I have long been a fan of pan-searing steaks and finishing their roast in the oven. Previously, I'd either thaw the steaks in the fridge overnight or I would sous vide them instead of using the oven, and sear them at the end.
This technique: thawing the surface of the steak enough to hold seasoning and then starting the pan sear is wonderful. I have found that sous vide from frozen to be ok but not my favorite. Read the rest
According to CNN 18% of Wendy's restaurants in the United States are no longer able to sell hamburgers or other meat-based items because of the national meat shortage. The restaurant chain is focusing it attention on promoting chicken sandwiches, wrote Stephens analyst James Rutherford. CNN asked McDonald's and Burger King whether they were experiencing shortages, but neither chain immediately responded. Read the rest
In the late 1960s, the US Department of Agriculture released this LP titled "How To Buy Meat." The voice is that of Sandra Brookover, Consumer Meat Specialist. The record, a collection of public service announcements, was meant for radio stations and never saw a commercial release. Due its scarcity, I expect the imminent release of a 180 gram, gatefold reissue of the record. Limited edition, 'natch.
Have a listen: "How can you tell a blade chuck roast from an arm chuck roast?" (MP3)
The plant is “built around efficiency,” keeping workers in close quarters and making it impossible to social distance, Cargill says
Smithfield Foods, Inc. recently closed a major pork processing plant in South Dakota, after workers were sickened with coronavirus in what has since become an outbreak hotspot.
Now, U.S.-owned Cargill is cutting production at one of Canada's biggest beef-packing plants, after several dozen Cargill meat processing workers there were confirmed ill with the new coronavirus. Read the rest
Well, there it is at last, the silver lining to climate change. Turns out it's so hot in Australia, you can totally roast a delicious hunk of meat on top of your car. Read the rest
Does cooking a Impossible Burger on the same surface used to cook normal burgers "contaminate" them with meat by-products? Is Burger King doing this? A vegan diner makes these claims in a lawsuit filed Monday against the fast-food chain. Reuters:
Read the restThe lawsuit filed in Miami federal court seeks damages for all U.S. purchasers of the Impossible Whopper, and an injunction requiring Burger King to “plainly disclose” that Impossible Whoppers and regular burgers are cooked on the same grills. [Burger King] describes the Impossible Burger as “100% Whopper, 0% Beef,” and adds that “for guests looking for a meat-free option, a non-broiler method of preparation is available upon request.”
Some vegans have filed a lawsuit against Burger King because they cook the Impossible Burger Whoppers on the same grill as their meat burgers. According to the suit, the Impossible Whopper is not a vegan option and the restaurant doesn't disclose the meat contamination on their menu. Of course, vegans and vegetarians have been quite vocal about this issue since the Impossible Whopper's introduction.
According to TMZ, plaintiff Philip Williams "not only wants damages ... he wants the judge to order Burger King to stop cooking Impossible Burgers and the OG burgers on the same grill. Read the rest
Yes, really.
Although we're deep in the heat of summer, Hormel Foods is busy promoting their new fall pork product: Pumpkin Spice Spam. That's (sp)iced h(am) spiced with cinnamon, clove, allspice, and nutmeg.
For a limited time, you'll be able to get cans of it at Walmart and the Spam online store come September 23.
CNN reports that "Spam recommends topping waffles with it, adding it to a fall vegetable hash or baking it into a cornbread muffin." (No, thank you.) Read the rest
I have been making some amazing meals on a compact bullet smoker.
After my first try with the super cheap bullet smoker, I decided to go for a Santa Maria tri-tip. It worked out beautifully.
I loaded up the fire ring of the Dynoglo smoker I was using with lots of wood chunks and charcoal, essentially using the same 'Minion' Method of leaving the center of the ring empty, and filling it with hot coals. The coals slowly burn their way out to the center, while also smoldering the wood. Smoke ensues, food cooks.
I read a ton of online forum advice and went for a 90 minute smoke at around 225. I had gone to Trader Joe's and picked up a marinated chunk of meat. It went straight from the bag on to the top grill.
At the end of the 90 minutes, I took the center portion of the smoker off and moved one of the cooking grills directly above the fire ring. I seared the tri-tip on the super high heat for a couple of minutes. Less time down there is more, and I would have gone with 60 seconds less per side than I thought I needed.
The DynoGlo smoker, however, completely came apart during this smoke. Previously the paint would heat up, run a little, and stick to stuff. This time the paint totally bubbled and started to peel, crack and break. The metal looked a bit fatigued on the inside of the smoker as well. Read the rest
Rick Wiles, host of the racist and anti-semitic "Christian" media outlet TruNews, reveals that meatless burgers are “plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products, is part of a satanic plot to alter human DNA so that people can no longer worship God.” Listen up:
When you go to your favorite fast food restaurant, you are going to be eating a fake hamburger. You’re going to go to the grocery store and buy a pound of fake hamburger or a fake steak, and you won’t know that it was grown in some big corporation’s laboratory. This is the nightmare world that they are taking us into. They’re changing God’s creation. Why? Because they want to be God....
God is an environmentalist. He takes this very seriously. He created this planet, he created the universe and he’s watching these Luciferians destroy this planet, destroy the animal kingdom, destroy the plant kingdom, change human DNA. Why? They want to change human DNA so that you can’t be born again. That’s where they’re going with this, to change the DNA of humans so it will be impossible for a human to be born again. They want to create a race of soulless creatures on this planet.
(Patheos via Daily Grail)
Next year, New York City public schools will initiate "Meatless Mondays" as part of their lunch program. Students will be served all vegetarian food for breakfast and lunch. (Note: photo above for illustrative purposes only. Not representative of actual school cafeteria menu.) From CNN:
"Cutting back on meat a little will improve New Yorkers' health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," de Blasio said at a news conference. "We're expanding Meatless Mondays to all public schools to keep our lunch and planet green for generations to come..."
School leaders in New York said doing this just makes good sense.
"For those who scoff at this notion, I have some simple advice: Look at the science," Staten Island Borough President James Oddo said. "Look at the data. Look at the childhood obesity. Look at pre-diabetes diagnoses. Look at the fact that 65% of American kids age 12 to14 shows signs of early cholesterol disease. Then, perhaps you will embrace the fact that we can't keep doing things the same way, including welcoming the idea of Meatless Mondays."
And you thought 2018 couldn't get more grimly, disgustingly, apocalyptically fucked up.
There are roughly 4,000 “hog-waste lagoons,” that is the official term folks, in North Carolina. In the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality today says a number of these pork poo ponds are at risk of flooding and overflowing. Read the rest
Nibbling away over the eight years of her employment at a grocery store in Canton, Ohio, an employee munched through $9,200 worth of deli meat before being shown the door. From The Canton Repository:
The Giant Eagle loss prevention manager received a tip that the employee had been nibbling on the meat at the deli, eating about three to five slices of ham nearly every day over a space of eight years, Hale said. She occasionally ate salami.
No arrest was made. Read the rest
Applestone Meat Co. has installed meat vending machines at their Stone Ridge, NY shop with plans to deploy 24-hour meat machines in Hudson, Scarsdale, and Manhattan. From Bloomberg:
Each is filled with a different type of protein: beef, pork, lamb, and ground meat and sausage. He has to restock the machines constantly to keep up with demand. Later this year, Applestone is expanding to Hudson, where the store will have at least seven machines. By early next year the company will open in Scarsdale, where he’s planning for 10 machines, and later in 2019 he’ll open in Manhattan, with possibly even more.
Accessibility is key to this unlikely success; customers don’t have to get to the butcher shop by 7 p.m. or buy questionable leftover product from a late-night market. “We’re not in the 1950s anymore, where everyone works 9 to 5 and eats at the same time every night,” Applestone says of 24/7 accessibility to meat. “Life is chaotic. At best.”
"Your Next Steak Could Come From a Vending Machine" (via Uncrate)
Artist Marija Tiurina created this tasty backgammon set by repurposing a fancy Jaques London set to look like meat: Read the rest
Perhaps you've put food in a ziplok baggie. Perhaps you've tried to leave open just enough of a gap to push out almost enough air to consider it truly sealed. Perhaps, like me, you've even sucked out the last air through that gap, creating a genuine vacuum while filling your mouth with delicious, cold poultry slime. Here's how to do the same thing without risk of becoming a campylobacter campsite! All you need is a plastic tub or pot of water. Read the rest
It's $18 from Gamiss, perfect for your next BBQ. (via Crazy Abalone) Read the rest
