Fifty150
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,133
- Location
- The Barbary Coast
the only one with an in-house butcher is the only one that consistently has the best meat.
An actual butcher makes the difference. In my local area, Albertsons operates a store named Andronico's. They bought the store from the Andronico family. Real live butchers. A real meat counter. Actual animals on hooks, and butcher stations where they cut and process. This grocery store does not sell any prepackaged meat. It's like the difference between a Trader Joe's where all meat is prepacked, to Whole Foods which dry ages their own cuts of beef. You know that shopping at Whole Foods will cost triple what you pay for meat at Wal*Mart.
For years, I've been shopping at "cash & carry" type stores. Restaurants and small stores shop at those type of stores. Meat comes from the processing plant in primal & subprimal cuts, all in cryovac bags. It allows me to take a large piece of meat, and craft it to my own needs. Which means purchasing an entire loin, and creating my own selection of bone-in NY steaks, thin cuts for cheesesteak, boneless strip steaks for breakfast. cubes for kebab, strips for stir fry, etc. I can get a whole brisket, separate the tip from the flat, cut the flat into 2 pieces, and share it with 2 other families. The savings really add up when you can cut your own meat.