Making "Gourmet" Hot Dogs...... @Jonathan style.....

[raider2119]

Jonathan I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to try to find a marrow bone to add to an upcoming hot dog project… We only have 2 “butcher shops” in the area, both fancy themselves as high end swanky custom meat emporiums… They both wanted > $9 per lb. for a couple chunks of bone…

Finally found a Mid Eastern Grocery Store that has a meat counter in the back… turns out it’s a real butcher shop! Not only is he selling me the entire femur for $5. but he will cut it up into a few pieces on the band saw as well… Also, he said he’d throw in a nice big chunk of leaf fat at no charge… Looks like I finally found a butcher!!!

While I’m there I’m going to try to buy a Picanha… hope I’m not pushing my luck

[Joe Hell]

I am on a mission to find Picanha!

[raider2119]

Apparently we both spend too much time on the Interwebs… The past couple hours I’ve been searching both Hispanic and Mid Eastern Grocery stores in my area… turns out many of these lil Mom and Pop shops actually have a real butcher operation in the store… Possibly this might be a good lead for your area as well…

[Joe Hell]

raider2119 It’s true…I work in an office that allows enough time between tasks to indulge in hobby research. I cycle between news, food, booze, guitars, craigslist and meatgistics much of the day. lol. There is a great Mexican Supermarket just over the Oregon border that I frequent. Booze is about 60% the cost that it is in Washington and the gas is about 40 cents per gallon cheaper too!

It’s a shame that we have lost so many of the neighborhood grocers. We used to have a lot of Italian owned mom and pops around here that all made their own specialty meats and such.

[Jonathon]

raider2119 Anytime I am looking for something a little weird I go to our local Asian Supermarket. They have everything under the sun!

Good luck with the hotdogs! For the bone marrow, I was able to find it at our Dillon’s, which is our big local grocery store. It was back in the meat area in prepackaged bags.

[raider2119]

Jonathon Thanks for the tip, yes, we have a local Asian market that is my primary source for seafood in the area… I’m not particularly fond of the freshness at their meat counter…

I hit a Syrian grocery store this morning and was able to pick up the marrow bones and also got a full, pretty nice looking, pork belly for $2.85 / Lb… Not a bad price (for fresh) bellly around here… He even threw in about 3+/- lbs of pork leaf fat at no charge…

Joe Hell He told me to come back after the holiday and he’d save me a couple of picanhas! Not sure what he’s going to charge me, but so far his prices look right!

I do believe I finally found a REAL butcher around here that I can do business with!

[Joe Hell]

raider2119 Nice! I think I might stop by the Mexican market today to see if I can score something for the holiday!

[raider2119]

Joe Hell Felice Quatro de Julio!

[Joe Hell]

raider2119 Same to you! I’m obligated to drink each time someone says ‘Happy 4th’…in this case I’m going with tequila! The Picanha also goes by ‘Sirloin Cap’ in the US, although I don’t think I’ve run into that cut either.

[Joe Hell]

raider2119 I scored some picanha! They had it at the place I always buy meat and butcher said it’s something she normally stocks and it’s less than $5/lb… Score!!!

[Tex_77]

Joe Hell I have some Picanha from Red Raiders Meat (Texas Tech Meat Lab) that I picked up when I was down there on vacation thawing out to cook this weekend! Also scored some Choice CAB brisket for $2.49# at the local grocery store today.

[craigrice]

Joe Hell good score on the picanha and by the way happy 4th…x10 ha ha

[Joe Hell]

craigrice They smell amazing! I pegged the Weber at max temp! Happy 4th to you! I only have 5 more to go to reach 10! Lol

[raider2119]

Joe Hell Yes, good score on those picanhas… How did you season them? Hope you had a GREAT 4th

[Joe Hell]

raider2119 I used a generous amount of a coarse iodized salt and fresh cracked pepper and served it with a chimichurri sauce. So good!

[raider2119]

Joe Hell Apparently that is the traditional Brazilian method to prepare it… Ok, will have to give it a try…

The unfortunate thing I believe is going to happen, with guys like Guga pushing picanha, it is quickly going to become very trendy and expensive… This is what happened to hanger steaks… we used to get them all the time when I was a kid because they were considered ugly and unsalable… They were dirt cheap… the butchers knew, it was what they took home to their families… Now they are trendy and super expensive in every overpriced yuppie butcher shop…

[Joe Hell]

raider2119 I share that concern as well. I’ll just have to buy up what I can until then! I’ve been unimpressed with so many cuts of beef that I tend to stick to rib eye. It’s nice to have a more affordable cut available for the time being!

[raider2119]

Joe Hell I’ve been sticking with ribeye as well… I have a source for whole ribeyes (both bone in and boneless) that I can pick up for $4.98/lb when it goes on sale… problem is it is barely choice grade… and they trim it to death removing virtually all the surrounding fat as well as the lip…

I have been dry ageing then SV for 5-6 hours to end up with a tasty, tender, acceptable steak, but I believe next time I’m going to take Jonathon 's suggestion (from another thread) and bite bullet, spend the $$$, and go pick up one of those beautiful prime ribeyes from Costco

[Joe Hell]

raider2119 I haven’t splurged on any prime cuts mainly due to lack of availability. There is a new butcher shop opening soon so that might change!

http://www.wallawalla[link removed]/

[raider2119]

Joe Hell Good luck… the “Butcher Shoppe” business around here has turned into high end yuppie meat emporiums… There is nothing they sell that I can afford to drool over, let alone buy…

This is why I’m so glad to be finding these hidden lil mom and pop “ethnic” shops, many of which cut their own meats…