Last Updated on December 13, 2018 by Aaron von Frank
This ButcherBox review is 100% independent. We weren’t asked to write it and we’re not being paid to write it.
After signing up for ButcherBox and loving their product/service, we decided to become a ButcherBox “affiliate.” That simply means if someone clicks a ButcherBox link from this website and then signs up, we get a small commission.
As with ads, this is a way for us to get a small measure of compensation for the time and expense we invest in creating articles and operating this website.
Why we care about what we eat
We have no bias in writing this ButcherBox review, other than the fact that we’re highly discerning omnivores who seek out quality foods that we either grow ourselves or source from farmers who share our ethics.
We’re animal lovers who raise heritage breed ducks for egg production, and we also have friends who raise livestock for a living. To say that we’re extremely sensitive about the quality of life that production animals are provided is an understatement.
Our family includes a flock of egg-producing Welsh Harlequin ducks. Ducks, cows, pigs, chickens, and other farm animals are highly social, sentient animals. They deserve to be provided a good life and living conditions that allow them to have a beneficial environmental impact. Interestingly, when these conditions are met, animals can also provide a healthy food source for people.
Our personal experience combined with reading countless peer-reviewed research papers on the environmental and human health impacts on various production models is why we only eat high quality, humanely raised meat from animals raised outdoors on pasture.
We were happy to see yellow fat on the steaks that ButcherBox sent us. This coloration is the result of elevated carotenoid content (precursor to Vitamin A), which the animals get from eating good living forage in the field.
Granted, we don’t eat that much meat – especially compared to the average American – but we make certain that the meat we do eat is of the highest possible quality.
Yes, we’re happy to pay a little more at the point of sale for good food raised right. By doing so, we’re also happy to enjoy good health and reduced healthcare costs.
Why we signed up for ButcherBox
2018 was a tough year for us. The Tyrant was out of town for long periods of time for her mom (who died from cancer early in the year) and be the caretaker for her sister (who recently had a stem cell transplant to beat Hodgkin’s lymphoma).
In addition to my regular work, I’m also in the process of starting a beyond organic farm for Oak Hill Cafe & Farm in Greenville, SC. Although time has been in short supply for The Tyrant and me, neither of us are willing to sacrifice the quality of food we eat.
Sourcing plant-based foods isn’t a problem for us since we grow so much of it ourselves. However, driving to a farmers market, farm, or local grocer to get good meat has become highly inconvenient.
Some of the beautiful heirloom corn varieties we harvested from our summer garden this year. Our garden and Oak Hill Farm both use organic, no-till growing methods.
Thankfully, The Tyrant heard about ButcherBox. After looking into the company’s values and sourcing standards, we decided to give them a try. Getting high quality, ethically-sourced meat delivered to our doorstep seemed like a great fit for our busy lives.
Even though price isn’t our highest priority, the cost of sourcing our meat through ButcherBox is actually a bit lower than what it would cost for us to get meat of comparable quality locally.
ButcherBox review: Customized Plan
ButcherBox has a few different boxes/plans and delivery schedules to choose from.
We chose the customized plan delivered every two months so we could select the exact types and cuts of meat we wanted. ButcherBox also offer signup promotions (which change regularly) which meant they added some great freebies to our box.
Our first ButcherBox!
A week after we signed up, the box arrived.
A peak inside our ButcherBox.
The meat was still perfectly frozen inside the reusable freezer bag, and was very well packaged in dry ice.
The contents of one of our ButcherBoxes.
ButcherBox also provides a nice brochure helping you understand why their quality standards matter, and giving you cooking tips, recipes, and more.
The table of contents in the ButcherBox booklet. There was tons of good information in here. ButcherBox also has lots of good recipes on their website.
ButcherBox in the kitchen
Sounds great. Looks great. But how does it taste?
Bob von Kitten wants to know what’s inside the ButcherBox. FYI the funny looking collar he’s wearing isn’t a fashion statement, it’s a Birdsbesafe collar that keeps him from killing songbirds when he’s out in our yard.
We found the quality of the meat from ButcherBox to be every bit as good as the high quality, local pastured/organic meats we source locally.
We’ve made some great meals from the meat in our ButcherBox, and can’t wait to share the full recipes with you. Here are a few of the highlights:
Pork Chops:
Cast iron seared pork chops with sage brown butter sauce served with roasted Pink Lady apples, shallots, and chestnuts.
Pork chops with caramelized onions, roasted root veggies, braised rutabaga leaves, and creamed black Incan corn with sun-dried tomatoes.
Steak:
New York Strip with caramelized shallots. Sides: lamb’s quarters & hardneck garlic pesto, blistered Shishito peppers, and toasted whole grain wheat-spelt bread with parmesan.
Chicken thighs (we prefer dark meat to white meat):
Oven roasted chicken and root vegetables.
Pork Ribs:
Smoked ribs (we’re southern). We should have smoked these a bit longer for peak flavor, but we ran out of time. They were still dang delicious.
Burger meat:
Grass-fed, grass-finished breadless burger with Sylvetta arugula and oven baked potato fries.
Our ButcherBox review? We give their product and service top marks. If you:
- care about where your food comes from,
- want high quality, humanely raised meats at a good price,
- and need the time-saving convenience of at-home meat delivery,
then ButcherBox will be a great fit for you, as it is for us.
And while we’re experienced in the kitchen and prefer to make up recipes on the fly based on what we grow or forage, the recipes and cooking tips in ButcherBox’s printed brochure and website will be extremely helpful for anyone who needs more guidance.
Also, given that it’s holiday season, you might consider gifting a ButcherBox to your family. Click here to give ButcherBox a try to see if you like it as much as we do, then let us know what you think.
We hope you found this ButcherBox review helpful!
KIGI,
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