Peoria Packing in Chicago


 
M

Mike W.

TVWBB Member
Hi!

I have been reading a lot of posts about PP in Chicago. I've never been there before, but it sounds like it's probably one of the best places for pork in the city.

I'd like to get a few pork butts for next weekend. I'm looking to smoke 4 of them (approximately 20 to 25 pounds total). Since I've never been there, I don't know how it really works. Should I call and 'reserve' my butt? Or, do you just go there, walk in, and grab it?

I've never been there, so I don't know what to expect! Is there a better place for the butts? Moo & Oink? I've only been to Costco and a local butcher for htem in the past. Costco was actually pretty good, while my local butcher wasn't really all that.

Happy WSM Smoke Day!!!!!

Thanks for your help in advance!
 
Mike,

While I've never been to PP, my understanding is that the place is first come, first served. You enter the place into their huge walk-in that has whatever's available on stainless tables. You need to grab plastic gloves at the entrance and then just walk around putting your choices in plastic bags. Then you walk out to the (heated) checkout area to pay. They only take cash.

Other choices in Chicago would be Moo & Oink and Wichita Packing, although I know Wichita is good for ribs but I'm not sure about shoulder/butt.

Those of us in the far western 'burbs have had great luck with Westbrook Market in Darien (corner of 63rd & Cass). You may have to ask for what you want since the larger pieces usually don't make it onto the shelves and there may be a language barrier problem.

My not-so-recently-updated list of BBQ-related sources may give you some other options. It's located here.
 
Nice web site! :) I didn't know, but I'm glad to see a firewood supplier right down the street from me! I've been searching all over for someplace where I could find different types of wood.

Also, thank you for the information about PP. With the luck I have, I'm afraid that I'll go there and there will be no more butts left on Saturday! It might be a rough weekend, but maybe I'll try to get up at the crack and dawn to go down there and pick it up.

Thanks again for the help!
 
No problem.

Another option, since you've dealt with Cosco, would be to see if they can order a case and give you a better price. Sam's Club does that at least on ribs but I think they do the same on shoulder & brisket.
 
I go to PP all the time, as I live about 2 miles away. It's a great place.

Joe P's description is accurate.

My advice would be to go first thing in the morning (this is what I do). They open super early (like 6 or so - I'd call). First thing in the morning, they will generally have about 30 butts out on the table. I'm not sure whether these are replenished from their packing plant across the street. I've been there in the afternoon a few times and I've never seen a problem with them running out of butts. That being said, if you want a guarantee, go early and bring warm clothes. The entire meat room is basically a huge freezer.

If you're so inclined, head over to Northwestern Cutlery down the street and have all your knives professionally sharpened while you wait.
 
Thank you for the replies!

One last quick question. Do they have a parking lot, or do you have to find a spot on the street?


Thanks!
 
They have a small parking lot right in front. Kinda tight, but... at least they have one. Enjoy your visit there. The first time I went, I was in awe!

Randy
 
As others have noted, the best way to get what you want from Peoria Packing is to arrive early. With the holiday rush there's a lot more product moving so, for example, when I was there today around 1 PM the stack of butts didn't move me (they were all fine, I'm just used to being able to be extra picky there). There were probably 30 or so set out. I'm going to stop by first thing tomorrow morning and pick up a couple and toss them in the cooler in the trunk of the car.

It wasn't a totally wasted trip, though - I went down the street to Ex-Cel Corned Beef and picked up the packer brisket that will be underneath the butts.
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Peoria Packing - a photo essay

Ex-Cel Corned Beef
1009 W Lake St
Chicago, IL 60607
312-666-2535
 
Brisket was $19 even (including tax) for 13.1 lbs. I don't have the receipt and am too lazy to accurately backwards-cipher to get the pre-tax amount but I'm guessing that's about $17.50, which for 13.1 lbs would be about $1.34/lb. These in-my-head swags could be off a penny or two.
 
Update: swung by PP about 9:45 AM today (Friday, May 27) and the pickin's was slimmer than yesterday afternoon. The holiday rush was definitely ON as it was pretty crowded. There were still plenty of butts, I just couldn't find what I was looking for (see my .sig). I settled for a couple of 7 pounders.

Normally, PP has an ample supply of 10-11 pound butts. I'm just going to plan ahead for the holidays from now on and get some big butts in advance and FoodSaver them.

If you live in the Chicago area you really need to visit this place at least once - I don't know of any other places where you can walk in to a store where all the meat is set out, unwrapped, for you to pick out what you want.
 
Westbrook has 5 and up spares for 99 cents a pound. I think the sale is through Saturday. I got about 20 lbs. This is a great market.

AR
 
Hi! Well, I made it back from PP, and boy, what a site! :) I got there at 6, and the parking lot and side streets were already packed. It seemed as if the majority of people were going for the ribs and chicken....but I chose the butts.

I got 6 of them, which I'm sure is probably more than enough. Can you do six butts on a wsm? I think I can stick three in the middle and 3 on the top.

My question about peoria packing....what's the process before we see it? I'm guessing they don't ship live pigs there, but do they ship the whole pig, and then PP makes all the cuts there? Or, do they make all the cuts elsewhere and put it out? Just wondering how it works behind the scenes!!!


Thanks!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Art R:
Westbrook has 5 and up spares for 99 cents a pound. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Do not know why, but I haven't seen any sales that low around here. I just picked up about 28 lbs of frozen cryovaced spares for $1.47/lb. If anybody knows of reasonable sources in this neighborhood, I would sure appreciate the knowledge.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike W.:




My question about peoria packing....what's the process before we see it? I'm guessing they don't ship live pigs there, but do they ship the whole pig, and then PP makes all the cuts there? Or, do they make all the cuts elsewhere and put it out? Just wondering how it works behind the scenes!!!


Thanks! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi Mike. You probably didn't notice but across the street (south side) is the wholesale operation of Peoria Packing. The operation that you and I visit is the smaller retail operation. So 'behind the scenes' the larger butchering stuff would be happening over in the 'big house' while the smaller stuff is taking place where we shop. The guys in the back at the retail space are helpful, great when you want to have the chine bone cut on slabs of spares for example.
 
I started cooking the butts last night, and man, thismorning, it smelled *SO* good out there!!!! I can not WAIT to take them off, pull them, and sink my teeth into an awesome sandwich! Last time I cooked the butts, I think I used a little too much smoke wood. This time, I used only what mr. brown called for and it smells so good.

OK, but back to meat talk. ;-) OK, so I think that I've established that PP is killer for good pork and pig products. But now what about beef? I heard PP doesn't have the greatest beef there. Where in this wonderful city of chicago can I purchase spectacular beef?

Thanks again for the recomendation to go to PP. Even though it was about a half hour drive and I had to wake up at 5:15 in the morning to go there, I'm glad that I did. Besides having what looks like really good pork, it was also quite the experience and a memory of a lifetime!


Thanks!
 
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