Home-made salt beef - worth the effort?
Discussion
CommanderJameson said:
So I found a video on VideoJug about making your own salt beef.
Looks like a bit of a faff-on.
But I do like the finished product.
Who's made their own? Is it worth it? Is it really as much of a faff as it seems?
I would jump in the car, start said car and drive to Golders Green. Less hastle IMOLooks like a bit of a faff-on.
But I do like the finished product.
Who's made their own? Is it worth it? Is it really as much of a faff as it seems?
Henry Hawthorne said:
I thought about making my own before but don't you need saltpetre etc etc. Bit of a pain in the backside I thought...
Well, the video I was looking at doesn't mention anything too exotic, and certainly not anything like saltpetre.CommanderJameson said:
Henry Hawthorne said:
I thought about making my own before but don't you need saltpetre etc etc. Bit of a pain in the backside I thought...
Well, the video I was looking at doesn't mention anything too exotic, and certainly not anything like saltpetre.Personally I don't bother to salt my own beef since Waitrose sell a perfectly good salted silverside joint.
However I do think it is well worth cooking your own. It works beautifully in the slow cooker.
its worth it, so long as you have the fridsge space for the MAHOOOSIVE tub you're keeping the meat in whilst it's brining!
but yes golders green does have some fab deli's
or you can order online
http://www.saltbeef.com/saltbeefhome.php
but yes golders green does have some fab deli's
or you can order online http://www.saltbeef.com/saltbeefhome.php
calibrax said:
Probably a difficult question to answer, but I've never had salt beef... what does it taste like?
Sort of bacony beef- hard to describe, but a salt beef sandwich on rye, with English mustard and dill pickle is probably the greatest sandwich in the world. Brick lane is a good place for them. If you are in the West End, there is a place on the ground floor of Selfridges called The Brass Rail which does very good ones too. Not cheap, but worth it and very generous amounts of meat. Treat yourself to one.
I brined a brisket last year before xmas, but instead of going the salt beef route I made pastrami. I used saltpetre which I got on e-bay (not sure if its the same thing as my grandmother used to use as that was explosive!!). I didn't keep the brining beef in the fridge, but in an outside garage, it was cold enough last year to do that. Worked out well.
It's very easy, just very slow indeed.
Well worth it IMO, though I prefer home made pastrami which is just as easy, but requires a smoker. Not that hard to get something which is pretty close to what you get in NY delis (perhaps not katz's - god himself couldn't recreate pastrami as good as they do).
Well worth it IMO, though I prefer home made pastrami which is just as easy, but requires a smoker. Not that hard to get something which is pretty close to what you get in NY delis (perhaps not katz's - god himself couldn't recreate pastrami as good as they do).
Katz's? really? I remember a mountainous (and i mean impossible to eat as it was intended i.e. a sandwich) portion of paper-thin sliced flavourless, near-textureless beef. It was like taking an Asda Extra Value pack of thin sliced mechanically reclaimed beef, covering it in pepper, then drowning it in sauces and stuffing it into a bun that needs GPS tracking to stay in touch.
a throwback to the bad old days of American food...compare that to some of the thick-cut, deliciously flavoured, home-made cuts of salt beef and home-made rye bread some of the New York equivalent of gastropubs are knocking out these days and its a different world.
a throwback to the bad old days of American food...compare that to some of the thick-cut, deliciously flavoured, home-made cuts of salt beef and home-made rye bread some of the New York equivalent of gastropubs are knocking out these days and its a different world.
Never left Katz's without anything other than a great sandwich - if you want less, ask for less. They'll cut it as thick as you want. There's no doubt better to be had, but it's a bit of a mecca / guilty pleasure, always go out of my way to go whenever I'm in area. Of course if you don't like the taste (or lack of, whatever), each to their own, I've always loved their stuff.
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