The Butcher Box reviews are in! If you wonder about the prices, quality, and even what comes in a box, keep reading! My family has used ButcherBox for several years, and we love the quality of the meat.
It’s been a few years since I first tried ButcherBox. At the time, I was a huge skeptic about buying grass-fed meat online. I was even more so unsure if it was possible while trying to work within a budget. That’s why it took me nearly four months and two full-size sample boxes to fall in love with the company and their monthly subscription service.
A lot has changed since I first purchased my subscription, so I wanted to provide even more insight for you in this updated Butcher Box review, so you can decide whether or not it’s a good fit for your family!
Before I dig in, I need to share some personal back story on how and why we landed on Butcher Box in the first place.
CAN YOU EAT TOO MUCH CHICKEN?
For the first 8 years of my marriage, 80% of our meat consumption was chicken. This was fine by me because chicken is cheap. I’ve seen whole free-range chickens marked down to as little as $3. This was also because my husband doesn’t like ground beef. Even the Best Burgers Ever.
It’s a texture thing, and it overlaps into fish and pulled meat, too, with Slow Cooker Carnitas being a huge exception; he requests that one often! But as we’ve learned more about our bodies and the role that food and supplements play, I’m starting to wonder if you can eat too much chicken…
My husband and I started taking a B-complex vitamin, primarily for the B12. He took it to help manage his nervousness and I took it to help with cognitive function and focus. It was a light bulb moment for both of us. We felt so much better!!
And then it dawned on me – if we felt relief from a supplement, we probably weren’t getting enough B12 in our diet. But why? We don’t eat processed food and have been consistently preparing whole foods for several years at this point! I did some research and found that the best source of B vitamins is animal protein. Here’s a quick rundown of the top vitamins for the major meat groups:
- Vitamin B1: Pork
- Vitamin B3: Chicken, Beef, Fish/Seafood
- Vitamin B6: Chicken, Beef
- Vitamin B12: Pork, Beef, Fish/Seafood
- Phosphorus: Chicken
- Zinc: Pork
Do you see what I see? Since we ate a balanced diet all around– omitting pork, beef, and fish– it still meant we were completely missing three of the best sources for B12! In the same way that we need a variety of vegetables for all their nutrients, we need a variety of meats!
HOW DOES BUTCHERBOX WORK?
If you’ve never heard of ButcherBox before, let me give you the chips and salsa version:
- ButcherBox is a meat delivery service. They are neither a farm nor an online grocery store. Instead, they work with a group of family farms and cooperatives in order to bring grass-fed beef, heritage breed pasture-raised pork, organic chicken, and wild-caught seafood to your front door every month.
- When you join, you choose the type of box you want to get:
- Mixed Box
- Beef & Pork Box
- Beef & Chicken Box
- All Beef Box
- Custom Box that lets you choose specifically what cuts of meat you want each month.
- Choose between two box sizes: Classic Box (9-14 lbs of meat for about 24 meals) or Big Box (18-26 lbs of meat for about 48 meals).
- You can change your order each month, so you’re never locked into one type of box.
- Throw in any add-ons if you’d like (an add-on would be a one-off item, like a package of uncured sugar-free bacon or 1 pound of boneless pork chops, or even seasonal items like ham for Easter or corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day!).
You choose what package of meat you’d like, the frequency (how often) you want the box delivered (either every month or every other month), and then choose any add-ons if you’d like.
Read more about how Butcher Box works and pricing on their website.
HOW MUCH DOES BUTCHERBOX COST?
If you check out their site, Butcher Box prices their boxes by meals, where 6oz equals one meal. This makes their pricing look a little different than the per pound price I’m sharing here. Some families eat more meat per meal, and some eat less. Keep this in mind as you decide whether or not Butcher Box is right for you!
This is a frugal food blog, and no honest ButcherBox review can get away without discussing the numbers.
- The Classic Box is $149 (9-14lbs of meat with an average of $10.64 to $16.55 per pound.)
- The Big Box is $270 (18-26lbs of meat with an average of $10.38 to $15 per pound.)
Yes, I know this sounds pricey. $11-16 for ONE pound of meat is nothing to scoff at, especially when you’re struggling to pay the bills AND put food on the table. However, it is VERY possible to eat healthy food without going broke. My family and I are living proof, and that’s why I started this blog.
Your own real food priorities might not include organic grass fed beef. Right now, you may be looking for the cheapest cuts of chicken you can possibly find. And that’s okay.
To learn how my family affords Butcher Box on a budget, read this post. I dig into how I can make my meat cost $10 per pound or LESS from ButcherBox. For example, choose larger cuts of meat (like whole chicken over boneless skinless chicken breast). Or join when their sign on offer is something you’ll use most (like free bacon, free ground beef, or free NY Strips).
A few other things to note:
- Butcherbox always offers free shipping.
- You can choose a monthly subscription or every other month.
- If you’re still working through your last box, you can delay your subscription by one month.
- You can cancel your subscription at any time.
- Their customer service is SUPER helpful and happy to address any issues you may have.
If you’re ready to jump in, click this link to claim the current ButcherBox Crumbs exclusive offer!
THE QUALITY OF BUTCHER BOX MEAT
Butcher Box meats fall into three main categories – beef, chicken, and pork – to bring you the very best. The quality of the meat is pretty impressive, if I do say so myself!
- 100% Grass-fed and Grass-finished Beef. The cattle are humanely raised, live their entire life on pasture, and are never given antibiotics or hormones. They eat a natural diet of grass, and they may be given silage or hay if the weather prevents them from grazing.
- Organic and Free-Range Chicken. The free-range birds spend most of their lives foraging in the field with plenty of room to move around and interact with other chickens. Thanks to all this exercise, these birds will naturally be leaner than conventional chicken.
- Heritage Breed Pork. The breeds of pork that Butcher Box sources have been specifically chosen for their rich color and marbled texture. There is no tail docking, and the animals are either on pasture or raised in open barns with bedding and space to engage in natural behaviors as if they were outside.
We think their ground beef, rib-eyes, top sirloin, NY strip, pork loin, and pork chops are absolutely amazing. They have THE BEST pork chops you will ever taste in your entire life. Every time I make them, I think that they’re worth the entire subscription alone! But since we’ve been Butcher Box subscribers for a few years now, I’ve also been able to try a few new cuts of higher quality meat:
- Salmon. Their wild salmon comes in 2-pound bags, with several pre-cut filets inside. Both my son and I LOVE salmon, so the two of us made a simple sheet pan-style dinner. Very tender and flavorful and we both wished we had made more so we could have seconds!
- Lamb Roast. The lamb roast was so, so good…incredibly tender, absolutely delicious, and the one roast was WAY MORE than enough for the four of us. We had so much leftover that I froze it, and we enjoyed lamb tacos for many, many nights!
- Turkey. I was super nervous to cook the Thanksgiving turkey last year, partly because I had never done it before, but also because I didn’t want to screw up cooking a pastured turkey! I followed a tried-and-true recipe and my husband’s entire family raved about how delicious the turkey was. And I admit, it was some of THE BEST turkey I’ve ever had!
- Ribs. My husband was a skeptic about their ribs and thought they couldn’t be better than the ribs we buy from Costco. Butcher Box proved him wrong! I’ve used the ribs from Butcher Box to create my Slow Cooker Ribs recipe, and they turn out perfect every single time.
- Ground Pork. I’ve heard from several people that finding natural, humanely raised ground pork locally is hard, but I don’t have that issue now that Butcher Box offers it in their monthly boxes! Nine times out of ten, we use the ground pork to make Homemade Breakfast Sausage. The 10th time we make Egg Roll in a Bowl and chow down on that!
After our first few boxes, my husband and I both agreed that if were able to make it work with our budget, we’d definitely consider Butcher Box to source our meat. I decided I’d focus on beef and pork since I can get good deals on organic chicken locally. And we figured out how to make it fit into our budget!
DOES BUTCHER BOX MEAT TASTE GOOD?
This is probably the most important question of all the Butcher Box reviews: but does the Butcher Box meat actually taste good?
The beef and pork from ButcherBox are absolutely delicious. I’ve purchased “natural” pork from the grocery store and every time it was tough and chewy. The pork from Butcher Box was nothing like that. Every pork chop was beyond tender, and it made me wonder why we didn’t eat pork more often!
Eating the steaks felt like a huge splurge for us since we don’t eat whole steaks at home often. We split two steaks for dinner to help stretch the meat, but they were so good that both Mr. Crumbs and I wished we had a whole steak to ourselves!
These same thoughts run through my head every time we try their meat…we’ve had their ground beef, rib-eyes, top sirloin, NY strip, pork loin, pork chops, and salmon. Every time, it has been very, very good. The whole chicken was also good, but because we’re committed to buying organic chicken anyway, we didn’t notice much of a difference.
BUTCHER BOX REVIEWS: THINGS I LIKE ABOUT BUTCHERBOX
A few things have changed since I shared my original review, but they’re for the better, making ButcherBox one of the best companies I’ve worked with.
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR MONTHLY BOX CATEGORY
You now have the option to change your monthly box. I don’t know if I missed this initially, but when I reached out to Butcher Box and asked them to put one month on hold because I had beef coming out of my ears, they told me I could switch my box to something else!
This is perfect for keeping our freezer stocked with grass-fed beef, organic chicken, and heritage breed pork. I can balance our monthly grocery budget AND the need for more or less meat, depending on what’s going on in any given month.
CLASSIC BOX AND CUSTOM BOX COST THE SAME
The Classic Box is the same price as the Custom Box. The Classic Box used to cost $20 less than the Custom Box. At first glance, you might see this as a negative. I see this as a HUGE positive! That means that you can pick and choose the exact cuts of meat you want without having to pay more to do it!
A custom curated box is perfect for picky eaters (like my husband). Or for when you need a specific cut for your meal plan. This is one of the key elements to make ButcherBox worth the cost!
YOU GET AN EMAIL ABOUT YOUR SHIPMENT BEFORE IT’S PROCESSED.
I LOVE getting an email at the end of each month reminding me about my order that’s about to process. This gives me a chance to check my freezer to see what I’m low on, to check my meal plan to see what I need and to check my family calendar to see what upcoming guests or parties we have planned. I can log in on my own, update my order, and then have everything I need when it arrives on my doorstep.
THE PACKAGING HAS CHANGED, AND IT WORKS!
Getting high quality meat from point A to point B WITHOUT sacrificing the quality or integrity of the meat can be a challenge. Butcher Box has stepped up to the plate! While the insulated bags they originally used were cute, they didn’t always get the job done.
Instead, they switched to insulated boxes, so when you open the box, the entire box is insulated with 1” thick material. On top of that, there is a significant amount of dry ice inside that insulation so that your meat arrives cold and safe, according to FDA standards. Even with the old packaging, my meat has never arrived completely thawed.
However, the new packaging means my meat is rock solid frozen, every time!
BUTCHERBOX HAS UPPED THEIR GAME IN EDUCATION
As you can imagine, there are a lot of rumors and misinformation when it comes to meat and temperatures and safety concerns. For example:
- It is perfectly safe to refreeze food that has been thawed in the refrigerator, WITHOUT cooking it first.
- If food is partly frozen, as cold as if it were in a refrigerator (40 °F), and still has ice crystals, it is safe to refreeze or use!
You may have heard otherwise from your grandmother, but it’s simply not true! I love that ButcherBox has taken the initiative to educate their customers on what is considered safe and not safe, according to FDA standards.
They now send a super helpful infographic each month via email after your order processes. There’s also an insert in your actual monthly delivery.
BUTCHERBOX HAS INVESTED IN CUSTOMER SERVICE
I know first-hand how important customer service is, and that’s why I personally brought YOUR concerns to ButcherBox last year. In turn, they hired a new customer service manager and drastically reduced response time.
Your concerns trickled up the chain, too. They’re planning to open two new distribution centers to help reduce transit time for hard-to-reach states.
I know that companies are run by humans and humans make mistakes, but I love that ButcherBox isn’t sweeping them under the rug. They acknowledge them and make plans to fix them in the best interest of the customer. I’m not sure if customer service gets any better than that!
IS BUTCHER BOX A GOOD DEAL?
I’ll be the first to admit that ButcherBox isn’t for everyone. Depending on where you are in this season, you might not be concerned about quality. Or perhaps you’re working on health issues and quality now tops the list of priorities. It’s entirely up to you, but I hope this Butcher Box review helps if you feel on the fence.
BUTCHERBOX IS GOOD FOR THOSE WHO…
- Are concerned about the quality of the meat they’re eating. Quality is extremely important to ButcherBox, so that’s what they’re going to give you.
- Cannot find a local source for grass-fed beef, pastured pork, and/or organic chicken. I have friends who live nowhere near a farm and have very limited grocery store options as it is. For them, ButcherBox is a blessing because they wouldn’t have access to this quality of meat otherwise!
- Enjoy having someone else shop for them. Not everyone enjoys grocery shopping and with a ButcherBox subscription, you can eliminate “meat” from your list every single month.
- Enjoy nicer cuts of meat. Your monthly subscription will by default include cuts of meat you likely wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise – that’s a good thing!
BUTCHERBOX IS NOT GOOD FOR THOSE WHO…
- Can get grass-fed beef, pastured pork, and organic chicken from a local source. I can consistently get grass-fed ground beef from Costco for $4.99/lb. I can even find it marked down to $3.99 at Kroger or Walmart! But I have never seen any other cuts of grass-fed beef in local grocery stores.
- Need to be more focused on the budget rather than the quality of meat. Everyone will be in this season at some point in time and there’s no way around it. If you are not in a place to financially afford ButcherBox, then say no for right now.
- Like to know exactly what they’re getting every month. If you’re particular about the meat you need for your meal plan, this might not be a good fit UNLESS you choose the Custom Box.
IS BUTCHERBOX WORTH IT?
I personally am a VERY happy and satisfied customer and have been for quite some time now. If you’re looking for high quality beef, pork, and chicken, I highly encourage you to give ButcherBox a try!
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I’ve received a few Butcherbox shipments and I am overall very satisfied.
There have been a few mishaps with missing items or broken seals, but they have been great about replacements.
PAY ATTENTION TO HOW YOU ORDER THOUGH! I select my own cuts every time, and find that the cost can be anywhere from $4.09/lb (for the 5 1/2 lb bone-in pork butt) to $36/lb (for the 10 oz bacon). It is often cheaper to buy a cut as an add-on instead of in the box. For example, the breakfast sausage is $9/lb as an add-on, but works out to over $22/lb as part of the box.
The only other issue I have had is that the roasts can be underweight. The shoulder roast is listed as 3 lbs, but the two times I ordered it in my box they were under 2 1/2 lbs.
They seem to be out of chicken at the moment. Hopefully that will change because I love the chicken wings!
Can you give me information on their processing and packing process?
Hi Elizabeth!
For information on their specific processing/packing processes, perhaps you can read about their sourcing on this page from their website. https://www.butcherbox.com/sourcing/ It might help answer your questions about processing. Otherwise free to call their customer service with specific questions on their processes, if the website doesn’t answer your questions. They have always been super friendly when contacting them. Thank you for your comment. I hope this helps. 🙂
Steaks at my local grocery are about $11/6oz, as organic. They are grass fed, not grass finished. The store can sometimes have 1 on hand and sometimes have 10 on hand. You just don’t know till you get there. Their ground beef is anywhere from 4.99/lb to 8.99/lb depending on what brand and if I get the grass finished one, or the organic+grass fed + grass finished one. We will sometimes get Costco or Sam’s/Walmart ground beef at about $5.99/lb, but what they have on hand varies as well. My husband is paid once a month, so what we used to do before we tried Butcher Box was to make a huge shopping trip to Sam’s (close, less organic items) or Costco (1 hour away, and honestly this amounted to an all-day adventure.) So, this is the setting for my experience! Living in sunny central Florida, an hour one way to get to Costco or Whole Foods has meant some meat doesn’t make it home in time.
In Fall 2019, we gave BB a try. They had a deal where if you start with said special offer, you got “free wings for life.” I ordered the Custom Box because one thing I did not like when I did a coop share with someone was not knowing what meat we would get. One time it was all ground beef and soup bones, with one roast. It didn’t feel right that I spent $250 for that! Everything was wrapped in paper and hard to know what I was cooking before I unwrapped it.
The Custom Box from BB is what we ordered so I would know exactly what we were getting and I could price it out. BB price was about $11/lb for a steak, which is what I pay already at my regular grocery. The price of the organic chicken is higher than my Costco price, however. Therefore, the first couple boxes I ordered from BB were just steaks, and my free wings for life.
At the time I was splitting one 6 oz between my two kids, and eating what they couldn’t finish. Since then, we’ve upped that to 2 steaks between the three of us.
A few years back, we had experience with organic mail order steaks from Sam’s – which they since have not had – and they were tough. We ate them and ordered them again without complaint, but the steaks from BB have not been like that. They have been great. And though they contain some gristle, it is not a lot.
The part that makes BB doable is for me, I can get the meat I want all at one time, delivered. Trying to get all our meat once a month is a chore. Trying to budget the money to last a month and do 4 grocery trips, has been impossible. So once a month is what we are used to, and delivered makes it perfect. I am fairly sure I would not keep the subscription at all if we could not select the meats for the subscription.
We stopped eating pork for the most part, so I cannot comment on that. The wing packages have been good as far as taste, but I feel like the size of the package is not perfect. One package of wings (cut like buffalo wing drummettes) doesn’t feed both of my teens, but two packages seemed like way too much.
One of the months I went to order from BB, they were having an add-on deal that was “add free beef for life” and another month the deal was “add free drumsticks for life.” Basically it’s like a reward program for continuing subscribers, because the deals they are offering make the price of the meat drop considerably when you do the math.
I feel the Custom Box is the way to go, because you have control of what is in the box, and whoever is packing it on their end knows “12 steaks, 12 ground beef, 6 wings” or whatever.
Changing the box ship date is easy, and we have had to do this a couple times to fit the pay schedule. My husband’s pay is monthly, but not always the same day, so for instance this month we can pay for our box on the 25th but next month it may be the 30th. The only trouble we had with changing the ship date was that it is not like Amazon where you can make a change/mistake, and change it back. When I changed it to “March 6” from “Feb 28,” and my husband said “no, change it to March 3” it was too late. I could only go forward after the first change. I am just noting this to save other people the hassle and also to let you know that it’s not just about “skipping a month,” but that you can move that date around a lot, where some subscriptions I have used are set for a specific day and not easily changed on a website.
When I had a question, I used the chat feature on the site, and the CSR was polite and helpful. No issues.
I really feel DWTC gave an excellent review, and only came to post my experience to let people know we have had virtually the same experience and why it works for us.
TLC,
Thank you for sharing your experience! 🙂
This is our first week buying only quality, organic meat and diving into the Paleo mindset that ingredient sourcing matters! Your review was extremely helpful and we ordered our first butcher box. That, plus costco allowed us to buy almost exclusively organic…but the price difference is a bit overwhelming still! I know it’s worth it, but dang, lol.
Hi Kristyna! The cost can take your breath away, but there are SO MANY other ways to save money (in DIY beauty, skincare, on pantry items, etc) that it makes meat a bit more affordable.
This was an EXCELLENT review, so thorough. THANK YOU! …. I literally just stumbled across this brand from a social media influencer I follow, and thought I’d look into it. I’m a single family household. I primarily eat seafood , but will eat pork and beef as well. I’m trying to decide if this is really worth it for me. I work my a Whole Foods, and there is always Krogers… LOL.. I also go to our local Market occasionally. I have to really think about this one LOL. It’s probably NOT necessary for me..
I really liked the first shipment. All of the beef was very tender. In subsequent shipments I’ve found the meat is much tougher and poorer quality cuts, so I switched to custom box to avoid the cheap cuts.
Hello,
I am writing again because I complained about the customer service on this feed. Then a week later they reached out to make it right. It is important for me to speak truth and I want to acknowledge that they went above and beyond to repair the situation and I retract any previous articulated frustration.
SVS??
A type of cooking device. Sous Vide Supreme
I have not bought from BB yet..I grew up on a farm where we grew our own beef, pork, chicken, lambs and veges. everything was natural..I believe in todays world you all call it organic, grass fed, cage free.. we also butchered all our animals on our farm. My question is what is BB’s process after animals are butchered? How long after animals are butchered does it get into hands of BB to ship out to clients..
SO what is the process from the time the animal is slaughtered till it gets to BB to send to clients?
I have gotten 4 shipments of BB meats so far (one every 2 months). I opted for the custom box, since I like variety. Overall, the meat has been excellent, with the exception of the sirloin tips, which I found to be too small for my intended purpose. The flat iron steaks and the filet mignons were tasty and tender, as were the pork butt and tenderloin. Their organic whole chickens are on the small side, but very tender and flavorful. I tried the ground beef in shipment 1, but like you, can find grass fed cheaper in local markets. In one shipment, some of the ground turkey arrived thawed, and upon contacting BB, they issued me a credit toward my next shipment. I like their bacon too, and took advantage of a special offer to pay for 2 packs once and then receive free bacon “for life”. Although I can find grass fed meats at some local farms, I like the convenience of having a supply of good-quality meat arrive on my doorstep too. I would recommend anyone giving BB a try.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Corinne!
I just ordered my first custom box and the offer now is a free turkey and bacon! Even if I cancel, the turkey nets a pretty good deal.
I have a co-op and whole foods near me where I can get decent cuts of meat and bacon for prob less (if I stock up on sales).
I have been really wanting to try this box for a while! I hope it lives up to what everyone is saying!
Thanks for this post, very helpful!!
Great snag on that turkey and bacon, Ryan!!
My husband and I have been getting Butcher Boxes for over a year and a half now and every single item in every box has been frozen solid (even after sitting in the Texas heat for a while sometimes) and every item has been correct and tasted amazing. We mostly just get steaks (and free bacon) because I think it’s worth it even if it is slightly more than buying at a store because we know they’ll always be good. We’ve gotten chicken a few times but it is more expensive and there’s not as much difference there.
We haven’t had a chance to see what their customer service is like until now. Apparently our last box was either stolen off of our porch or not delivered, even though it says it was. I contacted Butcher Box on Saturday through a form on their website and haven’t received a response yet. If it was stolen I’m not sure what BB will do but hopefully I’ll find out soon!
Just wanted to follow up. I didn’t get a response so I contacted Butcher Box again through their online chat thing, and they replaced the missing box for free! The customer service rep was super helpful and friendly and we had a new box in less than a week. 🙂
Awesome news, Elizabeth! I’m so glad they got you taken care of. 🙂
I’ve been very happy with my butcherboxes so far. I’ve received 2 boxes now. The meat is very good. I even had someone that we had over for dinner ask where we got the meat because it tasted so good. Although my last box had a pork butt roast that was mostly fat and was not good. I complained to customer service and they were very nice and prompt in their reply. They said they would send a free replacement in my next box. Also I’ve discovered that every month they have member deals that you can choose to add to your box. The deals are pretty good and make the total per pound cost a little better.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Colleen!
We tried BB for the first time this summer and our first mixed box came cold but some of the meats were thawed. I even had a busted open piece of chicken breast. I was very upset and contact CS. CS was responsive but not helpful and refunded me what I expected of them. I did not like the way they communicated with me though, the responses sounded canned and almost like they didn’t understand. I almost cancelled but gave them another chance and 6 weeks later we got another box well over $200 with bundles and deals. I originally signed up with free bacon and I like they have a chance to get “free for life” to pay one time. So with every box we now get a free bacon and WINGS. I think that’s pretty awesome. The meat was frozen well this time especially in this 100 degree Alabama heat. I expressed my concerns to them and a few other things and they always say they take note.
Thanks for sharing your experience Julia! I’ve been with BB for over a year now, and have noticed that their packaging has consistently gotten better and better. Fighting tremendous heat while transporting frozen goods is a tough challenge to overcome!
How are the animals harvested? The way the animals are fed, raised and harvested are very important to me as well.
Feel free to reach out to BB to get additional details Keri!
What “GRADE” is the Beef? There are three Grades of Beef from which to choose. They are “PRIME,” “CHOICE” and “SELECT.” Which GRADE is the Beef from Butcher Box?
I would guess choice. My steaks aren’t marbled enough to be prime and they’re not tough off the fire like select. Just a guess though.
Great customer service, but I got 2 boxes in a row with no ice (melted) and completely thawed meat and salmon (which BB says to not thaw in bag). I used a thermometer and everything in the box was between 48-54 degrees. My chicken was leaking on other packages. Two full boxes went to the trash. I loved the ease and the meat tasted great but ultimately canceled my subscription b/c I need to trust that what comes to me will be safe.
Hi Jacqueline! BB ships my packages in dry ice, which is SUPPOSED to melt along the way. I’m not sure what the temperature is supposed to be on the meat offhand, but I know that it doesn’t have to be frozen. I’m sorry you weren’t pleased with your subscription!
I love the idea of butcher box being grass fed and have gotten probably 6-7 boxes now. no complaint on the chicken or pork, unfortunately most of the non-burger beef has a liver aftertaste which makes it unenjoyable. Anyone else have this issue?
I personally haven’t Tonya. Do you think it’s because it’s grass-fed, and not grain-fed?
Yes, you’re correct, but it’s not “liver.” That’s the taste of the grass finishing. I prefer the taste of grain finished beef for this reason, and apparently you do too– BUT I also eat lamb, venison, etc. and I am now getting used to the Grass-taste. It’s just different. 🙂 You can disguise/season some of that that out, depending on your preferred cooking methods. Try a light acidic marinade or maybe change your cooking method– e.g., when a Tri-tip hits my smoker… no one tastes the grass! Try grilling it over a hardwood (Oak, hickory, apple, beech, maple…) instead of gas/propane/pan until you get used to the taste. (PSA: Go REAL easy on the lumber if you’re smoking with mesquite or pecan.)
— Nice site with nice posts here. I’ve been a member of BB for almost 2 years now. Never any issues. Only once did they not communicate a change in my order due to a stock issue and when I called, they explained and apologized with a minor credit. That was this year around the beginning of the summer.
I never have any issues with meat thawing on me, while outdoors waiting for me to come home, even in Summer, but I’m in New England. Speaking only for myself, I won’t buy their chicken, unless it’s offered in a deal. I think that, like many, the cost can’t be easily justified, so I do custom boxes and it’s almost all beef. (As I said, I’m getting used to the grass finishing!) I’m not an ‘organic’ guy, and price matters, but I appreciate BB for the variety, the member deals, and the quality. Beef is how I justify the cost for my family. Otherwise, I’d go to my local butcher.
Hi Tiffany,
We absolutely love Butcher Box, and have been subscribers for about a year. We love the quality and believe that it is well worth the cost. We purchase the Custom big box, every 2 months. As for customer service, I have never experienced any problem. I called about a package of beef that had been cut it torn, and they added a replacement to my next box, no questions asked. It also happened with a package of pork chops, with the the same resolution. Whenever I have called with questions, the CSRs have been friendly and helpful. I’m glad to see BB on your blog (which I love), and will definitely continue my subscription & recommend BB to others. Thanks for providing honest reviews!
You’re most welcome Lori! I’m happy to hear you love their service as much as I do!
Thanks for all of the helpful info. Currently researching Butcher Box, so this is good to read (Post and comments). One question: Is “grass fed”, “grass finished” beef better than “grass fed Organic beef”? I am noticing that it doesn’t say “organic” on the Butcher box beef, and that is what I currently buy, so wondering the difference. Thank you!
Hi Jill! “Grass-fed, grass-finished” is not necessarily better than “grass-fed organic beef,” it’s just a big more descriptive. All grass-fed beef is finished someway, either grass-finished or grain-finished. Grass-finished is preferred, but again, not necessarily better (as some people like the marbling that grain-finished beef offers).
The term “organic” means that EVERYTHING about the animal follows FDA organic guidelines, including the feed. So if a label says “grass-fed organic beef,” I would think that the animal is primarily fed grass, but could be finished or supplemented with grain (that would be certified organic grain). It becomes a personal decision, really. A grass-fed animal might never be fed grain, and in that case, an organic certification wouldn’t mean much. If there’s a farmer down the road who raises cattle, he likely doesn’t have the organic certification but his animals would likely be far better quality than most. Also consider, that organic beef can be cattle that are in pens their entire lives without ever seeing daylight. And as long as their feed is organic, they’d be labeled as “organic” beef in the store.
Just got our first box yesterday – beef and chicken – and had the 2 ribeyes tonight. I found the website not too user friendly as I couldn’t figure out what I would be getting in the boxes. I don’t have time to run around town looking for the best meats and usually just settle for grocery store meat. Have been very unsatisfied with that. I decided to take a leap and try BB. I think I got free beef tips and free bacon. The box came about mid-morning and my husband took it inside but did not open it. I opened it after work about 5:30. The dry ice was gone but everything was mostly frozen except the bacon. One small end of one steak had thawed so that’s why we had that tonight. Next time I will have him put it right in the freezer. I changed my subscription to every other month so that I can try all this before I order again. It is more expensive, but I think we will tend to not waste as much, and it has given me incentive to try new recipes. And we don’t eat meat every night, so I can make this stretch. I have enough chicken legs, thighs and breasts now to last us awhile, and the next box will be beef and pork. I went to the grocery store tonight and was amazed I didn’t have to go down the meat aisle. A good feeling! As far as the ribeyes, we were unable to grill them outside, so I fixed them on the stove in a cast iron pan. They were thicker than what I normally buy so probably would have been better on the grill tender-wise, but the taste was excellent. I wish I had read this blog when I was trying to find my way through their website. It would have answered a lot of my questions!
I’m glad you found us anyway, Rosanne! And remember that meat just has to be cold to the touch, not necessarily frozen, to be considered “good.” The FDA even says that once food is thawed in the fridge, it can be refrozen without having to cook it.
“the website not too user friendly as I couldn’t figure out what I would be getting in the boxes. ”
I found the secret … well, the C.S. TOLD me the secret!
I had emailed C.S. that the list on the account page show only the total and no details So, my next order on the account page (night-before-last) showed: $149 for the custom box, no add-ons, my 2 burger-packs for the lifetime ($0), and $45 for specials. Hmmm. I had just added the scallops for $20… what was the “extra” $25?
Wrote C.S. and asked how/where I could find out WHAT I had added but didn’t remember adding? Here’s the secret:
Tippy-top right-hand corner on your account page (and maybe elsewhere, I didn’t look) there’s a picture of a red box. Click that, and your next order slides out from the right-hand margin, showing what your next box will include. (Couple months ago, I had added something called a burger-bundle. Asked the C.S. how I find out what is IN the burger bundle; it’s no longer listed anywhere/anymore… S’pose I don’t CARE, it fer shure won’t go to waste — but it would be nice to know…)
I DID also point out that the site is agonizingly S.L.O.W.!!! 6-10 SECONDS to load a page?! EEK! C.S. didn’t answer about that comment; but I doubt they don’t already know!