Cuts of meats

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by Bigjim68

With a knife. A good sharp large chef's knife is an amazing tool. Usually use top round, and add fat, or sometimes bacon. Delicious.

I'll have to give that a try. I have a good sharp chef's knife. Wouldn't cook very often if I didn't have one.

[Kayelle]

Originally Posted by Bigjim68

When I was working in the packing house, most supermarkets had a butcher shop and cut their own. There were also stand alone butcher shops. Markets generally bought primals, Butcher shops often, but not always, bought sides. The butcher would tag and stamp his own hanging beef, and we would deliver
Restaurants mostly ordered portion control. A box of rib steaks would all have to be the same weight and the same general appearance. Weighing each one was too slow, Portion control was the top of the line worker. Even today I can look at a cut of meat or cheese, and guess the weight to a few hundredths of a pound.
I also make chile with cubes. I didn't know I was ahead of the curve. Chop my own hamburger. Burgers made with chopped rather than ground beef have a better texture.

This is all so interesting to me Jim. My Dad started working in a packing house when he was very young. He would have been 102 yrs old today, so that was a very long time ago. He ended up with his own grocery and meat market..just he and my mom. He taught me everything I know as a kid underfoot. I sooooooo know about top notch old fashioned meat markets, and his refrigerator with sides of beef inside. He would do all the custom cuts himself, and I would load the meat case "just so" and beautiful. This was circa '40's & 50's.
Pardon my walk down memory lane
Please carry on with this most interesting thread.