Has anyone found a butcher who will sell beef bones, shank, tail and chicken frames/carcasses/wings on the cheap that can be used to make stocks/broths?
Eastern NC would be nice for me, but we'll travel a reasonable distance for good pricing.
Sometimes I get lucky at one of the Mexican or Asian markets, sometimes I get some decent bones on base for cheap... but at least where I'm at I've yet to find a reliable affordable source of beef products.
Pork parts you can grab at Nahunta.
Poultry wise House of Raeford or Case farms might offer or know where you can grab that sorta stuff, but I just save my trimmings as I go in the freezer and when a bag is full I start banging out stocks/broths whatever.
Those are for Eastern NC around Wayne County (I THINK Nahunta might have another location near Raliegh but I forget where)
It's frustrating because somebody has them! The local butchers are getting primal cuts so they don't have these parts of the animals to begin with. But who's cutting the carcass into primal cuts? They must be doing something with their waste.
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I live in Fishers, IN, just north of Indianapolis. We have high end butcher shops where 3 short beef femur bones will bring $12. Then I have a Saraga World Market where I can buy frozen six inch femur bones in a 3 pack for $2.75. Finding a reasonable source for bones is a chore. Hope you find a source!
Good grief different locations have vastly different problems. We have our own beef processed and every time they ask if I want the soup bones and I say yes. Now my wife has stopped drinking beef broth and I’m stuck with the soup bones from two steers. If you were nearer I’d fix you right up.
This one does advertise beef soup bones specifically, but they are just north of Winston Salem in VA. I can't figure out the tie in, but they have some sort of following in my community in Wayne County. Looks like one of the employees is a vet from our base, I dunno. Anyway, multiple people mentioned them.
Our local Bi-Rite in Stokesdale can supply you with what you need. They have multiple butchers on site and break down whole steers daily.
Give them a call, might be worth a trip with a large cooler.
Every area is going to have their own unique situation because even the waste from animals is now a marketable product.
Here we have chickens and chicken processing plants, so we also have dog and pet food factories using up all the waste from the plants. Perdue and Tyson, and others, have whole division just dedicated to creating value in the waste for things like chicken meal. A familiar sight on our roads are what everyone calls “Gut Trucks,” hauling the waste from one facility to another.
The large beef processors take a majority of their bone and make things like bone meal and sell that to fertilizer companies. And what they keep whole gets packaged and sold as bones to the supply chain.
When you do find a pack of soup bones available from any source they have had to be processed and handled for human consumption and there are costs associated with that.
Maybe a small local producer might have some availability but even then they know the prices charged at the local supermarket.
Good luck on your search and hopefully you find a good source, but it might be difficult.
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I am lucky, my BIL is a butcher for a family owned Deli. I get beef n pork bones or ribs for cheap.
Usually $2.99 lb w/meat on, ribs, shanks etc. Bones for stock or the pooch he just gives them to us.
For poultry we have an organic/holistic farm just a couple of blocks from where we live. It is funny we never hear anything about it but you can drive up n find out what is avail very easily.
I like to get my feet n backs there for stock, also very reasonable though I do not utilize it as I should.
Last edited by Alan Brice; December 21, 2024, 09:42 AM.
I have never found any store, butcher, etc. in my area that sells bones on the cheap. Main reason is that everything is processed and packaged outside Los Angeles.
I finally (after 20 years) found a neighbor, who's family has a ranch up north, that can provide me with all the oak splits I want for smoking.
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I make stock from ground beef... mostly from frozen beef that is aging-out and from cuts that we tried and didn't like. That along with oxtail for bone collagen and marrow. My momma's old Presto makes quick work of it!
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Is Mooresville a reasonable drive?? Local store there that sells beef marrow bones. Shop n Save is the store. They don't have chicken carcasses but do sell chicken products.
This is a bad time of year to look for cheap wings with football still in full swing..
Thanks to all who responded to this post. I'm tardy in getting back to you because of the holiday rush, but please know that you are appreciated. Much love and peace this coming year!
Our local butcher sold us 3 lbs of beef marrow bones for $1.76. His other prices are a little higher, however, the meat quality is much better and I prefer to buy local.
Evvy my new co-worker has a farm! So I now have a source for hard to find cuts, I'll ask them about bones and such too if you haven't found a supplier yet?
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