Hi everyone, I'm scrodumb and I am a retail butcher and sausage maker in Toronto, Canada.
My culinary experience extends far beyond that but these days my specific interests are mostly meat and meat processing. Starting to get into charcuterie and expanding my sausage repertoire into fermented, cured, smoked and emulsified products. Will be making my first coppa and pancetta this coming week. Have some Cantonese style lap cheong drying too.
I'm happy to help with any meat related questions or troubleshooting, feel free to ask here or message me directly. Love bouncing ideas back and forth especially with other foodheads.
A couple weeks ago I ordered a half hog of Meishan pork for myself and made a bunch of sausages for my friends and family. The pic is my personal versions of Barese sausage (coiled) and Chipolatas (breakfast sized links). Both are super popular and I'm happy to share the formulations if anyone is interested. I have dozens more sausage formulations too, just ask. I can turn nearly any red sauce pizza recipe into a sausage. Hawaiian absolutely SLAPS. Other dishes too. I created a Cubano sausage that tastes just like the sandwich.
I'll try to post every week or two but seriously if you have any meat related queries hit me up I'm always happy to help. Next post will likely be some tips and tricks I've learned and discovered in my journey.
I’m not even sure I know what to ask!
Let’s start with something, though….What are your favorite cuts to work with… and what do you with them?
Beef I like the boneless blade section. Poor man's ribeye, Denver steak, stir fry (poor man's flank steak right beside the Denver), plenty of stew and burger. I usually braise large chunks of stew and pull it, I make wicked "carne asada" nachos with it. My favourite cut to cook and eat is the very first chuck end ribeye, failing that a nice 1.5" striploin or a bavette if it's for lunch. Making prime rib roasts is fun. For charcuterie I'm interested in using the "baseball" muscle from the sirloin to make basturma.
Pork I use whole shoulder for sausages mostly but I'm partial to the midloin chop when it comes to eating. The t-bone pork chop. I like it 1.25" thick. Heritage breed aged for two weeks is God tier chops. I usually go for Mangalitsa breed but our farm didn't have any this time so they sent me Meishan and I'm impressed. Meishan fat is pork fat properties but closer to beef fat flavour. Wow. I have tons of pork products planned in the pipeline. Deli meats, charcuterie, smokies etc.
Lamb I only eat rib or loin chops but use everything for sausage. I LOVE processing lamb racks but unfortunately market conditions led our shop to order them pre-cleaned. Every chance I get I'll clean and french a lamb rack. It's fun.
Chicken is all about the thigh for me. Breast meat is trash these days. North America has overbred our hens to the point they're stacking breast meat TWICE as fast as ten years ago. Problem is the heart can't pump oxygenated blood to the muscle fast enough so the collagen doesn't develop and the spaghetti-sized muscle fibres split apart and look and eat like crap. Thighs are still excellent, almost impossible to overcook and full of flavour. Wings when I'm entertaining (fried in schmaltz ofc). Leg drumsticks when I'm cooking just for me or for staff meal.
Turkey. Don't get me started. It's stupid for every reason imaginable. BUT I am going to make turkey bacon at work soon for the first time and I'm optimistic. Last Thanksgiving I made a turkey breast roulade stuffed with turkey sausage. Year prior it was a spatchcocked bird brined overnight in saltwater and liquid smoke. Divine. This year my brother is cooking it but I'll provide the bird and brine it in the smoke brine again. When I eat turkey I prefer sausages. I make amazing turkey sausages (I leave the skin on when I grind). I find nearly any formulation I use for beef or pork works just as well with turkey. I make a wicked turkey pepperoni that doesn't require fermenting. Mustard powder replaces paprika and bacteria culture to retain the tangy notes.
Aside from the odd custom order that's the bread and butter of what I enjoy at work.