500689 Wed Mar 19 11:28:53 -0700 2008 21 2 Los Angeles Area 0 3507826 I read in many posts about Langer's that you have to order it hand cut (most recently in a thread about what places a San Franciscan must try in L.A.). After years of just ordering sandwiches, I started with the hand cut thing. One day, my assistant phoned in our order and brought back the sandwiches and I open them up to discover ham sandwiches, dry. The lady taking the order thought she said Ham instead of handcut. I called back to straighten out the order and get new pastrami sandwiches and discussed the point of confusion. She then went on to tell me that there is no reason to say hand cut. All of their pastrami is hand cut. I asked, are you absolutely sure about this. She said yes, just order the sandwich as is and the pastrami will be hand cut. So, do all of you that make a point of saying to specify "hand-cut" have any information to counter what the lady told me or are you just repeating something that you read here and took as fact? Wed Mar 19 11:28:53 -0700 2008 89981 Wolfgang 1 3507843 "She then went on to tell me that there is no reason to say hand cut. All of their pastrami is hand cut." This topic has been discussed at length, and I happen to agree with the lady you spoke with -- there is no reason to say "hand cut". It's not often I do, but I'll take the proprietor's word on this... Wed Mar 19 11:33:18 -0700 2008 3507826 10606 Joe Blowe 2 3508033 Yes the whole requesting "hand cut" thing is nonsense. I spoke with the owner of Langer's a couple visits ago and he said the same thing, i.e., they are all "hand cut" Wed Mar 19 12:30:24 -0700 2008 3507843 14558 Ernie 1 3507873 I like hand cut. I dunno, maybe it's totally in my head. Just knowing it's hand cut makes me think it's better. Wed Mar 19 11:43:39 -0700 2008 3507826 11201 Diana 1 3507938 I love langers pastrami and go there frequently. I have never asked for hand cut and it is always great pastrami Wed Mar 19 11:59:16 -0700 2008 3507826 60617 rednyellow 1 3513409 A couple of weeks ago, I ordered hand cut and my dining partner did not. Both our pastrami sandwiches looked identical. Thu Mar 20 22:01:17 -0700 2008 3507826 39533 gdtobme 1 3541569 Yeah, when Nora Ephron wrote about Langer's in the New Yorker. she said that the meat is so tender from its long steaming, it *has* to be hand-cut. So no, you do not have to specify. I've ordered hand-cut and not ordered hand-cut, and it's been the same. I guess without knowing that it's necessary, some people like to be sure by specifying. Sat Mar 29 17:40:09 -0700 2008 3507826 17346 Cicely 1 3541583 I've asked for a pound of pastrami, sliced to take home, and they used the rotary slicer. I watched them do it. So not to muddy the waters, but hand sliced is not a boilerplate guarantee. Sat Mar 29 17:49:10 -0700 2008 3507826 10023 Professor Salt 2 3555826 !!! Wed Apr 02 22:15:33 -0700 2008 3541583 17346 Cicely 2 3557605 They use the machine to slice the stuff to go. I tried to order some bulk hand cut and they gave me an explanation for why it doesn't work. I wish I could remember it! It seemed plausible at the time...I was transporting it up north in a cooler and I think that the hand-sliced was hot and in order to keep it cool, the machine sliced was from a refrigerated hunk, maybe too cool to hand slice? ARRG I wish I could remember. If you ask your options, they'll tell you, I know that much! Thu Apr 03 11:06:08 -0700 2008 3541583 20504 hpcat 2 3559164 same here. If I don't specify hand cut, they never hand cut it and they told me I specifically had to ask for it. I always get machine cut even when I eat there unless I specify hand cut. There is a big difference in the texture. I wish I was making this up because then I would have had fewer less than stellar $10 sandwiches. Thu Apr 03 16:51:29 -0700 2008 3541583 10246 choctastic 3 3788815 So I was at Langer's today and last week and had different waiter each time. both confirmed that you have to request your sandwich hand cut or else it is usually sliced on the machine (unless they're not busy or something I guess). Today's waiter said they don't like to do it at lunch because it's too busy but they gave me a great (hand sliced) sandwich anyway. Tried the #19 for the first time (I usually get the plain pastrami because at Langer's I'm not adventurous). Meh, I'd rather have me a reuben if I'm going to put cabbage on a sandwich. Tue Jun 17 15:06:10 -0700 2008 3559164 10246 choctastic 3 3789177 i had something similar happen a couple of years ago. i've been going to langer's for years for lunch and this one time the pastrami was really thinly sliced and dry. it was so different i said something to the waitress (something i don't usually do), and she said "oh you want the hand-cut, you have to ask for it." then she cheerfully took my sandwich away and brought back another, thicker and more irregularly sliced and absolutely moist and delicious. Tue Jun 17 17:35:27 -0700 2008 3559164 10372 FED 1 3788865 Please clue me in...I am an ex-New Yorker and have been eating deli sandwiches my whole life everywhere from The Carnagie and Sixth Ave Deli's in NYC to the ex- but wonderful Rascal House in Miami Beach, to Langer's in LA. I am sure that some have been hand-cut and others machine cut. Is there really a difference in taste...or do you think that somehow if it's hand-cut someone has put more love into it? If the machine cut meat is not so paper thin as to affect its texture, how can the two possibly taste different? Tue Jun 17 15:28:29 -0700 2008 3507826 171170 josephnl 2 3788978 It's not so much a matter of flavor, but of texture. The texture of the brisket indicates how expertly they steam it in the kitchen. When cooked perfectly, the stringy-looking and otherwise tough muscle fibers in brisket (and the collagen that holds them together) loosen apart into a tender, delicate mass of fiber, well rendered fat and gelatin-like remnants of what was once the collagen. It's damn near impossible to slice super thin because it'll fall apart. On the other hand, perfectly cooked pastrami sliced thickly is still moist, tender and easy to chew. Try slicing undercooked pastrami (or any other type of brisket) thickly and you might as well chew on a bicycle tube. Most of the pastrami you'll find at other places is actually undercooked, which is why it's sliced super thin. You can tell by looking at how tightly the muscle fibers are still bound by the collagen. Because it hasn't reached optimal tenderness yet, undercooked brisket is sliced super thin, across the grain, to make it easier to chew. Yet when cooked perfectly, slicing brisket thinly is challenging. Unless you have a cook with good skills and a really sharp knife, hand slices will end up a little thicker, so that each slice doesn't crumble apart. Yes, there is "more love" in these hand slices, as you say. Bottom line gut feeling here: ask for hand sliced, and they necessarily have to slice it thick. If they have to slice it thick, any cook that gives a damn is sort of forced to cherry pick the most perfectly cooked slab of meat they got. Tue Jun 17 16:09:12 -0700 2008 3788865 10023 Professor Salt 3 3789100 fantastic, A+ Tue Jun 17 17:01:04 -0700 2008 3788978 91179 ns1 1 3789187 I posted this a while back: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/511055 I have no idea why there would be a variation from hand-cut, but the TV show I posted about featured NORM LANGER making the very specific statement that "ALL their pastrami is hand-cut". This was on an episode of "The Secret Life of...." on the Food Network. No doubt Professor Salt saw what he saw. It shall remain a continuing mystery. In spite of thoughts to the contrary, I guess they're just human over there at Langer's. Tue Jun 17 17:41:17 -0700 2008 3507826 11405 Midlife 2 3789399 Well, their public statement is at odds with what they tell the customer. I'm just telling you what I saw. Tue Jun 17 19:20:55 -0700 2008 3789187 10246 choctastic 2 3789691 That Food Network segment with Norm Langer also included his father, so it has to be somewhat old. I just saw it again a few nights ago. While he was careful to explain that the handcutting allowed the cook to alter his slicing angle as the grain shifted, he did NOT say that ALL of their pastrami was handcut. He either said "almost all" or "most." More important, the fairly extensive view of the pastrami being sliced showed the cook removing the top layer of fat (which is where the seasoning, flavor and moisture lies) and also removing the fat layer between a top and bottom segment of meat. My pastrami sandwich at Langer's used to sometimes be too lean, and while delicious and tender a bit dry. So now I not only say handcut, but I specify "untrimmed" or "moist." Tue Jun 17 21:58:56 -0700 2008 3789187 10855 nosh 3 3791089 I guess we'll need to find a recording of that segment and have it transcribed. You're right that the point of the piece was the slicing method, not whether it was exclusive or not. But I don't think it would have made the impression on me it did if I had heard him say "most" or "almost all". It's possible he may not have used the word "all" but I think a qualified statement would have jumped out at me. I remember being glued to the piece because of all these posts. I guess this is why lawyers and politicians have so much fun. Regardless, there does seem to be substantial evidence that they also use the machine at times. I was just pointing out their "official" position on the subject. Anyway............. however they cut it, it's wonderful!!! Wed Jun 18 10:36:46 -0700 2008 3789691 11405 Midlife 1 3789542 I've been going to Langer's since I moved to Los Angeles in 1982. Every time I go there for the #19 (Pastrami, Russian Dressing, Swiss Cheese & Coleslaw on Rye) it's always been hand cut and I can see them do that from where I always sit at the counter! Add a dish of their potato salad and their pickles, now that is heaven! Tue Jun 17 20:27:04 -0700 2008 3507826 191801 JosephEBacon 2 3789592 I always sit at the bar and today I definitely noticed that our slices of pastrami were quite a bit thicker and more irregular than that on the other sandwiches going out. I find it weird that my experiences are consistently at odds with everyone elses. Usually, I'm right there with you guys, but not this time. Tue Jun 17 20:51:07 -0700 2008 3789542 10246 choctastic