Pro Butcher Beef steaks and beef mince Makro

[Kenny202]

Sad to see today our Makro Khon Kaen not keeping the Aussie vacuum packed steaks anymore. They were usually really

good and often I was lucky enough to pick up a bunch discounted. I guess it wasn't selling to well as they always seemed to

be clearing it out. I see they have a new brand of packaged beef now called pro butcher. it's Thai beef, which I have never had

much luck with although they say dry aged Angus. Rumps, strip loins, fillets etc. Actually got some nice mince today which looked

really good at 300 baht a kilo (half kilo vacuum pack). I have had the Beef mince from Tops which is also Thai beef and it's delicious

for burgers. 

 

Anyone tried the steaks yet? I have a few times managed to get Thai beef that was semi tender / edible but always seemed to

lack any real beef flavour.

Edited July 21, 2019 by Kenny202

[Mavideol]

am with you, they were really tasty and very expensive that's why they stopped selling them and replaced with poor or VERY poor quality, hard and full of nerve pro butcher, bought them 2x, the 1st time they were hard and no taste, decided to try another time and same or worse, wouldn't advise buying any pro butcher meats all poor taste and quality but that's my taste some may disagree

[ratcatcher]

On 7/21/2019 at 5:22 PM, Kenny202 said:

Anyone tried the steaks yet?

Yes, I tried the pro Butcher Ribeye and Sirlion (sic). Beat the <deleted> out of them and they were still tough. The frozen steaks they keep in the packs in the meat freezers are cut way too thin and lose any flavor. There was a time when some Makro stores had whole chunks of ribeye and sirloin steak and they would cut off a large piece if you asked. 

I am sure the best way to get decent meat for the barbecue is possibly to order from some of the farang oriented stores often advertised here on TVF.

[SteveK]

I always used to pick up a few imported steaks from Makro. At the current prices, I'm learning to enjoy pork instead. I'm not going to chuck money down the drain on the Thai beef, it is tasteless, full of water and tough as old boots! Can anyone explain why the prices of imported products have not dropped despite the outrageous recent strength of the Baht? If anything, Makro's imported beef is even more expensive in Baht than it was 6 months ago, how can that be?

Edited August 21, 2019 by SteveK

[muffy]

Thai French beef good , you might have eaten water buffalo .

[zib]

On 8/21/2019 at 10:54 PM, ratcatcher said:

Yes, I tried the pro Butcher Ribeye and Sirlion (sic). Beat the <deleted> out of them and they were still tough. The frozen steaks they keep in the packs in the meat freezers are cut way too thin and lose any flavor. There was a time when some Makro stores had whole chunks of ribeye and sirloin steak and they would cut off a large piece if you asked. 

I am sure the best way to get decent meat for the barbecue is possibly to order from some of the farang oriented stores often advertised here on TVF.

Try another branch. Here every Makro in Phuket has 5 different selections of striploin / ribeye / tenderloin (3 au brands, 2 thai).

[ratcatcher]

7 minutes ago, zib said:

Try another branch. Here every Makro in Phuket has 5 different selections of striploin / ribeye / tenderloin (3 au brands, 2 thai).

I appreciate the advice, but unfortunately small town Phichit has only one Makro and doesn't cater to farang tastes in beef. OTOH Phuket, which is crawling with farangs, is blessed with several Makros as well as a plethora of other farang oriented butchers, bakers and I suppose, the odd candlestick maker. Phuket has its benefits indeed. Foodland used to have fairly good beef as well as Villa Market, but expensive by most people's standards.

[Thian]

Makro is banning foreign quality products...no more Douwe  Egberts coffee, no more Aussie beef.....

 

So we don't go there anymore....

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 7/21/2019 at 5:22 PM, Kenny202 said:

Sad to see today our Makro Khon Kaen not keeping the Aussie vacuum packed steaks anymore.

 

Get your Thai-French beef from the local producer in Sakon Nakhon... 

[illiterate]

r u sure it isnt just temporary?

 

they dont have stuff i buy from time to time but it will be there next trip in. 

[billd766]

On 8/21/2019 at 11:06 PM, SteveK said:

I always used to pick up a few imported steaks from Makro. At the current prices, I'm learning to enjoy pork instead. I'm not going to chuck money down the drain on the Thai beef, it is tasteless, full of water and tough as old boots! Can anyone explain why the prices of imported products have not dropped despite the outrageous recent strength of the Baht? If anything, Makro's imported beef is even more expensive in Baht than it was 6 months ago, how can that be?

Probably due to the forex rates and the high baht.

 

Ask any Aussie what he thinks of the AUD/THB forex rate nowadays.

[kokesaat]

32 minutes ago, Thian said:

Makro is banning foreign quality products...no more Douwe  Egberts coffee, no more Aussie beef.....

 

So we don't go there anymore....

I'd be interested where you get your news?  Makro has a large line of foreign products.....enough to keep all the Italian restaurants (Italian and fusion Thai) supplied.  On occasion, Makro Udon is sold out of the pro butcher beef, but it's almost always there next time we visit.  When it's in stock and good quality, we buy bulk and freeze it. 

 

[Thian]

18 minutes ago, kokesaat said:

I'd be interested where you get your news?  Makro has a large line of foreign products.....enough to keep all the Italian restaurants (Italian and fusion Thai) supplied.  On occasion, Makro Udon is sold out of the pro butcher beef, but it's almost always there next time we visit.  When it's in stock and good quality, we buy bulk and freeze it. 

 

I get my news from my own eyes.....they never lie to me..

 

And they also still sell bread with the text: Fresh from the oven......(but sold many days later).

Edited November 3, 2019 by Thian

[faraday]

54 minutes ago, Thian said:

Makro is banning foreign quality products...no more Douwe  Egberts coffee, no more Aussie beef.....

 

So we don't go there anymore....

Does that include Norwegian Salmon?

 

[Thian]

7 minutes ago, faraday said:

Does that include Norwegian Salmon?

 

Don't know, don't you have eyes? I have 5 kg norwegian salmon in the freezer.

[faraday]

4 minutes ago, Thian said:

Don't know, don't you have eyes? I have 5 kg norwegian salmon in the freezer.

You said:

 

"Makro is banning foreign quality products."

 

I was merely questioning that.

 

Ok, na?

 

????

 

But the Salmon is rather tasty, innit.

[Kenny202]

On 11/3/2019 at 6:00 PM, illiterate said:

r u sure it isnt just temporary?

 

they dont have stuff i buy from time to time but it will be there next trip in. 

No they have cleared the lot of the Aussie beef at my Makro anyway and haven't had stock for 6 weeks. The beef mince is just passable, sometimes a little too much fat. Looks like the scrapings off the hides to be honest. I had given up on Thai beef years ago. The flavour in beef comes from being hung and air dried over at least 1 week. I think here it is butchered with a chainsaw in the morning and up for sale lunchtime. Have managed to get a few eye fillets that were tender but always tasteless. I weakened this morning and got a Pro butcher air dried, aged, Angus rump. Looks nice but even slicing it raw felt like it was going to be tough. Will report back on the finished result  

[worgeordie]

The Pro Butcher minced beef ,has been minced to death,

it's more like a paste,but still better than the Makro mince

which has a lot more fat in it,I know you need fat for flavour,

but too much is no good either,I never buy Beef steak here now been

disappointed too many times.

 

regards worgeordie

 

[Kenny202]

Well have to say was pleasantly surprised. Not like a nice piece of good Aussie steak but all in all 85% there and I enjoyed it. Not super tender but not chewy either. Very good flavour actually. Definitely aged and dried properly didn't have all the purple fluid coming out of it. Was a nice thick piece and I sliced it in two for steak sandwiches. Give it a good bashing with the tenderising mallet and multiple stabs with the point of a knife. To be honest the Aussie beef they had there was good but could be hit and miss. I reckon the Pro butcher Angus grade that I got would be better than standard but at 160 baht for a 300 gram steak not complaining at all. Give it a try

[wgdanson]

On 11/3/2019 at 5:36 PM, Thian said:

Makro is banning foreign quality products...no more Douwe  Egberts coffee, no more Aussie beef.....

 

So we don't go there anymore....

So i shall have to buy my Tabasco and HP Sauce at Tesco?

Edited November 5, 2019 by wgdanson

[Colonial]

On 11/3/2019 at 5:11 PM, zib said:

Try another branch. Here every Makro in Phuket has 5 different selections of striploin / ribeye / tenderloin (3 au brands, 2 thai).

On 11/3/2019 at 6:08 PM, billd766 said:

Probably due to the forex rates and the high baht.

 

Ask any Aussie what he thinks of the AUD/THB forex rate nowadays.

 

On 11/3/2019 at 5:11 PM, zib said:

Try another branch. Here every Makro in Phuket has 5 different selections of striploin / ribeye / tenderloin (3 au brands, 2 thai).

 

[Techno Viking]

6 minutes ago, Colonial said:

 

 

thanks for the thread bump and update............. your input is invaluable.

[Colonial]

This is somewhat out of date because I went to Makro Hua HIn  this week and tried their Probutcher tenderloin steak - despite what was stated above I cooked it tonight and it was fantastic.

I was brought up in Kenya surrounded by cattle farmers so I know some little thing about beef.

I was interested that this Thai beef had been dry aged for 21 days, the marbling was very good, The beef were grain fed for 6 months -the result was succulent and the best beef I have bought in Thailand over the last 15 years. The Australian was always rubbish, poor taste and overpriced - the cost I will leave anyone to look and be very pleasantly surprised

 

This is my first post and I just googled Pro Butcher Thailand and saw a very bad review in Thaivisa

[Olmate]

Oz beef rubbish...oh my! First post.  Why waste an opportunity.

[Colonial]

13 hours ago, Olmate said:

Oz beef rubbish...oh my! First post.  Why waste an opportunity.

Sorry and I retract "rubbish" for poor.

My personal experience with Aussie beef has been from Makro. They used to import the  carcass and then do the butchery work themselves and pack. I just found the price too high and there was a taste that I did not care for - after 2 years I found other sources. I think Pro Butcher is also part of the CP group.

 

[Kenny202]

On 7/21/2019 at 6:29 PM, Mavideol said:

am with you, they were really tasty and very expensive that's why they stopped selling them and replaced with poor or VERY poor quality, hard and full of nerve pro butcher, bought them 2x, the 1st time they were hard and no taste, decided to try another time and same or worse, wouldn't advise buying any pro butcher meats all poor taste and quality but that's my taste some may disagree

 

Yeah I agree, Pro Butcher seemed to be great when they first came out but now the mince is more often than not stringy, flavorless, sinewy and dry. Was so good at first but typical Thailand. No QC and quality invariably decreases to make more profit. My wife was buying it regularly for her shop but after too many bad batches we have opted to grind our own in the future.

 

The Pro butcher steak itself isn't bad at all, mind you the Aussie beef has been so cheap I haven't bought it for a while. The Aussie beef isn't that tender either but I have a brilliant tenderizing tool I got off Lazada and makes any meat butter soft. Can highly recommend it. About 200 baht. Very well made and strong and...stainless blades. I been using mine for over a year. 

 

You can tell the Aussie beef in Makro is from an older animal which is good and bad. Older beef is tougher but flavor good. Use the tenderizer and a really nice steak

Edited November 22, 2020 by Kenny202

[Isaanben]

On 11/7/2020 at 6:36 PM, Colonial said:

This is somewhat out of date because I went to Makro Hua HIn  this week and tried their Probutcher tenderloin steak - despite what was stated above I cooked it tonight and it was fantastic.

I was brought up in Kenya surrounded by cattle farmers so I know some little thing about beef.

I was interested that this Thai beef had been dry aged for 21 days, the marbling was very good, The beef were grain fed for 6 months -the result was succulent and the best beef I have bought in Thailand over the last 15 years. The Australian was always rubbish, poor taste and overpriced - the cost I will leave anyone to look and be very pleasantly surprised

 

This is my first post and I just googled Pro Butcher Thailand and saw a very bad review in Thaivisa

Wasn't it Thai Wagyu beef from Pro Butcher? Crossing of the Thai native cattle with Japanese Wagyu. I have  bought the striploin steak at Makro and it is very tender and good. Dry aged for 21 days. Not cheap, about 300 baht for 270 grams but worth it I think...