Favorite cuts of meat

[gfweb]

I am beef and pork centric.  As far as taste per pound, I love the flat iron steak. It’s about $9 per pound and full of flavor. Cook it SV at 129 f and sear it ...tastes better than strip.  After that, Bavette, pork tenderloin..., 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Beef short ribs; ox tail.    Or better yet, short ribs AND ox-tail braised together.   

Calf's liver, cut thick, seared and cooked medium rare.     Served over creamed spinach = a plus.

1 1/2" thick ground sirloin, hard sear, very rare inside.

Sweetbreads, crispy seared, custardy inside.

Rib cap, cooked medium.

 

 

Edited September 2, 2019 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[CantCookStillTry]

I love a Rib Eye for a tasty steak or a Sirloin if i'm after taste but less fat. I also love beef cheeks, pain in the butt too prepare, but I love the sort of unctuous quality they give to stews - hard to find unfrozen here though. I love the taste and value of a roasted lamb shoulder - but I can't carve it suitably for my slab loving carnivores so tend to go for a leg. 

[chromedome]

With beef I'm primarily interested in the braising cuts, like the short ribs and chuck.

Pork, I favor the shoulder but will eat any cut quite happily. Right now I'm buying a lot of chunked-up breast bones from one of my local supermarkets, where they trim the ribs to make them nice and neat. Cooks like ribs, tastes like ribs, costs 1/3 to 1/4 as much (depending whether ribs are on sale that week).

 

With lamb I'm also indiscriminate as to cut, but I buy it less often because it's pricey here. We do have a couple of local producers whose lamb is exceptionally good, so when I do splurge it's because I've seen theirs in a store.

 

Very partial to offal, though I seldom indulge because it's a solitary pleasure. Though I *have* gotten my GF to try liver with the accompaniment of bacon, mushrooms and fried onions, and she has come (to the shock and horror of her inner 8-yo) to quite enjoy it. Now that she's back on her (keto) diet, and we're eating separate dinners about 50 percent of the time, I have a lamb kidney I've been looking forward to.

[gulfporter]

Rack of lamb on the grill.   I marinate overnight in olive oil, fresh lemon juice, fresh garlic, fresh rosemary and a squirt of dijon mustard, lots of fresh ground S&P.

 

Frenched racks usually weigh between 1.2 and 1.4 pounds where we shop.  

 

My grill method (after I preheat gas grill to 400) is normally 9-9-9.  Nine minutes side one; nine minutes side two, nine minutes rest.  Larger racks I may go 10-10-10 and smaller, 8-8-8.  

[Norm Matthews]

I like a lot of different cuts of beef, depending on how I plan to prepare it. I like chuck and brisket because they are both tasty and can be cooked a lot of different ways.  For grilling I like most loin cuts and ribeye is my  preference. Flatiron is good too but it  is getting up there in price . I used to get it a lot but it isn't the bargain it used to be. Ribeye has always been pricy.  My preference for pork is shoulder butt although I occasionally like a loin chop.  Lamb is relatively inexpensively at the local Mexican grocery but you have to buy a whole cut, like a whole leg or shoulder. I can often find low cost lamb at one of the Asian markets too. I like it marinated and grilled on a skewer. I just discovered the availability of lamb and have not had a chance to try different ways to cook it. 

[Duvel]

Pork belly, chicken leg and beef brisket. Beef tongue. And pork collar. 

[weinoo]

I like the flat iron, and also the onglet.  Wylie was doing a skirt steak at Alder, sous vide for about 2 hours, then seared - fanstastic.

 

Any shoulder of pork or lamb is good by me. As are the ribs. I miss being able to make lamb riblets on the grill; so great!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

2 hours ago, chromedome said:

Pork... Right now I'm buying a lot of chunked-up breast bones from one of my local supermarkets, where they trim the ribs to make them nice and neat. Cooks like ribs, tastes like ribs, costs 1/3 to 1/4 as much (depending whether ribs are on sale that week).

 

Nice.    An impecunious French friend served us veal rib bones that he grilled.    Divine, and according to him, almost free.    i asked my local butcher, albeit not the boss, and was told that they would sell me those but priced it out at the same cost/pound as the whole veal rib roast.     Errr...no thanks.

[rotuts]

Blade Roast = make your own Flat Iron

 

flap meat  ie sirloin tips whole = bavette

 

Prime , really Prime Rib , forgot the rib numbers .  haven't had this in a long long time

 

was standard for New Years Eve for a while , back when Prime was Prime .  had to have the flap on it.

 

a great rare burger , w a crust , but rare inside , from flavorful cuts.

 

Skirt  , I think the outside , or maybe the inside , can't remember .  marinated and char-grilled to rare , sliced thin.

 

Im so hungry now , what to do ?

[Margaret Pilgrim]

19 minutes ago, rotuts said:

 

Prime , really Prime Rib , forgot the rib numbers .  haven't had this in a long long time

You may or may not still find this to your taste.     We used to have a prime grade standing rib for Christmas Eve, but DH and DS decided it was too rich for them to handle, too much internal fat.    So I switched to Choice grade the next year.    Still too rich.    Now I buy a supermarket "butcher" grade, whatever they are featuring for around $5.99 a pound, roast it low and slow, like several hours at 275 and everyone is happy.    Very flavorful and tender but digestible meat..and a ton of Yorkshire.

[rotuts]

I was younger then

 

loved the intramuscular fat.   I used to dissect out the large hunk of blubber between the cap and the

 

" eye ' , then tie it all back up together.   the butcher cut the whole hunk right off the bone , and tied it back together

 

much easier to slice.    and those ribs were ' dessert "

 

the flavor of the meal lasted for several days.    the next AM it was sluggish getting around.

 

my arteries seem to have made it through those days.

[pastrygirl]

pork shoulder/butt or chicken thighs for braising

 

pork chops or fish fillets for single servings, occasionally chicken tenders

 

and of course pork belly bacon

[Margaret Pilgrim]

23 minutes ago, rotuts said:

I was younger then

 

loved the intramuscular fat.   I used to dissect out the large hunk of blubber between the cap and the

 

" eye ' , then tie it all back up together.   the butcher cut the whole hunk right off the bone , and tied it back together

 

much easier to slice.    and those ribs were ' dessert "

 

the flavor of the meal lasted for several days.    the next AM it was sluggish getting around.

 

my arteries seem to have made it through those days.

 

Word!

[kayb]

Chuck roast. A good strip or ribeye steak. Pork loin and tenderloin. Pork shoulder. 

 

I also love most any variety of cured meats. Top honors to country ham, slab bacon, duck confit. Smoked fish. 

 

 

[HungryChris]

As a younger and (out of necessity)  more frugal person, one of my favorite cuts of meat was the lamb shank, with plenty of salt and pepper, cooked on the grill. They were cheap  cuts back then, until Emeril Lagasse made that bargain go away. I still remember watching him talk about them on his show one day, which ended something like: "Lamb shanks, if you see 'em, you get 'em, baby!!" Within a month, the price of lamb shanks more than tripled and I was forced to find something else for dinner.

HC

[TicTac]

As far as bovine go, an aged (8 weeks is preferred) Rib eye wit the largest piece of Deckle I can get (and if I am friends with the butcher, just give me the entire deckle!) is easily my most desired piece of meat.

 

Not far behind are veal sweetbreads.  Seared crisp on the outside and still decadently creamy on the inside.  A truffle and foie sauce should also accompany it!

 

Nothing else touches those two, but I will also (quite) happily enjoy well executed pork belly, calves liver, beef cheeks, chicken legs (and backs!) and cow tongue.

Edited September 2, 2019 by TicTac (log)

[heidih]

Quite a deep category. Lamb shank for sure. Pork butt all day. Cattle are generally safe from me though oxtail is on my love list. . Chicken - thigh only please. Cow's feet and most liver I rotate in. 

[Jayycl]

Beef - the cheeks and braising meats (ribs, tail) are my favorites. 

Lamb - i love the leg. I can roast it, brine and make a ham out of it, or braise it. Versatile on every cooking technique.

Pork - my favorite protein, period. I adore every cut of pork. But if i had to pick a favorite it will have to be the pig head (yes whole head; snot, ears, cheeks, perhaps a bit of the neck). Brine it for a week minimal, then braise it and turn it to tete de cochon (headcheese). Or tie it like a porchetta and braise it, then sear it to crisp it up. Or you can cure it over night with garlic, thyme and rock salt; next day just rinse and confit it. Then roast it in the oven for some extremely crispy skin and succulent juicy meat. 

 

Offals are my #1 choice whenever i see them on the menu. No matter which part it is, i just love and admire it. It takes so much more preparation to execute it nicely. 

[gfweb]

Re high grade (fatty) meat... I agree with all of the above.  High end Wagyu is wasted on me.  It tastes like I’m eating tallow.  Yecch. 

[gfweb]

8 hours ago, HungryChris said:

As a younger and (out of necessity)  more frugal person, one of my favorite cuts of meat was the lamb shank, with plenty of salt and pepper, cooked on the grill. They were cheap  cuts back then, until Emeril Lagasse made that bargain go away. I still remember watching him talk about them on his show one day, which ended something like: "Lamb shanks, if you see 'em, you get 'em, baby!!" Within a month, the price of lamb shanks more than tripled and I was forced to find something else for dinner.

HC

 

Theres a whole list of great cuts ruined by the damned Food Network.  Short ribs...oxtail...deckle...pork belly.

 

Bastards.

[liuzhou]

7 hours ago, Jayycl said:

yes whole head; snot, ears, cheeks, perhaps a bit of the neck

 

I'm praying that 'snot' was supposed to be 'snout'! 😟

 

But yes, pig's head is great! Time to revive Cameron!

 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by liuzhou (log)

[jmacnaughtan]

A chunky côte de boeuf, for sure.

For pork, it's cheating, but jamon iberico wins every time.

Chunky, half-kilo-minimum duck breasts.

For offal: veal sweetbreads, duck hearts and foie gras escalopes.

 

With a bit of rearrangement, that would actually make a pretty good dinner all together

[Jayycl]

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

I'm praying that 'snot' was supposed to be 'snout'! 😟

 

But yes, pig's head is great! Time to revive Cameron!

 

 

 

haha yes, typo. THanks for the correction!

[teonzo]

I don't have a favourite cut or animal. I love variety. Can't choose between chicken thighs, bone marrow, woodcock, wild boar, beef steak, pork ribs, sweetbreads, duck breast, tripes, beef diaphragm, chicken innards, pork head, all kind of livers...

What I try to avoid is beef esophagus (like chewing a tasteless piece of rubber) and chicken breast (the rest of the animal is much much better).

 

 

 

Teo