If you do, what brand and why? Taste? quality of the ingredients?
If you don’t, why not?
Just curious.
Sure! We’ll get a pound of turkey or ham at the deli in the supermarket every couple of weeks. I like BlackForest Ham. Usually a good cut of ham from that company. Turkey, it’s usually whatever’s on sale.
Not really, only once or twice in the last year have I purchased sliced meat from the deli counter. I just don’t eat sandwiches at home much, but I do have a great sandwich shop near my office called Birley’s…best turkey sandwich in London!
If you do, what brand and why? Taste? quality of the ingredients?
If you don’t, why not?
Just curious.
You generally get what you pay for with cold cuts, the better quality stuff is the most expensive. Better quality usually equals leaner and less fillers. As far as national brands, most people would agree Boar’s Head is among the best. Most supermarket chains have their own premium brand which is of comparable quality. I would generally not eat anything made by Hormel or Carolina, these are among the cheap and somewhat disgusting cold cuts in my book.
So yes I eat them, but only good ones and I do not eat anything like Bologna or liverwurst. Mostly stick to turkey, lean roast beef, and occasionally I indulge in some pastrami, corned beef or Italian cold cuts (salami, prosciutto or cappicola; I will not eat Mortadella it is like extra fatty bologna).
yoda, that’s the thing…some folks thing BH meats is crap and overpriced. being that they’ve got a monopoly here in Florida (they are the only deli meat at Publix, besides Publix private label), it’s tough to find quality deli meat around here.
a bit of smoked turkey (<2oz), usually either ziggy’s or president’s choice stuff, chopped into an omelette with a heap of veggies about once a month or so for a weekend breakfast.
i figure a small dose of whatever fillers or nitrites they use won’t kill me if prior years of fast food haven’t done so yet.
cheers!
-mistress k
BH or similar quality stuff from the deli case. Usually roasted turkey as everyone in the family likes it. Sliced to order, usually 1/2 lb every other week. We don’t get the pre-packaged stuff, too many fillers and preservatives.
General answer is no. I don’t do processed meat as it contains usually Nitrites…preservatives, most add sugar to it. There are several exceptions to the rule.
Applegate Farms makes organic roasted chicken breast, no processing, it is packaged in a vacum bag. They have several other organic and all natural meats and we do it.
Wellshire farms sells no antibiotic, all natural, no preservatives cuts of several different kind. All good. I do that.
Hormel does the same with some of their products. I don’t do it as often, only in “emergency” ( no time to run to Whole Foods).
Target used to have some all natural cuts, Archer Farms, don’t know if they do.
If the cuts are organic or all natural, no nothing added (sugar, preservatives, nitrites, beef raised with antibiotics is big NO), vacum sealed, than yes and in moderation.
Yes, turkey pastrami and genoa salami
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Yes, honey ham sliced, thin or shaved. I love a ham and swiss.
i am a chef, i work with the meats all the time
the amt of sodium in the “meat” is unreal, same with a lot of processed foods
i’ve been a bit wary of sodium lately, not a good thing to take in on a reg basis
a typical tortilla wrap you get in a restaurant contains 35% of you daily sodium, and is in excess of 350 calories,** just for the actual wrap.**
food for thought, or so they say
.
Trader Joe’s sales nitrate and nitrite free lunch meats.
Wow, it seems like no-one goes to the butcher’s in the US. Is that true of just indicative if this thread? Choosing a good butcher who knows the provence of the meat he sells would take care of all these concerns.
Would you be able to recommend some good brands of deli/lunch meat?
And Subway is allways saying that their food is good, is it? Are there any national chains that are good?
Thanks
jaretj
what he said… x2
i have not looked into the spectrum of what is out there regarding deli meats. like anything, moderation is key. it would be tough to find a processed meat that was not high in sodium, and other assorted unpronounce-ables.
i eat grilled chicken breast, a lot. i am not familiar with the lifestyle of someone who would eat out to lunch often, during the work week and such.
i would say taking matters into your own hands, buying turkey breast on the bone, or lean red meat like top round or flank steak, and roasting/cooking it yourself.
re: subway. yes, generally speaking, eating from them vs. other “fast food” places is certainly less bad, and prob decent. i’m sure their bread has high fructose corn syrup in it, and their meats are processed, including the grilled chicken, but their portions are not overwhelmingly large, and having mustard instead of mayo, lots of veggies, and no cheese on a turk sub is decent in my view.
hope that helps
off to slog through wet buggy trails for 3 hrs
Thanks,
Have fun on the trails 
jaretj
.
Life is too short to eat crap.
My wife does not eat meat at all. I am down to chicken and turkey only. I am not “organic only” but definitely “all natural”. No hormones or nitrates or whatever. This pretty much means no deli meat. I will make exceptions on the road which is rare.
A few years ago, I regularly ate deli meats and decided to get away from them. I started only eating chicken, fish and turkey. Now I slow cook chicken in a spicy barbecue potion I whip up and eat pulled chicken sandwiches with avocado for lunch for the week. When I got away from deli meats generally I felt better. Recently, my wife bought a pound of Boar’s head turkey and ham. Although the meats were very tasty, the next day I noticed that I was dyhydrated due to the amount of sodium. Indeed, it took me the entire day to rehydrate.
Yes! Though absurdly high in sodium, I could be eating alot worse, ya know?
It makes for a quick & tasty meal, and if you buy the higher end brands, you are ideally getting higher quality aka real meat.
I don’t know what they carry by you, but in Chicago there is a brand called Boars Head, that while vastly more expensive than the crap, is delicious.
It has that real meat texture & taste, not the pressed, processed, ‘meat’ of hormel, sara lee, etc…