The charred scent that invigorates a primal desire for meat, and the imagination of savory umami warmth encompassing the senses is motivating you to action. There’s no fighting your appetite: it’s time for some grilled steak.
But going out is expensive, especially these days. As much as you crave that charred, meaty fare, you can’t justify paying an arm and a leg for one meal.
The grocery store always has a selection of steaks to choose from, but the quality can leave something to be desired at times. Depending on the volume of business your local grocer conducts, you could be left picking over scraps of unappealing rejects.
Luckily for you, steak can be quite a bargain if you know how to find it.
Many towns across America still have local butchers, and if you are fortunate enough to live in one of these towns you are doing yourself a disservice by not frequenting them for your various steak needs.
Local butchers can range from cheaper than the grocery store to more expensive, depending on a variety of factors. Generally, you can find a deal on something at your local butcher shop even if they tend to run on the pricier side of things.
If you compare steak from most local butchers with the same cuts from a grocery store, often the contrast in quality is obvious from a visual inspection. Butchers generally get their meat from local areas, whereas grocery stores usually source theirs from larger ranches, wherever they may be.
Observing the color alone will tell you something. I once went into a butcher shop with a friend who was new to the experience. When we walked in and first laid eyes upon their bounty of carnivorous treats my companion was taken aback and unsure about what they were witnessing.
They turned to me and asked:
“Why is the meat so red?”
It’s normal to see the beef sourced by local butchers appearing much darker in color compared to grocery store steak. This has to do primarily with how long the meat has been exposed to air and light.
Steak’s red color comes from myoglobin, an iron and oxygen-binding protein. As the meat is exposed to light and oxygen the myoglobin turns to metmyoglobin, a pigment that turns the meat brownish red.
A common misconception is thinking that this color means there is something wrong with the meat, but the color difference alone doesn’t mean the steak with a faded color is spoiled. Some will argue this characteristic is an advantageous contribution to the overall flavor.
What this does mean is that the steak in your butcher’s cooler has spent far less time traveling, being handled, and sitting under fluorescent store lights. It’s fresher. The more meat is handled and sent on journeys across the country, the more opportunities exist for quality issues to occur.
Any other benefits of the cattle being locally sourced aside, and there are many, meat from larger commercial ranches simply travels longer than locally sourced meat. Temperature issues, and time itself, can have a hand in grocery store products being inferior.
Quality aside, it isn’t unusual to pay a little bit more in general at a local butcher. They have a better product, and they know it. They also pay a lot more for it than the grocery stores pay for theirs.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t deals to be had at your local butcher.
Butchers will often give customers deals on bulk purchases. This means if you have a large freezer in your basement you could potentially fulfill your beef needs for quite some time with one large purchase, and all that carnivorous contentment will be of a better quality and cost less than what you would purchase from the grocery store.
Many butchers also give customers deals on products that aren’t selling quickly. They have a reputation for fresh, quality beef, and they don’t want a cut to sit around too long aging under the lights. Some of these cuts might be unfamiliar to you, but that’s nothing to worry about because your local butcher has you covered there as well.
A major advantage of visiting your local butcher shop is the fact that they’re incredibly knowledgeable about meat, and they are more than happy to advise you on cuts of steak that are best suited to your needs. Always friendly and eager to help, they might even send you home with a handwritten recipe for their favorite marinade.
In general, it isn’t unusual to pay a little bit more for steak at a local butcher. The products they carry are fresher and of a higher quality. They also usually know more about their products than employees at your local grocer do.
With that understood, the advantages of visiting your local butcher shouldn’t be overlooked. Between the quality of the beef and the shopping experience itself, you’ll thank yourself for visiting your local butcher next time you have a hankering for the monarch of meats.
