Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I buy Dietz and Watson Maple Cured Turkey, by the pound, about once a month or so. I love the stuff. I usually get it at BJ's, as that is about the only place that sells it around here. Also get the Buffalo Chicken occasionally. None of it has ever been bad or slimy - always very fresh and delicious.
I really don't think I have ever purchased any fresh-sliced deli meat that was bad.
BJs has very fresh product as they have a relatively limited number of meats that they offer in their deli. And unlike the other club stores, you can buy a reasonable quantity.
Location: St Thomas, USVI - Seattle, WA - Gulf Coast, TX
811 posts, read 1,148,991 times
Reputation: 2322
Quote:
Originally Posted by mainebrokerman
here's how most deli slice their loaves...
they keep a whole one in its package on full display and will usually slice one that's already open .....(out of sight )
most stores will slice then wrap, place in a plastic bag ,,,ready or the next order.
the loaves are usually good for at least a month,,,they are vac sealed,,,,
Good info here. Just thought I'd add in/clarify from my previous post that it's the open loaves which should be marked with either the date they were opened, the date they now need to be used by (depends on the product, but usually about a week), or both. That said, it was not unusual for me to show up and have to throw away entire, un-opened loaves of meat that had gone out of date in some delis. The only items that might not have use-by dates on them once opened, are the items that are used very quickly (like a whole loaf in a day or two) as MBM mentioned:
Quote:
Originally Posted by mainebrokerman
stores will also use these deli meats for sandwiches they make - so they are being used quickly
This is good info as well, but note that it is going to be only a very specific, small number of items that are actually used in store production in high volume. Regular old chicken, ham, turkey (actually, probably JUST plain old ham and turkey, for the most part)... sure, those will probably be turned over quickly (in a grocery store, where there is high volume production for things like already-made sandwiches in cold cases, etc.) and are less of a concern (except for the likely-disgusting case they're sitting inside of all day). Things like the BBQ chicken that the OP picked up... Not so much. BBQ chicken, buffalo chicken, pastrami, cheeses other than cheddar or American, etc. are all MUCH more likely to have been sitting there a lot longer.
So even though I'm in my 40's, I'm still kind of new to the whole sliced-to-order lunchmeat at the deli counter thing. So after getting slimy/off smelling lunch meat from the 'normal' stores a couple times, I decided I'd only get it from the 'higher end' stores. But just now, I threw away a pound of BBQ chicken breast - slimy *and* off smell. I mean, this is as soon as I got it home. I should've tasted it in the store, I know. I also know I could've taken it back, but I'm more the type that I just never go to that store/restaurant/deli counter again.
Anyway, is this common? Am I doing something wrong (buying what's on sale)? Misinterpreting sliminess or smell? (that's why I'm not going to name any names). Remember, this is as soon as I get it home, not after it's been in fridge for a while.
Deli meat is all the meat that can't be sold or not popular and grinded up and compressed into this mold and then seasoned with all these spices and preservatives that are bad for you and can cause stomach cancer if you continue to eat alot.
It's full of preservatives to kill bacteria which can kill good bacteria in your stomach that often suppose to boost your immunity.
If I want to eat deli meat I would consider store made roast beef or turkey breast that are carved rather than from a sealed product. Your health.
If I want to eat deli meat I would consider store made roast beef or turkey breast that are carved rather than from a sealed product. Your health.
How do you know which roast beef or turkey is carved versus parts that are pressed/molded ? When you are standing at the deli counter. Other than asking for a sample of several different brands.
Deli meat is all the meat that can't be sold or not popular and grinded up and compressed into this mold and then seasoned with all these spices and preservatives that are bad for you and can cause stomach cancer if you continue to eat alot.
That is only partially correct, but very misleading. First almost ALL meat can be sold.
Secondly- deli meats such as true pastrami are made from a specific cut- the navel or flat brisket. It's not ground meat. Same for sliced corned beef.
Additionally, deli meats such as true salami or other products generally use a high quality grind with a % of fat. The seasoning and curing process is what makes it a salami. Try telling a master butcher that his hard cured calabrese is filled with 'throw away product' and 'pressed and molded' and you're liable to have a cleaver tossed at you. A lot of good deli meats are naturally fermented, not unlike wine or cheese.
Still, if you wanted to avoid this preservative, you would have to cut out more than just ham to go cold turkey on nitrite. In a typical person's diet, 80 percent of nitrite comes from vegetables such as spinach, radishes and lettuce, and another 13 percent comes from swallowed saliva.
New research has suggested that that level of regulation may be unnecessary, however. Nitrite preservatives have "been found to be safe," said Nathan Bryan, a professor of integrated biology and pharmacology at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, who says he receives no funding from the meat industry. "It's a complete change in paradigm," from what people thought in the 1970s and 1980s, he said. "There's no difference whatsoever in the nitrite that you get from cured and processed meats versus what you get from vegetables. It's the same molecule."
However, the food that accompanies nitrate and nitrite into the gut helps determine how the molecules act once they get there. Meat manufacturers now add the antioxidant ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, to their products, which promotes the formation of relatively harmless nitric oxide and counteracts the development of the possibly cancer-causing nitrosamines.
Again- good, quality deli meats and sausages are not bad for you, but everything should be in moderation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vision33r
It's full of preservatives to kill bacteria which can kill good bacteria in your stomach that often suppose to boost your immunity.
Most sausage type meats use a small amount of potassium nitrate because the proper curing temperature is in the same zone that botulism likes to form. It is only used in small amounts to be effective. There has been zero link to it 'destroying' good stomach flora. Also not all cured meats use nitrates. Take Italian prosciutto di Parma- the real deal is done under strict standards (to carry the name) and no nitrates are used, in fact the atmosphere where it is produced contains all the 'good microbes' essential to the curing process. This occurs with good cheeses and some Belgian Ales during fermentation. Again- tell an Italian craftsman his meat is full of preservatives and you're bound to have the cleaver thrown again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vision33r
If I want to eat deli meat I would consider store made roast beef or turkey breast that are carved rather than from a sealed product. Your health.
I would gladly take a hunk of opened prosciutto or pastrami from a reputable deli any day of the week. That's why I go to places with real deli meat. I can carve my own roast beef or turkey.
Deli meat is all the meat that can't be sold or not popular and grinded up and compressed into this mold and then seasoned with all these spices and preservatives that are bad for you and can cause stomach cancer if you continue to eat alot.
It's full of preservatives to kill bacteria which can kill good bacteria in your stomach that often suppose to boost your immunity.
If I want to eat deli meat I would consider store made roast beef or turkey breast that are carved rather than from a sealed product. Your health.
this is just wrong,,,very misleading
deli meat is all the meat that cant be sold or not popular??????
Deli meat is all the meat that can't be sold or not popular and grinded up and compressed into this mold and then seasoned with all these spices and preservatives that are bad for you and can cause stomach cancer if you continue to eat alot.
It's full of preservatives to kill bacteria which can kill good bacteria in your stomach that often suppose to boost your immunity.
If I want to eat deli meat I would consider store made roast beef or turkey breast that are carved rather than from a sealed product. Your health.
Wow. I don't know where you get your info, but unless you are solely referencing forcemeat products, you are still way off base. Nitrates are used in the curing process of some of the forcemeat style products, but most deli cuts are from whole muscle groups.
Charcuterie/Salumi/Cured meats have been sustaining humans since pre-biblical times.
Forcemeat products, like any sausage, bologna, mortadella, hot dog, the list goes on and on, are relatively benign and come from the era of using ALL the product. Again, a practice that goes WAY back. Making the most of the harvest.
I've noticed a trend with even higher end grocery stores deli departments and it seriously irritates me on a whole new level. . . . .
Like when I'm paying $10.99 a pound for high end salami and over $10 a pound for certain types of cheese: SERIOUSLY !! Why the F is the meat and cheese ALREADY SLICED and sitting in a pile all day. Like WTF version 3.0 on that. Really? I'm paying over $10 a pound for the items I want and you can't figure out how to slice it at the point in time it is requested. Really, like a bunch of it gets sliced earlier in the day and gets piled up with previously sliced stuff. WTF!!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
