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Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 21 May 2014, 16:57
by eggtastico
Hi, New around here, but thought I would share what I know about them american cuts we try to find in the UK.
I know a butcher and he says what I ask may have regional names.

First up, I recommend getting friendly with a proper butcher - find a butcher that either makes the cuts or can order them in. Friendly butcher will quite often give you freebies to try. I have had Tail, Shin & Cheek to try. All tasty cheap cuts.

There is a lot of 'butchers' around my way who sell everything pre-packed & cut ready...
As well as knowing a butcher with 40 years experience, I am also lucky enough to have a small arbiter that has a butcher shop attached. Anything I want, they will go out into the cold room, bring in a carcass & saw/cut the beef in front of me... no surprise food hygenie only gives them a rating of 1 :roll:

Pork Butt - He says this is the Hand & Spring and you would want it bone in & not rolled.

Tri Tip - now this gets confusing as it can be known as the Point (not point end) or point steak.
It is at the bottom of the rump/thin end where it joins the sirloin. It is also trangular shape & should weigh about 1kg-1.5kg - It can also be known as the butchers choice. my Butcher friend charges £10 a kg.

Brisket - Packer Brisket as it is called in the USA is both a Point end & a flat end. - Point end has nothing to do with a trip-tip. Brisket comes from the forequarters, Tritip from the Hindquarters.
If you want a whole Packer brisket, you want the flat & point ends in one slab & unrolled. You can ask the butcher to trim the fat if you wish... which is a clever way to get the price down (I remember my mum in butchers would order a brisket & ask for the fat to be cut off. Once weighed & price calculated, she would then ask for the fat to cook the brisket in for the gravy - never got charged for the fat!) - current price on Brisket is around £9 a KG

Ribs - I can only get whole ribs from a different butcher - they are always frozen, but I can cut them St Louis Style & get a good portion of point ends. Got 2x Racks last week for £6 each - They was only £4 last year :| - but they are done on weight. Again specify you want them left whole. 1st time I asked, the butcher got his clever out & started chopping them!

Want to share what you know? or if you have Q's about other cuts, I can try to find out.

Re: Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 22 May 2014, 10:58
by Stu_C
Thanks a lot for this, I'll save this to my phone for the next time I'm at the butcher's and they give me a blank look :)

Re: Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 22 May 2014, 18:05
by eggtastico
I am waiting for confirmation on the tri tip - seems he made a mistake.
I have now sent him off to cut me a french cut aiguillette baronne that is the same as tri tip
once he has found it - he will give me the british name.

I said to him its flat & triangular. I got what looks like top rump :roll:

Re: Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 25 May 2014, 17:40
by JamsCowbell
Not sure on the Pork Butt, you'd want the blade side rather than the hand wouldn't you? Not sure if spring means the blade side but if it was blade and hand then that's a full shoulder and I couldn't get one of those in my 57cm WSM :)

Re: Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 26 May 2014, 07:21
by Rednaxela13
JamsCowbell wrote:Not sure on the Pork Butt, you'd want the blade side rather than the hand wouldn't you? Not sure if spring means the blade side but if it was blade and hand then that's a full shoulder and I couldn't get one of those in my 57cm WSM :)


I think you're correct here... you want the "top" of the shoulder for a butt rather than the lower part (hand & spring) I think that in the US they call that part the "picnic shoulder" or "arm shoulder".

Re: Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 26 May 2014, 18:54
by Swindon_Ed
I'm not a butcher but i've spent years working with different butchers to make sure i have the right cuts of meat for contests.

Hand & spring isn't the right part of the shoulder, for a pork butt, asking for a neck end has never gone wrong for me.

Tri tip is called rump tail in the UK

Brisket, just ask for a brisket point in the Uk and you should get a packer.

Re: Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 31 May 2014, 14:41
by Verminskti
Ed, with Brisket what if I only want the point not the full packer (That's flat and point right)?

Re: Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 01 Jun 2014, 15:30
by keith157
Just explain to the butcher that that is the only part you want.

Re: Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 01 Jun 2014, 16:55
by Swindon_Ed
keith157 wrote:Just explain to the butcher that that is the only part you want.


easier said than done Keith, i wish i could just buy points (they're my favourite bit)

Verminskti wrote:Ed, with Brisket what if I only want the point not the full packer (That's flat and point right)?


Like i said to keith, i've not managed to find a butcher who'll do it as it's a lot of to seperate. I've found some small brisket pieces in Booker which were pretty much all point so i just buy them when i just want to cook a point on it's own.

Re: Meats! US to UK cut conversions

PostPosted: 02 Jun 2014, 03:47
by Eddie
Proberly the best demo on US-v-UK meats explained by KCBS rep http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q85xN-oXG3w


Enjoy

Eddie