Made my own steaks today!

[gogoblender 3,069]

So... after getting so much input, feedback and support on the roast that did well, I ran back to the store, and picked up another roast! This time though...I did something different. See...that barded roast was on special... 6.59 a kilo all twined up and everything...while the normal steaks were easily going for more than 11 to 16 per kilo.

 

So...I took a chunk of the twined, barded stuff on special that day at 6.59 a kilo... a veritable steal, and then cut the roast/log up into steak slices...lol right along the cords!

 

I got this

 

 

Seven portions or so at less than 1.50 a steak!

 

Good deal?

 

It almost makes me want to go out and buy a freezer now to really stock upon deals like this. Is this a good deal though, or good practice?

 

 

gogo

[gial 2]

I often do that as well. Depends upon what cut the roast is whether it will make good steaks, though.

[gogoblender 3,069]

Hey Gial!

 

Really? Well, the one I got was called French Roast or something closet to that. I was shocked how good that special was... 6.59 a kilo! The whole hunk was around ten bux I think... and today I thawed the thickest steak I've ever had ever in my kitchen. I seared it so long, both sides, then just barely got to center. omgod,, the flavor was crazy. I've never head steaks before at home that taste anything like what I can get at a restaurant...but this one I just ate a few minutes ago came damn close.

 

Usually steaks I get are totally skinny cuz they cost so much...but this time since I got the deal I cut a few super thick for experimenting... wow...thick does make a difference. lol all of a sudden this piece of meat didn't even taste close to a slice of stir fried beef you find in Chinese fried race!

 

 

gogo

[Delta! 985]

Those steaks looks good gogo!

It has very good marbling, and no sinew or connective tissue

[Dragon Brother 619]

Looks like good stuff. We sometimes purchase a whole or part of a cow and you get all the meat and stuff much cheaper. You also get just about every piece imaginable, but its good quality and cheap which is ideal for a family of 6.

[gogoblender 3,069]

Those steaks looks good gogo!

It has very good marbling, and no sinew or connective tissue

 

Yes! I was wondering about this. I've just come to understand that there is a dif tween fat and connective tissue/ligaments (shudder/ugh). Is there a way to tell when just looking at a package visually what we're actually seeing?

 

Looks like good stuff. We sometimes purchase a whole or part of a cow and you get all the meat and stuff much cheaper. You also get just about every piece imaginable, but its good quality and cheap which is ideal for a family of 6.

 

Looking for deals like this is kind of getting to be a fun thing. It's funny, it was actually Schot who gave me the baseline value on this new almost/hobby of mine. When he goes looking for meat, he's always running first prices by kilos and then looking up and down from what he considers a decent/fair price. WhenI saw this special I was first thinking that it must be a trick. But seeing a few peeps now post on this thread that this is something in current practice, now I'm looking at this as a game, looking for the next special!

 

 

gogo

[wolfie2kX 528]

Those steaks looks good gogo!

It has very good marbling, and no sinew or connective tissue

 

Yes! I was wondering about this. I've just come to understand that there is a dif tween fat and connective tissue/ligaments (shudder/ugh). Is there a way to tell when just looking at a package visually what we're actually seeing?

 

Not really. The people who package the meat have a LOT of tricks they use to hide flaws in meat so it looks better than it is. It's also very helpful to know what part of the beast the cut came from. Some cuts are tougher (as the muscles are used more) than others.

 

Also, connective tissues and ligaments are not bad things. You probably won't want to chew ligaments/tendons - they are too tough for the average human to eat BUT they do provide lots of things like flavor if you nurse them out of the package they come from. They're what makes soup, really good soup. Connective tissues and such release this stuff called gelatin. You know - the stuff they make JELLO from... Done right, beef soups can gelatinize by being put in the fridge. If the soup broth is reduced even further, you can even make your own head cheese (which is nothing more than bits of meat stuffed in a large sausage casing and filled with the condensed gelatinous liquid to bind it all together).

 

There's also this stuff called "fat netting" - which is from pork. It looks like a net, but it's full of connective tissue. It's yet another technique used to keep meats from drying out while adding flavor. Remember: Pork Fat Rules!

[chattius 2,522]

Fat netting:

 

 

Yes we call it Schweinsnetz in german. I started a translation thread for recipes, and the 3rd entry is about fat netting.

 

http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=18265

 

My daughters don't like the pure steak or schnitzel taste. They want it more aromatic. So normally we cut either a pocket in the steak or cut it so that it folds like a butter fly. Then a mixture of spices, mustard, vegetables is put in the pocket or the wings of the 'butterfly'. In case of the butterfly the steak is first hammered with a meat tenderizer, then layed with filling, ,then rolled and 'caul fat?' is used to wrap a net around to keep the roll intact for the first 10 minutes. When the meat hardens the roll keeps together on its own.

 

 

Found these pictures at a german recipe site, hope you can see that the hammered 'Schmetterlingssteaks'= butterfly steaks are thicker in the mid because the steak is only nearly cut in halves.

[gogoblender 3,069]

verrrrrrrrrrry nice. I like the artistry of working with the butchery of meat more and more. That hammering and pocketing is like taking meat beauty to another level. I'm looking forward to the next time specials happen, maybe this time around we'll give this extra flavoring process some effort.

 

And indeed... Pork Fat does rule!

 

 

gogo

[chattius 2,522]

How is your supermarket? Is it selling meat only already sealed in plastic? Or do they cut pieces at your liking?

 

For example cauling fat is something you normally don't get at a supermarket. But the butcher shop in the village my parents live after retirement has it. You can also ask for tenderized butterfly steaks, or ask to have pockets cut, or ask for Brät (the stuff we use to make a Bratwurst), ...

You pay a bit more but know where the animals are from (sometimes you even know the farmer real life). But sometimes it is cheaper: caul fat is way cheaper at the butcher than at a gourmet shop in the big town. By way I mean 10+ times

Kutteln are another example.

 

Butterfly cut

You can do the butterfly cutting at steaks and schnitzel but it is a bit tricky. It is easiest to do it as long the meat is not cutted into single steaks already. So normally best done by the butcher. Butterfly cutting gives thin layers of nearly double size (mainly for Schnitzel) or (as we prefer) can be used to add a filling. The steak has to be cut against the fibres, then you cut the steak in nearly two halves and you have to do a small cut on the opposite side so the folding is easier.

 

Most popular recipe using a pocket cut her in germany is "Schnitzel Cordon Bleu". You use the pocket to fill it with ham and cheese.