# Winn Dixie, the former "Beef People"



## malachi (Apr 16, 2011)

This has to be a common problem. That is, if there is a WinnDixie Supermarket near you. Like many other red blooded Americans, I purchased a 1 1/4" New York Strip marinated and seasoned it for the obligatory weekend steak on the Barbie. It was cooked perfectly to a red, tenter and a ideal Pittsburgh Blue crust. Afte removing it from a thet fire, I let it rest about 12-15 minutes.

It looked beautiful. Suddlenly the dissappointment factor kicked in - It was tough as a an bumper on a Yellow Cab and had absolutely no flavor. I thinly sliced about half of it and it was still the same. Apparantly their beef source is from a purveyor that doesn't feed out the cattle long enough on corn before going they go to the slaughter house. They're saving money by cutting corners and by doing so, it is at the expense of customers who know the difference, Management should take note or move over.

My question is this. Should I take the other cooked half back to the butcher, ask him to sample it, or shove it up his..... or go to the store manager and do the same or go to the corporate office in Jacksonville where I live and create a scene. Under the management of the founding family, the Davises, the Winn Dixie stores were known as the Beef People, a bold statement and was true. Now that the founding brothers are deceased and the son Dan, whom I grew up with, has gone on to other interests. The stores are staffed with immigrants, ******** and kids that don't know a rutabaga from okra . I'm pissed. its not way to run a major grocery chain. By the way, in this market, Publix is eating their lunch. I prefer to go there but the WD is closer.Maybe the answer stick with Publix and avoid future disappointments. Many times I have left a WD because I could not fulfill my grocery list.Much of their market appeals to people that unfortunately have to rely on food stamps.

Now, I will be appreciative of suggestions tof how to deal with the other half of the meat besides Stroganoff, hash, stew, yada, yada .Be careful. I know what you're about to say....

MH4


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Now which great Chef said something like:

"The quality of your meal is decided by the time you load your groceries in the car"

I think it was Batalli, but I probably am wrong.

Want a good steak?

Go to a local butcher whose reputation rests on the quality he sells.

You will pay more, but you won't complain about the quality.


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## eastshores (Oct 23, 2008)

I'm surprised to read this. I live just south of you and our Winn-Dixie stores have had a re-birth. I was just talking to my brother the other day about how the winn-dixie store local to me had the most incredible thing I've ever seen in their seafood department... HEAD ON shrimp... and not just any shrimp but  head on king jumbo pink shrimp wild caught from Key West. I could not believe it.. they were the most incredible looking product I've ever seen in my area.

I have a Publix within 2 blocks of the Winn Dixie and honestly I shop publix 90% of the time.. I have a fond appreciation for the publix commercials that I watched through my childhood and they always billed themselves as the "Florida" grocery store. Their meat and seafood is lack luster however. After the winn-dixie re-builds their selection went crazy and in a good way. I haven't bought any meat from them lately.. but you're right.. they are the "beef people" .. so you'd expect good product. I'd say go talk to the store manager.. it's most likely his doing.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

A tough matter.  Today cattle and chcken are both being slaugtered early. its a matter of economics.  The quality of all meat and poultry is not the same as years ago. There are no more cattle or chicken farms so to speak. They are all set up factory style. The government even changed the former guidelines for labeling Prime, choice etc. The standards were lowered. Did you know that 85%  of your market ground beef comes from old dairy cows that cannott give milk anymore? You would not want to see what they look like when they are bought to  slaughter. The Agra Lobbies fight logic all the time for the sake of the mighty dollar.

      I contacted Publix a while back, since they say they have inspectors watching their meat. It took themm 3 weeks to answer me and it was BS

. They then told me the meat comes from inspected plants that they check randomly.?

   .Most of the meat theyl get comes from  the same sources as everyone else.

    In fact a lot of the better known steakhouses even had to go as far as buying and manageing their own farms. Like The Palm Steakhouse  chain and others. Thereby insuring quality and consitancy.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Find a local grower and buy 1/4 or 1/2 of beef like I do. Not only is it much cheaper(2.59 a pound this year, that included the butchers fee) but it actually has flavor.


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

I live in a small town with 3 stores, two sell only select meat, and have very limited cut selection. The other sells only choice beef, natural pork and has a large selection of cuts in the self serve counter, along with a real butcher behind a full service meat case to cut anything you want.

I cooked at a friends last night, they had an Angus steer processed recently and did not know what to do with the short ribs they had. The ribs were very meaty, prime grade marbling, and the taste of the finished product, unbelievable.


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## soopersaucer (Apr 23, 2011)

Malachi

What you can do on the home level to enjoy your steak  is to age it more.

Some meats as with steaks in particular will benefit by aging , this will build more flavor, dry the steak of excess water and will make it more tender. These are

all resons that steaks are aged in the first place.

What you can do with your strip steak is let it air out for atleast three or four days in the fridge uncovered 12 hours at a time then loosely cover it for 12 hours .

Repeat this for three or four days. You will notice the steaks drying out and concentrating its potential flavor. Which means less water and more fat ratio.

You will notice also It will begin to get dry and crusty or eventualy a little slime or funkier both are ok. The dry and slimey factors will be determined by the

humidity level of you fridge. Thus you can sometimes regulate the dry or slimey conditions by loosely covering the steak w/ plastice wrap or uncovering it of the

plastic wrap. You can manipulate the speed funkiness dryness or the crustyness of your homeaging process over time. If you see white mold spores on the fat

rind of the meat alway trim that off.   And alway trim a thin layer of the fat of top of the strip as this will make the steak more appealling by exposing a creamy

white layer of fat, as opposed to a brown moldy exteror. After following advice like this more steak flavor and tenderness will result and you will find less need for

marinades, or steak rubs or gimmicky steak sauces etc...This is what I imagine as ppl saying a great steak just needs salt pepper and a little butter or

compound butter on it.

Also always change the ceramic or glass or stainless vessel that you rest the steaks on, on a daily basis.

Just a bit of true advice and I hope it helps.

SooperSacer


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Are you saying that you would do all this for just one or two pieces of steak? I'm thinking that for all that work, and considerable nastyness the way it sounds, it would be a better idea just to drop a few more coins and buy a better cut. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

You can wet age cuts, but I wouldn't dry age them.


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## soopersaucer (Apr 23, 2011)

It works on the whole loins better yes as opposed to indivisual steaks.

And it works even better on the more expensive cuts and grades of meats.  It's just  a well know technique that is used through out the industry. Some upper end clientel will demand a well aged steak over a greener cherry red cut. If your aging a whole strip loin  my rotation was not to sell a steak without aging it with this method for two weeks on average before fabricating into portion sized steaks. Our 7# and up tenderloins would only go for a few days and no more than a week. Also depends on the humidity winter time meant less moisture in the atmosphere so they would not age longer in house. 

The wet age in the home enviorment would be a crap shoot in my opinion because you have only one chance when you open that bag if it is not ready or if you over ripenedit  your kinda in a pickle and have to eat it. Plus the non usable  biproduct or waste would be to expensive for most ppl to have a steak at home.

Attentively aged steaks  in the home enviorment can improve the quality of the finished products ....give it a try.

SooperSaucer


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

I wasn't aware that wet aging produced waste.


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## chefbillyb (Feb 8, 2009)

I just had a few Black Angus cows processed, I had them hang for 18 days, This is time well spent. Because of the cost of loss of weight, you will not see this is commercial slaughter houses that processes 2000 cows a day. These are a few T-Bones that I just cooked off, 1 1/4 in thick, melt in your mouth tender. I don't think you will ever get a quality steak out of a chain grocery store. I would look at a local meat market and let him know what your needs are, you work hard, spend a few extra dollars and treat yourself well....................ChefBillyB


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

I'm throwing my roasted chicken out, I'll be there in about an hour..


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## chefbillyb (Feb 8, 2009)

Your welcome any time my friend...................



chefbuba said:


> I'm throwing my roasted chicken out, I'll be there in about an hour..


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Chef Billy , your steaks look dry aged.  Thats great ,make mine rare just a little worstishire on it S & P

And to THETINCOOK  wet aging promotes mold and bacteria that is not very good over time. Controlled Dry aging with ultra violet light is best way.but cost $.


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## soopersaucer (Apr 23, 2011)

thetincook

wet aged loins produce waste in the manner that its almost impossible to utilise the bi-product after fabrication because the outer portion of the loins, meaning the salvagable trim like the chain, tail, head portion scraps etc are all to well aged to consume or use in dish as beef tips, stir fries bolgnese etc. But while the outer portion ages, the inner portoin is protecting by the outer portion.  After the fat cap is pulled away off a tenderloin the meat is still somewhat pink as opposed to the greenish outer.

SooperSaucer


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## fl italian (Mar 2, 2009)

Billy... why is it you never call me for these dinners???   Wow, that looks good...

However, in noting the original poster, as another Floridian who has shopped in both Publix and Winn Dixie, the simple answer is their meet just plain su.....   Publix does raise their own but that doesn't mean it's better.

If you want a great steak, and I highly recommend them.. go to Whole Foods.   Yes, the price is a lot more per pound but it's as good as a Morton's, Fleming's or any other high end steak house that is aging their beef.  

We see the price at WD and Publix, see all that marbling in the steak and think "that looks like a great steak" but when you get it home and cook it, you've got a more tender dinner if you cooked a dish towel.    Try Whole Foods (they do run ribeye and NY Strip on sale periodically for $6.99 per steak) but they are truly worth the money.   If you like veal chops, give one of those a try too...

OH.. Chef Billy... when's my hind quarter coming in the dry ice???


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

This is an issue we have been facing more and more often lately.  Buying something at a grocery store that looks good, taking it home to cook it, and being truly disappointed at the flavor/texture/quality.  It happens so often with meat and seafood lately that I've been going more and more vegetarian because I can't handle the disappointment anymore.  I bought some beautiful pork chops at a local grocery store, seasoned them with lemon, garlic, and thyme and they tasted like ash.  I couldn't get past a couple of bites before thowing the whole lot out.

Just last night we grilled a couple of porgies outdoors.  They were beautiful and fresh and my husband usually loves them but he couldn't eat but half.  I've never seen him so disappointed eating a fish, it just breaks your heart to see an animal give its life to become your dinner and then through the process of being raised or farmed it loses any flavor it might have. 

On the other hand last month I splurged on some wild large shrimp at $25/lb.  Took them home, marinaded them in olive oil, garlic, and cayenne, and seared them.  They were so unbelieveably fresh and delicious I could have sworn they tasted like lobster!  This is what shrimp are supposed to taste like!  We still speak of that shrimp fondly.  But who can afford to spend $25 on a pound of shrimp on a regular basis? 

I wish there was something we could do.  I've been trying to buy organic and local produce and buy meat at the butchers' in the hopes that the more we spend our money on good things the more it will drive the prices down but that's not happening.  If we want good food we'll just have to pay for it.


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## chefbillyb (Feb 8, 2009)

FL Italian said:


> Billy... why is it you never call me for these dinners??? Wow, that looks good...
> 
> However, in noting the original poster, as another Floridian who has shopped in both Publix and Winn Dixie, the simple answer is their meet just plain su..... Publix does raise their own but that doesn't mean it's better.
> 
> ...


HI Doug, I enjoyed our Cioppino we shared together a few years ago. I hope all is well with you and yours, stay well my friend.

I'm not sure how anyone would find a good steak in a large chain supermarket. The Beef processor in our town that processes 2300 head a day, from the feed lot to the freezer. I would recommend to anyone, know where you meat comes from, buy one that was raised on a pasture and finished on a good grain mixture and hung for 18 to 21 days, to break down the tendons. This will give you a great chance to have great steaks, roasts and ground beef mix..........Share a beef with 4 other people, the meat will freeze well for a year or longer. You will also get a cow that was raised without hormones and better for you........................I enjoy seeing the cows on my pasture living a good clean natural life.................I remember a few years ago when Mollie named a few of the cows, you should have seen her face when we had a Chateaubriand from "Sweetie pie" needless to say she doesn't name them any more.............................Take care.........................Bill


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## sjdthepcmd (Apr 19, 2011)

When I was a child my uncle worked as an A&P store manager, he would bring home the old cuts of beef that were out dated and could not be sold. He would wrap them in cheese clothe and put them in the freezer for up too six months, he would change the cheese clothe every couple of weeks and when he was ready he would trim the green off, toss them suckers on the BBQ and whaaa-laa the best tasting beef you ever had... Just takes a little time, love, S&P, and heat..

Gotta love the old timers, Oh yea no I'm one too!

Oh yea I almost forgot he didn't use a self defrosting freezer it was the old fashioned block-O-ice type the one where you used a ice pick to defrost.. Oh well guess the old timers were right after all...


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

No one really knows where our beef comes from, since the government approves the import from many countries.Go to the USDA web site and you will see what I am talking about. Meat is approved fom Romania, Brazil, Mexico, Canada,Transylvania and everywhere else . Your 1 pound package of chopped meat could have meat from 6 different countries in it. It is well traveled.  Another rippoff  80/20    70/30   90/10

labeled chopped beef is only telling you fat content, not waterweight content.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

15 to 20 % of hams, smoked pork loins, bacon, frankfurters, frozen turkeys are pumped with a brine solution. Example A Butterball bird, 20 pounds @ $1.00 Pound  =$20.00.   Actually cost before you even cook it raw weight  $23.00 to 24.00  or $1.15 to 1.20 per pound. Why bother rigging a scale??


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## prairiechef (May 22, 2010)

Screw chain stores.

I buy my personal poultry, beef and pork from a local butcher. They get all their meat from a colony just north of the city. Yup, I pay more... in some cases, in others, it's actually cheaper... but it's well worth it.

Plus, I gotta ask.. what's the issue with Canadian Beef?


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Canadian beef is not the issue / The issue is with all this beef being muxed and if then you get a bad batch of it ,. how the heck do you trace where t came from?


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