Dry aged beef

Meat Market turns back the clock
Published Tuesday July 8th, 2008

Eric Baxter believes the name says it all.

Baxter, who has more than 30 years of meat-cutting and grocery store experience, and his son Justin will soon open Old Fashion Meat Market at 1855 Mountain Rd., in a strip mall next to the NB Liquor outlet in Moncton's north end.

He said yesterday some of the old ways of preparing meats enhance their flavour and it is also time to bring back old-time, courteous customer service. His store should be open in 10 days to two weeks.

Baxter started cutting meat as an 11-year-old at his father's store, Baxter's Red and White Foodmaster in Salisbury. He later spent 22 years working for Sobeys, including six in a store and 16 in the company's headquarters in Stellarton, N.S. He then spent five years as the director of meat, deli and seafood for Co-op Atlantic.

"I've got a lot of experience, and I have a sense of what people are looking for these days," Baxter said.

"I'm lucky to have a good location. This part of Moncton is growing and there are a lot of customers here who are looking for quality."

Old Fashion Meat Market will feature all fresh and frozen, federally-inspected beef, pork and chicken, local lamb and some organic products. Eventually, they will offer their own line of sausages.

The pork and chicken will come from the Maritimes and the beef will be a top-grade brought in from western Canada.

The meat will undergo the dry-aging process, a technique that was used for years, but most operations use wet aging these days.

"It's better for the flavour when it is dry-aged," Baxter explained.

"It gives the meat some time to marbleize and that's when you get the best flavour.

"I'm sure customers will appreciate the extra work we put into the process."