Buying meat

[Dove]

I bought half a cow. It was way too much cow. So much cow. I can’t believe how big a cow is. They look pretty big on the outside, but holy crap, there’s a lot more cow inside. If I never have another piece of cow to eat, I will be fine with it.

So, to answer your question, buy chicken.

Post/Handle

 

[Dove]

If you sneak into livestock unit I on campus at night you can get the entire cow and it won't cost $450.

View attachment 108133

 

[Stew Crew]

1.5 - 2 inches for rib eye. 2+ inches for filet. 1.5 inches for NY strip.

Liberally season strip or rib eye at least 8 hours in advance with salt. It draws out proteins that help with caramelization. Salt also penetrates into center of meat.

I prefer to bring meat to room temperature for medium rare. If steak is cold, the center of a thick steak may not cook enough. If you like a rare steak, cold is ok but may negatively affect caramelization. If steak is thin, I also prefer colder meat to prevent overcooking

 

[Ewekon]

Half a cow is better than no cow at all.

In udder news, point kinda moooot.

 

[dvegas]

Back in the early 80's you could buy a half or quarter cow from Meat Sciences at UConn. Knew some guys who lived off campus and attended a BBQ once at their place, either the meat wasn't processed/aged properly, or it was a very old dairy cow. Barf.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Back in the early 80's you could buy a half or quarter cow from Meat Sciences at UConn. Knew some guys who lived off campus and attended a BBQ once at their place, either the meat wasn't processed/aged properly, or it was a very old dairy cow. Barf.

You must have gotten a cow from the high dose group

 

[imno1]

Tom’s next thread:

“Buying pudding”

Like transfers, I don't think we are allowed to speculate on Tom's future posts.

 

[jibsey]

Little story.
When we had our 3 kids at home many years ago I was approached by a friend who showed me a picture of his daughter smiling and holding a blue ribbon next to a cow from a 4 H Club competition. He says “ we’re bringing her in” you should get 1/2.
I said “what?”. He says “ just call up Sears and they will deliver you a freezer, and a couple weeks later after aging you go to this guy I know (a shop but not a retail shop) who cuts it up for you.”

So my wife and I show up to this shop in Bristol and it’s only us and he goes into a refrigeration room and pushed out a huge side of beef on hook andceiling rollers and begins to cut it up and package it..for about an…hour.
I looked at my wife and said “this is the most meat I’ve ever seen in my life, how are we ever going to go through it?”.
As we were about to leave he says wait… he goes back to the refrigerator room and pushes another huge side of beef out into the room. I say “What’s that?” And he says “You got 1/2 right?, well this is the other leg, there are 4 legs? ”

My golden retriever got a bone so big he almost couldn’t hold it up. He ran off, buried it somewhere and we never saw it again.

 

[Northbound]

Half cow - did it for years and was giving away ground beef. There is such a thing as too much burger.

Custom cut organic pastured cow is the way to go. More expensive, for sure, but I get just what I want.

1.5-2” steaks

Finding the right guy for chickens is critical. I get chickens from the Amish and that is a juicy bird.

 

[KembaRunner]

I need to stock my subzero freezer before the coming end of times, and I'm looking to buy a couple tenderloins cut into 2 inch steaks; a dozen ribeyes and a dozen New York strip. Also chicken wings.

Questions:

1) How thick do you like your steaks?

2) Is "prime" ribeye and NY strip worth the extra ~$4/lb?

3). Do you let your steaks get to room temp before cooking?

3). What's the difference between chicken wings and party wings? (One is cut into flats and drum-lets?) Is the extra 50 Cent per pound for the party wings worth the money?

This is my source a couple times a year.

Weekly Specials | Arnold's Meats

arnoldsmeats.com

Prime is 100% worth it if you can afford. Much much better.

 

[Scottzer]

Add in steak tips - cheap, but delicious. Marinate in a Memphis rub (3 tablespoons, plus 1 t b Worcestershire sauce, 1 tv olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt if the rub didn’t have it). Sautee in butter on 2 or 2.5 on gas stove. Those 5/8”to 3/4” chunks are ready in 4-5 minutes (rare to mid rare), and tender when cut cross grain.

Also- throw in london broil. A disgusting steak like that makes good jerky.

 

[beerfan]

I don't eat a lot of meat these days, but when I do, I go to this place in Bloomfield, "Saba Live", which is an actual slaughterhouse. They have live animals on premises, and you can actually pick the animal you want. You will never get fresher meat, it is just on a different level. I will never buy supermarket meat again.

SABA LIVE POULTRY

sabalivect.com

There is also a local farm right around the corner from me in Bloomfield that has chicken you can buy. They sell turkeys around Thanksgiving and are now selling lamb for Easter. All free range animals raised there. I got a Turkey from them for Thanksgiving, but it was a little gamey.

The 4 Five Farm

The 4 Five Farm is family operated, located in Bloomfield Connecticut, and in the process of being certified as an Organic Farm.

the4fivefarm.com

 

[jibsey]

I just picked up a whole prime brisket at Costco for $4.99 lb. Choice was $3.79
Choice boneless rib steaks cut very thick are $14.99
Their quality is very good IMO, not cheap I know.
Whole Foods better? Probably but what are those steaks there?
Supermarkets have gotten into advertising steak that says something like “Ranchers Select” or something like that. Any of those names (other than Angus choice) means it’s a notch at least below Choice.

 

[dvegas]

Prime is 100% worth it if you can afford. Much much better.

Yes, dry aged please. Wet aged meat is worthless, especially for Prime grade.

 

[RowdyFan]

Check out Ferraro Meats in North Haven. The same market that used be down in New Haven. Unbelievable quality.

 

[NJHusky]

1. I like 1.5-2" thick. For filets, definitely 2". For ribeye, 1.5" is fine.
2. In my experience, more important than prime versus choice is grain fed versus grass fed. In my family we have done several side-by-side blind tastings and consistently and unanimously found grain fed choice beef to be much better tasting than prime grass fed. Grass fed is purportedly healthier but I don't eat steak every week but when I do, I want the best tasting and that is grain fed hands down. Maybe you can find grain fed and grass finished beef which might provide the best of both worlds.

It’s typically grass fed and grain finished

 

[Jimdish255]

I need to stock my subzero freezer before the coming end of times, and I'm looking to buy a couple tenderloins cut into 2 inch steaks; a dozen ribeyes and a dozen New York strip. Also chicken wings.

Questions:

1) How thick do you like your steaks?

2) Is "prime" ribeye and NY strip worth the extra ~$4/lb?

3). Do you let your steaks get to room temp before cooking?

3). What's the difference between chicken wings and party wings? (One is cut into flats and drum-lets?) Is the extra 50 Cent per pound for the party wings worth the money?

This is my source a couple times a year.

Weekly Specials | Arnold's Meats

arnoldsmeats.com

1. Too thick can be an issue unless it's an aged steak. Just harder to tenderize and season. I recently concluded this after cooking a beautiful but thick ribeye steak. That doesn't seem to be an issue when cooking a Rib Roast and aged beef is a different class of steak.altogether.

Part 2. I can deal with that either way but prefer my steak cool because I sear it on my modified grill with an infrared burner before I drop it onto a heated cast iron skillet drenched in garlic-herb butter. A cool steak helps me to not overcook with this method because I like a little char on the outside and don't want to use a torch. This is obviously a question of taste and preference. Cooking and eating in a firehouse for 30 years was a series of compromises but I learned there are plenty of ways to do everything. Without my grill and tools and potential interruptions I never tried to cook for others the same way. That's reserved for home and a good bottle of Cab. And I do freeze and store steaks with a vacuum sealer. I never go to a store needing steaks but I usually check out the rack and buy if it looks exceptional. That usually means when the "Choice" steaks look like Prime. That happens about 15% or less of the time so when I buy it's not planned.

I'll leave #3 for wing experts.

 

[Devland]

I try to bag a deer every year. My long time hunting partner used to come over and help butcher it. He passed away and I had my son- in law come over and help this past year. I've been hoping CT would legalize bear hunting. Would love to give that a try.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I try to bag a deer every year. My long time hunting partner used to come over and help butcher it. He passed away and I had my son- in law come over and help this past year. I've been hoping CT would legalize bear hunting. Would love to give that a try.

It's only illegal if you get caught.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

3). What's the difference between chicken wings and party wings? (One is cut into flats and drum-lets?) Is the extra 50 Cent per pound for the party wings worth the money?

You nailed it on the difference. Party wings are separated into drumettes and flats with the wing tip removed. Chicken wings typically come as whole or if they are separated may include the wing tips. Really comes down to if you want to pay the 50¢ per lb to have somebody separate them for you.

 

[jake14mw]

I just picked up a whole prime brisket at Costco for $4.99 lb. Choice was $3.79
...

Do you smoke it? Do you always get the prime? I usually get the choice just because they are at least 12 pounds, and I just don't trust my smoking ability enough to spend that much $. Point is always great, but my flats are usually dry and disappointing. If I didn't have a killer brisket chili recipe I wouldn't even attempt them anymore.

 

[huskyjawz]

I try to bag a deer every year. My long time hunting partner used to come over and help butcher it. He passed away and I had my son- in law come over and help this past year. I've been hoping CT would legalize bear hunting. Would love to give that a try.

You'd love to try the meat or you'd love to try the hunt?

 

[jibsey]

Do you smoke it? Do you always get the prime? I usually get the choice just because they are at least 12 pounds, and I just don't trust my smoking ability enough to spend that much $. Point is always great, but my flats are usually dry and disappointing. If I didn't have a killer brisket chili recipe I wouldn't even attempt them anymore.

Choice is normal and great but Costco had the prime for only a buck extra, it was 13 pounds ($66) and I probably had to trim 3 lbs of fat leaving some on . I don’t have a smoker so this is an easy oven method. Ok, I’m going to do a slow cooked oven baked with a dry rub which you can rub and let sit in fridge overnight or just cook.
1 tsp, Salt, and 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 to 1 if you like it hot tablespoon pepper, then 1 tablespoon of the rest of these ingredients: dark brown sugar, chili powder, dried mustard, garlic powder, onion powder.
Smoking liquid for pan is 2 cups beef broth, 1/2 cup worstershire, 2 tablespoons liquid smoke, 1 tablespoon tomato paste.
cook covered at 250 until you get to 190 degrees meat temp . Then uncover and brown and cook till 205 degrees.
Its all about temperature.
One thing, it is a lot of money but that is a lot of meals. In a barbecue joint down here in Florida take out brisket was $26 a pound.

 

[Deepster]

I try to bag a deer every year. My long time hunting partner used to come over and help butcher it. He passed away and I had my son- in law come over and help this past year. I've been hoping CT would legalize bear hunting. Would love to give that a try.

I follow a guy that BBQ's/smokes and every once in a while he does a bear leg. It does not look appetizing. It's really fatty and he smokes it overnight.

I've tried a lot of different game meats and I stand by my statement (which applies to deer/venison). If it was any good, it'd be in every grocery store.

 

[Devland]

I follow a guy that BBQ's/smokes and every once in a while he does a bear leg. It does not look appetizing. It's really fatty and he smokes it overnight.

I've tried a lot of different game meats and I stand by my statement (which applies to deer/venison). If it was any good, it'd be in every grocery store.

There is a good reason it is not in every grocery store. Deer farming is only legal in 5 states. Bear farming is not legal in any state. Even though I said I would like to bag a bear in CT. I am not sure it would be the best meat. CT bear eat a lot of trash, not ideal meat.