Corned beef....another cut besides brisket to use?

[freemotion]

I want to make some chemical-free corned beef. Can I use any cut, or does it have to be brisket? I can get some grass-fed beef now, but the selection is not that huge. It is becoming more popular here, and I can get some cuts for a reasonable price now. But they only offer more popular cuts in the regular grocery store. I was thinking that any roast might make a good corned beef.....waddaya think?

 

[me&thegals]

I have no experience to speak of, but I would personally much prefer corned beef with a different cut. The brisket fat makes me feel a bit gaggy and leads me to do things like vegetarian reubens. It seems like the concept should work on any cut, as it's only brining meat, right? Let us know if you get a great recipe. I would love to try it, perhaps on venison.

 

[big brown horse]

This sounds like a good question for farmerlor! She is the corned beef expert.

BTW free, where do you get your grass fed beef cuts? I can't find them anywhere!! (Bison is the only meat I can find that is grass fed, and it only comes ground.)

 

[freemotion]

It just appeared at a chain of no-frills grocery stores called PriceRite. That store just plops the cases of stuff on the shelves and they cut them open right there. They are only vaguely organized! I find pineapple in three places, and not the same brand. It can be hard to find stuff, and they don't have much selection....but the prices are rite....er....right! Two kinds of people shop there....the typical obese Americans buying garbage and heaping their carts up, or even using two carts. Then there are the health conscious, who buy produce for a song. They apparently are aware of us, hence the sudden appearance of the grass-fed beef!

I haven't even bought any yet, as I was not in need of any, having just bought 30 lbs of Austrailian grass-fed ground beef and stew beef to can. I found that at a locker company in a high-end town that I have horse clients in, and stopped in one day to see if they had leaf lard...they did. On a slow day, I got into a conversation with one of the butchers, and it led to grass-fed. Apparently, they get their beef for their ground beef from Austrailia because it is grass-fed so it doesn't have the E-coli trouble that American beef has!!! It is so lean, they have to add fat to it! So I ordered some with less fat for canning, and made meatloaf, spaghetti sauce with my tomatoes, beef stew with lots of veggies and beans, and plain beef chunks.

But with planning, I will be getting some. First order of business, choose a couple of cuts to freeze for a couple of weeks to make corned beef with!

 

[me&thegals]

That store sounds exactly like "Aldi's" around here. You pay $0.25 to get a cart out of the locked lineup, then get your $ back when you return it. No frills. No shelves. Just stacks of boxes. But, there are some great deals with decent food!

 

[freemotion]

I go to get some of my produce mostly, and a few other staples. For example, a gallon of white vinegar is over $3 at the big chain store across the street, but $1.89 in this store the next town over. So I plan well, and shop when I am nearby, a couple of times a week. Their produce is cheap because it is not all exactly the same size....I saw a butternut squash that had to be 15 lbs there once! And they have a great variety of stuff, and cater to a more ethnically diverse group, which is a LOT of fun. Across the street from my house, the big chain store seems to cater to a crowd that has never eaten a veggie besides frozen corn or peas, and eats only iceberg lettuce and waxed cukes and mealy apples. But they all look PERFECT on their shelves!