About Ream's Meat Market

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Located in Elburn, Illinois, Ream's Meat Market is the place to go for all your grilling, snacking, and meat-related needs. 

Ream's Elburn Market is an old-fashioned family-owned business that specializes in knowledgeable, friendly service and high quality fresh meat, smoked meats, and other unique food items.

Customers from all over enjoy the uniquely delicious meats and sausages for making great meals, parties, barbecues, and tasty snacks.

Original Recipes & Award Winning Products

Randy Ream has won over 200 awards in state and national competitions and was one of the first to be inducted into the National Cured Meat Hall of Fame. This award was established to recognize individuals that have shown a long-standing excellence in the production of cured meats. Randy's two sons Stew and Joel Ream are both involved in the business and help carry on the legacy of this specialized craft. 

This growing family business is well known throughout the entire Chicago area for its quality smoked meats and savory fresh meat, all of which are made right at the shop in Elburn. Our back-of-house (behind the retail counters) operates under USDA inspection in order to service local distributors and several area restaurants.

We Specialize In:

• Many Handcrafted Varieties of Bratwurst, Fresh, and Smoked Sausages

• Smoked Snack Stix

• Beef Jerky

• Recipes inspired by many cultures locally, and of the world.

• Cured and Smoked Meats (ex. Hams and Bacons, etc. )

• Large Selection of High Quality Fresh Meats and in house dry aging

• Homemade Deli Lunch meats

• Homemade Charcuterie and Aged Salamis

• Homemade Ready-to-Heat-and-Eat foods

• A carefully selected variety of German, craft, and domestic beers, and boutique wines. We no longer sell whiskey, but may have some specialty bottles for sale near the cash registers.

• Ready to Pick-up and serve Catering options (Click the “What We Make Tab” and scroll down

Click HERE to go to our Products Page to see more! 

Frequently Asked Questions

What are your hours?

• Monday-Friday 10am-6pm, Saturdays 9am-4pm, Sundays 10am-4pm

• Holiday Hours

  • New Years Day - Closed

  • Easter Sunday - Closed

  • Memorial Day  - Closed

  • July 4th - Closed

  • Labor Day - Closed

  • Thanksgiving Day - Closed

  • 12/24 Christmas Eve - 10:00 - 2:00pm (or 9-2 if Saturday)

  • 12/25 Christmas Day - Closed

  • 12/26 -  Open

  • New Years Eve - 10:00 - 2:00pm (or 9-2 if Saturday)

• Where does your meat come from?

  • We work with several distributors who source fresh meats from the Chicago Marketplace, local packing houses, etc. The bulk of the meat we sell is top quality, high-end steakhouse-level meat, sourced from the greater Midwest and sometimes Canada. In our beef, we are looking for consistent high quality of flavor, marbling, and tenderness. It is important to have a broad supply to achieve those standards, and be competitive with our pricing at the same time.

  • Do you work with local farms? - Yes, to an extent.

    • We stock a freezer case with locally raised pork and chicken, as well as grass-fed beef. We also carry locally raised farm-fresh eggs (these sell out quickly). Local honey also available.

  • Is all your beef grass-fed? - No, but we do have some.

    • The beef at our main meat counter is grain-finished to obtain our high standards of flavor, marbling, and tenderness.

    • We stock a freezer case with locally raised grass-fed steaks, 1lb ground beef, and hamburger patties. Supply is somewhat limited due to the way we source it (farmer, to processor, to us). The processor harvests the animal, ages it, and breaks it into large primals before shipping to us, where we then break it down further into retail cuts and package in house.

• Antibiotics?

  • It is required by federal law that all farm animals be free of antibiotic residues before going to market. When an animal gets sick on a farm, it is separated from the herd while it is treated, healed, and also given enough time for the medicine to completely leave its system before going to market. The USDA routinely tests meat for antibiotic residues. If any residues are found, the meat is then removed from the supply chain and it never reaches distribution.

• Does Ream’s Use Nitrates?

  • Yes we do. Many of our products, like fresh meats and sausages, cooked sausages, and deli roast beef are made without sodium nitrite.

  • Sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite are basically a kind of salt, that “cures” meats. Curing is the process that gives ham, bacon, corned beef, smoked Polish sausage, etc, their pink color and unique flavor. It is also an antioxidant that prevents fats from oxidizing (rancid flavor). Perhaps most importantly, these ingredients are known to prevent foodborne illnesses like botulism.

  • There are “natural alternatives” to sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite. Those ingredients are natural sources of sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite, and they include sea salt, celery juice, celery powder, beet powder, etc. Products using those ingredients are often labeled “Uncured”, “Nitrate-Free”, or “No Nitrates Added”, when in fact, and quite ironically, they are cured, and do contain nitrates, and sometimes even in higher levels than regulations for the actual chemical ingredient would allow. Since they are made from natural sources, they are less regulated than the raw chemical itself is. Therefore, at this time, we choose to use the regulated chemical ingredient to promote consistency in our products, safe levels of nitrates in the food as determined by the USDA, and not giving in to marketing schemes.

• Does Ream’s process deer and other wild game?

  • No - our last deer season was in 1998.

• I caught some fish. Will you smoke it for me?

  • No, we do not offer that service.

• Do you offer shipping?

  • We do not ship at this time. However, we do have some packaging options for you to ship the products yourself.

• Accepted Payment options

  • Cash, All Major Credit/Debit Cards, Local Checks, Apple Pay.

  • We currently do not accept EBT / Link.

• Other info and Resources

  • The Facts: Nitrates & Nitrites

  • Any Allergen/Ingredient Questions, or anything else, don't hesitate to ask!

Welcome to Ream’s

Regular Store Hours:

Monday-Friday: 10am-6pm

Saturday: 9am-4pm

Sunday: 10am-4pm

Wurst Wagon Food Trailer is closed for the season. Will reopen around memorial day 2025

*located at 199 W Nebraska St. Elburn, IL (back of the northwest parking lot)

**Seasonally - Wednesday-Sunday: 11am-2pm

Rain or Shine (high winds / lightning may affect schedule)

Menu - Ream’s Brats, Hotdogs, Burgers, Soft Pretzels, Chips & Pop

Buy ream’s gift cards online!

You can now order an official Ream’s gift card on the internet. Choose between having a physical card mailed out or an E-gift card E-mailed. Click the link for more info.

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