Wildfork Foods

[BeeZee]

In N.J., I've only been able to get frozen grouper at Wegmans. However, my crappy Shop Rite supermarket has small vac packs of ground bison meat and venison in the tiny Organic meat case.

[KennethT]

7 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

I'm surprised grouper isn't available in NY, since it is an east coast fish. Not even Citarella? Never seen it sold in northern CA, that's for sure. Grouper is a favorite of mine; whenever I go to Atlanta to visit my daughter I eat a lot of it, both red and black. So good! I'll be there in the fall for several weeks. Of course my twin grand-daughters are the main draw, but east coast fish is definitely a perk when it comes to visiting the south. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Citarella had grouper, but I'm sure it would be a lot more expensive than WF and it's a bit out of my way to go there on a regular basis.  Plus, I like having everything frozen - it gives me more flexibility.  Sometimes I wind up getting home from work later than I originally expected so we wind up ordering in otherwise we'd be eating and cleaning up at bed time.  Buying it "fresh" (possibly previously frozen) means it needs to be used ASAP so it gives me less leeway.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, KennethT said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Citarella had grouper, but I'm sure it would be a lot more expensive than WF and it's a bit out of my way to go there on a regular basis.  Plus, I like having everything frozen - it gives me more flexibility.  Sometimes I wind up getting home from work later than I originally expected so we wind up ordering in otherwise we'd be eating and cleaning up at bed time.  Buying it "fresh" (possibly previously frozen) means it needs to be used ASAP so it gives me less leeway.

 

I have ordered grouper from Citarella.

 

[heidih]

So I started the lamb shanks. Nicely pre-trimed. But in the packet I used the size differential was way off. So I now have one perfectly cooked and another I have to finish before reheating them for lunch. Crock pot only option and not able to use house, The flavor great. Just a timing issue I wanted to avoid, At first look they did not seem that different but the amount of flesh on Mr Big was way more.

[KennethT]

8 hours ago, heidih said:

So I started the lamb shanks. Nicely pre-trimed. But in the packet I used the size differential was way off. So I now have one perfectly cooked and another I have to finish before reheating them for lunch. Crock pot only option and not able to use house, The flavor great. Just a timing issue I wanted to avoid, At first look they did not seem that different but the amount of flesh on Mr Big was way more.

That's a wildly (get it!) reported issue/problem.  I don't know if they have plans to do anything about it.

[gfweb]

Size difference's cooking times are solved by sous vide, but not portion inequality

[heidih]

Like I would sous vide!  Came out really well.  https://forums.egullet.org/topic/25973-lamb-shank/?do=findComment&comment=2397843

 

[heidih]

In getting ready to place my 2nd order I noticed alll the sausage products are "uncured". Is that just the recent "health trend" against nitrates?

[blue_dolphin]

31 minutes ago, heidih said:

In getting ready to place my 2nd order I noticed alll the sausage products are "uncured". Is that just the recent "health trend" against nitrates?

 

Quite a few of Wild Fork sausages labeled "uncured" are well and truly fresh sausages (Italian sausage, bratwurst, etc.), not cured in any way and need to be kept refrigerated or frozen until used.

 

Edited to add that others, like the kielbasa, are indeed cured with celery powder or the like.  I guess you gotta check the ingredients to be sure.

 

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by blue_dolphin (log)

[heidih]

42 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Quite a few of Wild Fork sausages labeled "uncured" are well and truly fresh sausages (Italian sausage, bratwurst, etc.), not cured in any way and need to be kept refrigerated or frozen until used.

 

Edited to add that others, like the kielbasa, are indeed cured with celery powder or the like.  I guess you gotta check the ingredients to be sure.

 

 

Thanks. I assumed that the ones I wanted were fresh. Just the "uncured" was not something I am used to in a non dried sausage. Jumped to a conclusion - never a good plan. I am eyeing the freezer space I can use - so many temptations on their site.

[gfweb]

A lot of products that use the nitrates in celery juice have weaselly words in their label like "no chemical nitrate added" or some such. Or " naturally cured".

[heidih]

34 minutes ago, gfweb said:

A lot of products that use the nitrates in celery juice have weaselly words in their label like "no chemical nitrate added" or some such. Or " naturally cured".

Yes I started noticing that at Trader Joes a number of years ago. I think I am back in ordering mode now though I bought a favorful sausage elsewhere today so the snausages are for future WF. They have ground elk again!  

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

Yes I started noticing that at Trader Joes a number of years ago. I think I am back in ordering mode now though I bought a favorful sausage elsewhere today so the snausages are for future WF. They have ground elk again!  

They usually have ground elk. It's one of the regular things I get there.

[heidih]

32 minutes ago, KennethT said:

They usually have ground elk. It's one of the regular things I get there.

They were out when I started my order yesterday but back today. You can ask for an alert when an out of stock item returns. 

[dtremit]

On 9/14/2023 at 2:31 PM, gfweb said:

A lot of products that use the nitrates in celery juice have weaselly words in their label like "no chemical nitrate added" or some such. Or " naturally cured".

 

The labeling rules for anything that's traditionally been made with nitrates are really odd — as I understand it, the celery derived stuff isn't legally considered "nitrates," and the law requires anything that's not made with nitrates to be labeled as "uncured" if it resembles a product usually cured with nitrates. Hence products that are chock full of nitrates from celery may end up labeled as nitrate free.

 

Was disappointed to see that most of Wild Fork's pork products are unavailable in MA now thanks to the new animal welfare regulations that came into effect this summer — guessing the same may be true in CA as I believe there are similar laws there. (Some of that may be due to a lack of alignment between different standards, particularly for the European products.)

 

As I was looking for a press release or something similar, I learned that WF is a subsidiary of JBS Foods, the large conglomerate that owns Swift — which I suppose would explain the extent of their selection. 

[BeeZee]

I finally got around to visiting the retail location near my office. A strange in person shopping experience, everything in plastic (cryovac) bags (or boxes, in some cases), a visually sterile environment. I realized how much merchandising/visual appeal factors in to the desire to shop. I did satisfy my curiosity and everything looked to be in good condition, plus there were items that I definitely can't get at my usual supermarkets.

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, BeeZee said:

I finally got around to visiting the retail location near my office. A strange in person shopping experience, everything in plastic (cryovac) bags (or boxes, in some cases), a visually sterile environment. I realized how much merchandising/visual appeal factors in to the desire to shop. I did satisfy my curiosity and everything looked to be in good condition, plus there were items that I definitely can't get at my usual supermarkets.

Good point on the visual appeal factors. I stop in to my local store every now and then and find it an odd experience that I couldn’t quite put my finger on but you nailed it!

[gfweb]

WF is better online, where they have nice photos to look at

[KennethT]

4 hours ago, gfweb said:

WF is better online, where they have nice photos to look at

There ahve been reports on their FB page (for "VIP" members who pay the yearly fee for free shipping) of wildly inconsistent packaging of certain items - so some people prefer to go to the store since they can pick their own weight.  I've never had an issue but then again, I always order pretty standard things - packs of their vac sealed fish, shrimp and bags of chicken parts.

[BeeZee]

That question of packaging was actually one of the reasons I wanted to take a look in person. I didn't rummage through the piles since I wasn't intending to buy anything, but looking at the packages of fish superficially, they seemed reasonably consistent. I will take a closer look when I'm actually going to be buying some.

[KennethT]

8 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

That question of packaging was actually one of the reasons I wanted to take a look in person. I didn't rummage through the piles since I wasn't intending to buy anything, but looking at the packages of fish superficially, they seemed reasonably consistent. I will take a closer look when I'm actually going to be buying some.

I've found the fish to be pretty consistent.  The complaints are hear are with things like the tomahawk steak or the picanha - where the weight is a large range - you think you're going to get about 5 pounds, but instead you get not quite 2.

[Deephaven]

21 hours ago, KennethT said:

I've found the fish to be pretty consistent.  The complaints are hear are with things like the tomahawk steak or the picanha - where the weight is a large range - you think you're going to get about 5 pounds, but instead you get not quite 2.

Of course, picanha I can't find locally so it was going to be my first order.  You think they would ask for a minimum/maximum range or let you review before shipping.  I am not opposed to a delay as I wouldn't be ordering anything for "now".

[KennethT]

19 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

Of course, picanha I can't find locally so it was going to be my first order.  You think they would ask for a minimum/maximum range or let you review before shipping.  I am not opposed to a delay as I wouldn't be ordering anything for "now".

From what I understand, when you place an order online, an employee walks around the store gathering your order and they seem to just take whatever package is on top and easiest to reach in the freezer.  They don't go digging the way you might on your own.  There's no way to put any notes or indicate preferred size range when placing an order.