In just about a week I’ll be heading up to Minnesota for a little rest, relaxation and some fishing. I’ll be staying on Lake Lida, a lovely body of water and certainly fun for recreation. The fishing however, while improving in recent years, hasn’t always been the best. Given the fact that I’m a man known to have trouble catching fish in places where the fishing is considered strong, I thought it a good idea to look for some help.
While digging around for some Crappie fishing tips I ran across an interesting article on the thermocline . The thermocline it appears, is a mid layer of water, close enough to the surface to still provide fish with enough oxygen to breathe but deep enough to avoid the rising water temperatures that come with the summer. I remember reading last year, while hunting fish on our Lake Vermilion Trip, about Walleye’s that would hang out at a medium depth and could be missed by those of us fishing traditionally closer to the bottom. Perhaps the thermocline would have been the answer, we will never know. Here’s hoping the thermocline or something else, maybe the grace of god or just dumb luck helps me catch some fish.

Summer is officially in full swing which means barbecue season. We here at OA love our BBQ, in fact my doctor would argue that I love it too much. Unfortunately, this summer the price of beef is through the roof, not just because of the BBQ demand but also because of a shortage of animals being killed in other parts of the world.  This means it’s up to American Beef producers to fill the void and American consumers to dig deeper into their wallets. That being the case I thought it a good time to share the bit of knowledge I’ve ran across over the years in hopes of helping people save some money and dine deliciously.

Now for starters, the cow pictured above, that’s a dairy cow. (See the size of the udder.)  The only thing you’ll get out of her once she’s through milking is hamburger.  The anatomy, however, is the same as a beef cow and thusly the picture will work for our purposes.

Let us begin by just walking around the beast a bit and then we’ll get to some money saving tips.

The first thing to think about when looking at the animal is where certain cuts come from and why they produce the meat they do.  It stands to reason of course that the portion of the animal extending from its legs would tend to be less tender.  These are, after all, the muscles used most by the animal.  Which is why the brisket, which lays at the top of the front leg, is best when prepared slow and low as in BBQ or salted as in Corned Beef.  Above the brisket lies the chuck, this part of the animal can be a bit confusing as the names of the cuts can vary a lot and from time to time and change as slaughterhouses process the animals differently  in an attempt produce cuts that better serve customer demands.  Commonly this area produces many roasts, the kind one likes to place in a pot, but it also can be cut to produce beef chuck shoulder tender, neck off chuck roll or clods.  All of which are commonly used by restaurants in producing steak dishes that are not steaks.  Think stir fry’s, burritos and the like.  The shoulder is also home, perhaps most deliciously, to the short ribs.  A cut that is not a rib at all but rather a fatty deliciousness that has in recent years become quite popular and surprisingly expensive.

Moving to the middle of the animal we start to see cuts that are more familiar.  The rib, of course, gives us the ribs.  Which while perhaps less delicious than those given us by barnyard brethren, the pig, are still quite popular.  This area also gives us the rib roast, which in its state of platonic perfection becomes the Prime Rib.  A phrase,  I must admit, just caused my eyes to tear up a bit.  Below the rib is the plate, the plate provides the skirt steak, very popular throughout Mexico and down through Central and South America.  Certainly it’sd a staple of the new wave of Brazilian steakhouses.

Next to the plate lies the flank, which surprisingly enough gives us the flank steak.  A widely seen cut of meet, largely because of its low price.  It can be very flavorful and while I’d gladly dine on it at a friends house it will never find its way to my table.  Above the flank and into the back we enter the blessed zone.  This is the short loin, Uncle Sam territory, the place where all of the great steakhouse steaks are produced.  Here you will find the Porterhouse or T-Bone as well as its constituent parts the Strip and Tenderloin.  These, along with the sirloin, which sits next to it, are the biggies and man are they good.  You’ll notice that this is not a very large part of the animal,  the main reason for the high price and demand, particularly if it grades prime.  The sirloin, as I said, sits next to the short loin and produces both top and bottom sirloin.  If you’re picking, pick the top.  The sirloin also holds a variety of  tender roasts and the ball tip, another commonly employed cut in cheaper steak dishes.

After the loins it’s similar to  what’s in the front of the animal only often with less fat.  I have made some delicious beef sandwiches and beef bourguignon using bottom round but this area generally requires heavy manipulation and does not stand on it’s own two feet.  To be honest I’m rather exhausted after the paroxysm that was the short loin.  Let’s move on shall we.

Here some money saving tips:

1) Buy in bulk.
That means getting away from your local supermarket and enjoying a trip to a butcher or wholesale processor with a factory store.  There are several of these in Chicago, particularly in the Fulton Market district. I’ve had good luck at Peoria Packing or if you have a hook up Restaurant Depot, just don’t go on a weekend it gets a bit busy. If you don’t live near anyplace like this some things can be found at Sam’s club but don’t give those bastards any dime you don’t have to. By buying in bulk I don’t mean purchasing a whole animal, which while it can be a good and cost efficient option requires a lot of freezer space and a deep and abiding love of hamburger and roasts. What I’m speaking about specifically is buying whole loins or rib roasts and cutting your own steaks.   If you happen to find the loins in cryovac packaging it also provides you an opportunity for wet aging which while perhaps not as good as http://www.goodcooking.com/steak/dry_aging.htm can really help enhance the flavor and tenderness of your steaks.

2) Know what to look for and what you like.
When buying in bulk the meat will not only appear different than what you are used to seeing in the grocery store but it may also have a slightly different name. For example the New York Strip steak you’re used to seeing is actually a cross section of a strip loin which will be a long sort of parabola and weigh probably 8 to 12 lbs. While the Filet Mignon you love so much will either be called  Tenderloin or PSMO (peeled side muscle on) Tenderloin and will be a long cylinder weighing 5 to 8 lbs. Regardless of what you buy engage your butcher, they can help you to better understand what it is your looking at and may even have preparation ideas. Also, it is best to stick to USDA choice or prime beef. Always steer clear of select product and only buy ungraded meat if you’ve had it and know it to be of good quality.

3) Get creative, have fun.
A great way to save money and feed lots of people is to find ways to make cheaper cuts delicious. There are three primary methods of doing this. 1) Cook it slow and low. 2) Tenderize – either with marinade or by pounding. 3) Cook it light and slice it right.
- Number one is obvious enough and has been practiced and perfected the world over. We can’t all be kings but learn how to slow cook a brisket or slowly braise a roast and you can eat like one.
- Number two works great for those steaks that aren’t quite the steaks you wish they we’re. A good marinade can not only add flavor but help to break down the connective tissue. Maybe you remember mom pounding steaks as a kid, I know I do. Well the theory is simple, beat it until it breaks down maybe toss some flour on it and drop it in a pan. If your really feeling gluttonous batter that thing, fry it, whip up some country gravy you’ve got a chicken fried steak. Further proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
- Number three is real fun but not always practical. The best example that I can think of is the Tri-tip . It’s a cut that comes from the bottom part of the sirloin and when cooked medium rare to rare is delicious. That is assuming of course that you cut it against the grain, cut it with the grain and you get the sort of thing a cobbler would throw away. Sliced properly this meat will melt in your mouth and provide all the wonderful flavor that comes with high fat content.

I’ve spent the last few weeks fighting general malaise, mostly with general anesthetic, who is much more interesting if less useful than general semantics. Love that joke. Anyway, I don’t mean to get overly personal but I’ve had trouble finding much inspiration recently which is not a happy place to be. Last night I was digging around on Netflix and found 180 Degrees South. It’s a documentary chronicling a six month journey to Patagonia taken by a young man named Jeff Johnson. Jeff and some friends are following a path that was laid out on a journey undertaken 40 years earlier by Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins, the founders of Patagonia and The North Face respectively.  The stated goal of both trips was to climb the treacherous peaks of Patagonia and find some tasty waves to surf but both journeys ended up being something more for the travelers.

The film really got my juices flowing, it reminded me that an untamed and untouched world still exists out there.  That adventure and experience can still be had if one seeks it out.  It was precisely the kind of thing I needed to see and has helped to re energize my spirit of adventure.

A major focus of the film is on the abuse and depletion of the earth’s, and in particular, Patagonia’s natural resources which is never an uplifting thing to see.  Despite those saddening conditions the main thrust is that of a wild eyed freedom and engagement with the natural world.  It was very cool to be able to see old footage and  hear present day interviews with Chouinard and Tompkins.  Always fascinating to  get into the heads  of old seekers.  Check out the website, you can dig thorugh some old footage and interviews and then go watch the movie.  Did me a world of good.

While the brew master is away the minions must work and occasionally make important decisions. This past weekend I took Brian’s usual spot as captain of our brew team and brewed a couple fresh batches of IPA. As usual there was some good, some bad and some real weird. The good and the bad were directly correlative to the level of intoxication affecting the ersatz brew master.
The weird was the new yeast I tried. My hand was forced because our local brew supply store was out of the Rogue Pac Man that we had been using for our IPA’s. On the advice of a fellow brewer I gave – American Ale Yeast – 1272 a shot, and man was that wild. I made a starter a couple of days before hand, so it had been sitting for about 48 hours before I pitched it. After pitching it I cleaned up the brew shop and headed home to sleep it off.
What I returned to the next morning was the aftermath of a yeast bomb. The yeast had popped up through the airlock, covered everything in a yeasty, beery mixture and left about a quarter inch of beer in the bottom of the kettle that the carboy was resting in. Certainly we expect some overflow. As a rule it happens with the Pac – Man but nothing like this. This was a different animal all together and it made a damn mess.
Anyway, we’ll see what happens with the beer. I moved it to the secondary fermenter yesterday and it attenuated perfectly although it was not as clear as I would have liked. Time will tell but I think we’ll likely play around with this yeast some more.

Here’s what Wyeast Labs has to say about it:

With many of the best qualities that brewers look for when brewing American styles of beer, this strain’s performance is consistent and it makes great beer. Fruitier and more flocculent than Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast, slightly nutty, soft, clean with a slightly tart finish. Ferment at warmer temperatures to accentuate hop character with intense fruitiness, or ferment cool for clean, light citrus character. Expect good attenuation, but this will vary with grist makeup, mashing protocol, or other wort characteristics. Reliably flocculent, producing bright beer without filtration.

There’s a craft beer event, Beer Under Glass, at The Garfield Park Conservatory here in Chicago tomorrow night, Thursday the 13th. Unfortunately it appears to be sold out. That sort of thing never stops us here at OA, in fact it ups the ante, requiring resourcefulness, a keen mind and occasionally brute force and stupidity. It shouldn’t scare you either, especially since you can count on delicious beer from a variety of local brewers, including Argus, Goose Island, Half Acre, Hamburger Mary’s, Metropolitan, Rock Bottom Chicago, and Two Brothers.

Event is sponsored by The Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. Trick your way in and then stop for a minute and smell the flowers and delicious beer.

My roommate, Mr. King, recently cooked some steaks using the method detailed in the video above and claims to have achieved the best results he’s ever had with steak. Listening to the theory it certainly makes sense, but strikes me as strange, that of all the ways I’ve cooked steak and all the people I’ve talked to about cooking steak, I have never run across this method. Of particular interest to me is the accelerated dry aging process. If this actually helps to make a lower grade steak more tender not only could it save a bit of cash, but also help deal with the eternally inconsistent quality of cuts in Chicago supermarkets. Certainly it’s worth trying as Cooks Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen (even though the dude, below, is real creepy and likely into some deviant food sex shit) rarely steer you wrong.

How good is this beer? Pretty fucking amazing, or so I hear. In fact, I’d heard so much praise that when I came across it at the store I was happy to pay $17 for a six pack. I was even happier driving home from work the next day imagining the tangy sweet hoppy deliciousness awaiting me. All that being said, you can well understand my disappointment when upon reaching home I opened the door and stumbled into my pie eyed roommate who had killed the whole damn thing without realizing that it was 10% ABV. I’m glad that he enjoyed it, it seems that most everybody on Beer Advocate did as well, giving it an average grade of A. Pretty high praise from those beer nerds. Tried to go buy some more but sadly it is a seasonal and it is now out of season. So be it, it gives me a reason to live until next January when they re-release it. Anyway, god love Hop Slam and god love Bell’s.

Beer Hoptacular is coming to The City of Broad Shoulders, June 4th and 5th at the Aragon Ballroom. It’s being billed as:

“…a celebration for all true beer enthusiasts, kicks off its first year with beer samplings, demonstrations and fun from craft brewers, beer experts, home brewers, and local artisans. Attendees will enjoy a select variety of more than two hundred small-batch beers, the best of the best from across the Midwest, other regions in the U.S. and abroad.”

It looks like all the usual suspects from the local breweries will be in attendance as well as quite a large list from elsewhere, including Magic Hat and Sierra Nevada, a complete list is at the link given above. I’m particularly interested in meeting and talking with other home brewers. Tickets can be purchased at the site, they’re somewhere around $50. Now if i can just meet that blond, all will be right in the world.

I know that Baseball isn’t generally our bailiwick here at OA but it’s a bright and sunny opening day here in the CHI and I must admit that when I awoke this morning, I allowed a bit of hope to creep into my heart, just a bit though. I’ve been down this road too many times to harbor much hope, matter of fact I’m surprised there was any room left for it at all. Spent the last week or so actually compiling A Case Against Hope, check it out if you like depressing shit. Anyway, I promise no more baseball but I leave you with this bit of diamond hilarity from the incomparable Earl Weaver, had a buddy remind of this yesterday. Enjoy.

That fella’s damn entertaining but he’s not the face of modern moonshine. It seems that making your own liquor, while illegal and quite dangerous, is gathering steam in some hipster circles. A new book called Chasing the White Dog: An Amateur Outlaw’s Adventures in Moonshine by a gentleman named Max Watman chronicles the recent rise in the popularity of moonshine.

The process itself is interesting, especially having messed around with brewing these past few months. The renegade spirit also appeals to me but I think it’s going to be a while before I give it a shot. If not done properly not only can you blow your face off but you could end up blind or poisoned to death. That may have been worth it to old blues men but I’m not ready to take the leap just yet. If your interested in reading more here’s the article that turned me on.