Online Butcher Shops: What You Can Order And Expect For Quality And Taste
As a consumer of tasty meats, you might be wondering how you can get quality, flavor and freshness from meats that you cannot see but only read about online. You may also be wondering what the limitations are on the kinds of meats and types of meat products you can order. The answers to all of your questions follow.
What You Can Order from an Online Butcher Shop
Many online butcher shops sell it all. From steaks and burgers to chicken, turkey, hams and even seafood, you can buy for whatever you are craving. Most of these meat e-tailers offer budget and sampler packs, too, in case you want to try something you are not sure you will like or you want a giant smorgasbord of meats to throw on the grill for a party. A few companies, such as Fatty's Burgers Online, sell only burgers, but they sell the complete burger--meat, sliced cheese and the buns. All you add are your own condiments and extra vegetable toppings.
What You Can Expect for Quality and Taste
Since the USDA regulates the quality of these meats and the regulations necessary to ship food products from the factory to consumers, you can rest assured that nothing you buy is tainted or toxic. Online butcher shops may not want to risk their reputation or their business by shipping a lesser quality product than the products you buy in the store. Sometimes the meats are shipped directly from a physical butcher shop or the meat packing plant to avoid any contamination that is common to products going from a butchering factory to a freezing and packing plant to the store.
As for the taste, most of your burgers (as well as any other meats you purchase) are often seasoned prior to freezing and shipping. Some online butcher shops may also use pepper, cumin and other spices to create "gourmet" flavors, while other shops create and sell stuffed burgers for the more adventurous gourmands. Not all online butcher shops sell burgers with buns and trimmings, so make sure you know what you are getting before you place your order with your meat e-tailer of choice.
A Final Word on Shipping
If you are concerned about missing the drop-off of your meat shipment, check to see how the meats are shipped. Some companies freeze their products and use two-day shipping to get your order to you. Other companies ship using dry ice so that the products can sit on your doorstep for a few hours if you will not be home to receive them.