Elk USAReviews of elkusa.com

Response from Elk USAOct 25, 2015

Linnea: Thank you for your substantial order on August 26, which we fulfilled on Sept 5th . We are sorry for not meeting your expectations in every way. Your order was delayed until we knew your substitution desires and a telephone contact during the workday was not easy. As you may know, buffalo meat is currently in short supply, due simply to a shortage of animals on the farms that supply the industry. We try to keep up, but alas, we are not always successful in covering the demand at our low prices, particularly for the 1/8, or ¼ and ½ buffs, as per your order. As to the substitution, we attempted to comply, but again a shortage of available tenderloins prohibited the full substitution as requested. We hope that the quality and value of our products will entice you to use us again! Rich General Manager

Response from Elk USAOct 25, 2015

Patricia: We are sorry you had a poor experience with the Elk Short ribs you had purchased from us. On Elk, some of the lesser cost, peripheral meats such as skirts, ribs, and shanks are hi-cartilage items, sometimes quite difficult to gauge the proper cooking time. Further, unlike beef, elk have very little interstitial fat, making the meat very low in fat, but elk can get unforgivably tough, when over cooked. Elk ribs are best when cooked very slowly for a long time at low heat. Your explanation in terms of aging the meat is predominately correct. However, we do not age elk for the classical 10 days like many wild elk are done. Most wild shot elk are older, tougher males, while most of our harvested elk are younger females. Our aging process is governed by the higher-end meat cuts, so as not to over-age and diminish the quality and quantity of the loins, rump and shoulders. In our aging system, developed over the last 18 years, animals are hung (cooler-aged) for about 4 days, cut and packaged for another one day of aging in the package before freezing. Once frozen, the meat can be stored for months. For the lesser grade cuts, we generally recommend the frozen meat not go directly to the cooking stage, but are best to be allowed to slowly thaw in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days providing additional aging. Further, the time and temperature of boiling, or in your case, pressure cooking must be done lower and slower than beef. Patricia, Thank you again for your order, and I do hope you will try some of our premium game meats or even burgers as they are truly “Better than Beef”. rich General Manager

Response from Elk USAOct 25, 2015

Ryan: Our apologies for the discount confusion regarding your antler dog chew order. The discount cited (“DMD15”) in your order was for the Dual Meat Deal which applied only to two species of MEAT products purchased at the same time. Only the excluded MEAT products were designated. Now, we occasionally do give ANTLER discounts, but unfortunately, there were none at the time of your order. Please note that we also have $9.95 shipping (up to 5 lbs) via United Parcel Service, but the order would need to be shipped to a street address rather than a PO box. The USPS just charges us more. Please reconsider us for an opportunity to provide antler or meat products to you in the future. Rich General Manager