Meats and Cuts

Meats – And Where To Get Them

One can save money in all kinds of places, and I like a good bargain, just as much as the next guy, but when it comes to your ingredients, one should not!

Where you get your meat makes a major difference. I know, its all about access and many places just don’t have a lot of variety and alternatives, when it comes to meat sources. Try to find meat from local ranches and vegetables from farmers markets, may be easier said than found!

The meat you find in a grocery store is mass-produced, in factory-like slaughter houses than a traditional farm. Their goal is to produce as much meat as possible. This may mean poor quality control and poor meat quality.  Mass-produced meat is also more likely to contain antibiotics and growth hormones.

Try to find meat from local ranches and vegetables from farmers markets, if possible. With farm fresh meat you are assured of excellent quality. When you buy farm fresh meat, you also support local business and local farms. I determine quality meat with desirable color, firm texture, high marbling, moderate visible fat and if the meat has a fresh smell. 

If you are not sure, where to buy, contact your local USDA office and ask for a recommendation of a local farmer that sells beef directly.

Cuts

While there are a variety of standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments, try to find a store, where there is a butcher on location that can do custom cuts. Butcher meat is typically fresher and higher quality than meat purchased at a supermarket.

Most butchers like to interact with their clientele, like customers requests, and don’t mind turning on the meat saw to cut you that “two-finger thick pork chop or rib-eye”, in short they take good care of their customers and provide them with the highest grades of meat, rather than offering lower quality cuts.

You might pay a little more, but it pays off in the end!