Going out to eat is a nice treat. Just about all of us enjoy sitting down at a nice eating establishment and grabbing a tasty burger created by someone who’s paid to make tasty burgers.
Unfortunately, sometimes the ol’ budget doesn’t allow for that. But if you’ve been craving that all-beef patty between two buns all day, what are you supposed to do now?
We have a couple options; Go to either Quality Cash Market or Concord Beef and Seafood, and make your own at home. Of course, there are other spots in the city to get burger meat and even premade patties, but these two locales are grinding up some of the freshest meat you’ll find.
Quality Cash
The butcher shop in East Concord has been at it for many years, so by now it’s safe to say they’ve got the meat business down to a science.
Ask anyone in the butchering business and they’ll tell you that the No. 1 thing is selling high quality meat – that’s super fresh.
So every day, Quality Cash creates its ground chuck using all the trimmings from cutting roasts. It equates to about an 85-plus percent lean product.
“Our hamburger is done 100 percent by all our trimmings,” said store manager Liz Duncan. “And a lot of it is done from experience, knowing how much to use.”
Quality Cash grinds its burger meat just twice, keeping the meat and fat separated so the fat cooks off.
“The more you grind it, the more it gets mushed together,” Duncan said.
They also make their own ground sirloin, which is about 97 percent lean, but is better for things like meatloaf and meatballs, rather than burger patties.
While they don’t stock the case with premade patties, Quality Cash will make them for you. If you just need a couple, give them a call in the morning (225-9661) or for a bigger order, at least 24 hours would be nice.
You can even get them all mixed up with other ingredients – like cheese and bacon – but to adhere to that freshness aspect, they do it when ordered.
“We’ll make whatever,” Duncan said.
Concord Beef and Seafood
The South Main Street spot is well-known for its high quality meats and seafood (as you can tell from the name), but they also are quite popular on the burger front.
They grind their burger meat in-house, using the trimmings from sirloin and ribeye steaks, and chuck roasts.
“It’s great meat,” said co-owner Al Smith. “We sell good stuff.”
In addition to the ground beef that you can buy by the pound and bring home to make your own patties, Concord Beef & Seafood also stocks premade 6-ounce Angus beef patties that they bring in, always fresh and never frozen.
“They’re really good and juicy,” Smith said. “I bring them home for my family.”
During the summer months, it’s not unheard of for them to go through 50 pounds in a weekend.
So right about now it’s time to fire up the grill and make some delicious burgers.
