We Ain't Got No Steaks!!!


 
I hope that's true but when I look at Tyson Chicken I don't see "Hatched, raised, processed in the USA". I do on others
 
Just back from my weekly run to Wegman's. The store was quieter than in the past several weeks and most everything was in very good supply. In fact, the meat department was stocked just about to capacity except the pork section, where two employees were restocking baby backs and butts. Interestingly, they had full packer briskets, which I don't recall ever seeing there ($5.99/lb). It should be noted that you don't typically see fresh meats from the likes of Smithfield or Tyson there though. I've heard that local Costcos and some other grocery stores are running low, however. Not sure what Wegs is doing right. Still not a single sheet of Bounty paper towels to be seen though. That has been the case since early March. They had Wegman's brand paper towels, but in single roll packs only. I hate the idea of running to multiple places (just increases risk, IMHO), but I might have to if I want to get my hands on more paper towels.
 
Just got back from Costco. VERY disappointing. Wanted to get some beef I could cut into roasts (last one I bought only cut into steaks). No dice. They did have whole briskets but really a brisket is no use to me. Could never use that much beef cooked. Pork nearly non existent as well. Lots of ground beef but here too I don't like to buy commercially ground beef. I have broken too many teeth on bone chips. I like to know what I have in my grind. I did find one of their large packs of chicken thighs. I use lots of those so bought a package. Also got a pack of boneless chuck short ribs for burgers
 
I didn't read all the posts in this thread, but don't forget about the smaller grocery stores when it comes to buying meat. All the local Asian and Hispanic grocery stores seem to always have a nice selection of meat
 
Lynn Dollar said:
I think this fella is with Kansas State Univ

https://twitter.com/x/status/1260234528578326529
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Interesting. So, 26% report having more than normal (I figured it'd be higher). I'm admittedly in that group. But my shopping habits have definitely changed. Before all this, I used to be at the store 3-4 times a week. Now it's once. And over the first few weeks of this, I did buy additional meat so we have enough for a few weeks now. But for the last month or so, I'm just replacing what we've eaten, or buying a week's worth of meat.
 
I have more than normal no doubt but not much more than normal. I've got a couple of briskets and a couple of chuck roasts that I wouldn't normally have, but that's it. One of those briskets and one of the chucks was 100% panic buying but I figure that's not too over the top.
 
We are on a tight budget so I look for sales and stock up when we can. So our two refrigerator freezers and our upright freezer are usually full. 90% of what's in the freezers was purchased last year and we are using that up before buying anything else. Not that there's is anything to buy right now.
Did get a brisket and some pork chops a few weeks ago at Costco and a couple of boneless chuck steaks to grind for hamburger.
I would love to see what inside the three giant new upright freezers the guy who lives in our neighborhood has in his garage.
 
Buying direct from the rancher is gaining momentum here in Oklahoma. Our State Senate passed legislation yesterday smoothing the way ( though I did not realize it was necessary ) and here's a short story about a ranch that's been selling direct for years.

Oklahoma beef producers see boom in business amid meat shortage caused by pandemic

DOVER, Okla. —
Oklahomans are getting creative to solve the beef shortage.

In April, KOCO 5 was the first to report that Oklahoma was working on a plan help producers sell directly to consumers. On Tuesday, KOCO 5 spoke with a local farmer who's seeing a big boost in business.

"We're 100% local, farm-to-table ranchers," said Chuck Swisher, with Swisher Beef Co.

Beef producers Chuck and Carolyn Swisher have been selling their product directly to customers for years.

"We told a friend, then a friend told some friends, and it just blew up from there," Chuck Swisher said.

The Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association has encouraged more producers to start doing this to help with the losses from the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of having losses, business is booming for the Swishers.

"In the last few weeks, it's really blown up," Carolyn Swisher said.

Chuck Swisher told KOCO 5 that the phone hasn't stop ringing and they never stop feeding. With grocery stores seeing shortages, he thinks people are now realizing just how important buying local is.

"They don't care if it's nine or 10 at night, they're going to call," Chuck Swisher said, "and they want to buy beef."

The shortage of beef is blamed on closures to processing plants. The Swishers' advantage during the pandemic is they process locally.

"We might actually sell more in the next couple of months than we did last year," Chuck Swisher said.

People who are interested from buying beef directly from ranchers can find a list of producers doing so here.
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I suspect this will be higher priced beef than what I can get at Sams. The processing costs will be higher because of lower volume and less efficiency. But I also suspect it will be much higher quality and a far more reliable supply and I'm buying locally.

I'm a pretty frugal fella. I don't blow much money. I like a bargain. I'm still grilling on Kettle I bought in 1999. But I'm coming to the realization that " every day low prices " is not always best, ya get what ya pay for, and that will show up in a lot of different ways.
 
One of our local chain stores, Schnucks, was pretty well stocked with meat today.
We're pretty well stocked up on meat, been buying a little at a time over a few weeks, but I did get a nice chuck roast, $5.99/lb. Bone-in butts were $2.99/lb. They had pretty much everything we needed. A decent supply of flour, didn't check on paper goods.
Left to right, poultry, pork, and beef:

1589396725596.png
 
Guess what else recently went up in price?

Food saver vacuum sealer bag rolls. You used to be able to get the 11"x25' rolls on Amazon for very reasonable prices. Now they've gone up a good 25%. A pack of 4 now costs about $30.
 
Yeah tell me about it (the rolls). We FINALLY figure out after how many years to use the machine correctly and rolls get expensive
 
Brian Thomas said:
Guess what else recently went up in price?

Food saver vacuum sealer bag rolls. You used to be able to get the 11"x25' rolls on Amazon for very reasonable prices. Now they've gone up a good 25%. A pack of 4 now costs about $30.
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Go check out webstaurantstore.com. I've been buying bags for a couple of years, cheap enough that I don't keep much of the roll media around any more. Price on pint bags has gone from $3.99/50 to $4.19/50. The bags I've been buying are the ARY VacMaster brand (same as my vacuum sealer,) and the only failures I've had are self-induced.

And just to repeat myself..... nothing with the Foodsaver brand will ever come into my house again.
 
And just to repeat myself..... nothing with the Foodsaver brand will ever come into my house again.

Why is that? Should I throw mine out now? :D
 
LMichaels said:
And just to repeat myself..... nothing with the Foodsaver brand will ever come into my house again.

Why is that? Should I throw mine out now? :D
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If it's working for you, run with it. I'm not hard on equipment, I killed 2 Foodsaver vacuum sealers in maybe 5 years of light to moderate use, along with some sealing failures along the way. Foodsaver customer service? It's so bad, it's not even a joke, it's a steaming fetid pile of <BEEEEEEP>. I bought an ARY Vacmaster Pro260 (model is no longer available, unfortunately,) better than 5 years ago, it runs rings around Foodsavers for duty cycle, never had a seal failure that wasn't my issue, and their customer service is reachable and knowledgeable.
 
JKalchik said:
If it's working for you, run with it. I'm not hard on equipment, I killed 2 Foodsaver vacuum sealers in maybe 5 years of light to moderate use, along with some sealing failures along the way. Foodsaver customer service? It's so bad, it's not even a joke, it's a steaming fetid pile of <BEEEEEEP>. I bought an ARY Vacmaster Pro260 (model is no longer available, unfortunately,) better than 5 years ago, it runs rings around Foodsavers for duty cycle, never had a seal failure that wasn't my issue, and their customer service is reachable and knowledgeable.
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Well I see why you have good luck with them. I would expect nothing less from something that costs minimum 5X what a Food Saver or something like it costs. How about recommending something the average working stiff can afford?
 
We are on are second Foodsaver. The first one was an basic inexpensive one that lasted two or so years and it did get a lot of use.
The one we have now is much more robust, I've done over 50 seals one right after another with no problems at all, it's duty cycle is rated at 80 continuous. We've had it for over three years and it's been faultless. I got it when it was on sale for well under $200 and worth every penny I spent on it. It gets used weekly at the minimum. Almost everything in the two outside freezers is vacuum sealed. That puppy has gone through at least 25 large rolls of vacuum media.
www.foodsaver.com

FoodSaver® GameSaver® Big Game at FoodSaver.com.

Shop the FoodSaver® GameSaver® Big Game at FoodSaver.com. Buy in bulk and save.
www.foodsaver.com www.foodsaver.com
 
LMichaels said:
Well I see why you have good luck with them. I would expect nothing less from something that costs minimum 5X what a Food Saver or something like it costs. How about recommending something the average working stiff can afford?
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I have less in the VacMaster than I had in the 2 Foodsavers. It's paid itself off.
 
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