SKIP THE SUPERMARKET: GET MEAT DELIVERED TO YOUR DOORSTEP WITH THESE SERVICES

January 7, 2020

(CNN) — Summer is now upon us, making it the perfect time to grill up some gorgeous steaks outside or experiment with some premium burgers and sausages.

So, craving meat for your upcoming cookout, and finding it in short supply on those rare grocery outings these days? Or, like many of us, avoiding going out altogether? Sustainable, ethically sourced, delicious meat is just a few clicks away from arriving, flash-frozen and packed in dry ice, at your door, ready for your summer — or Fourth of July — cookout.

Dreaming of an indulgent porterhouse for two? Keep scrolling. Want to be surprised by a mixture of tasty meats, monthly? Read on. These delivery services will keep you well-fed for as long as you like.

FARMFOODS

Specializes in: Grass-fed, responsibly raised meats of all kinds, from beef and pork to chicken and even seafood like salmon and halibut. FarmFoods prides itself onbeing incredibly transparent about the farms — and farmers — it works with across the country, as well as offering extremely affordable meat options not on a subscription basis. That means you can order exactly the meats you want without having to sign up for a months-long service.

It also: Stocks more obscure meats like pheasant, duck and grass-fed bison.

Pricing: Prices start at around $7.99 for ground beef and $12.99 for filet mignon. It offers free shipping, but has a minimum order of 10 pounds of meat.

Bonus: There’s always a sale section on the site for discounted meat.

RASTELLI'S

Specializes in: Responsibly raised, steroid-, hormone- and antibiotic-free beef. Begun as a brick-and-mortar shop adjacent to a deli in New Jersey in the 1970s, Rastelli’s is first and foremost a true butcher. The company ages all its beef, except ground, in house, condensing more flavor, according to its site, and trims its meat and seafood to “exacting standards that allow you to leave almost nothing on the plate.”

It also: Sources wild seafood caught by fishers in the natural environment, and Faroe Island salmon, sustainably raised in a controlled environment in the Atlantic. There’s also humanely raised chicken, turkey and pork, as well as Daring plant-based “chicken” and VBites plant-based burgers.

Pricing: Most meat is shipped in boxes of eight to 24 servings, with a wide range of prices: a box of eight servings of sirloin is $59, for example, while 12 servings of boneless chicken breasts cost $35.

Bonus: Save 5% if you subscribe, committing to monthly shipments.

Read our full review of the service here.

D'ARTAGNAN

Specializes in: Pridefully bougie meats and foods, including Wagyu beef, foie gras, caviar and truffles. Consider this the fanciest grocery store online, with every kind of meat you can imagine, from filet mignon to game and poultry. No wonder it supplies meats to some of the top restaurants in the country.

It also: Has a selection of grocery items like various butters, olive oils, mushrooms and more.

Pricing: Justifiably, these premium meats come with a heftier price tag, like $55.99 for two flank steaks and $29.99 for a Wagyu beef filet mignon.

Bonus: Just because it’s fancy doesn’t mean there aren’t any bargains, like this freezer sale.

OMAHA STEAKS

Specializes in: Steaks, duh. If beef is your jam, Omaha Steaks is your site. Pick by cut — prime rib, porterhouse, rib-eye, sirloin — or by specialty steak — grass-fed, bison, veal. You can also utilize the butchers’ service: They’ll custom-cut a steak for you, trim and debone, tie or carve entire roasts, and talk you through your needs over the phone.

It also: Offers meats of many other kinds: gourmet burgers, brats and bacon. And beyond just “meat” meats, there’s barbecue, seafood, entire meals, sides and starters and desserts — over 400 items total, including a number of indulgent combos with free shipping.

Pricing: Combo boxes cost in the $130-$180 range, and prices for individual cuts vary widely, based, naturally, on cut, starting on the low end at around $20 for a pound of triple-trim tenderloin tips.

Bonus: In the mood to send this as a gift? Omaha Steaks has everything from a basket of live lobsters to a Fourth of July-ready feast complete with burgers, sausages and delicious seasoning.

PORTER ROAD

Specializes in: Hormone-free, antibiotic-free, pasture-raised meat, all sourced from Kentucky and Tennessee. Known for being especially cost-efficient, prices start at just around $8, with subscriptions available as well.

It also: Dry-ages all its beef for a minimum of 14 days, which creates a tenderness and especially intense flavor. The company also provides recipes and tips on how to properly treat and cook its meat, along with regular specials like 20% off its top-rated bundles.

Pricing: Items start at just $8 for dry-aged ground beef, with pork short ribs going for just $10 and ground lamb going for $12. Subscription boxes start at $70 for six pounds of assorted meat, and go up to $127 for a variety pack.

Bonus: Porter Road prides itself on providing a healthy diet for its animals, and plenty of outdoor exercise. Read our full review of the service here.

CHICAGO STEAK COMPANY

Specializes in: An incredibly wide variety of steak, which are all certified USDA Choice or USDA Prime to ensure quality. The company prides itself on its high standards for aging processes and hand-cut selection, and considers its steaks in the top 2% of beef worldwide.

It also: Has a variety of other kinds of meats as well, including chicken, pork, ribs, lobster, crab, salmon and more.

Pricing: Prices for steak start at just $59.95 and go up to an extremely generous assortment that’s currently priced at $329.95. Burgers start at $64.95, 24 marinated chicken breasts start at $119.95 and surf and turf packages start at $99.95. There’s also gift baskets, which start at under $75. The company also has plenty of promotions going on right now, including free shipping and additional free burgers on orders of $99 or more with the code FREEGIFTS.

Bonus: In addition to meat, it also has side dishes (think potato casserole and mac & cheese) and desserts (think death by chocolate cake).

ANGEL'S CLUB

Specializes in: Monthly subscription boxes of salami and truffles, available through Cratejoy. The Salami of the Month box, for example, gives the option of trying a different salami that is hand-selected by the Angel’s staff. Every month, subscribers get 6.5 ounces of salami, along with a notecard that describes the meat, and a recommendation of wine and cheese to pair. An important note: Angel’s Club ships through Cratejoy on the 19th of every month, so customers must order by the 17th to receive the most recent box.

It also: Includes two other subscription options: Charcuterie of the Month Club, which comes with two charcuterie items ideal for snacking, and Meat Lovers Club, which comes with three 6.5-ounce salami and three additional items, hand-picked by the staff.

Pricing: Salami of the Month is $14 a month, Charcuterie of the Month Club is $28 a month and Meat Lovers Club is $48 a month.

Bonus: Angel’s Club was founded by California-based chef Pascal Besset.

BUTCHER BOX

Specializes in: Curating mixes of up to 21 cuts of high-quality beef, chicken and pork, either preselected, or handpicked by you. Right now, Butcher Box has a waitlist for deliveries, but fingers crossed its production will catch up soon.

It also: Assures the highest quality of beef, pork and chicken. It’s committed to all of its meat being sourced from humanely raised animals, with no added hormones or antibiotics, and partnering with sustainable farms. Butcher Box has also worked with the ASPCA on broiler chicken welfare policies. The shop aims to “work tirelessly to connect families with the foods they want to eat by establishing a friendly neighborhood butcher, always open, online.”

Pricing: Boxes selected for you are $129 per month; customized by you, they’re $149.

Bonus: Butcher Box has pages and pages of recipes, videos and tips on how to prepare more meats than you could imagine.

CAMERON'S SEAFOOD

Specializes in: Curated boxes of Maryland crabs and other seafood. A subscription gets you biweekly, monthly or bimonthly deliveries, “from shore to door, three days fresher than at the grocery store.” The Maryland box includes Maryland blue crabs and spiced shrimp. And all shipping is free. Ready for that virtual crab boil?

It also: Ships boxes of crab soup and crab cakes, something likely not on the menu of a lot of folks at home right now.

Pricing: Three 32-ounce containers of crab bisque, crab gumbo, and lobster bisque comprise a $119 box; the crab leg box is 6 pounds of snow, king, and Dungeness crab for $299.99.

Bonus: Cameron’s Seafood is one of the biggest names in Maryland seafood, still run by a man named Cameron, whose father and uncle started the company in 1985.

SNACKING EVOLVED

Specializes in: Meat in stick form! Yep, we mean jerky. Delivering monthly artisan meat snacks through Cratejoy, Snacking Evolved (by Fortified Nutrition) ships a monthly pack of nine sticks of grass-fed beef with dried cherries and sweet potato or beef with uncured bacon and apple, or sticks of natural heritage pork with uncured bacon and pineapple.

It also: Donates a four-pack of artisan meat sticks to families in need with every subscription ordered.

Pricing: A subscription, a box of nine sticks, is $22.04 a month.

Bonus: The snacks are 100% natural and gluten-, soy-, dairy- and GMO-free.

SOURCE:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/cnn-underscored/best-meat-delivery-service/index.html
CNN by Elizabeth Wallace - June 22, 2020