Discussions

Who sells the best ground beef in Brandon?  
 
Last bunch I bought on sale was disappointing! Mixed the beef a bit for meatballs and then they almost bounce off my teeth when eaten! Yuck!  
 
Does this mean the beef was over ground in the store?

Johnbisonbear said "Who sells the best ground beef in Brandon?     Last bunch I bought on sale was disappointing! Mixed the beef a bit for meatballs and then they almost bounce off my teeth when eaten! Yuck!     Does this mean the beef was over ground in the store? "

take a drive to Oak River Quick Freeze  
 
https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/food-and-ag-processing/provincial-abattoirs/man-15.html  
 
always took our cows there and now still go out there to get meat.

This is just my opinion.  
When it comes to hamburger, it sometimes has more to do with what was ground to make it. If hamburger is ground from the lean cuts of an old cow with very little fat covering you will likely end up with hamburger which toughens up when cooked. Hamburger ground from a young animal usually will be more tender even if the animal isn't carrying a lot of finish.  
If you purchased the hamburger from a meat shop which buys locally I would ask about it, if it was from the larger grocery stores they may not be able to give you an explanation as to the texture of the meat when cooked.

Contacting a local farmer and purchasing beef directly from them. We buy a quarter at a time, ends up being cheaper and way tastier than store bought ground beef.

I agree with trying to get it straight from a farmer. I have a hard time buying store bought now as it really lacks in taste, there's way more fat and prices are horrendous. The way I look at it-if the farmer feeds his family the meat he likely isn't pumping it full of god-knows-what. We buy half a beef and are able to request more ground beef and less of whatever cut we don't eat as much of.

We've done a fair bit of business with Marc at Tendercuts, and know that customer satisfaction is something that is very important to him. My opinion of meat at his store may be biased, but I would check it out.

for the tips! I will check out Tendercuts.  
 
I don't have a big enough freezer to buy a side tho.

All the way!!!!

Oak River Quick freeze is not always consistent on their meat. We have had better elsewhere. One of the factors could be the feed that the animals were fattened up on before butchering, we do not like corn fed beef at all. Feed certainly makes a huge difference in fat content and certainly flavor. We like more fat than most, but again, not the corn flavor.  
 
I agree to talk to a farmer directly. Ask for a sample first to see if you want to buy a greater quantity. Ask what they feed their cattle & what shop they get their beef butchered at. Some do a better job than others. Some do not care about how they do their job while others take great pride to cut to order (I do not like 3" chunks of stewing beef), & keep cuts clean without gunk clinging onto it.  
 
Tough meat to me says that it could be either a stressed out animal before butchering or an old animal. It could also possibly be not enough fat put into the grind. We also found that a fine grind cooked up rubbery, so we request a coarser grind when we get meat.

Henry Meats has the best lean ground beef. You will not be disappointed.

AnnaBanana said "Henry Meats has the best lean ground beef. You will not be disappointed. "

where is Henry's Meats? In Brandon?  
 
Thanks@

Buy a quarter of beef instead that what I get from a farmer when getting beef for freezer or could probably get less amount then a quarter with different cuts to make up a order

....Henry Meats is where we purchase all our meat. Just aways off the TransCanada on 270!

Just outside of Brandon off the 270. Totally worth the short little drive.

Johnbisonbear said "Who sells the best ground beef in Brandon?     Last bunch I bought on sale was disappointing! Mixed the beef a bit for meatballs and then they almost bounce off my teeth when eaten! Yuck!     Does this mean the beef was over ground in the store? "

Best beef is at Tendercuts on 18th. While there, grab some smoked pork chops. Delicious.

Just order how many lbs you want at tendercuts

Since we are on the topic of hamburger, and there has also been mention of budgets, I have always been concerned about people''s feelings regarding regular ground hamburger. We have at times fattened animals to what I consider to be over fat finish, and have worried about the customer feeling ripped of because of the higher level of fat.  
Usually when I have a question I do a bit of research, and while looking for information on hamburger I ran across an interesting article on regular grind hamburger and nutritional values as well as costs.  
I considered it an interesting read as well as presenting points I had never considered, for those who are interested I will post a link.  
 
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/reducedfatgroundbeef.htm  
 
Edited by don brown, 2017-06-13 07:01:29

Yep, agree with the 1/2 or 1/4 from a farmer (1/4 is usually about a medium box of meat) if you have the space: or if you find a farmer who is willing, buy burger right out of their freezer. Henry's and Tendercuts are your next best bet. No one mentioned Obermeyers, are they still around? Basically, if you can get it from a butcher or farmer you're not getting all that added fat.

I've also heard great things about Henry Meats. I use to buy my meats from superstore or Walmart but wasn't impressed with the quality. I buy my meat from co-op and am usually happy with the quality and the price.

but I think we, my husband is a farmer with cattle also, have the best tasting beef that I have ever eaten..

don brown said "Since we are on the topic of hamburger, and there has also been mention of budgets, I have always been concerned about people''s feelings regarding regular ground hamburger. We have at times fattened animals to what I consider to be over fat finish, and have worried about the customer feeling ripped of because of the higher level of fat.   Usually when I have a question I do a bit of research, and while looking for information on hamburger I ran across an interesting article on regular grind hamburger and nutritional values as well as costs.   I considered it an interesting read as well as presenting points I had never considered, for those who are interested I will post a link.     http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/reducedfatgroundbeef.htm     Edited by don brown, 2017-06-13 07:01:29"

I actually really dislike lean or extra lean for a variety of reasons - cost and lack of flavour being among them. I will often mix lean and regular together (so I get a fat content somewhere in between), or mix lean with pork... or even add fat such as saved bacon grease to my too-lean beef (sometimes when I order a quarter I find it too lean, I don't often buy ground beef at a store).  
 
I personally find too that lean beef doesn't cook up properly - if you're making meat loaf, meatballs or any shaped sort of thing, if your meat is too lean it will tend to fall apart. It doesn't brown nicely. And it doesn't taste as good!  
 
We tend to demonize fat when really fat is necessary and good. In recent years science has proven that saturated fats don NOT raise cholesterol for most people. I think we all agree that we eat too much meat these days and need to eat more plant-based foods, and a small portion of meat with a good balance of fat and protein will satiate you much better than a too-lean piece of protein of similar size.  
 
/rant

... I like Tendercuts personally.  
 
And if you're on a budget and like pork, it's really quite very economical to buy a side of pork from them. We do it quite regularly, it works out to be about 80 lbs or so, at $2.50/lb. You can choose if you want your meats cured or not (we sometimes get hams, sometimes not, always bacon and sausages), and their pork chops are AMAZING!  
 
I just can't figure out what to do with the hocks, so I have a collection of them in my freezer. LOL

Does Tendercuts sell half sides of beef

I'm one of those people who has never understood the lean meat idea, and when I read through the link I had questions about things like what you would be left with after rinsing meat, meatballs or hamburger patties would be very difficult to make with out adding something like an egg or ketchup as a binding agent. I know that people get upset about the amount of shinkage that happens with regular hamburger, and it happens with meatballs, patties or meatloaf, but usually the finished product is more moist and tender, and if you don't mind the extra fat in your diet, breadcrumbs or oatmeal make great fillers.

Where does one find a farmer to buy from? I don't know anyone who farms.

For those looking for farmers I would suggest checking with some of the local meat places mentioned, they would be able to give you an idea where their meat comes from and some of it is from local sources. Tendercuts does sell sides or quarters of beef, and Marc is usually in the store on Saturday, and you could talk to him about what sizes of halves could be available, this likely can be done at other meat stores as well, or local abbitiores.

ultraguy said "Where does one find a farmer to buy from? I don't know anyone who farms. "

It is true, most of us don't have ties with farming establishments! A few years back I was given a booklet, done locally, and these contacts were in it:  
 
Brandon Local Food Resource Guide Contact:  
 
brandonlocalfood@gmail.com  
brandonlocalfood@wordpress.com  
 
I am not sure if these sites are still operational, as I continue to use the booklet I acquired which lists beef, bison, pork, chicken, egg, vegetable, fruit, grain and honey farmers.  
 
Here are some:  
 
Beef  
 
Frances Wilson  
Kenton MB  
vwilson@inetlinkwireless.ca  
francesfarm.com  
 
EJH Organic Farm  
Lenore  
ehodgins@hotmail.com  
 
Boulanger Farms  
Hartney  
gaston@mts.net  
 
Ted & Shawna Bouvier  
Beulah  
tbouvier@mts.net  
 
Hickson Farms  
Brandon  
hicksondj@mts.net  
 
Klasse Woods Natural Farm  
Austin  
klassewoodsnaturalfarm@gmail.com  
 
Mckay Pond View Organics  
Erickson  
636.2216  
 
 
 
Some other links:  
 
manitobafarmmentorship@gmail.com  
 
harvestmoon.com  
 
roomtogrow@explornet.com  
 
 
 
Good luck!

Check out their website. They come into Brandon often

Myers Meat Has The Best Hamburger Patties Around  
Well Worth The Short Trip!!  
PATTIES PLUMP WHEN COOKED  
 
Edited by zach t, 2017-06-13 16:40:43

All local beef and great quality always...