Pat La Frieda hamburger meat, once only available in restaurants, will soon be sold to the general public in New York City via Fresh Direct. Starting on Thursday July 23, Fresh Direct customers will be able to log in and order three different varieties of La Frieda's vaunted blends.
Pat La Frieda reports that they invested $60,000 in a cryovac machine that seals the burgers in a a polypropylene package filled with a mixture of pure oxygen and carbon dioxide. This will allow the burgers to remain fresh for up to three weeks without freezing as long as the package remains sealed and refrigerated. Once opened the beef will be good for three to four days. The burgers will be sold in six-ounce patties and come four to a package. Price is yet to be finalized, but is expected to be less than $6 per pound.
The beef used in the hamburger is sourced from Creekstone Farms in Kentucky and is naturally raised and hormone free, graded USDA Choice or even Prime. The conventional wisdom when making hamburgers is that you can always add extra fat to relatively lean meat, usually using suet (kidney fat) to achieve the right ratio. The problem with this technique is that the juice tends to run out of the burger as opposed to a more carefully constructed blend that retains the juiciness in the meat itself. By using inherently marbled beef and a low pressure grind, the La Frieda blends—perfected over 90 years of butchering—offer what must surely be some of the best burgers available to the general public.
Here, after the jump, is a breakdown of the blends that will be sold via Fresh Direct.
Left to right: brisket, chuck, and short rib.
The "original," otherwise known as the "La Frieda" blend, is perhaps the most popular among restaurants and thus probably the one that most people will find familiar. It is made up of brisket, chuck, and short rib.
The brisket blend comprises brisket and shoulder clod.
The short rib blend is the heartiest and most steaklike of the three. Part of the meat in the blend is actually the very end cap of the rib section that becomes ribeye steaks and prime rib.
I inquired about the possibility of offering the Black Label blend to the general public, but La Frieda reports that it is exclusive to Minetta Tavern. Nevertheless, it is a good day for the burger lover on a budget; even at the relatively high price that the beef may sell for, it will still work out to be cheaper than ordering a La Frieda burger in a restaurant.
This would be wonderful if others start copying it. The only thing I don't care for is the purified oxygen and CO2 treatment. Trader Joes does it to their fresh meat products and I can tell you, it's kept artificially red by the gases. It's great that it extends the shelf life, I guess...
@bobbob I have not tried the retail versions yet but rest assured I will be placing an order and trying them all out. Look for a review in the near future.
You can buy ground chuck for cheap, and brisket which you can easily grind, very inexpensively. I bet your own home made combo will be as good and one third the cost of the hootey tootey stuff.
@mymymichl Many,myself included prefer 6oz patties. In fact many of NYC's most celebrated burgers - Shake Shack, JG Melon, PJ Clark - serve smaller patties. Personally I find 8oz burger to be just a bit too big. And good luck with your home butchering project, But believe me, buying USDA prime brisket, chuck and short rib is not that cheap. The La Frieda blends might be more of a bargain than you realize.
I also find 6oz the perfect size vs the 8oz and most of the time 8oz burgers are cooked on grills vs flat tops due to their size and flat top cooked burgers just taste better.
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15 Comments:
Do you or anybody else know if they will be selling it next day mail order service?
Why should yous guys on the East Coast get the good stuff!
BeachBumBob at 4:37AM on 07/14/09
Any more info about how the blends differ from each other?
bobbob at 9:05AM on 07/14/09
Creekstone Farms is actually in Kansas. I'm from KY and I know there's better beef than whatever we raise.
Goner at 9:37AM on 07/14/09
nevermind...the processing is done in KS. i'm really surprised that KY would raise such good beef.
beef, bourbon and bluegrass!
Goner at 9:40AM on 07/14/09
@Goner, your first comment was hilarious. haha.
foodinmouth at 10:23AM on 07/14/09
This is great if you live in NYC. Otherwise fuhgeddaboutit.
gratefulted at 10:33AM on 07/14/09
OHHHHH that sounds so good!, sadly not avl. here in Fl either.
jword2001 at 2:52PM on 07/14/09
This would be wonderful if others start copying it. The only thing I don't care for is the purified oxygen and CO2 treatment. Trader Joes does it to their fresh meat products and I can tell you, it's kept artificially red by the gases. It's great that it extends the shelf life, I guess...
tjmile1 at 7:45PM on 07/14/09
@bobbob I have not tried the retail versions yet but rest assured I will be placing an order and trying them all out. Look for a review in the near future.
Nick Solares at 8:13PM on 07/14/09
Why do the restaurants serve 8 ounce patties, and LaFrieda only sells the 6 ounce ones? What are we home consumers, chopped liver?
mymymichl at 12:47AM on 07/15/09
You can buy ground chuck for cheap, and brisket which you can easily grind, very inexpensively. I bet your own home made combo will be as good and one third the cost of the hootey tootey stuff.
mymymichl at 12:50AM on 07/15/09
@mymymichl Many,myself included prefer 6oz patties. In fact many of NYC's most celebrated burgers - Shake Shack, JG Melon, PJ Clark - serve smaller patties. Personally I find 8oz burger to be just a bit too big. And good luck with your home butchering project, But believe me, buying USDA prime brisket, chuck and short rib is not that cheap. The La Frieda blends might be more of a bargain than you realize.
Nick Solares at 12:59AM on 07/15/09
I also find 6oz the perfect size vs the 8oz and most of the time 8oz burgers are cooked on grills vs flat tops due to their size and flat top cooked burgers just taste better.
stewmeat at 10:02AM on 07/15/09
Definitely going to get some with my next purchase!
kimbodian at 1:18PM on 07/15/09
I have enjoyed the Burger Maker patties that were recently added to Fresh Direct. The Prime patty especially is delicious.
hford14 at 3:38PM on 07/17/09