A gold mine of beef, right under my nose.

[mike.stavlund]

I'm feeling equal parts 'dumb' and 'thrilled'. 

A couple week ago, I finally took my wife's suggestion and stopped in the Halal grocery store up the street.  It's like a time machine:  an actual meat counter with an actual butcher with real knives and know-how.  They obviously don't carry any pork, but they have beef, goat, lamb, chickens, cornish hens, and turkeys.  Plus fresh eggs and lots of sausages and ground meats.  All of it raised without hormones, on natural organic feed and butchered just a day or so before the meat gets stocked at the counter. 

The embarrassing part is that I keep stopping back for more meat, and asking about all the cuts I've been looking for for years, but had given up on.  And the guy is very patiently showing me the glorious truth:  that because he processes the *whole cow* he can *of course* sell me all the pieces.  So yes, he has whole brisket.  Yes, he has tri-tip.  Yes, he has hanger steak.  And (oh!) yes, he can get me my long-lost ball tip roast.  And the prices are quite good-- hanger steak is like 6 bucks, and the tri-tip I bought today was 8 bucks.  Not to mention all of the cuts of lamb that he has for some great prices. 

Maybe the best part is the service, and the obvious pride the owner takes.  He expertly trimmed up my tri-tip today, *before* he weighed it.  And gave me an excited, urgent invitation to visit his nearby farm/feedlot/slaughterhouse.  He wants me to see how much he cares for the animals, and exactly how he breaks everything down.  It's so rare to see someone who takes such pride in his work, and is so happy to help a customer.

Anyway, if there is a Halal market near you, it might be a good place to find some of those long-lost cuts of meat, at some good prices. 

[1buckie]

   GO BALL TIP !!!!!!


That stuff's great......grows right next to the tri-tip, if I recall correctly & is maybe even better than that !!!!!

I used to go to this giant warehouse type place that had a deep-chilled room the size of a LARGE bedroom, for instance, one each for pork, dairy, beef, poultry, vegetables & specialties, like 6 different rooms......you could just go in there with cases & caes of tri-tip, clod, chuck & the like & commune for a few before it got too cold.....great place.....I miss having that available......

Nowadays, Halal is good & the Hispanic markets have really good stuff & pretty good prices too.......

One place has clod & will cut as much or little as you like.....

 You're right, if a place like that can be found, support them.......too many pre-packaged items at the regular groceries nowadays ......AND......that's where a lot of the foodborne illness type stuff comes into play......I can't remember, but it's available to tell if, say, ground beef is packed onsite or in a factory somewhere, just by the color of the styro pan it's in......don't recall which is which, unfortunately......

[tattooedant]

I can't remember, but it's available to tell if, say, ground beef is packed onsite or in a factory somewhere, just by the color of the styro pan it's in......don't recall which is which, unfortunately......

There are scientific studies on what trays are the most appealing to the consumer. I've always heard that they use black with beef because people think its a better meat when its packed in a black tray. USDA food trays are typically black.

Here's one study from way back:
http://www.porkretail.org/filelibrary/Retail/TrayColorFindings.pdf

[Weber MD]

That's great Mike.  Wish there was a place like that near me.  Been looking for a good butcher for years now.

[mike.stavlund]

Thanks for the good word on the Ball Tip, buckie!  That must be a California thing, as the only people I've met who have heard of that (3 so far, including you) were from the East Bay area.  I'm gonna get me some good Ball Tip right here, though!  So stoked.

Good point about the meat-grinding, too.  I've heard warnings about buying pre-ground beef, since there is no way to know how many cows it might have come from, or where/when/how.  The nice thing about my new butcher is that the grinder is right there along the back wall, easily visible by God and everyone, letting us all know that they are grinding all of the meat on-site. 

[1buckie]

 OK....here ya go......ball tip, tri-tip, coulotte & picana all in under 6 minutes...............

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_p2iz9iq08

.........live narration, this video is really worth the time it takes !!!!!


   Ray  ( Hell Fire Grill ) did up this info thing about thisstuff on the 'Ring awhile back~~~>

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=58780&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=butchers+block&start=0

[pbe gummi bear]

Mike, I never knew Ball tip was a real thing. The only time I've heard of it was from your story. That Halal butcher sounds like my kind of guy/place!

[mike.stavlund]

Thanks for the video and images, buckie-- that's very helpful.  I will try to show those charts to my new butcher friend and see if we can start speaking the same language.

I found this recently, and thought it was very educational (but that education will cost you 60 minutes):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PBGvoEFE74
(though this guy only got a small steak from the ball-tip portion). 

All of this is corroborating what my Ball-Tip sources are telling me-- that the ball-tip is part of the joint between the hip and the pelvis.  And the tri-tip is right next to it. I think both are from the sirloin section, but just adjacent to the round section (sort of like the chuck eye roast/steaks are from the chuck section, but technically are rib muscle). 

So has anyone cooked hanger steak?  I had it in a restaurant once, but have only seen it since for more than 15 bucks a pound.  Looking forward to trying some from my guy. 

[1buckie]

  You Bet.......any of those from that buckheadbeef place are pretty good......live carving with the name of the finished cut as each comes up done.......that one is #3.....there's a whole set of 'em.....#5 is pretty good too, chuck roll, flatiron & clod heart.......


#4's 1st cut is a 55# Steamship roast.............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjvuohFJPqI

(also contains some real good general cow information)

[dwnthehatch]

Awesome. They are opening a Halal market right across the street from where I work.