Grilling Guide: Meat Matters
Getting reacquainted with your local butcher
By Kimberly Stolz |
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Photo by Chris Casella Back in my Grandma's day, home cooks knew their meat and produce vendors. The milkman, the baker, the butcher - all knew her family and her favorites. As supermarkets gobbled up mom-and-pop shops and food started being dispersed by faceless conglomerates, the personal touch was sadly lost. Lower costs and a deep bench of product took the place of knowing customers' names and predilections. As all things do, thankfully, the pendulum has swung back to the idea of a comestibles community of purveyors.
Having a relationship with your butcher is about knowledge and quality assurance.
When it comes to picking out meat for the grill, or for any preparation for that matter, you only need to remember one simple equation: flavor=fat and bone. Zach Hall, meat-cutting vet at Weiland's Gourmet Market and Fine Meats in Clintonville, explained that as the meat cooks, the fat melts into the flesh, making it more juicy and flavorful.
"Everyone likes loin cuts for grilling," he said, shaking his head. "All the guys here, we think the best is the bone-in ribeye, it's the fattiest steak."
Meat comes in different grades that reflect that amount of fat in the beef, called "marbling" by consumers for its more poetic imagery. Select grade is the lowest, choice is in the middle and prime is, well, prime. All the meats at Weiland's are choice grade, Hall explained, adding that while people think they want "prime," most are turned off by the amount of marbling in the muscle.
Hall got into the meat business because, as a kid, his buddy's dad was a butcher and the "epitome of a man's man." He eventually started working for this paragon of manliness as a meat wrapper at the old IGA on Parsons Avenue.
"People want to know about certification, but there's no bar exam for this, it's all about experience," he said.
Aspiring butchers need to be prepared to start at the bottom.
"I didn't cut a piece of meat for four years; there's a pecking order and there's always some grouchy old man at the top," he laughed.
At Weiland's for six years now, Hall thinks one of the main incentives to meeting your butcher is the personalized service. "We cut meat to your needs and we grind all our beef in house," he emphasized. Anyone behind the long counter can give cooking tips, ideas for marinades and advice on what seasonings to use. In the big stores, that connection is lost.
Having a butcher who is interested in not just pushing product, but also interested in flavor, leads to creativity in the meat room as well. Hall described the terrace major muscle, a muscle that runs on the side of each shoulder of a cow. While the animal itself may be 1500 pounds, both cuts are only about eight ounces each. The tenderest piece of chuck meat on the animal, it's a cut that is unfamiliar and, therefore, doesn't sell much. Weiland's co-owner John Williams - the grouchy old man at the top of the chain - played around with it and decided to butterfly the cut, wrap it in bacon and call it "bistro" steak.
"It's just as good as a filet, but has a more beefy flavor," Hall said. "I think we're the only people in town who sell it like this; it took awhile, but people are buying it." Needless to say, the "bistro" steak is much cheaper than it's haughtier relative, the filet mignon.
For grilling burgers, Hall recommends a fattier choice, such as ground chuck, for the juiciest burger. And, settling a personal household feud, he said to go ahead and squish the burger while on the grill. "But don't squish it too much and get rid of all the juices," he cautioned. "I go for a seven-to-eight ounce patty and press it down to make it flat because otherwise, you can get this ball of uncooked meat in the middle."
As people continue the hunt for lean, leaner, leanest meats, some have been led to discover other kinds of flesh. Taking a cue from the frontier past, bison is taking up more space on the traditional butcher's block. At North Market Poultry and Game, Justin Borgar has noticed marketers purchasing bison in greater numbers.
"People these days are more health conscious," he observed. "If they read about something they've never cooked with, they can ask and find out that it is not as difficult as they think."
Leaner than both beef and pork, and high in Omega-3 fatty acids, bison burgers tend to have enough fat for grilling, but other cuts, such as Borgar's favorite, the center-cut shoulder, need a quick marinade. He suggested a simple slathering of salt, pepper and some garlic for about an hour to really "intensify the flavor."
For Borgar, getting to know your butcher is important because you can ask and easily find out where the meat is from, how it was raised and where the money is going. The bison meat sold by North Market Poultry and Game is raised in Ohio, so the cash flow stays in house, so to speak. "Our bison comes from Red Run Farm in Marshallville," he said. "They (the bison) are on this large plot of land out in the middle of nowhere. There are no cars or noises to spook the animals because that affects the flavor; stress releases acids and hormones."
As you prepare to grill this summer, or whip up some carnivore concoctions in any season, make sure to cultivate a relationship with the butcher. Not only will this result in more knowledge and invaluable cooking tips, it never hurts to be greeted by a smile and quick joke as you step up to the meat counter.
Originally Published: July 1, 2010
