Porter Road is one of the latest enterprises to get into the online meat delivery service and the company promises that its meat is life-changing. I wouldn’t go as far as calling it life-changing but I will give them extra points for delivering fresh meat, not frozen.
As a meat lover, I often had to shop for meat at several grocery stores and I always complain about how hectic it gets only to end up with a lackluster steak.
Two months ago, my little sister sent me a gift box from Porter Road that greatly improved my grilling experience. Since then, I have ordered from Porter Road multiple times. I have also ordered meat from some of their competitors, including Snake River Farms.
This article is a detailed review of my experience with Porter road, from the ordering process to delivery and everything in between. Let’s get into it.
Having used meat delivery a couple of times, there are a few things I have come to appreciate about Porter Road.
For one, they clearly emphasize how humanely they treat animals. Crate-free pig rearing, chicken raised on grass, and hand-cutting their meat are signs that a lot of care goes into my meat. I like that.
They also take care of their customers with great customer service. I’ve had to call them on two occasions and they were prompt to pick up and patiently addressed my concerns.
Another star is the wide variety of cuts like beef tongue and pork back fat that you can’t get from some of its competitors.
I also like that they don’t freeze their meat. Given that my package can take up to two days with express shipping, the meat won’t taste the same, especially considering that I would have to refreeze most of it.
When meat freezes, its moisture content reacts to these temperature changes by expanding and crystallizing, affecting the natural structure of the meat. During the thawing process, these crystals damage the meat cells resulting in an unpleasant texture that you will definitely notice.
Lastly, I like to take advantage of their flat rate shipping for orders above $125 and their free shipping for subscriptions. They also offer generous discounts on gift cards.
Despite the many aspects of Porter Road, there are three areas that, in my opinion, can be improved on.
The first is that their limited variety of meats doesn’t compare to other online meat delivery services. Porter Road doesn’t have turkey or any seafood, which are both heavily consumed in the United States.
They don’t have wild game meats like bison, boar, and venison, either.
The other is their high shipping cost for orders under $125 that are designed to incentivize customers to make orders that cost more. While it is an astute business strategy, it can limit consumers from enjoying their products when budgets are tight.
Porter Road claims to sell only pasture-raised meat and chicken that is free of hormones and antibiotics. Their meat is usually clean and well-cut.
Porter Road’s selection of meats includes pork, beef, and chicken with a rich variety of cuts to choose from. Here’s a closer look at them:
Porter Road offers 36 different pork cut options. My personal favorite is the boneless pork chop which is just divine when served with fried rice.
Other cuts include bone-in pork chop, pork tenderloin, brisket, jowl, pork butt, shank, short and spare ribs, rib tips, pork steak, picnic roast, pork bones, and pork back fat.
For pork sausage lovers, choices include smoked links, Italian links, sweet Italian sausage, Memphis links, Bratwurst links, chorizo links, chorizo sausage, and Kielbasa links among others.
They also have ground pork and ham.
The star of Porter Road’s beef is their 35-day dry-aged beef that has a rich flavor.
If ground beef is not for you, there is an array of grass-fed beef options including bottom round roast, filet mignon, brisket, shank, short ribs, neck roast, oxtail, short ribs, beef belly, osso buco, liver, rib eye, and top round roast that you can choose from.
The variety of beef steaks includes bavette steak, NY strip steak, Denver steak, flat iron steak, skirt steak, hanger steak, sierra steak, flank steak, and merlot steak.
Specialty cuts like tri-tip and picanha are also included in their beef selection.
You can also get steak tips, burger patties, bacon tips, fajita meat, stew meat, and beef tongue.
Dry-aged hot dogs, beef bratwurst, and beef marrow bones for stock are also available.
Chicken options include whole chicken, bone-in breast with skin on and boneless skinless chicken breast, bone-in thighs with skin on, drumsticks, and party wings.
You can order chicken bones to boil or get chicken stock if you love soup.
Porter Road also boasts a robust selection of items in its market section. They are mainly comprised of spices like different flavors of beef sticks, taco blends, and meat rubs for roasted and smoked dishes.
Two options for salami are also included. They are black pepper sorghum salami and Georgia blue Salami.
Porter Road meat is sourced from local farms that are close to its plant in Kentucky. This means that the products spend less time in transit between the farm, Porter Road’s facility, and your preferred cooking gear.
Porter Road meat is pasture raised and not caged. Additionally, they don’t use any antibiotics or hormones in their meats. The carcass is then transported and hand-cut at their Kentucky facility before being shipped to you.
Porter Road’s quality standards are noticeable in their tender pasture-raised, dry-aged meat which has an intense flavor. There is a deep yellow color in their free-range chicken and a dark pink hue in their pork cuts. These are classic signs of a pasture diet and ample outdoor exercise.
Unlike some of its competitors, Porter Road doesn’t require you to subscribe to get the meat. You can make a one-off purchase or subscribe. This gives you a chance to try them out before committing to receive a regular order.
Subscriptions are on a 2, 4, or 8-week basis and you can cancel at any time.
These subscription boxes are discounted and you can select custom add-ons that are the perfect addition to your subscription box.
Currently, there are 5 subscriptions to choose from:
Starting with my favorite box, the Butcher’s Choice Box contains 2 pork chops, 2 dry-aged steaks, 2 sirloin fillets, a pound of dry-aged beef that I love for my breakfast sausage recipe, and a pound of pork bacon.
In this package, expect 2 pork chops, 2 pounds of dry-aged beef, a pound of taco blend, a pound of sweet Italian sausage, two 4 packs of dry-aged hot dogs, 2 sirloin fillets, and a pack of bone-in chicken breasts with the skin on.
This bundle contains a pound of bacon, 2 pounds of dry-aged ground beef, a pound of country sausage, a pound of chorizo sausage, and 2 dry-aged steaks.
Steaks can be strips or ribeye depending on what is available.
In this package, you will get 2 pounds of dry-aged ground beef, 2 pounds of beef taco blend, two, 4 packs of dry-aged hotdogs, 2 premium steaks, and 2 butcher’s steaks.
This package contains 2 pork chops, 5 pounds of dry-aged ground beef, 2 pounds of ground pork, and 2 dry-aged sirloin fillets.
Porter Road’s ordering process is pretty straightforward. It goes like this:
Porter Road meats are packaged in high-quality material to preserve their freshness while in transit.
The exterior packaging is made of light cardboard material, while the interior is lined with Green Cell Foam. I like this insulation because it’s more sustainable than plastic and also biodegradable.
This insulation protects the meat from harsh temperature conditions and holds the meat in place as it is moved around en route.
In addition, Porter Road packages are covered in cold packs which keep the meat from getting warmer. So far, all the packages I have received have been nice and cool.
Porter Road doesn’t sell frozen meat since freezing degrades the quality of the meat.
If the Porter Road butcher shop is not an option for you, consider their meat delivery service that is widely available in the states within the US border.
Like other meat delivery services, they offer both express and standard shipping options on all their orders. Express shipping typically takes a duration of up to 2 business days, while standard shipping takes up to 3 business days.
Porter Road offers free shipping for all its subscription boxes and flat-rate shipping for orders above $125.
Porter Road’s meat prices are mid-priced. Here are the current prices of a few common cuts:
Porter Road’s pricing is higher than your local supermarket but lower than other online meat delivery companies.
Porter Road was birthed in 2010 by co-founders, James Peisker and Chris Carter, two butchers who met in Nashville, Tennessee.
Together, they started a catering business. It soon became clear that getting quality meat to meet the demand was difficult.
The local farmers’ market was not an option since the meat was not well cut and was sold frozen. This motivated them to start their butcher shop.
Porter Road butcher shop sources its meat from select farms close to its Kentucky location to ensure quality, making it a favorite for those who live nearby.
Despite this success, James and Chris still wanted to make their products accessible nationwide. So, in 2017, Porter Road started their meat delivery service.
If Porter Road is not the perfect fit for you, consider Rastelli’s for grass-raised meat and Crowd Cow for a wider variety of meats like seafood.
I attribute Porter Road’s higher prices to the way they source their products. They ensure high-quality and the best animal-raising practices from the farmers they work with.
In addition, they make regular trips to these farms to ensure that these standards are adhered to. The higher the quality standards, the more expensive it is to source and deliver while still fresh.
Great quality always comes at a premium and in my view, it is warranted.
No. Porter Road only ships to states within the US border which does not include Hawaii.
Porter Road meat delivery service successfully fulfills the need for a wide selection of premium meat cuts for people who want high-quality meat but don’t appreciate shredding their wallets.
It is definitely worth giving Porter Road a shot because their meat is well-cut and more flavorful compared to what you’ll get at your local grocery.
