Pastrami or corned beef?

[The Knize]

<where then>

As I have heard it, pastrami is/was traditionally made from the plate, specifically the navel, which as I understand it, it kind of next to the brisket, further down in the direction of the tail, kind of under the ribs. Again, as I understand it, hangar steak and skirt steak also some from some part of the plate.

But what would I know from real pastrami! I am ready to be enlightened by Ouch and/or others!

Makes sense that all of this wonderful stuff would have to come from low cost cuts from the front part of a steer, of course.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Ouch:
You do say...then not from brisket...where then

View attachment 865414"A [person] who is not touched by the earthy lyricism of hot pastrami, [...] pickles, [and] the great lusty impertinence of good mustard is a [person] of stone and without heart". Herb Gardner

Pastrami is from the naval. It has a different feel from brisket and corned beef.

 

[Beefbisquit]

I've made pastrami from cows tongue. 72H sous vide....

It was delicious, and the pattern of the shaved meat was incredible.....

 

[ouch]

I knew you guys would know it was the navel.

 

[The Knize]

I knew you guys would know it was the navel.

These are a few of my favorite things we are talking about here! Fatty tough beef seems to have become an obsession for me. But I only know what I read. I have never seen a "navel" cut for sale anywhere, and good pastrami, much less truly excellent, is a hard find around here.

I do "get" hangar and skirt steak. I have never seen a "plate" cut for sale either. One of the sources seemed to indicate that in the UK the plate was considered part of the brisket. Briskets in the UK must be enormous cuts of meat!

Wandering and dreaming
The words have different meaning

 

[cleanshaved]

Here brisket is from both PEB - point end brisket and NEB - navel end brisket. Neither are found for sale as whole cuts locally. Most is exported or used for further processed product etc.
Now you may want to sit down before reading on......when the price brisket drops below the value of grinding packs or the grind packs increase to more that the PEB, it is blended into those packs. Well burger me....money talks.

Corned beef is also made from the silverside not the PEB here as well. I may need to try making my own from a Point end, just to see the difference.

 

[oc_in_fw]

I knew you guys would know it was the navel.

Had I only spelled it correctly

 

[The Knize]

I bought a prepared for home cooking corned beef from Costco the other day--Mosey's Old-Fashioned Cut. Seemed to pick up part of the point and part of the flat. I much prefer fatty corn beef from the point, but most of what is sold in the States already corned, is just the flat. I thought this Mosey's corned beef was pretty good, although terribly salty. i cooked it in a pressure cooker. But then heated it for a while in a big pot of hot water and it was bearably salty.

I really need to start with a regular brisket and do this right.

There is a really good butcher not too far away. I should ask them about navel!

I bet a lot of point brisket and plate end up as ground beef. I do not seem to eat much in the way of ground beef that I do not grind myself these days, but that is probably not such a bad think to happen. Skirt and hangar steak are well-flavored!

 

[Beefbisquit]

I bought a prepared for home cooking corned beef from Costco the other day--Mosey's Old-Fashioned Cut. Seemed to pick up part of the point and part of the flat. I much prefer fatty corn beef from the point, but most of what is sold in the States already corned, is just the flat. I thought this Mosey's corned beef was pretty good, although terribly salty. i cooked it in a pressure cooker. But then heated it for a while in a big pot of hot water and it was bearably salty.

I really need to start with a regular brisket and do this right.

There is a really good butcher not too far away. I should ask them about navel!

I bet a lot of point brisket and plate end up as ground beef. I do not seem to eat much in the way of ground beef that I do not grind myself these days, but that is probably not such a bad think to happen. Skirt and hangar steak are well-flavored!

Hanger steak is fantastic. A little work separating the two pieces from the membrane, but it makes fantastic steak.

 

[ouch]

Super cool steak cuts, formerly "Oddball Steaks"

 

[The Knize]

Great thread. I need to be talking to my local butcher more often! Although I keep stiffing him for that Costco prime brisket now up to $3.29 lb and holding.

 

[MntnMan62]

I love steak and love this thread. There is so much for me to learn about steak. I’ve been grilling flank, skirt and hangar steaks for decades. But hearing about the ribeye cap is making me drool. My 15 year old son has been a steak lover since he was 6 or 7. I would make him NY Strip steaks and he would go crazy. Then we took him to Keen’s Steakhouse in NYC for his birthday years ago and now that is his annual birthday request. I look forward to those dinners as much as he does. This year the flu took me out so it was just my wife and son. Hearing about their meal motivated me to go out and get some Porterhouse steaks to grill up at home. Not oddball for sure. But I’m going to ask my local butcher about that ribeye cap.

 

[Beefbisquit]

Super cool steak cuts, formerly "Oddball Steaks"

Some great lesser-known cuts in there! My buddy is a meat cutter, so I get him to take the trim from between the ribs and snag it for me. I grind my own meat at home.... Nothing quite like rib-meat for flavour IMO...

And med-rare burgers are the way to go!

 

[cleanshaved]

Some great lesser-known cuts in there! My buddy is a meat cutter, so I get him to take the trim from between the ribs and snag it for me. I grind my own meat at home.... Nothing quite like rib-meat for flavour IMO...

And med-rare burgers are the way to go!

How do you cook the intercostals aka rib ringers? Or are you just grinding it?

 

[Beefbisquit]

I ground it. But if I was going to do it another way, I'd probably sear and braise. They're super tender that way... I'd also consider using the pressure cooker then searing them.

 

[ouch]

Wandering and dreaming
The words have different meaning

Yes they did.

 

[Deltaboy]

What's your preference?

Corned Beef with Boiled Cabbage.

 

[Glanafosha]

What's your preference?

Pastrami.
The question could be "Are you a loud man, or a quiet man?" Allow me to explain.
My friend Jim is the loudest man I know. Possibly the loudest man I have ever met. We were working in the operating room one day, as is our custom. The discussion came to lunch. The circulating nurse took orders for a local sandwich shop. Since Jim had been called upstairs to the ward, the surgeon asked "What should we get for Jim? Does anyone know what he likes?"
The patient, an elderly woman who was apparently asleep, suddenly spoke: "He'll take pastrami."
We were startled. The surgeon asked her, "How do you know he likes pastrami? Do you know him?"
"No," said the patient, with absolute self-assurance. "But he is a loud man. And loud men always prefer pastrami."
When Jim returned, we asked him if he likes pastrami. He said yes, he loves it. But how did we know that?

 

[Doc4]

One vote for Montreal Smoked Meat.

 

[Beefbisquit]

Pastrami.
The question could be "Are you a loud man, or a quiet man?" Allow me to explain.
My friend Jim is the loudest man I know. Possibly the loudest man I have ever met. We were working in the operating room one day, as is our custom. The discussion came to lunch. The circulating nurse took orders for a local sandwich shop. Since Jim had been called upstairs to the ward, the surgeon asked "What should we get for Jim? Does anyone know what he likes?"
The patient, an elderly woman who was apparently asleep, suddenly spoke: "He'll take pastrami."
We were startled. The surgeon asked her, "How do you know he likes pastrami? Do you know him?"
"No," said the patient, with absolute self-assurance. "But he is a loud man. And loud men always prefer pastrami."
When Jim returned, we asked him if he likes pastrami. He said yes, he loves it. But how did we know that?

That sir, is an awesome story!