Rude!

[thisismallory]

I have been emailing lots of places about acquiring offal this past week. And I started calling meat processors today to find a steady organ source. I called one that came recommended (and is fairly close) and I cannot believe how rude the guy was!

I told him I wanted to buy all kinds of organ meats. He said he didn't have time to mess with organs. Even though he also told me they butcher three days a week. I asked if they could put some aside on butcher days and he was like "where am I going to keep it?" Uhhhh....where do you keep other meat orders!?

After patiently trying to work with him, he hung up on me!

Ugh! So I'm back to calling more places. Has anyone had a lot of trouble finding organs for frankenprey feeding?

 

[ritz]

Well, I guess he didn't need your business! Must be nice.....
Are there any international supermarkets in your area? That's where I find the greatest variety of liver and kidney.
Otherwise, I can find liver in most any grocery store, and beef kidney in a few grocery stores.
If you have year-round farmer's market, that might be an excellent source. A woman at my seasonal farmer's market saves me organs from her chicken (she butchers them herself). Note that per local law, she can't sell me, for example, chicken lungs, testicals or crop. So when I buy chicken hearts or chicken heads/feet (which she is legally permitted to sell), I just throw in an extra two or three dollars.
At another farmer's market I saw they sold lamb, so I asked "you don't have lamb kidney by any chance, do you?" And sure enough, they did.
You can of course order organs from such online stores as HareToday. Expensive, but you can't beat the variety.

 

[thisismallory]

I'm still working on freezer space, so I'm not sure about ordering from Hare Today or the like quite yet. I was hoping to be able to pick stuff up maybe once every week or two for now.

I think there is an international market around here that I can check out. I'm still in shock over how rude the guy was. And it bums me out to know that there are barrels full of scrap and organs that are being thrown away because he doesn't have time to worry about selling them to willing customers!

 

[ritz]

Yeah, though with litigious people, he's probably afraid of being sued.

 

[peaches08]

I'm not defending rude behavior, but his unwillingness to sell scraps may have to do with licensing and health inspections rather than just being obstinate.

 

[thisismallory]

He should have said something about that then! And hanging up on me was what made it rude way more than not selling me scraps.

Is it typical that organ sales are restricted? (I'm in NC, USA)

 

[peaches08]

Well, I don't know about restrictions on organs but in that I've dated a cook in fine dining I know that there are restrictions on what they can do and in which part of the kitchen. You can't break down fish within so many feet of X, Y, and Z and etc. More than likely he's doing the best he can with space and may not be able to accommodate your requests legally.

 

[goingpostal]

One of the suppliers I talked to is a meat processor, does mainly cows and chickens and he wouldn't hold organs, said if I wanted him to take up freezer space with them it would be an extra cost.  But if I was willing to get them on the day it was .10/pound, however I'd have to take the entire cow liver or whatever it was.  The butcher that I get our beef processed at doesn't really have room for drippy messy organs around, it's all hanging meat in one freezer, boxes of meat packaged in another and scrap bones/fat in other boxes.  I know he doesn't butcher there either, our cows the farmer kills and throws all the insides out in the woods, we get some liver but no other organs.  I asked the farmer about saving organs and he couldn't even wrap his head around the idea and said no. 

 

[thisismallory]

Hmmm...I just can't believe the guy wasn't even willing to work with me. Zero communication. He told me "I don't mess with no organs" right before he hung up with me. I totally would be willing to go on the day of butchering to collect anything I could. *shrug*

 

[molldee]

Ugh people like that make me sick. It's not like you were demanding that he sell you organs!

 

[furmonster mom]

I've actually had similar responses when talking to the butcher shops. 

However, I think my situation is a bit different.  I live in the middle of the desert, and since there are no real agricultural areas nearby, everything is shipped in... and I mean EVERYTHING.  Even the so called butcher shops actually get their meats shipped in.  So, I discovered that even the shops that sell the organ meats are really just pulling them out of a box. 

From the little comments I've caught over time, I'm guessing that there are separate protocols for processing organ meats.  For a real "in house" butcher, that may translate into more expense, hence few butchers are willing to bother.

As for where I find stuff....

Pork liver, kidney, melt (spleen), heart, & beef liver at the Asian market.

Beef kidney & heart at the Mexican market.

Pork brain & beef heart at Western Meats (franchised butcher shop).

 

[quickbeam]

Hi I'm not sure where you are based but I encountered similar difficulties sourcing organs in the uk. I would call butchers, abbatoirs and farms and would get very rude responses. Eventually I found a local butchers who get heart, lung, liver, kidney and gizzards in for me. Dont give up they can be found!

 

[jclark]

Have you tried Asian International Markets?

 

[molldee]

If they're around you, try Korean markets. They have everything raw that you need. It's nice to say hello in their native language - annyeonghaseyo!

 

[marc999]

Here's my Tuesday evening speculation:

(a) He is short on space.  Your organ meats are taking vital real estate = lost revenue from regular cuts of meat? 

(b) He had a bad day and thought you were weird, asking for organ meats?

(c) He hates being a butcher and really wanted to be a dancer instead? 

---Korean markets.  There's a good suggestion.  Hmm - actually there's 2 oriental markets in close proximity to me.  I think I might go there and see what uncommon meats they have.  Hopefully english labels will be available, or I'll have to wing it, pun intended. 

 

[molldee]

Korean markets.  There's a good suggestion.  Hmm - actually there's 2 oriental markets in close proximity to me.  I think I might go there and see what uncommon meats they have.  Hopefully english labels will be available, or I'll have to wing it, pun intended. 

At Korean markets there's always people who also speak English that can help you. Usually the older generation struggle with English and may feel embarrassed, so look for the younger generation. But greeting everyone you see with a simple "Annyeonghaseyo!" (ahn-nyoung-hah-seh-yo) will score you extra points and possibly score you extra service.