A Comprehensive Guide to Online Meat Delivery Services
There’s a lot of meat delivery services these days and with so many to discover, its worth taking advantage of so many of their welcome or first time buyer offers. Many will try to get you into a regular subscription, but I highly recommend trying them out first as some have better quality, sizing and delivery reliability (including packaging) than others.
What I look for in a online butcher is a variety of cuts, high quality product that arrives without freezer burn or damage to the packaging and decent pricing inclusive of shipping fees. I’m a big value guy, so that might be a great price on single cut of wagyu or a backyard bbq cuts pack to feed a party.
Breakouts:
Inventory - Do they have regular, deep inventory or do they often have sold out sections or key items?
Delivery - Speed, options and cost. How last minute can you plan?
Cost - From $ up to $$$
Snake River Farms - Try it here
Snake River Farms (also connected to Double R Ranch) is the premier American wagyu beef delivery service in my opinion. A step up from prime, but not as expensive or as fatty as A5, American wagyu has an amazing beefy quality that stands up amazingly to all sorts of cooking styles. Your favorite BBQ influencers you’ll see smoking SNF brisket and searing a tomahawk, but their roster of cuts is amazing and has some interesting variety you may not find elsewhere including pichana and full racks of beef ribs.
Pro-tip: You can sometimes find their “corned beef” pre-packs around St. Patrick’s day for a crazy good price at Costco. Smoke these to make your own wagyu pastrami. You’re welcome.
Inventory: One of the other big things in the favor of Snake River Farms vs. other wagyu providers is their consistent inventory. Not all cuts are available all of the time, but generally speaking I can find the cuts I want when I want them. Other smaller suppliers or folks that specialize in Japanese Wagyu tend to have spurts of inventory. I do sometimes have time getting certain types of brisket and beef rib racks as those are BBQ favorites, but more recently I haven’t seem the same sold out markers on those cuts as regularly.
Delivery: Fast as you need and if ordering several days in advance, low cost. Comes packed in dry ice and generally frozen, so may need time to thaw.
Cost: $$ - $$$ depending on Prime (Double R Ranch) or Wagyu + Wagyu Grade (Snake River Farms)
Buy Snake River Farms
Overall, I’m a big fan of Snake River Farms and if the cost of wagyu were a little bit lower, I’d be a more frequent shopper.
Crowd Cow - Try it here
This is an interesting collection of beef and beyond that’s rooted in trying to get you to subscribe for recurring shipments.
Inventory: I haven’t had a problem with inventory when I order from Crowd Cow, but I also have generally gotten generic box shipments of non-specialized cuts. They often ofter A5 Wagyu as an incentive to subscribe, but their meat boxes like The Best Damn Meat Box are high value with a variety of cuts.
Delivery: Generally fast depending on delivery options and often has free shipping offers. I have had issues where these meats arrive frozen rock solid and when they thaw they’ve had a hole in the package. I’m associating this with the plastic cracking post-freeze but worth noting.
Cost: $ - $$
Reviews coming soon: