As I posted in a different thread I pick-up a out of print book that my local butcher suggested. I can not remember his exact words, but it was something like this "if you buy one book related to meats this is the one to buy and read."
All information posted is either paraphrased or quoted from
Cutting~up in the Kitchen. The Butcher's guide to saving money on meat & Poultry. by the late Merle Ellis.
I am only on chapter 3, but I thought I would start a thread and and as I read the book post up new things I am learning or interesting factoids. If people find what I am posting interesting or worth wild I will post up something from each chapter as I finish them.
Introduction:
At the time this book was printed(1975) there where over 610 retail names names for various cuts of beef,along with the regional differences in cuts. Add to that a few hundred more for pork, lamb, and veal and you have a situation far more complicated than the 9 basic Primal cuts for beef, the 5 basic Primal cuts for pork, and 8 basic primal cuts for Lamb.
Somewhere along the line the fact seems to have been lost that the items in a meat case are not cuts of meat at all-they're recipe names. Cattle don't have "London Broils," recipes book have "London Broils." Lambs don't have "kabobs," recipe books have "Kabobs" and they can be made from many different cuts of lamb.
Chapter 1: Two Kinds of Meat
There are numerous cattle, but when it come down to the consumer there are but two kinds of cattle , two kinds of any kind of meat for that matter: Tough and tender.
There is no such thing as a tough piece of meat if you cook it right.
Pick you method of cooking to create the tenderest piece of meat. Dry heat cooking for muscle that is seldom used, i.e. loin and ribs of relatively young animal. Tough meat, on the other hand, needs moist heat.
Chapter 2: Tools of the Trade
Chapter 3 Tricks of the Trade
All information posted is either paraphrased or quoted from
Cutting~up in the Kitchen. The Butcher's guide to saving money on meat & Poultry. by the late Merle Ellis.
I am only on chapter 3, but I thought I would start a thread and and as I read the book post up new things I am learning or interesting factoids. If people find what I am posting interesting or worth wild I will post up something from each chapter as I finish them.
Introduction:
At the time this book was printed(1975) there where over 610 retail names names for various cuts of beef,along with the regional differences in cuts. Add to that a few hundred more for pork, lamb, and veal and you have a situation far more complicated than the 9 basic Primal cuts for beef, the 5 basic Primal cuts for pork, and 8 basic primal cuts for Lamb.
Somewhere along the line the fact seems to have been lost that the items in a meat case are not cuts of meat at all-they're recipe names. Cattle don't have "London Broils," recipes book have "London Broils." Lambs don't have "kabobs," recipe books have "Kabobs" and they can be made from many different cuts of lamb.
Chapter 1: Two Kinds of Meat
There are numerous cattle, but when it come down to the consumer there are but two kinds of cattle , two kinds of any kind of meat for that matter: Tough and tender.
There is no such thing as a tough piece of meat if you cook it right.
Pick you method of cooking to create the tenderest piece of meat. Dry heat cooking for muscle that is seldom used, i.e. loin and ribs of relatively young animal. Tough meat, on the other hand, needs moist heat.
Chapter 2: Tools of the Trade
Chapter 3 Tricks of the Trade
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