Several questions about Top Butt Sirloin.

[Grits-N-Gravy]

Thanks again for the ideas. Here's what Ive got so far:
*Grilled Salads- 4oz of sliced steak over a dinner sized Caesar or House Salad.
*Steak Sandwich-4oz grilled sirloin topped with grilled M+O, smothered with Provolone or Cheddar cheese.
*Blackened Steak tips served over a bed of rice.
*8oz Sirloin.
*Teriyaki style Steak K-Bobs. Rotating Sirloin and pineapple.(I know its not Southern, but I gotta find a way to use that Cap muscle, this dish may not make the final version)
*Pot Roast

I will also grind some for:
*Chili (I'll rotate that in as a SOD, when I'm heavy on "grind")
*Burger
*Chopped Steak-topped with M+O and brown gravy.
* Meatloaf

If anyone is interested, I will post the entire rough draft of my menu.

 

[Jeff G.]

Thanks again for the ideas. Here's what Ive got so far:
*Grilled Salads- 4oz of sliced steak over a dinner sized Caesar or House Salad.
*Steak Sandwich-4oz grilled sirloin topped with grilled M+O, smothered with Provolone or Cheddar cheese.
*Blackened Steak tips served over a bed of rice.
*8oz Sirloin.
*Teriyaki style Steak K-Bobs. Rotating Sirloin and pineapple.(I know its not Southern, but I gotta find a way to use that Cap muscle, this dish may not make the final version)
*Pot Roast

I will also grind some for:
*Chili (I'll rotate that in as a SOD, when I'm heavy on "grind")
*Burger
*Chopped Steak-topped with M+O and brown gravy.
* Meatloaf

If anyone is interested, I will post the entire rough draft of my menu.

Instead of grinding for Chili, you might dice into cubes... Pretty tasty that way.

 

[Grits-N-Gravy]

Instead of grinding for Chili, you might dice into cubes... Pretty tasty that way.

Never had it that way. How do you cook of the cubes?

 

[Uncle Bob]

Hey Grits, I see you are from Cabbagetown. Which one???

 

[Grits-N-Gravy]

Hey Grits, I see you are from Cabbagetown. Which one???

SE Atlanta.

 

[Jeff G.]

Never had it that way. How do you cook of the cubes?

I put them in a skillet or heavy roaster and fry them just like I would hamburger. Usually have to add just a little oil. I then add the onions and peppers and some seasonings and allow all that cook, then add that to the rest of the chili.

I tend to use a lot of fresh chili peppers in mine. Varying the hot peppers and mild peppers to get the amount heat desired. By sauteing the onions and peppers with the meat, it imparts flavor to the meat. At the end I add some scotch to deglaze the pan. It might just be me, but it seems to tenderize the meat. I know after the chili is all combined the meat is very tender.

Pretty tasty!

 

[kitchenelf]

Steak and bleu cheese salad - 1 spring onion with the green part cut in thin slices to curl them for garnish.

 

[jennyema]

What about chicken fried steak and shredded BBQ beef sandwiches?

 

[Grits-N-Gravy]

What about chicken fried steak and shredded BBQ beef sandwiches?

I havent 100% ruled out Chicken Fried Chicken, or Country Fried steak.The issue is, I'm trying to run a very streamlined kitchen, as to keep labor low.

My goal is to work out of steam wells,off the grilled, and out of a fryer. I don't want to pan fry/sautee, and I'v never been satisfied with either of those dishes out of a deep fryer.
Also I would have to make sawmill gravy.

As far as the shredded BBQ sand, I won't be using pork shoulder. As BBQ goes, I'm only doing Spare Ribs, and BBQ chicken 1/4s.

 

[GotGarlic]

As far as the shredded BBQ sand, I won't be using pork shoulder. As BBQ goes, I'm only doing Spare Ribs, and BBQ chicken 1/4s.

There's a Tex-Mex restaurant near me that has a really good shredded beef BBQ sandwich. BBQ doesn't have to be pork.

 

[Grits-N-Gravy]

There's a Tex-Mex restaurant near me that has a really good shredded beef BBQ sandwich. BBQ doesn't have to be pork.

I could use the Sirloin? I would need a smoker, yes?

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I could use the Sirloin? I would need a smoker, yes?

You could use the sirloin, but chuck, skirt, or flank would give you better flavor.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Grits-N-Gravy]

You could use the sirloin, but chuck, skirt, or flank would give you better flavor.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

Would I need a smoker, or can I do this in the oven>?

 

[GotGarlic]

I could use the Sirloin? I would need a smoker, yes?

Goodweed is probably right about another cut having more flavor. re: the smoker, I'm not sure. The sandwich I'm thinking of doesn't have a strong smoky flavor - I don't like a lot of smoke flavor. I suppose you could use liquid smoke - I read in Cook's Illustrated that it's actually obtained from real smoke captured in liquid.

 

[Grits-N-Gravy]

Goodweed is probably right about another cut having more flavor. re: the smoker, I'm not sure. The sandwich I'm thinking of doesn't have a strong smoky flavor - I don't like a lot of smoke flavor. I suppose you could use liquid smoke - I read in Cook's Illustrated that it's actually obtained from real smoke captured in liquid.

I really am trying to milk this top butt thing. My price points are $7-$15(15 being a full slab of ribs), so I need something affordable and versital.

I will also being to several dishes with 1/4 chickens. I plan to do the BBQ 1/4, and also boil off a lot to make, Chicken pot pie, chicken+dumplins, Chicken + dressing, etc.

My veggies will also be really cost effective:
Cheese Grits Souffle
Black eyes
Collards
Baked beans
Rice
tater salad(or slaw)
Mac-N-Cheese
Yellow squash casserolle
cream corn

My Desserts are very straight forward:
Seasonal cobbler
Pecan pie
baked brownie with icecream (or chocolate chip cookies)

Nothin fancy, just fresh, straight forward groceries.


Again, thanks for all feedback, thanks to Uncle Bob, Ive already found one great addition. This is helping me a bunch. Keep the ideas coming!!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

For a cut that's cooked long and slow, as for shredded beef, the smoker would work, but needs to provide a moist environement. Also, the connecting tissue, and fat enhance the final texture, and so some type of pan should be used to capture any drippings.

For convenience, and to give you a "set it and forget it" way of cooking, a large electric-roaster oven, such as those used to keep chili hot (like a giant slow cooker, but with a temperature control) would allow you to make large batches of product while freeing you to do other chores. The meat should cook to an internal temp of at least 190' F. and be kept at 145' while serving. The roaster is ideal for that. You can also bake in a slow oven (290 to 325 degrees F.) using a ceramic or clay baker. This will produce wonderfull results as well. Using the roaster or baking pots will also allow you to season the meat with everything from carrots, onion, and garlic, to cilantro, garlic, and lime juice. You can have a versatile menu using this method of cooking using just a few common ingredients. This would allow you to change up the menu, searving various specialty items on differing days of the week.

It would also allow you to add sauces, gravies, and veggies to the dish as desired. To further your restaurants menu, you could use the meats and roaster to make soups, stews, chowders, chili, etc., and all from the same meat cuts, which will allow you to buy in bulk, lowering your purchasing bills.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Grits-N-Gravy]

For a cut that's cooked long and slow, as for shredded beef, the smoker would work, but needs to provide a moist environement. Also, the connecting tissue, and fat enhance the final texture, and so some type of pan should be used to capture any drippings.

For convenience, and to give you a "set it and forget it" way of cooking, a large electric-roaster oven, such as those used to keep chili hot (like a giant slow cooker, but with a temperature control) would allow you to make large batches of product while freeing you to do other chores. The meat should cook to an internal temp of at least 190' F. and be kept at 145' while serving. The roaster is ideal for that. You can also bake in a slow oven (290 to 325 degrees F.) using a ceramic or clay baker. This will produce wonderfull results as well. Using the roaster or baking pots will also allow you to season the meat with everything from carrots, onion, and garlic, to cilantro, garlic, and lime juice. You can have a versatile menu using this method of cooking using just a few common ingredients. This would allow you to change up the menu, searving various specialty items on differing days of the week.

It would also allow you to add sauces, gravies, and veggies to the dish as desired. To further your restaurants menu, you could use the meats and roaster to make soups, stews, chowders, chili, etc., and all from the same meat cuts, which will allow you to buy in bulk, lowering your purchasing bills.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

Wow, you just took me out of my depth.

 

[Constance]

I think GoodWeed is talking about this:

Hamilton Beach Buffet Roaster Oven - Cooking.com

You really need at least one.

 

[Rob Babcock]

LOL.
Well, If I were a sane man, I wouldn't have been in this crazy business for 24 years.
I've made other folks a lot of money, and have decided I'd rather make it for myself.
I'm sorry your restaurant failed. You didn't know about "light and gas, workmans comp, FICA, cost of food..." before you opened the JOINT? That should have been in your P+L and projections.

I don't buy that whole "almost all restaurants fail" crap.(thats not direct at you personally, I've heard it 1000 times). Restaurants fail for very simple and avoidable reasons:
* People open Restaurants that don't know how to run them. see doctors, lawyers, etc.
*People try to do too much. The last owner of the restaurant I'm now looking at, had a 4 page menu. He sold everything from grits and eggs to pizza, calazones, burgers, and wings. He tried to be all things to all people. You gotta do a few things well, and aim at your demographic.
*People borrow in too deep. They drop $300+ to open a restaurant, and are hanging by a thread from day one. They do that, or under borrow, have 3 bad months and die.
* People that have never ran an entire restaurant (kitchen, bar, FOH, admin, negoiating purchasing contracts,training, etc.) think they can just figure it out. Its honestly taken me 20 years to be ready, but I can't tell ya how many FOH managers go off and open a restaurants only to be screwed by a KM and a Food Service Company.

Ive worked for 2 private owners. The first was my mentor. he started with 1 restaurant that cost him $25K to open. 5 years later he had 8 stores. He's a rich man today and he's only 45.
The other guy ran his restaurant like his personal playground. He "traded out" for everything, boats, car repairs etc. His restaurant his closed today.

I plan to open this restaurant with $20K (I have a partner, so it will be 40K total). I am going to be managing partner. I am gonna hire me a young guy thats hungry to learn the business. I'm gonna pay him fair, and train him.I then plan to give him the GM position and go open another one.

An excellent post! Yeah, restaurants are too often a vanity project for people with more money than common sense. They get caught up in the romanticized notion of a restaurant without a grounding in the realities involved. But I wonder what the failure rate is if you filter out the ones that were set up to fail right out of the gate?

I especially agree with one thing you mentioned- the huge sprawling menu is the hallmark of an amateur! It kills food cost to stock ingredients for two hundred dishes, especially ones that don't cross utilize products. You could have 20 pastas, and if they all use one of 3 sauces and the same basic ingredients you're probably okay. But it's difficult to stay focused with huge menus. It dilutes you identity: what is the place? A steakhouse? A bistro? What does it say about you if you have mostly French food but throw in a few Asian dishes and a few Cajun, alongside a smattering of Italian dishes? It can be done if it's done carefully but chances are it'll be an unfocused mess. With even a hundred different entrees the server staff will have their hands full and only the best of them will really understand the menu. Ditto for the cooks- that's a lot of things to learn. And ordering will be a nightmare, and you'll constantly be either running out of an ingredient or throwing it away because a few dishes don't move.

I've worked as a chef and manager for a couple decades, too. My FOH experience is fairly limited, and it's definately the area I'd need to work on if I ever decided to open my own place.

Best of luck in your endeavor. And btw, I wouldn't use select for "center of the plate" steaks. It would work okay for country fried steak, chili, salsbury steak, etc but I wouldn't feature it "naked." Fwiw I currently work for an independant steakhouse.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Hmmm...we really need Ask-A-Butcher about now! I haven't seen him post in a few days, though.