Ask a Butcher Anything

Trash, Yahoo!-Answers tier response.

I guess I'll just Google for genuine feedback.

Another butcher here, every little bit weighs something, leaving that small piece of silver skin on there is sometimes done to maximize profit.
Personally I peel all that shit off because it's unpalatable.

Now this is a real fucking insider answer. You should have your own thread.

What is he best beef meat quality/price ?

Best way to clean beef heart?
Butcher only sells it frozen now, so I have to do it myself and It's always a pain to me, I always end up making a mess of it.
Which is the reason why I never buy it, even though I really like the taste, also it's cheap.

Is pink slime a thing?

No we do not, we do sell stuffed breads in which anything you would like can be put into them.

The most expensive meat that we sell fairly frequently is dry aged porterhouse steak. Filet Mignon is also one the most expensive cuts

The Best way to clean beef heart is to trim off as much of the silvery looking skin surrounding the heart. From there based off of how the customer orders it we usually cut it into three pieces and trim off the rest of the fat, it's fairly simple. Also I do not think that you should buy the heart frozen, I've never know any other butcher who sells frozen cow hearts. The only frozen meat we sell is bison because of it's scarcity.

Yes pink slime is a thing that many fast food places use as a filler so save money. If you go to any butcher shop I guarantee you that you will not be sold filler because we specialize in meats.

Probably just orders cuts I assume

Usually wholesale cuts from a distributor. It is not very common to see butcher shops butcher a whole cow because we have now way of knowing what people are going to order when they walk in so it saves a lot of money. Many parts of the cow that would otherwise be valuable could be discarded because nobody is ordering the specific cut.

Most of the butchershops in around me have this smell that putts me off a bit. I know it is going to smell a lot like meat, but I get insecure about buying in a local butchershop instead a regular super market. Should I be careful and look for butcher shop that smells more sanitary? Or is this just typical. I say this, because when I go to a local fish shop out of town I only get that smell when I'm directly looking for fish.

i need guanciale but nobody has it and be butcher wants to take my left leg for it

wat do, buy a pig and pay for a full butcher of it?

There should not be any sort of overwhelming smell when you enter a butcher shop. Pretty much all meat is kept in a walk in box so there should be not smell. Naturally raw meat does have a recognizable odor but only if your nose is close to the meat. I would not recommend going to a smelly butcher shop because they are probably selling old meat. Another thing is that in the summer many butcher shops encounter a problem where their meat goes bad significantly faster due to the heat.

Guanciale is just an expensive meat so you are just going to have to cough up the money or you can use pancetta as an alternative because it has a similar flavor and it is slightly cheaper.

>jowel meat nobody uses is expensive because it's authentic
alright ill just go the whole hog route, pork for months

Any "unusual" meat worth the try?
Tried horse meat the other day and it's almost as good as venison, yet way easier to purchase.

It's not up to me how expensive the meat is. It is expensive because of muh' imported DOP
Italian delicacy. I'm sure if you look into it you can find some stuff made in America that is just as good with a lower price.

Not necessarily unusual as much as it is pricey I would definitely recommend bison steak as many people have never tried it. It is very lean and tender and tastes almost "sweet" as the best way to describe it. Like I said it is a bit expensive but I would definitely recommend it.

Any idea where I could pick up a bison steak? Somehow I doubt my local butcher just has it on offer.

depends if you live in a hunting place or a place with horses.

horse meat is illegal to sell in canada (not sure if all of canada) but many people hunt venison.

in belgium horse meat is easy to get at the store, venison I don't know

how hard are veal bones to come by? been wanting to make some demi-glace, but it seems no one ever has any veal bones

Whats the best cheap cut that hasn't been ruined by hipsters. Brisket and oxtail are too expensive now.

Butchers usually have a supplier who can obtain it for them. They are not readily available so they have to be made to order. If you ask your butcher he can probable get if for you. Bison is not plentiful like beef so it is generally frozen and shipped out.

>horse meat is illegal to sell in canada (not sure if all of canada)

Is it?
Because here in Quebec, horse meat practically everywhere, in almost every grocery store, pretty sure I can buy ground horse meat at Walmart.
However, game meat can't be sold, unless you buy it from a hunter.

Veal bones are not difficult to fine but they are very expensive, especially compared to beef bones. Veal bones have a lot more gelatin in them so they make better stocks and demi-glace. I would not opt for bones sold buy supermarkets, you should get them at a butcher shop

I'm not really sure what you mean by ruined by hipsters but the best cheap cut is either hanger steak or skirt steak. Personally those two are my favorite cuts out of any piece of meat. Hanger is cheaper but you usually end up doing the trimming unless you ask. Many butchers will charge to trim the meat so you are better off doing it yourself

Ontario I guess is just the opposite

>you should get them at a butcher shop
well i've tried that, and even in Utah, with all its beef farms, no one seems to have it. ty for your advice though, guess i'll have to just keep searching.

Best way to cook cow tongue? Great thread btw OP nice to see quality

What's your favorite hidden gem cut? Also best way to cook st. louis style spare ribs without bbq sauce?

The most common way people cook beef tongue is simmering it with various spices for a few hours to make it tender. If you have a slow cooker it's even better. I would put bay leaves, Onion, peppercorns, and garlic in a pot with water and simmer it for around 6 hours. You can make Tacos de Lengua for a recipe and it's a fairly simple dish.

Hanger steak is my favorite cut. Most people don't know about it and is similar to skirt but more tender. Back then people used to throw away that cut or use it as ground beef because nobody ordered it. The absolute best way to cook ribs is to steam them in the oven. You marinate or dry rub the ribs and put them above a rack in an aluminum tray filled with water. Then cover the ribs to encase the steam. After they are done throw them on the grill or smoke them. I have had people rave about this technique.

Thank you for the reply and advice

I disagree. I think a fast grill first before a steam is a better procedure. But hey, different strokes for different folks. (the smokey flavor becomes part of the water).

is a choice flat okay for smoking or would a packer be better? i can't afford prime.

Definitely packer because it is basically the same thing as a brisket. Choice flat is not a good option as they are usually trimmed before being packed. With a packer cut it still has a lot of fat on it so it will retain moisture while cooking and you can trim it off when it is done.

wild game meat is illegal to sell in ontario. horse is not

Is brining meat a meme or is it actually useful for moistening it.

basically? a whole packer is a brisket with flat and point connected still. a flat is just the flat. a packer is exactly a brisket. an entire brisket.

What's the best cut of beef for jerky? I've been using flank steak, and my jerky has been coming out a bit too dry for my liking.

You don't need to go all out and buy an expensive cut because nthe cheaper cuts work better. An eye round cut is probably your best choice. London broil is also a good choice. Quality does not necessarily matter because it is going to be all dried out.

Personally I never brine meat nor have I ever anybody met anybody who does that. It does make the meat only slightly more tender but if you know how to cook and buy a nice quality cut there is no need to brine it.

I should have added that the extra trimming, in addition to removing weight from the product in the form of unusable trash (insted of trim usable for hamburger), takes additional labor and man hours.
Time is money and each employee weighs the amount of money they make per hour with the amount of product they put out per hour, if you take five more minuets to trim off a section of silver skin from a tenderloin, that's five minuets you could be doing somthing else.
To complicate matters further, if an employee rushes somthing too much and it looks like shit and doesn't sell, it all ends up in the trim or trash anyways, there by ruining gross profit even more.
The sweet spot is to take just enough time to get something looking good enough to sell, but not so much time that the amount of pay you recieved in that time frame was more than the amount of money your employer made from the sale.
/autism

bump for meat