Where do you buy your meat?

[OnAFly]

I've usually been just looking for deals at the local grocery stores, but have trouble finding certain things like bone in pork shoulders. Prices are usually OK, but if there's a better way I'd love to hear it!

[Farley]

Local butcher shops are the way to go if you're looking for good fresh meat. Might be a little more pricey, but worth it to get that just cut off the pig chunk of goodness.

Mackethuns in St. Bonni is on my way home from work, I just call in what I want ahead of time and pick it up on the way home.

I've also used Ittles in Howard Lake, really nice people there, but for the convience I usually stick to Mackenthuns.

[reinhard1]

yes, if you get to know a good butcher shop, they will always take care of you. i realy dont know of any around my house but Von Hansons but they are priced high and i can get the same meat on deals elsewhere. now as far as good prices Sam's club is very reasonable. they are all "family" type packs but that's what you have to expect there. they always have bone in pork steaks. i seen them today for $2.18 per pound. i picked up a double pack of whole pork butts there today for $1.58. boneless chicken breasts there are always 1.99 normaly. i also shop at cubs for sales and county market as well. good luck.

[Dragonsm]

I purchase the majority of my meat from Von Hansons in Monticello myself. (Unless I know of a farmer with a pig or cow for sale)

Von Hansons is pricey however we are constantly getting inserts in our mail for "Buy one Get one" deals. Also, check out their HSOforum. They have a link to "online coupons" and have some up there most of the time.

I'm trying to think of the place in Hugo I believe where my brother buys all his meat. (He also lives in Centerville) Great place!

Steve

[TooTallTom]

Are you thinking of Grundhofer's? The shop is great, lots of good stuff. They also process deer there, but their summer sausage was too fatty for my taste the one time I had it done there.

[Dragonsm]

That's the place!

Their wings are pretty good...and it is the first place I have ever seen you can get gummy bear brats. (they were a favorite of both myself and my daughter)

They do have good meat. Never tried their summer sausage, but I am also one that is picky on that. I want a good "tang" and not to fatty.

[TooTallTom]

This was no tang. I'm okay with that, and just having the good smokey flavor, but fatty is not my favorite.

For reference, we do our own stuff now and mix 50/50 pork and veni.

[Harmonica Bear]

Reinhard - In our neck of the woods Isanti Custom Meats is hard to beat. Used to be a big fan of Riverside (formerly Reichels) in Isanti, but I think Isanti Meats is darn good.

[reinhard1]

if you go 50/50 with venison and pork butt i think thats good as long as the butt is not too fatty. you do need some. i think you were talking summer sausage or thuringer. i have had some trouble getting pork fat. i do all mine in 25 pound batches. when i can get pork fat for summer for example i use 20 pounds venison and 5 pounds pork fat. otherwise like you i use half venison and half pork butt that maby has 1/2 of fat bark on it. also i would suggest using 1 cup of dry mild powder per 5lbs. of meat. when doing smoked sausage. it acts as a binder and you will have less shrinkage.

deer proccessers are out to make a profit and adding pork fat or 50/50 pork trim adds to the proffit margin. so if you can, make your own, like you are doing and the results are much better as you have experienced. good luck.

[reinhard1]

thanks, Harmonica, if you say so it's worth a trip to check it out. nothing like having a relationship with a local butcher. do they have a service type counter where you can pick out your stuff? i imagine that probably is the case. good luck.

[Mid-Lake Rock]

Local butcher shops are the way to go if you're looking for good fresh meat. Might be a little more pricey, but worth it to get that just cut off the pig chunk of goodness.

Mackethuns in St. Bonni is on my way home from work, I just call in what I want ahead of time and pick it up on the way home.

I've also used Ittles in Howard Lake, really nice people there, but for the convience I usually stick to Mackenthuns.

I love Machenthuns. Grew up near their shop - actually used to go to the old shop on the other side of Highway 7. Their stuff is great. The garlic summer sausage is unbelievable. We used to have them process our deer. My dad and grandfather would get about 50 lbs of summer sausage. Another of my favorites there is butcher shop salad. Diced summer sausage, diced ham, diced co-jack cheese and a vinaigrette dressing.

If St. Boni is too far out of the metro, Hackenmullers in Robbinsdale is also very good. Like to buy brisket and brats from them.

[Big Dave2]

Local butcher shops are the ONLY place to buy meat. In the far South Metro I recommend Ruck's meat Market in Belle Plaine, tell 'em Dave sent ya!

[TooTallTom]

Anybody know anything about Big Steer Meats in either Maplewood or N St. Paul? (Can't remember exactly where?) Or Ready Meats on Johnson in NE MPLS? I've had friends recommend Ready, don't know anything about Big Steer.

What about Hamm's Butcher Supply up in Ham Lake (I think)?

[TooTallTom]

We do go 50/50 pork butt/ venison. And like you said, we've noticed a spike in quality doing it ourselves.

We were all kind of surprised the first time...

[OnAFly]

I saw an add for Grundhofer's in the local paper. I have heard the gummy brats are good.

Funny story behind those. A neighbor to Grundhofer's thought it would be funny to recommend the Gummy Brats to the customers that came through his place. People started going to Grundhofer's to get said brats. Grundhofer's finally had enough people asking for them, they started actually making them and they've been a hit ever since. At least that's the story I heard.

I'll have to stop in there and check them out for myself and maybe get a pork butt while I'm there.

[reinhard1]

Hamm's Butcher supply handles only equipment and seasonings. in my opinion if someone wants the best seasoning that's the place to go. i have tried all of their seasonings and they are super. for example if you are making summersausage make sure you get that 1 oz pack of cure to go with it. if you are making brats for example no cure is needed unless you smoke it. for example if you want just breakfast sausage seasoning just get the seasoning and the appropriate meat volume and your fine. the same seasoning packet can be used, wether it's brats, italian, polish, kielbasa or whatever for smoking your sausage but a cure packet is needed. for fresh sausage no cure is needed. good luck.

[thirdeye]

I'm envious of all of you with access to good custom butcher shops. We have just a couple, and they are average to just above average. One has a lot of frozen items.

Only one chain grocery store carries choice beef, with a limited selection. They do carry Colorado bison at a fair price, and I buy a lot of ground bison. I can get choice local lamb from a Co-op, but there is a minimum buy. We have an organic store, good quality.... but a nice price tag to go with it.

All that said, a lot of my meat comes from Sam's, all their beef is choice which is a bonus. From a value point of view, the best deals are on large cuts, and I do my own butchering, and a lot of my own grinding. I make a lot of sausage, and do some curing of meats too.

Here are a couple of good examples of what I'm talking about.... This whole beef tenderloin is easy to break down, giving you exactly what you want. They look pretty rough coming out of the cryo pack, but they clean up with a little knife work.

For chucks or ground beef, I get the "chuck roll" which is about 22 pounds and boneless. They are easy to cut up. Sam's has them in the walk-in, all you have to do is ask. They are usually sold to restaurants, so they are not stocked in the case.

Of course, the best deals come from my friends whose families are in the beef business. They get the best, and I enjoy getting thrown a bone.... or a T-Bone!!!!

[itchmesir]

I try as often to get a majority of my meat from the local meat market here in town Ledebuhrs.

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

Greg's Meats in Hampton is great. They got hundreds of awards & trophies.

Greg's Meats are National Champions on many meats & sausages.

[reinhard1]

you would of made a great butcher . nice job on those cuts. i agree, if you want to buy "volume" Sam's cant be beat. their beef up here is choice black angus. the pork butts here are armor all natural, well trimed and yesterday they were $1.58 lb. again, nice work. good luck.

[Jim Almquist]

The Sam's in Duluth had whole pork loins for $1.99#. I will pick up a couple and cut them into 1 1/2# chunks and seal them up. The family really likes when I take one of the chunks and cut it into one flat slab and season it up and tie it back up and grill.

[reinhard1]

that is another example of a great buy if you buy the whole piece vs pre packaged smaller pacs. this winter i'm going to get one and cut it into thirds and cure and smoke them for canadian bacon. good luck.

[Jim Almquist]

You gave me a idea that I have to try. I have a pepperoni jerky kit from High Mountain that I have wanted to use and pork loin would be perfect. I will let you know how it turns out.

[SkunkedAgain]

I went on a quest years ago to find all of the local butchers in the Twin Cities metro. I compiled quite a list and posted it a few times on here. My real desire was to find good steaks for grilling. I went to just about every one on the list, and while most butchers had lots of great meats, the truth that I discovered (for myself) was that nothing consistently beat the $4.99 sirloin from Cub/Rainbow wrapped in the bloody diaper. It sounds bad but I consistently enjoyed those better than most of the t-bones, rib eyes, and strips that I got from all of these butchers.

In my case, I love when my gut is partial to the cheaper fare...kind of like my beer preferences!

[mainbutter]

I almost exclusively stick to cow when I'm spending my own money on meat. I have fish in the freezer, and I just plain don't do much with chicken or pork very often.

2 places for beef:

1) Local farmer who raises a couple grass fed cows a year, just cuz he doesn't want to give it up yet. I doubt he makes much from it, but the quality of the meat is outstanding. Chipped in to purchase half a cow from him with a few friends.

2) Target

I have no complaints about the ground beef, sirloins, or T-bones I've had from Target over the past couple of years. I keep an eye out for deals. If the sell-by date is 'tomorrow', they mark steaks down $1-$3.