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.
Another thread got me thinking. Does anyone here have a "real" butcher shop in their community? By real butcher shop I mean a place that does NOTHING except cut and sell meat? Including making their own sausage and balogna, and salami? A place where you can go and REQUEST a certain cut of meat and they will accommodate you? A place where the butcher is knowledgeable about the business and can assist you in making choices?
Here in the Missouri Ozarks, the closest thing to a "real" butcher shop would be a grocery store called "Harter House". Even though they sell a full line of groceries, they have a very, very large meat department and the store is known by the good quality meat that they offer. Most of the people who work in the meat department are fairly knowledgeable about cuts, etc., and if you "order ahead" you can get special or custom cuts.
The only gripe I have with them is that their lamb is frozen and I really would prefer not to eat meat that has been frozen if I can help it. Otherwise, if we run out of grass-fed, no antibiotic, no hormone, chemical free beef that we purchase from local farmers, we will buy something at Harter House.
How many of you are blessed to have a real butcher in your town?
There are "real butchers" in nearly every large city. You will find that a lot of them do not make their own salami or bolognas as those are specialty products that require a lot of volume.
A lot of these places do NOT carry a full line preferring to specialize in pork or beef. Some carry deli items, others don't.
You generally only see frozen lamb and goat meat is that unless you have a large ethnic population (Greek, Arab, Italian, etc.), you do not move enough to offer fresh product. I would prefer that they offer frozen product than less than fresh.
The problem is that you have to find a butcher who knows about all the cuts of beef. I am tired of ordering flank steak and having someone try to pass off bottom round.
In my area we have two slaughter houses with retail front ends. They make their own sausage, smoke their own bacon and hams, and will cut what you want from what they have on hand. You can also buy quarters, sides, and full carcasses. I fyou want a goat or a sheep or a buffalo they will direct you to a local farmer who will sell you one and the butcher will go get him for you.
In my area we have two slaughter houses with retail front ends. They make their own sausage, smoke their own bacon and hams, and will cut what you want from what they have on hand. You can also buy quarters, sides, and full carcasses. I fyou want a goat or a sheep or a buffalo they will direct you to a local farmer who will sell you one and the butcher will go get him for you.
It would be wonderful if we had that available here. Where are you located? I noticed that when I lived in Colorado, it was much easier to find goat, lamb and mutton because of the Native American influences. I LOVE mutton, but short of raising my own sheep, or driving to Colorado (1200 miles) to stock up once a year, I will never have it in Missouri.
In my area we have two slaughter houses with retail front ends. They make their own sausage, smoke their own bacon and hams, and will cut what you want from what they have on hand. You can also buy quarters, sides, and full carcasses. I fyou want a goat or a sheep or a buffalo they will direct you to a local farmer who will sell you one and the butcher will go get him for you.
We have a couple of those in this area (one of them makes an assortment of bacons that are out of this world!), plus about 13 miles up the road is a high school with a department where students learn the fine art of butchering (and then leave high school with jobs that pay in the $60,000-80,000 range to start - they have a waiting list of employers wanting to hire their students). You can buy meat there and support the program at the same time!
We have a real butcher shop/meat market in the next small town from us, Ream's Elburn Market. Randy Ream is an award-winning butcher/meat producer. His Bratwurst have won tons of awards. He also has the best beef jerky and bierstix. Beautiful cuts of meat. He also will take care of your deer if you are a hunter!
Here every town has a "meat locker" where farmer's sell their stock and it's butchered,smoked,etc. Delicious stuff and inexpensive.
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.
