Supermarket steaks vs. Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe

[viva]

Wouldn't it be better to eat a $15 steak twice a week instead of a $5 steak every day? I think it's a fallacy that meat has to be eaten at every meal, or that it needs to be the biggest portion at the meal in which it is served. I can buy a good, locally raised $12-15 chicken or cut of beef/pork that tastes great and lasts me for three to four meals for the week. I've got little stores of duck and pork confit in the back of the refrigerator in case I'm craving more protein. The two Muscovy ducks for that confit cost me $40... but it's so good I don't need very much to make a good salad or to spread on bread, and so it lasts a long time. In between I'll be noshing on summer tomatoes and vegetables and fruit, cheese and yogurt, beans and breads/grains.

Carniwhore... that's really funny! A food porn magazine...I'd subscribe. There's no such thing as too many pictures in a food magazine.

And speaking of food porn... that was one tasty looking ribeye on the last page. I would *definitely* rather save up to eat something that looks like that rather than eating the crappy Walmart steak on a regular basis.

Edited July 28, 2007 by viva (log)

[David Ross]

Wouldn't it be better to eat a $15 steak twice a week instead of a $5 steak every day?  I think it's a fallacy that meat has to be eaten at every meal, or that it needs to be the biggest portion at the meal in which it is served.  I can buy a good, locally raised $12-15 chicken or cut of beef/pork that tastes great and lasts me for three to four meals for the week.  I've got little stores of duck and pork confit in the back of the refrigerator in case I'm craving more protein.  The two Muscovy ducks for that confit cost me $40... but it's so good I don't need very much to make a good salad or to spread on bread, and so it lasts a long time.  In between I'll be noshing on summer tomatoes and vegetables and fruit, cheese and yogurt, beans and breads/grains. 

Carniwhore... that's really funny!  A food porn magazine...I'd subscribe.  There's no such thing as too many pictures in a food magazine.

And speaking of food porn... that was one tasty looking ribeye on the last page.  I would *definitely* rather save up to eat something that looks like that rather than eating the crappy Walmart steak on a regular basis.

←

I agree with you-I would rather spend a bit more money for a quality butcher shop steak and eat it once every two weeks than have a rubbery gray Walmart steak 3 times a week. For me taste is more important than cost.

Last night I made a wonderful Chinese dish of steamed beef with tangerine and fermented black beans (see the Dinner thread). I used a good quality beef tenderloin. I sliced the tenderloin and steamed it with soy sauce, tangerine peel, fresh ginger, Shaoshing rice wine and fermented black beans. Since the beef was such high quality, I only had to steam it for 3 minutes.

This beef would have been tender raw, but with just a few minutes in the steamer and all those fragrant ingredients, the beef was still incredibly soft and juicy. Cheap meat wouldn't have cut it in this type of dish.

And I only used about 4 ounces of the tenderloin.

So if I bought 16 ounces of prime tenderloin that cost me $16.99 a pound, (much cheaper than the $30 a pound prime jsmeeker mentions), my four ounces of tenderloin last night cost me about $4.75. That leaves me with another 12 ounces of prime tenderloin.

I think we tend to look at the per pound price of butcher shop steaks and that can be scary. And since most Americans eat their steak in one big hunk, paying $30 for a 16oz. steak is pretty hard to swallow. But as you mention above, if one buys high-quality butcher shop steak and then divides it into a few meals spread over a week or two, the actual per meal cost isn't too bad. I think you just have to look at the quality vs. price issue and settle the difference within your personal preferences.

[MarketStEl]

Well, David, you have certainly demonstrated that you can work high quality beef into a modest grocery budget with a little creative thinking. That looks delicious!

And since I do splurge on $20/lb Lancaster County Cheddar two or three times a year (I buy about a half pound of it each time), I really can't say that I cannot afford high quality beef at all. I just need to think more creatively, as you do.

[Anna Friedman Herlihy]

For those of you interested in this discussion, you might want to check out the cookbook I just (finally) received in the mail: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Meat Cookbook. I can barely put it down. It's fabulous! Half the book is about how to properly raise, butcher, use all parts of animals. And talk about meat porn....

Not too expensive on Amazon, and a definite keeper for anyone who loves their meat.

[David Ross]

For those of you interested in this discussion, you might want to check out the cookbook I just (finally) received in the mail: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Meat Cookbook. I can barely put it down. It's fabulous! Half the book is about how to properly raise, butcher, use all parts of animals. And talk about meat porn....

Not too expensive on Amazon, and a definite keeper for anyone who loves their meat.

←

Thanks for the book recommendation. I looked at it on the web and I think I'll buy it. I have a couple of other books on how to butcher meat so with this book you recommend, I think I'll be ready to go. If I do buy a beast I'll contact before I saw into him.

By the way, your photo is wicked-a woman with tatoos, blood on her apron, and two freshly cut beefy raw steaks held high-a very appropriate image for our discussion about butcher shop steaks for sure!

[jsmeeker]

By the way, your photo is wicked-a woman with tatoos, blood on her apron, and two freshly cut beefy raw steaks held high-a very appropriate image for our discussion about butcher shop steaks for sure!

←

Don't forget the Mac laptop in the background..

Anyway, back to the disussion of the local butcher shops. I stopped by a local butcher shop on Saturday. Bought a steak, a chicken, and some slab bacon.

Pricing is comparable to the fancy grocery store. I don't think I am saving any money shopping there buy purchasing small quantities for a meal or two. The steak was good. Choice grade. I didn't check into the prime stuff they had. The chicken was good too. But neither were any noticebly better than what I can get at the fancy grocery store. haven't tried the bacon yet. But I will tonight.

So, what's the advantage? It's a local place, and there is something (a lot, maybe) to be said about supporting a local, independent shop. They DID have slab bacon right out in the case. Getting them to slice off a hunk was easy. Seems like the grocery stores around here that sell bacon in the meat case get it in pre-sliced, so they can't do true slab bacon. Also, if I ever needed a special order, this would be the place to go, I think. I'm sure they would sell you pretty much anything from a pig or a cow in any form you wanted. Need a whole primal? I bet they wouldn't bat an eye. Or if I needed a large quantity of stuff for a cookout or whatnot, I could phone it in ahead of time and just go pick it up.

Edited July 31, 2007 by jsmeeker (log)

[Torrilin]

The only beef I've had that was graded prime was brisket. Worth every penny of the $5.49/lb I paid for it. I'm not bad at eyeballing grade after years of drill, and I've had ungraded meat in other cuts that might well have been prime. Madison farmers don't seem to get the average carcass for the Wednesday or Saturday markets graded, but I've gotten some fine steaks from them.

If I'm not buying direct from the farmer, I just won't spring for beef that's ungraded. My regular butchers won't *stock* ungraded meat y'see. (yes, I still count the butcher I had growing up and the butcher I had in LA as my regular butchers) If you're working with a butcher, ask about the meat. Do special orders. Try unusual cuts. Don't just ask for "2 steaks". You'll get much better service when your butcher knows you care about your meat. My LA butcher flat out refused to sell me bacon a few times, because it wasn't up to snuff and they were returning it to the supplier. He knew I'm picky about bacon. And steak. And roasts. And chicken. Okay, I'm picky about anything going into my mouth... I don't want to waste my grocery money on food that doesn't taste good.

Wouldn't have come up with the butcher where I grew up. Her shop (not a typo, women can be excellent butchers) smokes their own bacon, ham and turkeys. They can (and do) handle cows on the hoof. Chicken and rabbit are also local product. If you come in and there's frozen soup stock for sale, it's because someone on staff made it.

Mostly tho, I buy local because it's less *work*. After the butcher or farmer knows that you know what you're doing when it comes to a hunk of meat, they make sure you get stuff up to standard. At as supermarket meat counter, you have to scrutinize every piece of meat, every time.

[David Ross]

After I did the taste test and found without a doubt that my butcher shop sells better meat than the supermarket I haven't bought one steak from the supermarket. I'm lucky because my butcher cuts, cures and smokes his own bacon and lunch meats.

I'm also lucky because the butcher also grades all of his meat and for me that's just a bit more insurance that we both know the quality of the meat.

Establishing a relationship with the butcher seems to be the key to getting good quality and service, which you'll not get at the mass supermarkets from the employees who put steaks in a cold case.

All around I've found going back to the old way of buying meat from my butcher is worth the extra cost. I still buy meat from the supermarket, just not steaks. Last week I bought two good quality choice grade pot roasts at a local supermarket. The roasts came from natural beef raised in Eastern Oregon and I know the quality is good. Since I'll be using the roasts this Fall and Winter in braised dishes, I knew it would be fine. I don't need to take the time to go to the butcher and spend the money for a prime ribeye for a braised dish.

But overall, I think that we all get a better product when we go to a butcher shop.

[Torrilin]

Try going to the butcher for pot roast. Seriously. If you don't know the cut you want, tell them what you have in mind. How many people, what kind of cooking method, how long you'd like to cook it... Ask for suggestions. They may not have The Right Thing in stock now, but they'll order it. For a cheap cut, you'll pay cheap cut prices, even if the meat is off a prime or top end choice carcass. And your butcher will probably insist on making sure the meat is tied so it will slice nicely. It'll be trimmed the way you want it.

Same deal with ground beef. It'll be ground on site (at some shops, while you wait). It will be tasty. And the price will be about the same as the supermarket, with much less worry about contamination. They don't hide the meat grinder in the back.

Most butchers I've patronized have been at most 5-10 cents a pound more than the supermarket, across the board. It's just not worth it to quibble over an extra dollar a week for my meat. If the budget is that tight, I'll buy a cheaper cut. Course, this means most weeks I'm buying pork shoulder or a roaster or the like, but carnitas, char siu, pot roast and a roast chicken are not dire hardships. Really, nor is a good hamburger.

[David Ross]

Try going to the butcher for pot roast. Seriously. If you don't know the cut you want, tell them what you have in mind. How many people, what kind of cooking method, how long you'd like to cook it... Ask for suggestions. They may not have The Right Thing in stock now, but they'll order it. For a cheap cut, you'll pay cheap cut prices, even if the meat is off a prime or top end choice carcass. And your butcher will probably insist on making sure the meat is tied so it will slice nicely. It'll be trimmed the way you want it.

Same deal with ground beef. It'll be ground on site (at some shops, while you wait). It will be tasty. And the price will be about the same as the supermarket, with much less worry about contamination. They don't hide the meat grinder in the back.

Most butchers I've patronized have been at most 5-10 cents a pound more than the supermarket, across the board. It's just not worth it to quibble over an extra dollar a week for my meat. If the budget is that tight, I'll buy a cheaper cut. Course, this means most weeks I'm buying pork shoulder or a roaster or the like, but carnitas, char siu, pot roast and a roast chicken are not dire hardships. Really, nor is a good hamburger.

←

Thanks. You've made really great points regarding other cuts from the butcher than just the steak. Especially your comparison with hamburger ground fresh each day at the butcher shop.

Thanks for the feedback.