My New Food Slicer
If life gives you lemons, buy a juicer!
I use a local butcher/farmer/farmstore here for purchasing almost all of my meats. The meat is all hormone free grass fed deliciousness. The people there know you by name and are friendly as can be. Well today, I ran into my first problem with them.
One of my regular purchases is 3 pounds of sirloin cut thin for my homemade jerky (Recipe and method to come. I do it VERY unconventionally and about as primal as it gets). I never really put 2 and 2 together that my jerky meat purchase always cost me more than it probably should have. The Sirloin is normally $4.99 per pound but my 3 pounds always cost me about $21. Well I finally put 2 and 2 together today and realized that my butcher has been charging me $2 per pound to slice the meat! (It is kind of an involved process, freezing the meat and cleaning the slicer and stuff but still!).
So what did I do? I promptly left the butcher, went across the street to Linen and Things’ going out of business sale (50% off) and bought myself this slicer. I then went back to the butcher and bought a 3 pound slab of sirloin for $4.99 per pound.
What a fun toy! I cant wait to use it today to slice all that Sirloin and make my Jerky!
P.S. I had some questions about the background of the picture in the Damage Control Master Formula post. Yes that is a dispenser for coffee beans and yes it is full of almonds. You can kind of see it in the picture on this post too.
November 22nd, 2008 - 4:47 pm
SoG,
Nice call here! And, you can use the slicer for straight up deli meat… which will mean you’ve got fresh deli meat whenever you want! I just might have to get me one of those…
All the Best,
Andrew R
November 23rd, 2008 - 2:31 pm
You are ready to slice and dice. Precut and prepared items are always more expensive, but usually if you are a butcher’s regular customer they won’t charge you. What I need to learn to do is de-bone chicken because that would make it a lot cheaper too. But 3 pounds of meat for jerky is a lot to use a knife on.
Since it’s winter, the farmers’ market is only one Saturday a month, so I made a haul yesterday from both meat vendors. Most people were picking up their turkey orders for Thanksgiving, but I was low on my red meat and pastured eggs supply. I got a turkey ordered for Christmas, and I might get a ham too. All organic, grass fed stuff, and I love the local farmers who are Dunker (sort of like Mennonite, but they use cell phones). I’ve been trying to eat lamb and other meats that I didn’t grow up on, so I experiment a bit too. Got the usual steaks and chuck roasts, but also some soup bones and pork loin.
Can’t wait for the jerky recipe. I love the Jack Link Carne Seca jalapeno flavor, but I don’t buy it anymore cuz of the MSG and other preservatives. I need a good recipe for something similar.
TrailGrrl
November 23rd, 2008 - 2:36 pm
Just thinking out loud… I wonder if you could slice a cooked beef tenderloin on that gizmo. I hate trying to slice the leftovers thin enough.
Man I must really be hungry for red meat this week!
TrailGrrl
November 23rd, 2008 - 2:38 pm
Andrew,
I am really having fun with it. Plus it makes my kitchen look more like that of a “hardcore cook”!
TrailGrrl,
Sounds like you have a lot of awesome options available to you! Lamb is awesome and I have learned that I far prefer buffalo meat to beef. The jerky recipe that I will be presenting is not so much the flavor or the marinade but more the process I use to make it. That will make more sense once it comes out! And judging by how many different things I have cut so far, you could probably cut anything you want on it!
Thanks for the wonderful comments!
November 24th, 2008 - 8:40 am
Freaking brillaint Dude! Never even thought of this as a piece of home kitchenware. I know own one too! Good call, and thanks! Will let you know what I use it for, intended and otherwise. Could be fun.
November 24th, 2008 - 8:46 am
Emergefit,
I am glad to see that you share my enthusiasm over something that is seemingly so benign!
The SoG
November 24th, 2008 - 7:47 pm
New use for the food slicer! The Sweet potato chips! Went so much faster with the slicer.
The SoG
November 28th, 2008 - 4:08 pm
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
December 1st, 2008 - 1:55 am
I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a slicer, too. Thanks for reminding me of the deals at L & T end of business sales.
I make a great Super Slow Roasted (bison) round roast using Shannon Hayes’ recipe in her book, Grassfed Gourmet. It’s just like deli roast beef but without the additives. I like to let it cool down and then I chill it for easier slicing, but I’d really like it sliced even thinner than I can manage by hand.
December 1st, 2008 - 6:52 am
Anna,
That roast sounds delicious! The slicer is well worth it. I also picked up the wife’s Christmas present at LnT but I am not saying what it is here as she reads the site
December 3rd, 2008 - 7:51 pm
[...] tough. You can either have your butcher cut it for you or you can cut it yourself with your handy deli slicer. The meat will need to be slightly frozen in order to cut it thin enough. 1/4″ is about where [...]