Kosher Blog

Not with Meal Mart/Alle, but I have experience with Aarons (Rubashkins) which is increasingly available nationally (they are a Lubavitch operation in Iowa), certified OU Glatt. I found their meat to be substandard. Every time I have purchased it, the meat appears to be full of water - either from excessive soaking, or perhaps as a way of inflating the weight (though I’d prefer to give the benefit of the doubt). The meat does not brown, it sort of greys and shrinks considerably. Also, tough and little taste. I had a similar problem with Zalmans (Star-K) purchased at Stop and Shop. I have never had this problem in meat from butcher shops such as Fischer Bros (Manhattan) or Mazurs (Little Neck). I suspect, they sell a higher grade of meat.What gets me is that retail kosher meat never seems to be graded. Is retail kosher meat USDA Prime, Choice, Select, and Standard or Commercial? Who knows? I don’t buy beef often, but would rather get choice or prime, and I am sure that the national brands noted above are neither. Michael

I’m not sure about other produkts, but "Rubashkin" frozen patties/burgers are the worst ones I have ever had, so is his hot dogs. I wonder if they them self eat that stuff.

We actually had the Rubashkin classic hot dogs yesterday at the BBQ, and we thought they were quite good. What would you recommend as a better tasting glatt option?

Abeles & Heymann make the best Glatt hot dogs hands down. The ones that come in the 16 pack are plumper than the ones in the smaller packs and are the ones to look for. You can get them in the back left corner of the Butcherie.

While we’re on the subject, any opinions on the best spicy (polish/italian) Glatt sausage out there?

I don’t know about Glatt sausage but Abeles & Heymann also make some great smoked beef. It’s the only deli food I’ve found that can challenge the supremacy of pastrami. If only they could put it on a stick…

JEFF’S!!! Now to get them to franchise to this coast

We recently flew on Icelandair, and we had oredered KOSHER meals. Icelandair is not good about ordering KOSHER meals. However one of our meals from Meal Mart wsas a Spanish Omelet and was marked PAREVE. However pakaged with this wasbutter, cheese, chicken & cake with iceing. We will not be going Icelandair in the future as they get all their Kosher fare from Meal Mart. Very disappointed in their quality control.

The best stuff that I have found is from a small company called 999. They ysed to be on thelower east side of NY and moved to Newark NJ a few years ago.

I have had the crap from AARons and Meal mart. They have a captive audience that MUST but their product, but 999 has to compete on flavor and price.

Abeles and Heyman—they havent made stuff in years. They have International make their deli. After the hatchet job that International did on Rabbi Heineman and the Star-k, I would sooner not trust their Kashrus

Meal Mart beef patties (sold frozen four to a box) are disgusting. They don’t even taste like meat. Are they 100% beef?

With all due respect to this blog and it’s honored visitors, I beg to gently differ. Having scrupulously adhered to Atkins for 18 months (health issues aside), I had more than my fair share of red meat.
Meal Mart consistently provided the choicest cuts of French Roast, rib steaks, top-of-the-rib,etc. The gentlemen above are more preoccupied with hot-dogs and burgers, and I-with Atkins’ “all clear”- indulged.
Here too, it’s thumbs up! all the way. This is not to detract from some other high quality brands but the question here is the Meal Mart brand.
I conclude by suggesting that although

I am looking for this Kosher Italian Sausage that I purchased in one of the Super Markets in our area and it was excellent and have never been able to find it again. Can you please help with this? Thank you so much.

We have an Italian sausage from Neshamas at koshergourmetmart.com.

Don’t Abeles & Heymann contain Hydrolized oils? I remember seeing them on the shelf at the local Stop & Shop and passing them over for Aaron’s.

My kids love the Aaron’s cocktail franks, and I see no one else selling cocktail franks either..

My favorite part about Meal Mart, is that it’s Satmar schlita. They make sure that the health of the animals is above general kosher standards, and you can taste the difference. When compared to Aaron Rabushkins, I like them for poultry, but for beef meal mart is the winner.

Have had a problem with a meal mart product….called their corp. office number 3 times this week….left msg for customer service each time…seems that they must filter their phone calls…no call backs thus far and i have been unable to find any info. RE: corp. officers of the company…if anyone can tell me the name of the CEO, etc i would appreciate it…since i have trouble finding the same web site twice, if you would pls email me at FAL18@aol.com with the information i would appreciate it..thank you in advance…btw i do have their phone number but its the names i need..

i own a supermarket in queens new york and i am trying to carry vaccum packed kosher meat such as chop meat and steak like items. is there any company who sells that wholesale. i tried to get in touch with aaron rubashkin but i did not get a respond.

Just had Meal Mart’s “Mon Cuisine” Vegetarian Stuffed Cabbage for dinner for the first time tonight and it was easily the best frozen dinner I’ve ever had. It actually tasted like the real thing, but had only 220 calories and 260 mg sodium in the whole 10 oz. pkg. Have never tried any of their meats, but this item’s a real winner !

Have just found this blog and read but a few comments regarding “Meal Mart”. One early remark has given me pause regarding the kashrut of the slaughterhouse that was used. Would anyone please clarify the situation for me?

Yet, I can safely say that the packaged Pastrami and Corned Beef from Meal Mart is far, far superior to the people from Pottsville IA.

Wishing you all a Chag Samayach,

Norman (The Nosher) Kabak

Having done work for Meal Mart Alle Processing for years I will tell you that the place is a big rambling pit. The people are the rudest and sleeziest people I have ever dealt with and there has been some worthy competition. This particular company has literally made me not want to eat animals ( meat) because I came to know that the people who profit from their slaughter are more than likely inferior to the animals themselves. If you knew what I did It think you may feel the same way.

Meal Mart puts out the best chopmeat I have ate. I find it is not easy to find in Shop Rite where I shop all the time. I even spoke to the butcher there and told him that this is the best and that’s what they should carry. He informed me that the dealer they deal with only sends what they have and he has to accept it. I refuse to buy any other brand. Please tell me where I can get your products? Is there any store around my area that would carry your products solely? I live in Stratford, CT which is between Bridgeport and New Haven. Thank you in advance. Sylvia

i lived in paris for many years and had excellent quality kosher meat. some imported from israel such as yarden and hod laven smoked turkey breast.
also delicious kosher sausages sephardic style. kosher or “cacher” meat was available all around, in some supermarkets such as the franprix chain. also there are many kosher butcher shops because the french jews (primarily of sephardic origin) eat kosher meat more than non- orthodox american jews do.

no i am living in upstate new york north of albany. the only time i can eat meat is when it comes from colonie about one hour south. having a burger is a “big deal”. if you hide it in a roll and put on plenty of catsup, that will disguise the taste of just about anything, unless it is
rotten (i mean expired). kol tov.

I do not know what planet on which these commentators live on but I have considered Meal Mart to be the mass-processed Kosher meat of the highest quality and taste. I love their hamburger meat which I have found to be tasty, dense, lean and thick and I love their pastrami and corned beef.

Meat Mart retail pack meats are grass fed. This makes a big difference in our health with regards to CLA and its role in preventing heart disease. I use Meal Mart ground and stew meat exclusively, the rib steak and minute steaks are too expensive for our family.

I buy the Italian sausage at Passover time because they are without corn syrup. I try to stock up. The 999 kosher sausage are the best, we have always loved them, but they are hard to get in South Florida. Kosher Kingdom does have them though.

I happen to think that Meal Mart’s grass fed meats are delicious, you have to marinate them and slow cook them like our mothers and grandmothers did. But just think, meat is muscle, would you rather eat from a flabby, mushy cow or from a healthy, grass fed muscle bound one??

BS”D

One may indeed find grass fed beef to be a better source of CLA than grain fed, but is that a good thing? Quoting Wikipedia:

“Possible Side Effects
There are concerns that the use of CLA may actually cause insulin resistance, leading to an increased risk for developing diabetes.[5]. [2]

A recent study (2006) conducted in mice by the US Department of Agriculture gives account of some highly concerning effects of CLA: it can dramatically induce essential fatty acid redistribution (DHA and AA) in various organ tissues. The same study raises the concern that it might pose significant risks, especially regarding cardiovascular health and inflammatory diseases. DHA content in heart tissue for instance was found to be reduced by no less than 25% by certain CLA isomers, while spleen DHA increased 6-fold and spleen AA was reduced to only 5% of its normal levels in that tissue. [3]. Another study (2005) of CLA supplementation of hatching chicks showed high mortality and low hatchability rate among the CLA-supplemented groups, and also a decrease in brain DHA levels of CLA-incubated chicks. [4]”

So, I think that rather than tout CLA for any possible marginal health improvement, or lambast CLA for any possible marginal decrease in healthfulness, we should just leave well enough alone and concentrate on taste and texture. I really dislike bad science, but even more, I discount people who believe it. You like the taste and the texture, kol hakovod. Personally, I want a healthy animal, but I want tender meat. I’ll typically take quality grain-fed beef.

The best kosher meat for polish sausages, garlic hot dogs, hot dogs, hard and soft salamis, and other cuts of meat, including filet mignon, is Romanian Kosher Meat on Clark Street in Chicago, IL. There is no place that I’ve found to have better meat. They’ve two kinds of pastrami.. and also.. I’ve never had better pastrami anywhere in the continental US.
To be honest, when I visit people in other cities, I’ve often brought them salamis or smoked chicken as a hosting gift and they’re so pleased with it that the next time I come back they ask me to buy for them a meat order and bring it with me to stock their pantries up.

Friends. The posts here are so incredibly unbelievable that there is only one thing that’s for sure. It sounds like the owners and employees of Meal Mart, Rubashkin and other meat companies are having fun Blogging and boring us to sleep.

A&H makes the best hot dogs. As far as reduced fat hot dogs A&H is far & away the best (just as good as regular ones) and the new reduced fat Rubashkin hot dogs are pretty decent (and much cheaper) as well. A&H used to also make bison hot dogs, which were far superior to every other hot dog I have ever eaten (and also relatively low in fat) but I haven’t been able to find them for the past 2 years or so.

As far as hamburgers, Rubashkin’s packaged patties are pretty terrible, but their fresh ground meat is actually quite good. Much better than Zalman’s used to be. I haven’t tried Mealmart ground beef in a while since I prefer lean ground beef.

Rubashkin’s beef cubes are usually pretty decent, and are usually better than Mealmart’s “beef for stew.”

That said, the best meats in general that I have had have come from Gordon & Alperin in Newton, MA. My understanding is that their fresh meat all comes from Alle.

I find the meat coming from Postville, regardles of the branding, is lacking. A&H gets my vote for best dogs and I agree that the bison was great.

where can I buy Aaron’s best (rubashkins) hot dogs in Upper New York state? not the dogs made for passover.

Are you anywhere near Albany? If so, try the Price Chopper in Colonie, on 155.

I had your corned beef for Pesach and everyone thought it was delicious. The storewhere I bought it said they only carried it for Pesach. I checked with the local butcher and another market, but neither had it. Do you distribute it anywhere in the central NJ area?

I just had your Pastrami (1.25 pound package from Costco) after having tried your similarly packaged Corned Beef last week. Both were the absolute WORST cold cuts I have ever had. Both products have thick strips of inedible fat (yellow in the case of the corned beef) running through the middle of each piece. Fortunately I have sharp kitchen scissors and was able to cut the fat out (of course that was a pain and wasted meat). Even more annoying was that somehow this fat managed to be hidden in the packaging so it was not obvious until I opened the packages. Almost as bad, the thick black topping on the pastrami was not the usual spices one would expect — it had a strangely smokey flavor but absolutely no spice.

I have emailed Costco to let them know of my displeasure and suggest that they no longer carry these products. The Sinai Kosher brand that they carried prior to this was FAR superior. I had purchased 2 packages of both products since I was so thrilled to see Costco carrying kosher cold cuts again. I’ll be returning the second packs this weekend. I may return the opened Pastrami and ask for my money back on that too, I’m sure they will give it to me.