Meat Processor in Albuquerque

[Cuacopollo]

My son and I were both fortunate enough to both take elk this year. Normally, I process it all myself, but with two, and having to leave town, I gave away the shoulders, processed the backstraps and tenderloins myself and took the 4 hindquarters into a processor, lets say on north 4th street.

I requested mostly hamburger.

A week later, my wife picked it up. It is about 1/4 hamburger, half round steak and a smattering of sausage (not requested), sirloin and .... tenderloin (none taken in!). Although labelled by cut, there was no species label (elk) nor date, so I had to pull it all out to label.

Now, I prefer to do it myself because I take extreme care of the meat, skinning and quartering it out immediately, cooling quickly, keeping it cold etc. I hate the thought of the meat I took in not being the meat I got back.

Am I paranoid, or do they just grab a bunch off the shelf and throw it in your cooler when you go to pick up? How could you know? Are there any responsible processors that can be counted on to do an honest job, or should I stick to doing it myself?

 

[parecido]

Some meat processors are like that! I would take my beef to a certain processor in Belen and about 3/4 of the T bone steaks would come back without the fillet part. I asked him about it and he said that's just the way the meat is. Which is total BS! For years we'd cut up the meat ourselves and never once did i see something like that. I have since found a good reputable processor in Los Lunas. So not all of them are bad

 

[nmdave]

I believe I have used the processor you are alluding to and I had no such experience.