Get to Know Your Butcher
I miss the old days when there were real meat markets. The butchers back then had hands like bears and arms as strong as iron. I lived around the corner from a family grocery store. They also owned the apartment building where I lived.
Every month it was my job to bring them the rent money. To get to the tiny office, I would wind my way around the store, past the butcher shop and around where big men cut slabs of meat bigger than me. The office was just past the blood and the saw dust.
Being a quirky kid, I was fascinated.
Today, the only butcher shop I know is inside Kroger, where they let you see nothing of the inner workings of meat cutting. Men (and women) in clean white uniforms greet you. Their uniforms are so pristine you'd think they worked in offices.
Still, they're quite generous and amenable to any request from a customer. Here are a few things most butchers will do for you.
• If you buy a big hunk of meat or roast on sale, ask them to grind up half, or take out the bone for you. The same cut already trimmed or ground could be significantly more.
• Whenever I go into town, I run a lot of errands. During Texas summers you don't want to leave meat in the car too long. Many times, if I do my grocery shopping early, I'll ask the butcher to hold back my selection until I finished my errands for the day.
• Many butchers will tenderize a piece of meat for you.
• Check out the expiration date on the meat. Stop by the day before or the day of, you'll find it greatly reduced.
• Ask your butcher what time of the day they mark down meat. It's usually in the morning. By me, it's around 9:30am.
• If you don't know how to cook a particular meat, ask your butcher. They're very knowledgeable and eager to help. I've never had a bad experience with them. They're the friendliest of all the grocery personnel.
Have you ever been to an old time meat market? One of the things I miss are the big knuckle bones they'd give you for free. There was lots of meat on them and my mom would make wonderful beef stock. My favorite part was sucking out the marrow.
In later years we used to buy them for the dogs. They'd be content for hours.
Nowadays you can still get the knuckle bones if you ask, but they charge you for them. They are surprisingly expensive for something they used to give away for free.
Every month it was my job to bring them the rent money. To get to the tiny office, I would wind my way around the store, past the butcher shop and around where big men cut slabs of meat bigger than me. The office was just past the blood and the saw dust.
Being a quirky kid, I was fascinated.
Today, the only butcher shop I know is inside Kroger, where they let you see nothing of the inner workings of meat cutting. Men (and women) in clean white uniforms greet you. Their uniforms are so pristine you'd think they worked in offices.
Still, they're quite generous and amenable to any request from a customer. Here are a few things most butchers will do for you.
• If you buy a big hunk of meat or roast on sale, ask them to grind up half, or take out the bone for you. The same cut already trimmed or ground could be significantly more.
• Whenever I go into town, I run a lot of errands. During Texas summers you don't want to leave meat in the car too long. Many times, if I do my grocery shopping early, I'll ask the butcher to hold back my selection until I finished my errands for the day.
• Many butchers will tenderize a piece of meat for you.
• Check out the expiration date on the meat. Stop by the day before or the day of, you'll find it greatly reduced.
• Ask your butcher what time of the day they mark down meat. It's usually in the morning. By me, it's around 9:30am.
• If you don't know how to cook a particular meat, ask your butcher. They're very knowledgeable and eager to help. I've never had a bad experience with them. They're the friendliest of all the grocery personnel.
Have you ever been to an old time meat market? One of the things I miss are the big knuckle bones they'd give you for free. There was lots of meat on them and my mom would make wonderful beef stock. My favorite part was sucking out the marrow.
In later years we used to buy them for the dogs. They'd be content for hours.
Nowadays you can still get the knuckle bones if you ask, but they charge you for them. They are surprisingly expensive for something they used to give away for free.
Comments
Seriously, Monmouth has two independent butchers, in fact the area is full of independent butchers. Just to make you feel better about my earlier comment, as a child I used to love raw liver and raw sausage meat. Not too sure I would now ref sausage meat. Raw liver still good, though :)
Still, you'll probably live to be 100.
The one thing I could always count on in Chicago is that the holes in the wall were almost always the best places to eat--if you knew where to look.
betty
When are you going to post an update on your sausage making?
I can usually get this done, tax free at the commissary, for around $6.99/lb.
But I also agree with you. Knowing and using your local butchers is an excellent idea.
A fish market, yes. We used to have an amazing family run one close to where I worked in Oregon and I always got the best fish there.
I do remember getting the knuckle bones for free though. Those things would keep the dogs happy for hours (our Sheppard) or days (our Lab).
I know you can give them to the dogs raw, but I prefer to cook them.