel but sold at the Wally World discount.
 

joec

New member
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I buy mine and only one person touches it. I look for local growers first and on when I can't find them then I go to the super markets.
 
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