Where do you go to get the absolutely best cut of meat you can find? I like fresh market/whole foods/meat house, but I feel there has to be something better around.

So what do you use?

12/31/2012 11:50:29 AM

Nahunta Pork Center at the farmers market

12/31/2012 1:39:53 PM

Good start... But what about for beef?

12/31/2012 7:50:03 PM

Im not a huge Nahunta fan, especially the sausage.


Davincis in wakefield is pretty awesome.
http://davincisprime.com/

Also, the meat house is great as well.

I get sausage shipped in from out of state.
http://www.saltlicksausage.com/

12/31/2012 9:02:29 PM

Pause this whole thread

1/1/2013 12:27:11 AM

^3 Rare Earth beef at the farmers market. Stop there when you're done with Nahunta.

1/1/2013 10:06:53 AM

^do they freeze their beef?

1/1/2013 10:28:45 AM

semi-related... I know the meat house uses a pressure-marination setup to marinate their beef tips and whatnot... I wonder if I could make a similar setup at home using a pressure cooker and maybe some dry ice or something to increase pressure without increasing temperature? Has anyone tried this?

1/1/2013 10:44:55 AM

could you use a vacuum sealer and just marinate under a vacuum?

1/1/2013 10:49:56 AM

that's kind of he opposite of pressure-marinating isn't it?

1/1/2013 10:55:46 AM

i think it'd have the same effect. you get a pressure differential either way.

1/1/2013 11:06:30 AM

We marinate with our foodsaver vacuum sealer. You can get little Tupperware things made just for that. You hook up the hose attachment and suck the air out forcing the liquid in to the meat.

They marinate with a vacuum on iron chef America, too!

[Edited on January 1, 2013 at 11:21 AM. Reason : ]

1/1/2013 11:21:12 AM

[quote]do they freeze their beef?[/quote

They do but you can arrange to get fresh pickup. You just need to talk with them and find out when the next slaughter is happening.

1/1/2013 1:18:22 PM

Speak of the devil, Rainbow Meadow Farm just posted this on their FB:

We have two quarters or one side of beef available for sale. 1/4's are about 100 lbs of meat. $7.50/lb. This price is for the actual packaged weight of the meat. You are not paying for hot hanging carcass weight or hanging drip loss. This is a great value in that you get steaks/roasts, etc. all for $7.50/lb. The beef is dry-aged for 3 weeks and is from our American Devon/Angus cattle.

1/1/2013 5:02:25 PM

u can prolly get stuff airmailed to yourself that is better and fresher than anything you'd find locally.

1/1/2013 5:23:09 PM

Any other local options. Not sure what to think about the meat house. Is it really worth the premium?

1/1/2013 7:31:16 PM

My sis and bro-in law get their meat from the Meat House and swear by it. He won't even buy beef at the grocery store anymore...says he can't go back to it.

1/1/2013 7:38:47 PM

Meat house is absolutely worth it for steaks and such. Less of a difference for chicken. Also food pre marinated steak tips if you don't plan and prep ahead of time.

1/1/2013 7:57:51 PM

I rather just pay the markup and get it from 3rd person whole foods. they always have the best as good as its going to get and super fresh. Why go through the hassle and risk getting frozen or lower quality meat? Its not like butcher shops are much cheaper anyway. Many are much more expensive for grass fed, dry aged but I'm not familiar with the one in here.

[Edited on January 2, 2013 at 3:38 AM. Reason : find a better way to be a hipster than meat]

1/2/2013 3:38:12 AM

$7.50/lb? fuuuuuuuck that.

1/2/2013 7:53:03 AM

^^^MEathouse has okay steak, great marinades. Looking for the best cut of meat I can find.

1/2/2013 8:51:07 AM

What are you looking for exactly that you consider meathouses' steaks to be "okay"? I was under the impression they only carry prime grade (same as the steak restaurants) and every steak I've picked out from there has turned out excellent. If you're trying to get to the level of steaks a Ruth's Chris/Sullivan's/etc serve then you'll have to shell out the big bucks for dry aged stuff (not sure if the Cary meathouse has it, but they do in Charlotte) -- or age it yourself.

1/2/2013 9:38:19 AM

I've got no problem shelling out big bucks.

1/2/2013 12:10:20 PM

^^2 They have the dry aged in Cary and it is excellent.

1/2/2013 12:43:39 PM

one of my students works at the meat house on falls.

1/2/2013 2:42:36 PM

my gf works at the meat house.

they will order whatever you need.. she said they've ordered ribeye spinalis (ribeye cap) for customers, and other random stuff that is hard to find. and, yes, they do have dry aged and vacuum marinated cuts.

[Edited on January 2, 2013 at 3:38 PM. Reason : ..]

1/2/2013 3:37:46 PM

Nahunta suusage is not very good. :-(

1/2/2013 4:34:27 PM

If you want a restaurant level steak you also need to shell put for an industrial strength broiler

1/2/2013 9:00:49 PM

^ or some of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Logic-Pre-Seasoned-Fajita-Set/dp/B00008GKDP/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1357187550&sr=8-11&keywords=cast+iron+skillet+with+wood

Get the grill nice and hot with the skillet on it. Steaks need to be at room temperature. I like using alot of butter, and grilling some tomatoes/onions/peppers with some cajun seasoning on the skillets while the grill is getting as hot as i can possibly get it.

Once its hot, dump the steaks on and cook to your desired level.

1/2/2013 11:34:03 PM

cooking steaks super quick works for restaurants because it's efficient time-wise. doesn't mean it is the best way to cook it taste bud-wise.

(and no, i'm not arguing that a good high temp sear on the outside isn't important!)

[Edited on January 3, 2013 at 9:32 AM. Reason : ]

1/3/2013 9:31:53 AM

I've heard from several places that searing does nothing as far as "keeping the juices in".

1/3/2013 9:47:48 AM

Yeah, its not for keeping the juices in. Its for browning/caramelization/Maillard reaction/whatever you want to call it. Its debatable though if you need the like 1800+ degree broiler temperatures some steak restaurants boast about.

1/3/2013 9:59:04 AM

Has anyone here bought steak online?

1/3/2013 10:26:44 AM

I haven't tried them but the recently renovated Harris Teeter at Falls and Durant has dry aged meat. Probably not better than somewhere like the meat house but might still be pretty decent.

1/3/2013 10:31:35 AM

I saw where omaha steaks has a store in Morrisville

1/3/2013 10:57:35 AM

Bought some omaha steaks.......very disappointing

1/4/2013 6:52:54 AM

No matter how good the "sale" is, don't buy Omaha steaks. That shit is for people who do their Christmas shopping on the QVC channel.

1/4/2013 10:45:25 AM

You want quality and you "don't have a problem shelling out big bucks"....then you went and bought Omaha Steaks??

Does not compute.

1/4/2013 10:54:47 AM

I bet he bought them in the past, not the last two days, but good point all the same.

1/4/2013 11:11:17 AM

Eh...from the time stamp of those posts...it looks like he found there was an Omaha Steaks spot near by, went and picked some up for dinner....ate and did not enjoy them...and posted the next morning that they sucked.

1/4/2013 11:15:17 AM

Ahh yeah I didn't notice the Morrisville post. Damn. He really did just buy that shit.

Jrb, how much did they fleece you for and what did you get? I remember when I looked at one of their "deals" it still averaged $10+/pound of meat and that included burgers and other cheaper meat.

1/4/2013 11:20:43 AM

$0. Got all my money back

1/4/2013 12:31:27 PM

anyone in durham ever been to or heard of anyone going to Tom Inscoe's Wholesale Meats on Alston ave?

i pass it daily on the way home from work but its closed by that time.

its got some good reviews, but im not sure how reliable they are considering people are complaining that it smells like...well..a butcher shop

[Edited on January 4, 2013 at 1:14 PM. Reason : w]

1/4/2013 1:13:34 PM

I've driven by it. Was, too, curious about the quality of their meat.

1/4/2013 2:19:18 PM

I, too, pass this on my way home when I take the "back roads" home. I live about 2 miles from there.

Maybe I'll check it out tomorrow and report back.

1/4/2013 2:48:07 PM

Quote :

"You want quality and you "don't have a problem shelling out big bucks"....then you went and bought Omaha Steaks?? Does not compute."

What doesn't compute?

1/4/2013 4:32:00 PM

I stopped by Tom Inscoe's today on the way home. I was not impressed.

They have a shitload of different meats, mainly pork...everything was cheaper than prices I typically see in grocery stores. But I didnt see many "steaks". Was looking for nice ribeyes, and all I saw was a large package of presliced ribeyes from some farm, in a 20% brine. Not what I was looking for. Also, their ground beef looked like it had a shitload of fat in it and was a weird pink color...almost looked like it had ground pork mixed in.

They DID, however, have great looking chicken wings and turkey wings, for a great price. I'll be buying those from them from now on I believe.

1/4/2013 6:14:14 PM

Stopped at Harris Teeter tonight and the chicken wings were the same price as Tom Inscoe's. I think I'll still get them at Tom's.

1/4/2013 8:37:58 PM

cool good look

1/4/2013 9:42:17 PM

They also had rabbit. Granted, it was frozen and in the back corner under some frozen pig heads, but they had it.

1/4/2013 10:10:29 PM