Brinkman's Alternative if You're on the West Coast ?

[SvenG]

We've gone through a couple of cases of Brinkman's over the last year+ and the meat was pretty good.

What will keep us from buying more is the shipping cost. A case that costs about $60 to buy racks up another $30 to ship to California. The purchase price itself is already a bit over the top and the shipping makes the overall cost unreasonable.

Are there any good alternatives for those of us who live on the correct coast ?

Thanks,



-Sven

[MarkJ]

It ain't cheap, but before you leave the USA for the rest of the world please note that Brinkmas is not only a worlds best, its a worlds only. There is no other canned meat product like in any country I have been.

That diced steak is by far the best canned meat you will have till you finish your cruise. Europe has some good ones from Denmark, but not beef and not steak cut like that.

$100 per case is expensive. But not compared to the alternative when in Asia or the middle east where the Butcher hasnt refrigeration and the beast was killed whenever and the flies on it nearly lift the slab of unidentifiable meat off the unhygienic wooden bench. All this being seen from the other side of the road because the stench is like a wall.

I could have sold Brinkmans at $100 not per case but per can to cruisers in some places!


Mark

[boatman61]

Mark..... I'll have you know those flies are specially trained to keep dust and pollution from traffic off the meat.... some butchers even train them to do airfreight.....
Surprised you did'nt mention buying chickens.... where in the west do you get to pick your chicken 'on the wing' so to speak....

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Surprised you did'nt mention buying chickens....

In Malaysia Nicolle had to do the chicken shopping as I couldn't get close enough to the counter (the smell) and she asked the guys behind the counter to cut the head and feet off. It took about 10 minutes of sign language and acting it out to make them understand and they thought it was a great joke!
They finally cut the offending head and feet off. But tried to put them in the bag with the chicken! The feet are a delicacy, the head, I dunno. But Nic wouldnt have that!

Every time we would go in there it would be a rush of butchers to see who could serve her!


Mark

[mbianka]

This discussion reminded me of a bit from the Firesign Theater that had a commercial for a butcher shop that went:
"Don't worry about the flies! We won't weigh them."
Which also brings back memories of "steak night" at a marina in Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas where the flies seemed to enjoy the meal as much as we boaters did. Ah, "paradise".

[The Boat Galley]

We used the "regular" canned meats that we could get in local grocery stores along the way in Mexico and Central America. Most US groceries carry a wide range too (I know Wal-mart does). We never bought Brinkman's because of the cost and the cans are just too large for two people.

The cans I'm talking about are roughly the same size as tuna cans and are in the same area of the store. Ham, crab, roast beef, clams, chicken -- all sorts of good stuff. We've lived on it for two and three months at a time.

It took a while for me to get the hang of cooking with canned meat and not making mush of it. I put a bunch of tips on my blog and I'll just post a link instead of copying it all here:

Using Canned Meats

There's also a list there of all the meats and seafood I found in cans (and some in pouches).