10 Things Your Butcher Won't Tell You ...

[Gifted Gourmet]

article from Smart Money.com

Smart Money article from June, 2005 "10 Things your Caterer Won't tell You"

Found this to be a fascinating article which you may enjoy, or at the very least, from which you may learn some new things ... some brief excerpts to begin reading... but take a look at the article ...

1. "I've never touched a bandsaw or even handled a side of beef."

The upshot: Many butchers don't know a whole lot about the meat they're hawking — where it comes from or basic information about varying cuts, preparation or cooking time.

2. "No special orders."

Staff at chains that rely on case-ready product are not trained to alter cuts. What you see is what you get ...  The bad news is, you can expect to pay a premium for the privilege of choice.

3. "The real money's in prepared foods — marinades, kabobs... ka-ching."

markups aren't always so obvious. At Whole Foods, for example, oven-ready chicken and beef kabobs in various marinades or a New York strip steak in a smoked chipotle sauce cost the same as nonmarinated cuts, but a preshaped, seasoned ground meat patty can run 20 to 75% more than the regular stuff.

4. "You thought fat was bad; wait'll you get a load of the salt content."

5. "You are what the animal eats."

6. "This beef's 'all natural' — whatever that means."

7. "It's not all that clean back here."

8. "'Ground beef' is a euphemism."

9. "These pork chops could come from anywhere."

10. "Tainted meat slips through the cracks all the time."

After you read the article, what surprised you the most?

The least?

What did you know already?

Will this affect how your purchase your meats from butchers?

[Kevin72]

article from Smart Money.com

After you read the article, what surprised you the most?

The least?

What did you know already?

Will this affect how your purchase your meats from butchers?

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It reaffirmed alot of what I knew or suspected I knew. Specifically, that even the butcher shop I frequent in downtown Dallas probably doesn't break down the whole animal but deals with primals instead. They haven't been able to do some special requests (pig's skin, or a pork loin with the skin intact). I also do use Central Market and Whole Foods alot, and between the three, I'm pretty happy. Now, throw in a CostCo membership and access to massive pork shoulder and leg of lamb that I can buy and break down myself, then toss into the freezer.

Good to see they're speaking out against marinades and how ridiculously overpriced "premarinated" meat is.

Could've done without the "you are what the animal eats" part.

And I was irked about the "Free Range" part, though I've heard it again and again here on eG. So now I have to spend even more than the "Free Range" price for "100% Organic"?

[Megan Blocker]

And I was irked about the "Free Range" part, though I've heard it again and again here on eG.  So now I have to spend even more than the "Free Range" price for "100% Organic"?

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Like Kevin, I did not realize the difference between "Free Range" and "100% Organic." Grrr...so, not only do I now need to pay more, but I feel bad for eating the chickens I've been eating! Sigh.

This was a good article - I'd never thought about the mad cow possibilities of ground beef before. I'm now going to be sure to follow their lead and just have my selected cut ground for me...

[I_call_the_duck]

I'd say that the only thing I didn't realize was that manufacturers inject saline in meat to give it flavor. Very disturbing on so many levels, primarily because one is paying for water, and that fat has become so taboo that they have to add so much salt into it to make it even remotely palatable.

The turkey we had on Thursday was "cage free", which I suppose is what "free range" was a few years ago. Now that the definition of free-range can mean that the bird spent from one minute to 24 hours of the day outside, I guess they created this new terminology to ensure customers that the bird indeed spent its life happily running around the barnyard. Or at least outside. It could have spent its life crammed in a barnyard with hundreds of other birds like a NYC subway during rush hour. What next? A certificate from a personal trainer? OK, I'm getting silly now. But the point I'm trying to make is that this terminology is confusing.

[Gifted Gourmet]

This was a good article - I'd never thought about the mad cow possibilities of ground beef before. 

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Wasn't it a Jack-in-the-Box which had the awful publicity of having a lawsuit over the e Coli in a hamburger that some unfortunate person ate (subsequently died from)?

I recall, at the time, that many restaurants were very careful in cooking their ground beef even more completely as a result. I learned about grilling the surface of a piece of beef well but that the inside need not be well done. When it came to ground beef, the surface is ground into the entire meat and can be full of microorganisms which are not good.

Does this apply as well to Mad Cow Disease?

Ground beef, especially that found in processed foods such as sausage and pizza toppings, is often extracted by a process called "advanced meat recovery," where carcasses are fed to a machine that strips soft tissue from bone. Consumer advocates warn that AMR increases the risk that spinal tissue — which can carry mad-cow disease — could be included among the processed meat.

[eje]

Wasn't it a Jack-in-the-Box which had the awful publicity of having a lawsuit over the e Coli in a hamburger that some unfortunate person ate (subsequently died from)?

I recall, at the time, that many restaurants were very careful in cooking their ground beef even more completely as a result. I learned about grilling the surface of a piece of beef well but that the inside need not be well done. When it came to ground beef, the surface is ground into the entire meat and can be full of microorganisms which are not good.

Does this apply as well to Mad Cow Disease?

Ground beef, especially that found in processed foods such as sausage and pizza toppings, is often extracted by a process called "advanced meat recovery," where carcasses are fed to a machine that strips soft tissue from bone. Consumer advocates warn that AMR increases the risk that spinal tissue — which can carry mad-cow disease — could be included among the processed meat.

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No. The pathogen thought to cause mad cow disease in humans (New Variant Cruetzfeld Jacobs Disease) is not a micro-organism, it is a mis-folded protein (prion). Not only that, it is a very tough protein which is very difficult to denature. They are not affected by standard autoclave procedures. Anything that would destroy them would certainly leave you with a cut of meat or ground beef which could only be regarded as inedible.

WHO infection control guidelines

[lostmyshape]

ugh... i wonder: does most of this pertain to "store" bought meat (meaning large outlets who get most of their meat from factory farms)? or do i need to worry about locally produced meat that the co-op or whole foods carries?

i like my meat awfully rare (as do many of you, i'd guess). i guess i can be cautious, but looks like i need to start praying, too. even with meat i buy and cook myself. don't think i'll change the way i prepare meat. oh, well.

thanks for posting the article. i knew most of this stuff, too, but kinda forget it when i go to the store. always good to be reminded to be more vigilant.

[Pontormo]

An interview with Eric Schlosser serves as one of the supplements to the DVD of Supersize Me.

He says that after what he learned in researching Fast Food Nation, he still indulges in hamburgers occasionally, but only when purchased from one of the more "upscale" places he favors.

However, he will never, ever let his kids eat hamburgers.

Edited November 29, 2005 by Pontormo (log)

[budrichard]

How I cope:

1. I process my own venison and primal cuts. I know more then 99% of the 'butchers'.

3.I never use prepared foods of any kind.

4.I never purchase ANY type of meat that has been adulterated with a saline solution including seafood.

5. We try not too eat animals that have been fed feed made from animnal products.

8. I also grind my own meat

9. I always determine country of origin and do not purchase any but US raised.

10. So far i have not had any problems. Knock on wood. -Dick

[Patrick S]

ugh... i wonder: does most of this pertain to "store" bought meat (meaning large outlets who get most of their meat from factory farms)?  or do i need to worry about locally produced meat that the co-op or whole foods carries?

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If you are referring to BSE, it doesn't seem to matter where you get your beef, at least in the U.S., since BSE is thought to have been spread by feeding practices that were banned in the U.S in 1997. Of the hundreds of thousands of cattle in the U.S. that have been tested for BSE, only one or two has tested positive for BSE, and at least one was born before 1997. By contrast, in the UK about 180,000 cows have been diagnosed with BSE.

If you are referring to microbial pathogens like E. coli 0157, the answer is also no. Beef from organic farms appears contain similar types and quantities of bacteria as conventionally produced beef.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[Mottmott]

And I was irked about the "Free Range" part, though I've heard it again and again here on eG.  So now I have to spend even more than the "Free Range" price for "100% Organic"?

←

Like Kevin, I did not realize the difference between "Free Range" and "100% Organic." Grrr...so, not only do I now need to pay more, but I feel bad for eating the chickens I've been eating! Sigh.

This was a good article - I'd never thought about the mad cow possibilities of ground beef before. I'm now going to be sure to follow their lead and just have my selected cut ground for me...

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If you have a KA mixer, get the meat grinder and grind it at home. It's not only assured safer (how often do you think they clean the meat grinder each day?), but worlds better tasting! You don't know how good a hamburger can be til you use home ground, coarsely ground meat.It's true it becomes less of a convenience food, but becomes more of a treat.

[Kent Wang]

If you have a KA mixer, get the meat grinder and grind it at home. It's not only assured safer (how often do you think they clean the meat grinder each day?), but worlds better tasting! You don't know how good a hamburger can be til you use home ground, coarsely ground meat.It's true it becomes less of a convenience food, but becomes more of a treat.

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Why does it taste better? Is it because it's not left out to sit?

[tejon]

I think saline is just about universal in most meats nowadays, whether it is marked as such or not. When was the last time you cooked hamburger that didn't emit a huge puddle of liquid when pan fried?

[Kevin72]

If you have a KA mixer, get the meat grinder and grind it at home. It's not only assured safer (how often do you think they clean the meat grinder each day?), but worlds better tasting! You don't know how good a hamburger can be til you use home ground, coarsely ground meat.It's true it becomes less of a convenience food, but becomes more of a treat.

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Why does it taste better? Is it because it's not left out to sit?

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From what I can gather, because you choose the cut of meats to grind up as opposed to getting odds and ends, you choose the grind size yourself to get the texture you want, and now, having read this thread, you won't be (hopefully) injecting it with a saline solution.

The grinder attachment is a good idea for my quite barren-looking Christmas list . . .

[Kent Wang]

What cuts are best for grinding, if you can choose? Sirloin? Would it be too extravagant to grind up filet?

[ghostrider]

Enhanced meat can be risky for those who need to watch their salt intake. The good news is, it's relatively easy to spot enhanced products, which are required to carry an ingredients-and-nutrition label.

As eG's resident Salt Paranoiac, I hope that's true (about the accurate labeling).

I remember a recent discussion in another thread about "Swift's Proven Solution" being injected into their pork. I couldn't find anything on the Swift website or anyplace else that specified the contents of this Proven Solution. I wonder if it's on the pork package. It should be, according to the above statement. (Not that I eat Swift pork, but I'm curious, and I wonder if any of this applies to unbranded pork.)

[woodburner]

What cuts are best for grinding, if you can choose? Sirloin? Would it be too extravagant to grind up filet?

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If your speaking of ground hamburger meat, here are a couple of choices.

Blue Smoke Burger Mixture

Which reads 1/3 Ground Brisket, 1/3 Ground Beef Clod, 1/3 Ground Chuck, about 85% lean.

Napa Style Burgers

Which reads 1/3 Brisket, 1/3 Short Ribs, 1/3 Sirloin.

The Blue Smoke Burger has gotten very good reviews, which I believe is the same served at the Shake Shack another well recieved Danny Meyer spinoff.

I've done the Napa Style grind and never looked back at ground chuck for burger nirvana.

woodburner