Is this meat any good?

500

Saw this cut at my local WalMart. Kroger doesn't carry this cut. Knowing little Spanish or Latin American dishes, I thought I'd throw it to you guys. Carne Picada is beef but what cut?  It looks pretty fatty so Mrs. 500 would say No to it immediately unless I can make some special delicious weekend splurge type dish with it. Willing to cook outside my comfort zone and try new authentic cultural dishes. Thoughts?

DieselkW

Picado means chopped.

Those packages from Walmart are irradiated, to increase shelf life. If you're comfortable with buying Walmart meat, for human consumption, then you can treat it just like any other ground beef.

pgprescott

Can't miss! It says right on the package, tender, juicy, delicious! Guaranteed! 

Looks like something you would simmer in an arbol sauce or something. Add you fixins and assemble on tortilla of your liking. 

Good luck. I'll be watching. 

500

Well y'all don't make it sound that appetizing

DieselkW

Hilarity, "carne picada" directly translates to ground beef, but the word picada (picado depending on gender of the modifier) also translates to "rotten".

• 2. (in a state of decay or fermentation) 
  a. decayed (teeth) 
  En esta clínica, el 80 % de mis pacientes tienen dientes picados.
• In this clinic, 80% of my patients have decayed teeth.

Which is not surprising to find at Walmart. What is surprising is Mexican sourced "meat" in a Virginia Walmart at $5/lb with an expiration date a week in the future. What's the transport time? Just when was this meat ground?

Your original question: "Is this meat any good?" is literally laugh out loud funny.

johnmitchell

Don't know it.. but you might want to cook indirect... Throw the meat out and eat the styrofoam container

500

But it it doesn't have the Radura logo on it, so by FDA standards it must if it is irradiated. 

JohnInCarolina

What's that symbol on there?  I can't quite make it out...

DieselkW

You're right, FDA and USDA agree that irradiated meat has to be labeled as such. (Cattlemen tried to use the phrase: "cold pasteurized" instead but didn't get much support)

I'm very surprised this ground on styrofoam and plastic wrapped has a one week shelf life after shipment without a Radura label. It's required to be on the front, but maybe it was on the bottom?

Doc_Eggerton

While Walmart is not where I shop, this looks just fine and irradiation does nothing harmful to the consumer.  I am surprised it is not vacuum packed.  Maybe it has been repackaged from a larger lot.  That would explain the short expiration date.

500

So now you're making me think twice about buying WalMart meats. Sad because that's the only place I've found whole Packer briskets. Kroger and everywhere else only has flats. Been wanting to smoke a Packer. (Edit: I buy Sam's Club meat all the time, and enjoy it. Never have seen irradiated there and the cuts of beef and pork have been good. )

pgprescott

500 said:

So now you're making me think twice about buying WalMart meats. Sad because that's the only place I've found whole Packer briskets. Kroger and everywhere else only has flats. Been wanting to smoke a Packer. 

I've done Walmart packers. Hit and miss. I bet if you asked the Kroger butcher they could get you packers. 

Darby_Crenshaw

Some day we'll all stop saying "expiration date".  But today is apparently not that day

Focker

Make sure it's leukoreduced too.

blind99

if you're hungry for tacos, heck yeah.  fry it up in your CI pan with some "sazon" and enjoy.

jtcBoynton

DieselkW said:

...
Which is not surprising to find at Walmart. What is surprising is Mexican sourced "meat" in a Virginia Walmart at $5/lb with an expiration date a week in the future. What's the transport time? Just when was this meat ground?
...

What makes you think it was Mexican sourced?  I didn't see any country of origin listed on the package.

Elijah

Walmart used to pack their meat in a gas, nitrogen maybe, that made the meat turn blue.  Then wrap it in impermeable plastic and ship it. When it got to the store they'd take the impermeable layer off and let it turn back to normal color and stock it. 

Speaking of Walmart meat I have a really funny story of how I bought rotten chicken wings a few months back. It made me gag, and I'm not a gagger. I haven't been back for anything since. It reminds me of the smell. 

bhedges1987

I don't buy food from walmart unless it comes in a frozen rectangle box with the words Tombstone and Pizza on it.

DMW

Darby_Crenshaw said:

Some day we'll all stop saying "expiration date".  But today is apparently not that day

I'm a big fan of sell by dates on meat, means I get to buy it for cheap when getting close.
Pick up these beef ribs at Wally World today for $1.76/lb, marked down from $2.94/lb.

BikerBob

Carne Verde is a little out of my comfort zone. Experience with ground beef is short shelf life after grinding.

Bob