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Back in September 2007, at the Stuffed Symposium I had a chance to meet Randy Ream, owner and sausagemaster of Ream's Elburn Market in Elburn, IL. Mr. Ream runs an extraordinarily interesting business. His shop and adjoining small processing plant are the likely envy of any amateur charcutier (like myself) who dreams of turning their hobby into a business. He's got quite a bit of space (and expansion plans are in the early stages) and some very sophisticated, European-made equipment that allows him to enjoy an output capacity that most 'mom and pop' operations could never dream of. Randy makes his living dabbling in the meaty, arcane arts on a level that most of would probably describe as optimum. He's small enough that his creativity is an intergral part of what he does on a daily basis yet because of his sophisticated operation, he's also able to compete with the big boys, when he cares to.

For months after the symposium, I kept on telling myself that I would, one day soon, make the trek out to Elburn and visit the market. But I kept on getting diverted. I'd mentioned my plan to a few friends, who were interested in joining me and finally, earlier this week, 5 of us made the pilgrimage to Ream's Elburn Market, where we were not disappointed . . .



Ream's Elburn Market is located at 128 N. Main Street in Elburn, IL



Ream's is a well-stocked market, with a large variety of fresh meats and ready to cook meats, as well as many other grocery staples and specialty items.



Here, a couple members of our crew check out the sausage and cured meats case while Randy answers their questions. Notice the awards that line the back walls. Those are just a small portion of the more than 200 awards Randy has won for his fine charcuterie products.



Ream's also carries a wide variety of specialty items and fancy foods, many of which are made locally. Here, stevez checks out a few of the offerings.



Fresh meats, ready to cook meats and a nice variety of buns



Cheeses, some of which are smoked in-house and a vast array of sausages, all made in-house



All sorts of different meatsticks and some hot-smoked Atlantic salmon



A few of the samples we tried . . . (clockwise) Westphalian Ham, Finocchiona, hard salami and wiener.


After he gave us several more items to taste, Randy took us out through the back of the shop to his small but hardly modest processing area, where several products were being turned out . . .


Ream's small but mighty processing facility. Randy mentioned that plans were in the works to expand his operations.



Here, beef jerky is being readied for the smoker. Via the use of a vacuum marinator, it only needs to marinate for about 10 minutes before smoking.



Ream's currently uses 2 of these awesome smokers, both of which have refrigeration capabilities for cold smoking cheeses and other foods.



Here, trout and salmon (a few recipes) are being hot-smoked. These machines use sawdust. Randy uses a blend of assorted hardwood and hickory (or did he say oak?)

Very kindly, Randy offered to whip up a batch of sausage for us. The first step was to ready the blades . . .



Randy explains that the chopper uses 6 blades, which run about $160 each. They're sharpened before each use.



2 gigantic wrenches are used to tighten the blades -- not too tight, or they can break off.



Watch your fingers!



The fully readied chopper. That white disc on the extended arm coming off the left side of the machine will come into play shortly.



About 50 pounds of pork shoulder



This brat seasoning, which Randy devised and now has produced for him, has serious chops. It's the 'secret' behind Ream's national award-winning brats, which actually beat the vaunted Miesfield brats in a competition in 1994, one of Randy's very first competitions.



Here, the chopper is loaded with meat, seasoning and some water, which acts as a distributor for the seasoning. The amount of time between this shot . . .



. . . and this shot was a mere blink of the eye/



Randy lowers the boom (so to speak) and that previously mentioned white disc diverts all the chopped brat filling into the awaiting tub.



A close-up look at the bound bratwurst mixture.



The meat mixture gets dumped in the stainless hopper of the stuffer.



A look at the sophisticated stuffer machine and the awaiting casings.



Everything from link length, stuffing pressure and number of twists between links is controllable via the panel. The machine is remarkably fast and via the use of a knee switch, one person can tube off 50 pounds of sausage in almost no time.



After a very short interval, this is what you end up with . . . "a sea of brats," as stevez described it.



After the finished links are removed to the tub, Randy answers a bunch of technical questions about various aspects of his production methods.

Of course, we all purchased some of the brats that we watched being made, along with several other products, too. The night after our visit, I cooked up some of the brats and a few other sausages I'd picked up, over indirect lump charcoal and the results were sensational . . .



(left to right) . . . Polish sausage, Boudin, Andouille and Bratwurst.



Polish Sausage



Cajun Boudin



Andouille Sausage



Bratwurst

Across the board, the sausages were fantastic. While I'm certainly no expert, the Bratwurst was the best I've ever had and the Polish was close. I loved the Boudin which had a perfect texture, not too dry and not too moist. Its flavor was intense and herbacious, and it had a fairly intense heat that built slowly. The Andouille packed some nice heat too and, just like the other sausages was very distinctive while still staying firmly inside the unofficial parameters of 'obviously andouille.' In fact, these were such great representations, nearly textbook, that I was a bit stunned. I knew Ream's would be good but I had no idea how good. I bought a few other products too and I'll try to report back here as I work my way through them.

I cannot recommend making the trip out to Ream's highly enough. It's well worth the drive and it's really quite a rewarding experience to see so many, well-produced charcuterie products all under one roof. I'll definitely be heading out there again in the near future and stocking up when I do. Definitely bring the biggest cooler you have. You won't regret it. Hell, you may want to bring your grill, too.

=R=

Ream's Elburn Market
128 N Main St
Elburn, IL 60119
630 365-6461

_________________
"I wish I was in Tijuana eating barbecued iguana." -- WoV

Twitter: ronniesuburban
2012: The Year of Demuntification

Thanks a lot. I will be going next week. I find that sausages freeze very nicely, so I will be stocking up.

HI,

Purely selfish me, I sure wished they had Sunday hours. I have stood in front of their closed building a number of times.

Thank you for the cyber tour.

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a new star" -- Brillat-Savarin
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Call for Presentations

ronnie, thanks for the visually stunning post. They say a person would not want to see sausage (like politics) being made, but looking at these shots, I cannot understand why one wouldn't.

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Food Detective. Wednesdays, Chicago Sun-Times. Tips? detective@suntimes.com.

Check out my daughter Josanna's guide to eating local in Des Moines: http://capitalpalate.wordpress.com/

A great post, Ronnie. Thanks very much for organizing this trip. Like you said, I found the sausages, and the brats in particular, to be very good. It was a little surprising to me just how noticeably better the brats were than just about any that I have ever tried before. Even The Chow Poodle noticed. I think the drive out to Elburn isn't any farther than the drive to Bobby Nelson's, which is where i previously went for my brat needs, so Elburn is now on my radar.

You did such a good job capturing Randy's operation in photos, That I won't post many of mine. Here are just a few showing a few details.

Although the reason that will get me to make the drive Elburn Market is sausage, the selection goes far beyond that, with fresh meat and prepared specialties also on offer.

Detail of Sausage and Meat Cases





Randy told us that there used to be a restaurant inside the meat market, so a good amount of commercial cooking equipment remains and is used in the preparation of their cooked products sold in the freezer case.

Another thing that caught my eye, was this beautiful bacon, which was one of 3 - 4 kinds offered.

Ream's Dry Cured Hickory/Apple Smoked Bacon


Natural Habitat of Ream's Polish Sausage


The most amazing part of the trip was going into the processing area. Watching 50 lbs of pork shoulder turned into brats in a period of just over 10 minutes was mind bogglingly humbling to anyone who has ever made sausage at home. The grinder was an amazing piece of equipment to watch. It made mincemeat (literally) of the raw meat in mere seconds.

50 Pounds of Pork


Reams Grinder in Action


Finished Brats


Thanks again to Ronnie Suburban for organizing this outing.

_________________
Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"I've never eaten Mexican food in Chicago but, no disrespect, it can't be that good if a guy named Bayless is cooking it." - Lyle Lovett

Back when Mark Twain said that, I don't think anyone was producing sausage that looks like Mr. Ream's product.

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"Nothing important is easy." Patrick White (Australian Nobel laureate)

http://waltzingaustralia.wordpress.com

Cathy,

I went to http://elburnmarket.com and the website indicates that they are open from 11 to 4 on Sundays. Is this info outdated?

Best Wishes--

You guys did a great reporting job. I have been going out there for years, getting 400 to 600 brats for the Hinsdale Rotary's hot dog stand run as a fundraiser at the Hinsdale Fine Arts Fair held each Father's Day weekend in June. Also 400 hot dogs.

Randy supplys brats to Rotary clubs all over northeast Illinois, including the Sandwich Rotary which has a permanent brat wagon on the fair grounds which they operate during the Sandwich Fair (if you have never gone, you have missed a wonderdul, old-fashioned country fair. It's held very early in September; check the internet) and during all the other events there year-round. Randy gives the Rotary a very good deal on their brats as a gesture of support. He is a very fine person.

When I first started going out, the retail space was only on the left side shown in the first picture, under the bay window. A few years ago he opened up the space to the right as retail. Nice to hear he may be planning further expansion.

You might want to keep in mind that on Saturdays in the summer, he puts a grill on the sidewalk out front and serves grilled sausages and burgers. It's a nice fillip to a weekend trip out to stock up.

If you need lunch to justify your trip at other times, there's a little bar/grill around the corner on the first street south of Randy's (to the left) which is very friendly, pretty funky, has a nice selection of draft beers, and makes a really mean burger. Their only shortcoming is that they usually don't have any hot peppers available, so if you require these on your sandwiches, bring a packet of your own.

I don't know how long the Market has been there, but it's a long time. Randy took it over from his parents. During busy times, his mother is frequently there, still helping out. Lovely family-business tradidion.

As mentioned above, his meats are absolutely top quality. Be sure to stock up on his wonderful smoked pork chops. Best I've ever had.

Mike

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Suburban gourmand

There is a framed shopping bag from the old days hanging on the north wall next to the meat case. It has their phone number listed as "6". That must go back quite a way.

_________________
Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"I've never eaten Mexican food in Chicago but, no disrespect, it can't be that good if a guy named Bayless is cooking it." - Lyle Lovett

Employing eatchicago's top secret sluthing techniques, I called the store and they said that yes, they are open 11 - 4 on Sunday; just like it says on the website.

_________________
Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"I've never eaten Mexican food in Chicago but, no disrespect, it can't be that good if a guy named Bayless is cooking it." - Lyle Lovett

Steve,

Congratulations on your first visit.

I have been there in the past. Unfortunately on Sundays they have been closed. Those are new hours based on my experience.

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a new star" -- Brillat-Savarin
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Call for Presentations

Yes- in years past, in my experience, they have never been open on Sundays.

Business must be booming, what with all the residential development in the immediate area. Rather than a destination specialty shop, there's enough population nearby that they have become a local retailer, with an adequate volume of Sunday traffic.

Mike

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Suburban gourmand

It sounds like you won't be dissapointed next time, then.

_________________
Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"I've never eaten Mexican food in Chicago but, no disrespect, it can't be that good if a guy named Bayless is cooking it." - Lyle Lovett

Tricky, very tricky............

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Visiting Ream's is like dying and going to Meat Heaven. Did anybody notice if they had any Landjager sausages?

_________________
What if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about?

This used to be a standard stopover on our drive to her folks' place in LITH when my wife and I lived in Champaign-Urbana.

From personal experience, I know it has been there at least since the mid-80's. probably muche arlier than that. I grew up near Lilly Lake (just up the road) and have fond memories of a trip to reams for the weekly meat supply. My mom would always get me a nice big chunk of homemade jerky when I would go along.

Sorry, I did not notice and they are not shown on the product list at their web site. Still, I think it would be worth a call to them because there seemed to be a lot of products stocked in the cases that were not listed on the site.

=R=

_________________
"I wish I was in Tijuana eating barbecued iguana." -- WoV

Twitter: ronniesuburban
2012: The Year of Demuntification

Following up, this morning I made omelettes for the family and served them with a couple of smoked pork chops that I picked up on my visit to Ream's . . .





Smoked pork chop from Ream's

The chops were great with nice balance between smoke, salt and sweet. They were juicy, too, but without that sponginess that solution-injected, grocery store versions tend to have. When I go back to Ream's, I'll definitely being picking up more of the smoked pork chops.

=R=

_________________
"I wish I was in Tijuana eating barbecued iguana." -- WoV

Twitter: ronniesuburban
2012: The Year of Demuntification

Yes, thanks Ronnie_S, Ream's was an enjoyable outing, fun, interesting, tasty and a learning experience to boot. I've tried three of the Ream's products I purchased, one better than the next.

Fresh brats are very juicy with subtle spicing, flavor is nuanced almost delicate, a refined cousin to mass production bratwurst. Boudin has a lower percentage of rice than I've purchased from Louisiana or made myself giving it a dryer firmer texture. Flavor was balanced and heat built nicely, any initial doubts I had about rice ratios were quickly dispelled. Finocchiona has a subtle fennel flavor with a light fermented tang and will top my list of Ream's must have products on my next visit.

Randy was gracious to an extreme and very generous with both time and knowledge, not to mention product samples.

In a post by Dickson there is a reference by Tony praising the sausage at Kountry Kettle in Elburn, which is basically across the street from Ream's. Good call on Tony's part as the made in-house sausage, both hand formed and link, not to mention top-notch biscuits and gravy might make the drive worthwhile even without the sausage nirvana of Ream's across the street.

Kountry Kettle



Biscuits and Gravy with BYO VFS from the Spice House


I really liked the vibe at the Kountry Kettle, relaxed atmosphere with multiple tables of regulars drinking coffee and catching up on town doings.

Elburn Kountry Kettle


Main Street Elburn, 11am Saturday


Enjoy,
Gary

Ream's Elburn Market, Inc.
128 North Main Street
Elburn, IL
630-365-6461

Elburn Kountry Kettle
115 N Main St
Elburn, IL
630-365-6031

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Here is a picture of the shopping bag Steve mentioned. It actually pre-dates the Ream family's ownership of the market. If you look closely, you can see the 1-digit phone number under the glare . . . that's longevity!



=R=

_________________
"I wish I was in Tijuana eating barbecued iguana." -- WoV

Twitter: ronniesuburban
2012: The Year of Demuntification

Mr. X and I were out visiting my mother who lives in Naperville. Spurred on by this post, I suggested a quick jaunt over to Elburn. Good thing my Dad used to do this kind of stuff, so Mom was game. We enjoyed our visit to Ream's. We only had about 25 minutes to browse, but that was plenty of time to buy several types of sausages. We enjoyed the fresh brats for supper on Sunday. (Mom got the "fast brat." I haven't heard how she enjoyed it.) The andouille, sante fe chicken sausage and the thuringers have gone into the freezer for another time. Mr. X got a piece of the Bloody Mary jerky -- it wasn't to my liking, but he seemed to enjoy it. I found the staff to be very helpful. I'm looking forward to our next visit out there.

Ronnie and Gary,

Great pics of Elburn Market! Glad you enjoyed the breakfast sausage at the Kountry Kettle. Ream's is one of my favorites out this way. I really like their tasso ham as well, which can sometimes be a challenge to find.

Next time you are way out west, you should stop at a few other notable butchers in the area, specifically Dreymiller and Krey in Hampshire and Inbodens in Dekalb. See here I spoke with one of the Dreymiller and Krey guys at length last year and he is pretty heavily involved with making different varieties of cured dried sausages and salamis in addtion to their mainstays of house cured hams and bacon. They are more than willing to provide samples if interest is shown.

Inbodens just went through a renovation and has added a nice but compact cheese counter with some interesting butter selections and a fine little bakery. While the brats at Ream's are great, I'd put the ones at Inboden's up against them as an equal or close second. This place is a full service old school butcher and will cut to order. A great regular source for tri tips and outer cut skirt steak.

Tony

Dreymiller & Kray
140 South State Street
Hampshire, IL 60140
Phone: 847-683-2271
http://www.dreymillerandkray.com/

Inbodens Meat Market
1106 N 1st St
Dekalb, IL
(815) 756-5852

Biscuits and Gravy followed by much sausage buying??? You've made my husband a very happy man. We'll head there on Saturday.

Jean

Jean,

He won't be disappointed. Not only is Ream's fantastic, but the the Elburn Kountry Kettle -- and their house-made breakfast sausage -- was great too. Do check the hours, though, because the Kountry Kettle seemed to be closing up as we were finishing our lunch that day.

=R=

_________________
"I wish I was in Tijuana eating barbecued iguana." -- WoV

Twitter: ronniesuburban
2012: The Year of Demuntification

Ronnie,

thanks for the tip. We'll be sure to start out early. The store looks beautiful.

Jean

I was there today and was blown away. They have 'Buffalo Landjager Stix' which I munched on the way home. Thanks for this great find.

Does that just mean they are made from buffalo, or what? Have you ever had the Landjagers from Paulina Market? If so, are they similar, or what?

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What if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about?

Sorry. I have never had Landjager before from anywhere. This sausage was absolutely outstanding. I am sorry after that fact at how few I bought.

It appears Ream's landjager are made from buffalo and not similar, at least in shape, to Paulina's.

Ream's Elburn Market

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow