I've had pretty limited experience with halal and kosher meat, and only fairly recently have I begun to try local and/or organic meats.

I have noticed a big difference in the taste of chicken from Polyface and Bell & Evans versus the mass-produced Tysons/Perdue products. Ground lamb from a local farmer was delicious. The halal meat I saw at The Lebanese Butcher (but didn't purchase - yet) looked quite good. The sausages (Italian and breakfast) from Smith Meadows Farm come from pigs that are free-range and all natural and IMHO taste really good. They are also noticeably leaner than say a Jimmy Dean-type product. But then so do/are the sausages from Whole Foods, which are made from pork that are "beyond" natural, according to the WF website.

What have you tried? What differences have you observed in flavor, quality, price, etc.?
And what are the noticeable differences in flavor of Halal/Kosher meat as opposed to meat that is raised/slaughtered using other methods?

One major difference between regular and kosher meat is that kosher meat is soaked and salted to draw out the blood from the meat (eating blood is forbidden). Some people think this makes the meat taste better as if it was brined. I eat kosher meat (at home) and regular meat (at restaurants) and I personally can't taste much of a difference.

I don't know too much about halal meat slaughtering, but according to some, if not most or all, Muslim authorities, kosher meat is treated as halal. So I guess the slaughtering process is similar.

I've noticed the Aaron's Best brand at Trader Joe's. So much for kosher butchers being more ethical/humane.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6071401158.html

This article certainly makes the case that stunning before slaughter may be more humane!

I have found that the Polyface chicken products taste best to me but that I can't tell much of a difference between Bell and Evans and supermarket meats. I tend to season my meat or use it in dishes where the taste difference is probably masked. I also haven't bought supermarket meats in a long time so my memory is also probably getting fuzzy.

I've gotten the halal lamb at the Lebanese Butcher and have always been extremely happy with the quality and taste. I like it better than what WF normally has available for lamb. I sent a friend there to try the kafta, he wanted to buy 10 pounds and they insisted on making him a fresh batch from scratch. He was super impressed, more so when he grilled the kafta.

The pork from Cibola farms is very tasty. I find that the pork flavor is more pronounced than the stuff I get at WF. The buffalo fennel sausage is outstanding, and lean without being too dry, thanks to the addition of some pork.

I find that the prices for the locally raised stuff tends to be just a little higher than what I buy at WF which of course is generally a lot higher than grocery stores. The Lebanese Butchershop prices are very reasonable, maybe even a little less than grocery store prices.

Cibola Farms price list
Smith Meadows price list

We've been trying to eat more local meat this year and have found that our overall grocery bill hasn't changed too much since I've been tending to use smaller quantities of higher quality meat.

Hand-butchered, small farm-raised meat tastes the best (and is the most ethical, for those so concerned). Does anyone know a ranch or farm where you can buy on the hoof?

I've been looking all over for some halal or kosher pork, and I can't find it anywhere.

It's in most bigger stores, right next to the kosher shrimp

Eric

The difference between an animal slaughtered in an industry slaughterhouse vs kosher/halal method ultimately comes down to the amount of stress endured by the creature. When an animal is killed, it’s muscle cells eventually consume all their energy (starch) during which lactic acid is accumulated. The lactic acid eventually slows spoilage by limited enzyme activity and keeps meat more or less...”juicy”.
Stress, however, lowers energy levels in muscles so that when creatures are slaughtered they have less lactic acid and thereupon their meat is more easily deteriorated or spoiled.. Such meat is called “dark meat.” Stress can most easily be defined (in affluent, western society) as a 1 legged Rabbi trying to bring his wife to orgasm during an asskicking seminar.

The more humanely (unknowingly) the creature is killed, the better the meat.
Both Halal and Kosher methods of butchery involve slaughtering the animal individually by severing the jugular, esophagus and trachea in one fell swoop. Many flakes of the PETA variety object to this method because of blabla-blah and whatever.

It is rumored that a Finnish group of rock-n-roll minstrels were told to “unplug”, as their riffs were causing a neighbor’s animals to produce “dark meat” and sour milk. While there is no definitive evidence, it is alleged that Halal herds are soothed by the mellow ballads of Yusuf Islam and that kosher steers savor Steisand lullabies as sung by Grand Funk Railroad.. Studies on the links between heifer’s chocolate milk and Chuck Brown are inconclusive.

As for poultry, Kosher/Halal laws prevent birds from being scalded before the feather are plucked, contrary to the practice in most industrial chicken factory things. Conventionally, chickens/turkeys/whathaveyou take a dip in a hot tub of sorts which loosens all of their feathers and are then plunged into a “cooling tub”, which increased the amount of water retained (as per the label). Air chilled birds have less concentrated moisture and will brown better. Don’t know how the Jews/Muslims slaughter their birds, but once dead their feathers are plucked out and often the skin is damaged. It is my understanding that the Amish who slaughter their “amish” chicken do so in their underwear. It is believed to reduce stress in the chickens.

Ultimately, halal/kosher slaughtered meat may be better ethically/tastewise regardless of your self deprecating nature or fury at Ziggy-esque Muhammad cartoons or your self righteous superiority to both.

A friend of mine was asking why the halal ground beef he saw at a supermarket was a very deep red, almost wine color. Does it have something to do with the slaughtering process? Does anyone know? I'm also curious.

Special question for the experts -- I'm looking for impeccably perfect meat, either beef or lamb -- that is 99.99% safe to eat raw. In other words, if you had to eat it raw, where would you get it?

My moniker is the reason I'm asking.....thanks!

Assuming you are a healthy person who is not immuno-compromised, in theory you could eat beef at the Giant raw if you really wanted to and probably won't get terribly sick. That being said, if I was going to eat beef or lamb raw, I would go to a butcher that I trust in the area- but I don't have one so no recs. As for lamb - there is a guy that sells lamb at the Dupont market on Sundays. His lamb is rather superb - so if I was going to eat some raw lamb for whatever reason, i'd personally trust him. Otherwise, the Lebanese Butcher in Falls Church slaughters his own and his lamb is rather good too.

Pat > for your above question, as far as I know, it depends how it is packaged and what gas they use in the packaging. Depending on the gas and packaging method, you can make beef appear redder or darker.