Craving SOS

[chef jimmyj]

I'm in the Creamed Chipped Beef Camp. My MIL introduced me to it 35 years ago and I made 10 Gallons at a time for Dinner Specials in a Diner I managed...JJ

 

[bill ace 350]

This is funny to me. We have names for SOS over mashed potato and call it Shepherds Pie. Seems kinda weird to call it SOS but not on toast. I never cared for it. Dad did it with chipped beef over BURNT toast, preferable the ends. On my to do list is to make some of Bear's dried beef for him. I also find it weird to crave winter food during summer. In all seriousness, I bet a liberal amount of fresh ground white pepper and a hit of accent would take GB SOS to another level.

Sorry guys. But what is sos?

Seasoned ground beef, in a "gravy" usually made from flour, milk, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce.
Served hot over toast, biscuits, potatoes, noodles.

Good stuff.

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Love some SOS.

 

[Steve H]

Love the stuff. When I was in the Army. They called it SOS regardless if it was ground beef or dried beef. I like them both. But dried beef is better IMHO. They only served the dried beef version on holidays though. Probably due to cost I guess. I'll eat it on toast, English muffins, and biscuits.

 

[bill ace 350]

Love some SOS.

Yup. I've eaten it in Army Mess Halls stateside and overseas, Air Force Bases, Joint Bases.....

In my opinion, the Army recipe, cooked by Army cooks, is better than that served in other places. The reason, i believe, is because of a standard recipe.

The SOS on the AFBs seemed like it was short on beef, heavy on gravy, lacking in flavor.

The stuff on joint bases differed greatly.

How someone can call SOS disgusting, then turn around an rave about sausage gravy doesn't understand it is all about seasoning preference.

 

[bill ace 350]

Love the stuff. When I was in the Army. They called it SOS regardless if it was ground beef or dried beef. I like them both. But dried beef is better IMHO. They only served the dried beef version on holidays though. Probably due to cost I guess. I'll eat it on toast, English muffins, and biscuits.

I ate in some German Mess Halls.....

They never got it quite right.

 

[Steve H]

I ate in some German Mess Halls.....

They never got it quite right.

Lol! No, they didn't. Tasted almost like Jager schnitzel sauce on ground beef! Wasn't bad really. Just not the same.

 

[mike243]

Love sos, if chipped beef is used its not sos , ground all the way with lots of pepper is my preference, been a year or more since I mad any, might have to change that next Sunday

 

[kruizer]

It is also known as Biscuits and gravy, a very popular dish in the south.

 

[bill ace 350]

It is also known as Biscuits and gravy, a very popular dish in the south.

Lots of variants, local versions.

 

[Steve H]

Biscuits and gravy where I came from in the south. Was usually sausage and gravy. No comparison to sos. I'm saying that because that is my all time favorite. Well, right there with dried beef and gravy anyways. When I was in Arkansas. My mother worked at a joint called "The Shack" I lived off of their ham and cheese sandwiches and the sausage and gravy on biscuits. Fond memories.

 

[noboundaries]

I absolutely love chipped beef and white cream gravy over buttermilk biscuits, crispy toast, or cubed stale bread made into seasoned croutons . So easy to make. I've got a couple of week-old hoagie rolls waiting to be cubed and croutoned. SOC coming soon!

Second favorite meat is grated ham, or ham sliced paper thin.

Third is bulk breakfast or Italian sausage.

Ground beef only works for me if highly seasoned.

 

[Bearcarver]

I absolutely love chipped beef and white cream gravy over buttermilk biscuits, crispy toast, or cubed stale bread made into seasoned croutons . So easy to make. I've got a couple of week-old hoagie rolls waiting to be cubed and croutoned. SOC coming soon!

Second favorite meat is grated ham, or ham sliced paper thin.

Third is bulk breakfast or Italian sausage.

Ground beef only works for me if highly seasoned.

Here's what you need, Ray:
Dried Beef (Best Ever)

Bear

 

[noboundaries]

Here's what you need, Ray:
Dried Beef (Best Ever)

Bear

I WILL be starting a batch soon. I just pulled a top round out of the freezer. Thanks, Bear!

 

[zwiller]

In searching for this it appears that this is commonly served for breakfast?! Never thought of that and actually sounds better to me. We had chipped beef for dinner and I was like what's up with the toast.

Looks like the Army guys use a little onion in there's.

 

[Bearcarver]

In searching for this it appears that this is commonly served for breakfast?! Never thought of that and actually sounds better to me. We had chipped beef for dinner and I was like what's up with the toast.

Looks like the Army guys use a little onion in there's.

A lot of the trimmings depended on each individual Mess Sgt.
The type of meat seemed to be more of orders from above. What I ran into was Army Mess made it with Ground Beef, and Air Force & Navy used Dried Beef (AKA Chipped Beef).
My family had it more for Supper than Breakfast, except for the big get together Brunch at about 10 AM every Christmas Morning.

Also: PA Dutch Restaurants had it on their Breakfast Menu, always with Dried Beef. (Never called SOS)

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

Hey Guys, I just remembered:
My Grandmother on my Dad's side was the only good cook in my family, and she used to make "Special" things on Sunday Mornings, and invite me over (Next door). One of those things was Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast.
Another was Shad & Shad Roe.
Another was called "Salt Mackerel". Did anyone else ever eat that ??
It was packed in salt. You had to soak it overnight before you cooked it. You cooked it covered in water in a Frying Pan. It was best to scrape the skin off, because it was like Pure Oil, and you had to pick a lot of bones, but I loved it. With the sodium that was in that, one plate would kill me today.

Bear

 

[uncle eddie]

Love SOS and back in college days had it often.

We also had what we called sOS (something on a shingle). sOS was a mix of chili, cut up hot dogs and drained canned corn. It looked the same going down or coming up.

 

[gmc2003]

This is the only one I've had, and it wasn't all that great.

 

[noboundaries]

My mom cooked mostly ethnic dishes from scratch. Anything else came from a can, box, or ready made from the freezer. I didn't know what to do with fresh vegetables that weren't tomatoes or garlic until after I got married.

Dad could make coffee, pour milk on cereal, and grill meat. That's it. But, he worked in small to medium sized business advertising and knew the best mom and pop diners from business travel. He'd wake me up at 3 AM to go fishing, always stopping at a diner on the way. That's where I learned to love hash browns and SOS with dried beef or shaved country ham. Great memories, and I just realized I remember more about those diners than I do the actual fishing.