I was at Peoria in December, 2006.
They take Mastercard and Visa now.
Great pictures, but so much better to be there !

PP has indeed taken cards since the end of 2006. So not exactly years, but at least one year.

G Wiv wrote:

Phil wrote:Call me crazy but how can the products be safe with the customers touching, sneezing, coughing, etc.

Phil,

All customers wear plastic gloves, no meat is touched with bare hands, the room itself it kept at meat locker temperatures and, in my experience, most, if not all, observe the polite convention of not sneezing on other peoples food.

Not to mention that the high heat of cooking meat will kill any naturally occurring or sneezed on creepy crawlies that may exist on the surface of the meat.

Is Peoria Packing still open on Sundays? I have a meat emergency! Last-minute guests tomorrow!

Krasmania wrote:Is Peoria Packing still open on Sundays? I have a meat emergency! Last-minute guests tomorrow!

Peoria Packing opens Sundays at 8am as as does Chicago Meat Market.

Peoria Packing
1300 W. Lake St
Chicago Il
312-738-1800

Chicago Meat Market
3021 N Cicero Ave
Chicago, IL 60641
773-777-7116

Phew! Thanks a million!!

Cathy2 or anyone else who's been to Peoria Packing, how are the prices for lamb cuts, compared to usual grocery store prices?

never been there...but after this thread i would like to visit them and get some meat as my 5th anniversary is on 22nd Feb, and we are expecting many guests this time around!

I've been to Peoria Packing many, many times and have never seen lamb. I might have had tunnel vision on a quest for pork belly or brisket, but that's my recollection...

The best spots for lamb are the halal butchers near Kedzie and Lawrence. They're not "cheap" cheap, but turnover is high and it's very good quality.

For rib chops, loin chops and boneless leg o' lamb, Costco has the very mild flavored Australian (or New Zealand?) lamb pretty much all the time, fwiw. Their prices are pretty much unbeatable.

As an aside, Costco had prime ribeye and New York strip steaks (Oakbrook) yesterday...

mchodera wrote:I've been to Peoria Packing many, many times and have never seen lamb. I might have had tunnel vision on a quest for pork belly or brisket, but that's my recollection...

They certainly do have lamb. Leg of lamb and blade chops for sure.

As you walk into the non-meat locker part of the store. Look left. Lamb is there. Plain as day.

Peoria also has breast of lamb as well.

mchodera wrote:The best spots for lamb are the halal butchers near Kedzie and Lawrence. They're not "cheap" cheap, but turnover is high and it's very good quality.

I completely agree, there are a lot of great butchers in that area. I usually get lamb at Sahar Market II, they have whole goats too.

Sahar II
4829 N Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 583-6098

Thanks for all the tips, re Peoria Packing and other lamb sources. I would like to cook more lamb and don't mind driving to find it, but not if it's going to wind up costing as much as at that local Dominick's.

If I'm not buying boneless lamb leg at Costco or schlepping to Albany Park, I buy it at Marketplace on Oakton (just west of Skokie Blvd.) They usually have leg, shoulder, and chops, and once I asked for veal shanks, which they didn't have but tried to give me lamb shanks instead (which aren't normally on display there). I bet if you asked, you could get other cuts of lamb.

Katie, I'll second Marketplace on Oakton - they always have lamb in their case, and it's usually quite reasonable - but when I'm looking for a lot of lamb specifically, I make a trip to Devon. You can pretty much pick a butcher - they'll have it, it will be inexpensive and usually halal or kosher (depending how close you are to Western or McCormick.) One year we had a craving for lamb on Easter and I hadn't thought of it until the last minute - it was one of those years where Passover and Easter coincide exactly. Because of this, nobody was open...except the little butcher shop I'm pretty sure was Noor Meats, where I got a lovely roast to enjoy that evening.

Noor Meat Market‎
2505 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 274-6667

Cathy2 wrote:The entire room is refrigerator cold. All customers are expected to wear plastic gloves at all times.

LOL!!!

I go in there all the time, and this winter it was so cold outside, that when you walked in the store you warmed up vs. the outside temp.

Phil wrote:Call me crazy but how can the products be safe with the customers touching, sneezing, coughing, etc.

A fairly high percentage of the customers have these same concerns and choose to cook their pork before consuming.

Made my first visit to Peoria Packing on SUnday accompanied by Gwiv. This place was impressive, especially the pork products, and the price on their hot links(10# for $6.99). I didnt purchase anything, just kind of a field trip, but I know I will be heading back to Peoria Packing in the future for some ribs, shoulder, butt, chicken wings, and hot links even though it will require a special trip, and is 70 miles+ from my home.

jimswside wrote:Made my first visit to Peoria Packing on SUnday accompanied by Gwiv. This place was impressive, especially the pork products, and the price on their hot links(10# for $6.99).

Jim,

Fun turning a fellow BBQ man on to Peoria Packing, it truly is a pig products wonderland.

One small note, the 10/lbs for $6.99 is for frozen hot links. Buy one for $6.99 and get one free. The fresh bulk price is, I believe, $1.39/lb.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

jimswside wrote:Made my first visit to Peoria Packing on SUnday accompanied by Gwiv. This place was impressive, especially the pork products, and the price on their hot links(10# for $6.99).

Jim,

Fun turning a fellow BBQ man on to Peoria Packing, it truly is a pig products wonderland.

One small note, the 10/lbs for $6.99 is for frozen hot links. Buy one for $6.99 and get one free. The fresh bulk price is, I believe, $1.39/lb.

Enjoy,
Gary

thanks for the clarifiction on the frozen vs fresh links. also thanks for the impromptu tour.

G Wiv wrote:Jim,

Fun turning a fellow BBQ man on to Peoria Packing, it truly is a pig products wonderland.

One small note, the 10/lbs for $6.99 is for frozen hot links. Buy one for $6.99 and get one free. The fresh bulk price is, I believe, $1.39/lb.

Enjoy,
Gary

Gary - have you had their frozen hot links - it would seem for that price, there would have to be a lot of soy filler since you can't get pork picnic or butts that cheap?

I bought 5 lbs, of frozen hot links Grant Park for $5.00 and they weren't bad - didn't remember if soy was in their ingredients or not.

Looks like its time for another hot links thread.

Regards

Rich

Hi,

I have bought both the fresh and frozen hot links at Peoria. I did not notice any filler nor any tangible difference between the sausages.

Regards,

I just cooked some. No filler. The labels on my boxes had a refreshingly short list of ingredients. I like Peoria's links better than all but BA's/Uncle John's/Grant Park Packing's (all of which are the same or very close). Peoria's are a ton better than Moo & Oink's, to my taste.

PS, I wouldn't be surprised if the sale is to get rid of overstock from the 4th. Maybe they made their money when links were 100% more expensive, a couple of weeks ago when I bought mine. Or maye Peoria just has INSANE pricing. Fireworks are pretty cheap right now too.

Hard to beat those sausages at that price.

JeffB wrote:Or maye Peoria just has INSANE pricing.

They just have insane pricing as that is the day in day out price. In fact I was commenting to Jim that the first time I took advantage of the 2 for the price of one frozen hot links deal at Peoria Packing the price came to $4.99 for 10/lbs, but this was 7-8 years ago.

Muttster wrote:Gary - have you had their frozen hot links - it would seem for that price, there would have to be a lot of soy filler since you can't get pork picnic or butts that cheap?

Muttster,

Yes, sure, I've smoked both fresh and frozen Peoria Packing hot links many a time. I have not noticed a difference in composition, though I differ with JeffB as I think there is a small filler component.

I view the PP hot links the same way I do brisket or pork shoulder, they need to be cooked low and slow to break down connective tissue and render fat. I have pan fried the PP hot links and they render quite a bit of fat and are fairly chewy. 2-3 hours in a smoker is an entirely different story, juicy, mildly spicy, smoky, nice crisp to the case, a really terrific sausage.

Enjoy,
Gary

Great - this will give me an excuse (if one is needed) to go to Excel to get a brisket and then swing by Peoria for those hot links.

Rich

G Wiv wrote:Yes, sure, I've smoked both fresh and frozen Peoria Packing hot links many a time. I have not noticed a difference in composition, though I differ with JeffB as I think there is a small filler component.

I view the PP hot links the same way I do brisket or pork shoulder, they need to be cooked low and slow to break down connective tissue and render fat. I have pan fried the PP hot links and they render quite a bit of fat and are fairly chewy. 2-3 hours in a smoker is an entirely different story, juicy, mildly spicy, smoky, nice crisp to the case, a really terrific sausage.

Enjoy,
Gary

making a much anticipated trip here tomorrow for some hot links(fresh and perhaps a couple boxes of frozen), some ribs(whichever look best), perhaps a pork loin, and pork belly if there is some to be found.

Does anyone know for certain if they carry Morton's Tenderquick?

no tenderquick, but spares for $1.49/lb, chicken wings for $1.89/lb, fresh hot links for $1.59/lb, and buy one get one free frozen hot links. It was my second visit, and first time buying, and I am looking forward to the links, and spares I am doing today for the games.

frozen links:




fresh stash of meat:



My mom, daughter, and wife also loved this place, Shay wanted to pet the pigs heads, and the prices, and selsection wowed my mom and wife on their first visit,

I just read on Yelp that they also have a selection of "exotic" meats like Duck. Is this true?

Eaterlover wrote:I just read on Yelp that they also have a selection of "exotic" meats like Duck. Is this true?

If by selection they mean frozen whole ducks, then yes. Peoria Packing also has turkey, goose and stewing hens, all frozen. The frozen poultry items are not in the main fresh meat area, but in a freezer case across from the deli items in the same room as the cashiers.

Enjoy,
Gary

I just stopped by PPB on Friday and did not find frozen duck--they were out for that day--but I did score two frozen rabbits which I braised in sherry, wine, garlic, and shallots. The rabbit was very lean, cleaned beautifully already, and extremely easy for me to throw into my pot. I'm definitely going back for more (it was too bad that the lamb chops we got were a little fatty and tendon-heavy).