Over the past few days I have seen a number of articles about the food supply chain. Farmers and ranchers are having to destroy some crops. Some of the large pork producing plants are shutting down due to employees testing positive with COVID-19. Now is the time to fill your freezer!
Most supermarkets still have a decent supply of meat available but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that there could be some shortages of some sort for those that rely on the big meat packers to supply their meat. Things are mostly fine right now but if the processing plants have to shut down it could get a bit dicey in the coming weeks or months.
There are two easy ways to avoid any issues like this:
- Buy from smaller meat processors. Many of the online merchants I work with and order from don’t go through the same supply channels as the large retailers so they won’t see the same supply issues if the large processors shut down. Many of them work with small, local farms, raise their own animals, and process their own animals.
- Fill your freezer with some staples. Think versatile and easy when shopping for meat to fill your freezer. This isn’t stockpiling or anything like that but having 3 or 4 weeks worth of meat in the freezer that can make multiple meals won’t be a bad idea.
Disclosure: This post is monetized with affiliate links. If you buy something through them I earn a commission which helps support this site and lets me buy more meat so I can write about it.
Fill Your Freezer With Quality Meat
Here are a few options to fill your freezer with meat from smaller processors that both taste great and are somewhat economical. Yeah, they are more expensive than what you can find at the grocery store but you are getting higher quality, tastier meat.
Pasturebird Pasture Raised Chickens
Pasturebird raises chickens on open pastures in Southern California. The chickens are kept in what are basically mobile greenhouses. They spend the day eating grass, worms, seeds, bugs and more. Chickens that forage like this develop a much richer flavor than the chickens from the grocery store. Pasturebird chickens have a much darker colored meat, have 21% less fat than conventional chickens, 50% more vitamin A, and 3 times the Omega 3.
Pasturebird is offering a 10 pack of spatchcocked chickens shipped to your house for $199 and if you use code COMPLETECARNIVORE10 you can save 10% on your purchase. That is only $18 per bird and shipping is free. Depending on the size of your family 10 chickens can easily turn into 20-30 meals. These birds come spatchcocked which basically means they have had the backbone removed and they are flattened. This is a much better way to cook a chicken since it cooks much quicker and much more evenly.
Roast or smoke the chicken for one meal. Pick the meat off the carcass and throw the bones in a stock pot for a great soup. Or use the picked meat for a stir fry. You can also make some chicken salad with the leftover meat for some great sandwiches or if you are keto just wrap it in lettuce. We have 4 young children and can easily get 2 meals out of 1 chicken. There are few meats that are better freezer staples than some whole chickens.
Order 10 chickens shipped from Pasturebird for $179 with code COMPLETECARNIVORE10. Or if you are concerned with freezer space you can get 4 chickens, some rub, and a hat for $$98.10
Fill your Freezer With Ground Beef
Along with chicken there are few meats more versatile than ground beef. Of course it is hard to go wrong with some great hamburgers but ground beef can add some good protein to a number of different meals.
Porter Road has their ground beef for just $7 per pound right now. They will ship free on orders over $100 as well. 14 lbs will get you over the free shipping threshold and should keep you well supplied for a few weeks.
Fill your freezer with ground beef from Porter Road for $7 per pound.
Snake River Farms is also offering a 12 pack of American Wagyu ground beef for $125. That works out to just over $10 per pound for some of the best ground beef you will ever try. The flavor and texture of this beef makes some awesome burgers. I have never had burgers with the same texture as burgers made from this American Wagyu ground beef. Snake River Farms usually charges $14 per pound for this ground beef so this 12 pack is a great price.
Along with this 12 pound pack of ground beef Snake River Farms also has some other “bulk provision” packs if you are looking for some amazing steaks. They have a 12 pack of American Wagyu NY strips for $499 and they are normally $780. Expensive, yes, but it is an awesome deal if you want to treat yourself while stuck at home.
Fill your freezer with 12 pounds of American Wagyu ground beef from Snake River Farms.
Wild Alaskan Salmon
For a little variety fill your freezer with some wild caught Alaskan salmon from Wild Alaskan Company. With code 15OFF you can save $15 on your first box as well. Wild Alaskan Company ships some excellent wild caught Alaskan salmon right to your door. They are a monthly subscription box so you can get 12 or 24 6oz portions either every month or every two months.
I did a review of Wild Alaskan Company a while back and loved the salmon. The sockeye and coho were both perfect. Both had a great flavor and texture. If you want a bit more variety they also offer some wild white fish such as halibut and cod as well.
Fill your freezer with some wild Alaskan salmon starting at $116.88 with code 15OFF.
Prime Ribeyes from Snake River Farms
Snake River Farms is offering 10 fresh, 21 day wet aged prime ribeyes for just $210. These bone in prime ribeyes are 1 lb each, well marbled, and delicious.
I cooked up a couple of these a few days ago and they had some excellent flavor and texture. They were cut very evenly and cooked up great on the grill. $21 for a prime ribeye of this quality is a great price. At my local butcher prime ribeyes usually go for around $26 or $28 per pound. Don’t bring that “Costco sells prime ribeyes for $14 a pound” stuff around here. If you taste these steaks and compare them to what you can get from Costco you will realize it is well worth the extra few dollars.
10 steaks will fill your freezer nicely. These are a great treat if you are stuck at home and are craving a nice steak dinner. With most steakhouses being closed this is a great way to still have a great steak without leaving the house.
Be aware that since these steaks ship fresh there is a $49.99 shipping charge since they need to ship with expedited overnight shipping. With the shipping added on that still is only $26 for these 1 lb beauties.
Fill your freezer with 10 prime ribeyes from Snake River Farms for just $210.
Hotdogs – For the kids of course
Did you know Snake River Farms makes some of the best hot dogs you will ever eat? This 5 lb pack of American Wagyu hot dogs contains 25 hot dogs. Your kids will love firing up the fire pit and roasting some hot dogs. It may sound simple but having some of these hot dogs in the freezer ready to go after a long stressful day is a great meal option. Kids might not remember eating some tuna casserole but they will remember getting to cook hot dogs over the fire with the family.
Once you taste these hot dogs you might be ruined for grocery store hot dogs. They are $10 per pound and will cost more than a regular hot dogs but the flavor and texture is awesome.
And if you want to feed the kids some hot dogs, send them to bed, and then cook up some steaks for yourself I won’t tell them.
Fill your freezer with some American Wagyu hot dogs.
With the uncertainty out there it makes sense to fill your freezer with some quality meat. Look for meat that is versatile, delicious, and something your family likes to eat. A good variety of meat is important as well so get some chicken, beef, salmon, steaks, and hot dogs and fill that freezer.
