As a response to many of your questions regarding high-quality meat. I've shared that although I don't eat meat J does and we buy the bulk of it from our local farmer's market. We purchase grass fed beef, heritage pork, and pastured chicken. Many of you, however, are not so lucky to have such a convenient source.
There are times that I'm unable to find certain cuts of meat from our local farmers because they've sold out and are waiting for the next butchering date before they will be restocked. Sometimes I can find good quality cuts that we're looking for at Costco. BJ's has organic whole chicken and boneless chicken breast, and Aldi is starting to have grass fed meat available from time to time.
I had read about Butcher Box and other online sources but had never given them a try until last fall. The big question is, is it worth it?
This post may contain affiliate links which come at no extra cost to you. These links allow me to share the products I authentically recommend (and use) and support Cobble Hill Farm by receiving a small commission.
Before we get to the review, I wanted to make sure you know about their special good through March 31, 2019 -
On to the review!
What Is Butcher Box?
Butcher Box is a meat delivery service that curates a selection of the most popular cuts of grass fed beef, free-range organic chicken, and heritage breed pork from trusted farmers. The animals are humanely raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones. When you join, you select your box (all beef, beef & pork, beef & chicken, mixed, or custom) as well as shipping preference (monthly or every other month). Shipping for free to 48 U.S. states. They also offer uncured, non-GMO verified, nitrate-free bacon and their meat is Whole 30 approved.
Their deliveries are either monthly or every other month and you can skip as needed or cancel at anytime. Changes can be made to the boxes before every single order. With 5 different boxes to choose from, you can find exactly what you need. I've been getting the custom box so we can purchase the cuts we aren't able to find locally.
What Is The Cost?
- The custom box (you select your cuts)
- $149.99/mo for 9-14 pounds of meat
- (averages $4.97 per meal)
- Big Box = $270.00/mo for 18-26 lbs of meat
- The curated boxes - there are 4 to choose from (Butcherbox selects your cuts for you)
- $129.00/mo for 8-11 pounds of meat
- (averages $5.38 per meal)
- Big Box = $238.00/mo for 16-22 lbs of meat
They also offer monthly specials and add-ons (including salmon and lamb sometimes as well as turkey at Thanksgiving) for additional cost.
Doesn't Grass-Fed, Organic, and/or Pastured Meat Blow Your Budget?
It most certainly could. Meat in general is expensive let alone purchasing grass-fed organic and/or pastured meat. We have a fairly tight budget for groceries (under $100.00/week) so we had to figure out how to purchase what we want to eat, organic real foods, within that budget.
Two changes allowed us to make room for more expensive meat:
1. Incorporating smaller amounts of meat into meals by making it a part of a dish instead of a stand-alone piece. For instance, one steak will give my husband 1-3 meals because I cut it and make it into steak tips (with mushrooms), or use it in a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich, Fajitas, Burrito Bowl, etc.
2. If meat is a stand-alone part of the meal, reduce the size to the standard suggested portion (the size of a deck of playing cards). I used to cook pork chops, chicken breast, steak, etc. as it came. Nine times out of 10 it was too large of a cut. We've increased our veggie consumption and reduced meat & grain consumption (for J since I don't eat meat). It's much healthier and, of course, budget friendly!
A quick note on cutting down the portion sizes. One of the reasons I previously had not cut down the portion sizes was because we purchase most of our meat from our farmer's market. That meat, like the meat from Butcher Box, is already frozen. What has worked for me is to allow the meat to defrost about halfway (or more if needed), open the package and cut it to the size we'd prefer. I then re-package the pieces we aren't cooking. It really doesn't take much time (I do it for each package as I'm going to use it) and we've never had issues with freezer burn or poor tasting meat.
How Is It Packaged? Will It Still Be Frozen When I Receive It?
Butcher Box is packaged in a box with insulation and the meat is frozen and packed with dry ice. The dry ice is sometimes gone by the time we get the box but the meat is still perfectly frozen.
Is It Worth It?
In a nutshell, yes. Of course you can find comparable meat at prices cheaper, but it's not easy, and you may not find all of it cheaper. For instance, I can find organic chicken at BJ's for $5.99/lb, but only whole chicken or boneless breasts. For the grass fed beef I can usually only find ground beef or one cut of steak. Every once in awhile I can locate another cut.
The quality of Butcher Box meats is really good. We've purchased many beef cuts, all of the pork options, chicken and fish and there hasn't been one thing we've been disappointed with. Of course cooking grass fed beef steaks can be tricky but for whatever reason we haven't had issues with the ones we've purchased from Butcher Box (maybe I'm finally getting better at cooking them....). The pork chops are insanely good as is the fish, and my husband is thrilled with the ground pork as well as the pre-made pork sausage.
I am personally very happy with the entire experience of Butcher Box. It's convenient, quick, and very good. Butcher Box isn't necessarily for everyone and every budget, you have to make that determination. I signed up when they were running the same promo they are currently running:
(click HERE to receive your free ground beef for life)
If you're committed to purchasing higher-quality, antibiotic and hormone-free meat and you're struggling to find local sources for all cuts your family eats, then yes, this is a great option.
Butcher Box Review + FREE Grass Fed Ground Beef For Lifewas originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)
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