Buying frozen meat?

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rahimlee54

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For some reason I think it is weird to buy frozen meat and I usually buy my fish from the meat counter as well. Is this all in my head or is the quality of frozen meat worse than what they are selling as fresh? I am pretty sure it is all frozen so I am just throwing this out there to see if there are any comments.
 
I feel the same way. But if I buy the cow straight from the farmer and pick it up at the processor, it's wrapped and frozen, so it must be in my head. Can't get fresher than that.

-AJ
 
If you're talking about from the chain grocery store and not a local butcher than it's all in your mind. Most of the time it's brought in frozen and then thawed by them. So in a sense you're better off getting the frozen knowing it hasn't been sitting around thawed. Freshest meat is at the farm or processor, freshest fish is at the dock.
 
I prefer buying IQF fowl and ocean fish. Beef and pork is harder to find frozen + I can't look it over well. I buy large cuts to process into meal size then vac pack and freeze. I do buy Australian beef and lamb when frozen. I like a particular brand that is grass fed/free range and it never disappoints.
 
The local Costco's (SFV in Los Angeles) carried for awhile dry aged prime ( or was it just prime?) beef...rib eyes, NY's, filet's... at a price point very close to the same unfrozen Choice cuts in the meat case. These were NOT the bacon wrapped filet's that Costco usually has. And they were good.
 
I think the meat we should all be leery of is the gas packed meats at the likes of Wal-Mart. Done elsewhere, and shipped around the country. These meats have been exposed to carbon monoxide to hinder discoloring. You can leave a pack of hamburger meat on the counter for a couple of days, and it still appears pink. They do this with pork, tuna and salmon also....
 
Unfortunately Walmart is the only place to get beef cheeks & decent ox tails around here.
 
my favorite time in a grocery store is yucking it up with an actual butcher. the guy with the gentle blood stains on the lab coat. i like picking a cut of meat out and having the guy turn it around for me. having him take a skirt steak and some english cut rib meat and grinding it all together for me.. happy happy joy joy.

the fish monger? love him!! he lets me sniff my fish before he packs it.

i dont know if the stuff comes in the back door frozen or not. i'm cool either way.
 
One thing I don't like is wet aging beef, give me dry aged every time.
I suppose it's hard to tell from supermarkets whats been pre frozen and thawed these days, wholesale it's easier to get what you want.
I get whole carcasses and break them down, 3x suckling pigs,3x goat, 50x chickens, 6x salmon and 4x kingfish.
22kg of king tarakihi fillets, my 60kg beef ribs and 160kg pork hocks are the exception but they are fresh anyway.
My fish guy is a commission buyer so he texts what's available in the early morning and picks the best stuff. My whole fish are almost always still stiff as a board and nice bulging eyes.
 
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