Exciting News for Smoked Meat Fans in Toronto
I have discovered the best smoked meat in Toronto and maybe anywhere. And I think the vast majority of you don’t know anything about it yet. It's Goldin's Smoked Meat.
A couple of months ago, I saw a post on Chowhound claiming to be posted by the friend of a guy who is making and selling 'real-deal', Montreal smoked meat in Toronto. I was lucky enough to see the post before it was removed.
The post noted that people who want to buy should send an email to smokedmeat1@gmail.com, which I did.
I don't claim to be a deli expert like David Sax, Embee, Montrealer70 or some of the others on this board, but I have eaten a lot of smoked meat in my time. I've been to Schwartz's (too many times to count), the Main, Reuben’s, Ben's, Smoked Meat Pete's, Snowdon Deli, Caplansky's, Centre Street Deli, Coleman's, Pancer’s, Yitz's, Shopsy's, Pickle Barrel, Marky's, Carnegie, the Stage, etc. etc.
I lived and went to school in Montreal between 1990 and 1995, and I consumed a lot of smoked meat during that period. Also, I've been going to delis in TO since I was weaned.
I have to say that the smoked meat I had last night was some of the best I've ever had.
I emailed the guy for a 1.5 pound piece of smoked meat. It came vac-packed in heavy duty plastic. On the side was written, "1.5 lb, Medium", exactly as ordered. I noticed that the piece I got was the deckle. In the bag, the meat was covered with whole and crushed spices, similar to how the briskets look in the south window at Schwartz's.
It came with a sheet of paper with a description and instructions. The instructions were to boil the bag for 3 hours, drain the bag (be careful not to burn yourself!!), then slice thinly against the grain. The flip side of the instructions noted that the meat is marinated for two weeks in spices then smoked over hardwood. It is available in various sizes and in degrees of fattiness (lean, medium, or fatty). It also notes that organic briskets are available.
When we finished boiling the bag, we cut a small hole in the bag and drained a cup or two of liquid that was not in the bag prior to boiling. When the meat fell out onto the cutting board, I knew immediately that it was something special. The smell was unbelievable. Spices were falling off onto the board with some juice, but the meat still had a thick layer of spices. I'm sure there were peppercorns, fennel seed, garlic, salt, but I'm not sure what else.
When I started slicing I couldn't believe how tender the meat was. It was beautifully marbled and the fat was meltingly soft. In some areas, the meat was breaking apart into tender, red shards of juicy smoked meat.
We piled it high on rye bread and put on some spicy mustard. I took a bite and immediately said, "Oh my god - this is it". I felt like I was sitting at the counter at Schwartz's. My wife started laughing because I must have said, "oh my god" about 50 times before I finished the sandwich.
This was either as good as, or better than Schwartz's. It is salty (maybe a tiny bit too salty), spicy, tender, meltingly fatty, perfectly cooked, and all around delicious.
It is not "Toronto's Own" smoked meat, like Caplansky's, it is real honest to goodness Montreal smoked meat that is perhaps better than even Schwartz's.
I have to say that his product won't be for everyone. Although it's very easy to prepare and requires only boiling in the bag, it does take three hours.
Again, you can reach him at smokedmeat1@gmail.com.
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duckdown
Mar 16, 2009 04:02 PM
Wow...
what a great dinner
first a thanks to acd123 for posting the neccessary information on the meat in the first place...
I agree its probably the best smoked meat i've ever had. (I have had schwartz'es ONCE before but don't remember everything about it... I am back in Montreal next month so I will compare vs. Schwartzes then)
I boiled the 2.5lb deckle in the bag for a total of 3 hours, on medium heat, in my largest pot of water. During the cooking process I would turn the bag here and there, just to make sure it was all getting cooked the same (My pot wasnt quite huge enough to have it fit in perfectly, until it started shrinking..) As far as I can tell, it wasn't an issue at all.. The final product was evenly juicy in the end. Once I removed the bag after 3 hours, I let it sit for 10 minutes in the dark liquid in the bag to maybe absorb some of those juices.
I then drained the bag (into a cup) in case it may have been needed for later, but it was quite salty and the meat was perfect without it.. So we didn't use it
Fat melted down perfectly into that non-chewy feeling, and the meat was super tender... You could honestly just pick it apart by hand because it would just flake apart...
OK... Let's discuss the salt issue... All 3 of us agreed it was a little salty, but certainly not enough to ruin the experience or have us guzzling water. Actually, the rye bread and mustard did a good job of cutting through that, really, and didn't even notice it in sandwich form.. It was great. I mean sure, we all ate some of the slices right off the cutting board, and it was a little salty...but not a deal breaker at all. I'm sure if he sees a few people think its too salty he can fix that in later batches anyways
We ate a good portion of it actually, more than I expected, so we've got the leftover piece in the fridge. Will definitely test to see if it becomes more salty once reheated.. I can definitely say that it was not as salty as the time I got a whole piece of takeout meat from Caplansky's... and that the meat has more flavor (IMO).. But I have also been the odd one to have a not-so-great experience at Caplansky's in my most recent visits, so I might be biased
Here are some pictures, as promised. Sorry if the camera is out of focus on some.
Cheers!
Pics continued on next post, I can't figure out how to attach more files
›13 Replies
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re: duckdown
grandgourmand
Mar 16, 2009 05:02 PM
Good thing it was your dog and not something too personal. ha.
Stuff looks great. I'm going to put an order in. Thanks for posting the pics.
Oh, and thanks acd123 for the tip.
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re: deabot
redearth
Apr 5, 2009 04:44 PM
I just finished the leftover hunk of deckle that I boiled in the bag a coupla days ago. Fantastic today, as well... I must say, upon trying it again today, Goldin's is most definitely the closest thing to real MSM that I've tried in T.O.
Here's my recent review, if you're interested:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6093... -
re: deabot
duckdown
Apr 6, 2009 12:24 AM
Hi there, thanks for the compliments
It is a Kanetsugu Pro-M chef's knife.. By no means top of the line (under $100) but it is very sharp, and maintains its edge well. I also bought a whetstone for the occasional re-sharpening, which equally works well.
http://japanesechefsknife.com/ProMSer...
I bought it from here, excellent place to purchase from, and a very knowledgeable/helpful seller.
Cheers
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re: tjr
i too picked up this meat today -- looks great
appears i got the 'lean' however (i was not asked)
we will try tomorrow -- lean might be good for me however as i'm trying to lose weight for my cruise in a few weeks
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re: duckdown
I too have had less than great experiences with Caplansky's smoked meat. I think the meat is too cold and too dry, even when ordered medium. I like the rest of the food there, including the borscht, fries, gravy, coleslaw. I respect very much what he's doing but I think he has to work on the smoked meat. Maybe he should steam it more?
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re: jayseeca
This too happened to me on my most recent visit last month – my third time there. Previous two times were fine, although less smoky and seasoned it seems with each visit sadly. Meat wasn’t overly warm and dry for my tastes on 3rd visit. And I always order fatty.
I think the potential for Caplansky’s to be a great smoked meat sandwich is there, it’s a fantastic work in progress and a fun dining experience. Happy to give it time to develop. Cuz while having a smoked meat option at home is fantastic, half the fun (for me at least) is going out and eating with others with like minds in fun joint. It’s about the food, but it’s also about community. A feeling.
Duckdown’s photos are gorgeous. Thanks for those. Appreciated. Will be ordering soon no doubt.
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duckdown
Mar 16, 2009 12:00 PM
Finally have mine boiling away now, should be ready around 6pm tonight...
I'm a little worried about the saltiness factor -- this was the same problem I had with a take-home piece of brisket from Caplansky's before.. Salt factor was off the chart
I will boil for the 3 full hours but I hope it is edible :)
Cheers
›5 Replies-
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re: acd123
duckdown
Mar 16, 2009 01:20 PM
Oh yeah, smells really good...
Although theres also a small pot of sauerkraut being cooked now too (Mom insists on trying the meat like a reuben, don't ask me why...)
Looking forward to it, I really hope it's not too salty :)
Having a bit of a problem with keeping the bag fully submerged though, one corner seems to float up, etc.. Maybe I should weigh it down with something.. or hopefully it's not entirely important
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re: duckdown
I had the same issue, although I found that it's no issue at all.
I don't think it has to be fully submerged because of all the steam in the bag. I think it's the steam that really cooks it.
I would definitely not go with the Reuben on the first try. Try it on its own.
It is a bit salty, but I didn't find it overpowering. I thought it was really delicious.
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re: acd123
duckdown
Mar 16, 2009 01:59 PM
Crap! I think the bag has a hole somewhere...
The large air bubbles are popped now it looks like, and I see a couple seeds floating around the water.. Still lots of the dark liquid inside the bag still and stuff, so I'm not sure how much water has gotten into the bag..
I hope its not ruined
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re: duckdown
It is definitely not ruined.
When I did it, the bag expanded significantly due to all the steam. A seed or two in the water shouldn't be a problem.
Is the water still clear? If yes, I think it will be fine. If not, although not ideal, I think it will still be fine.
There is not likely a hole in the bag or you would have noticed that it was not tightly vacuumed sealed. I don't think the thick plastic bag would have ruptured.
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BusterRhino
Mar 13, 2009 06:24 AM
Hello all,
The Chowhound team just informed me they removed a previous post of mine in response to a post that was removed and explained that I could repost the pertinent information that also dealt with the questions regarding the meat plant in this post. So here goes,
All raw meat in Canada (independent of province) if it is being sold to the public has to come from either a provincially licensed meat plant or a federally licensed plant. So any meat that you purchase from a butcher shop has to be able to provide you with the plant they purchased it from. If they are not able to then the meat is suspect and you shouldn't purchase it. For instance the chicken that was being sold in Toronto this week that came from the back of a stolen tractor trailer - you shouldn't buy that stuff no matter how good the deal. Meat plants have to keep extremely specific records of kill dates, brine dates, cooking information, cool down information etc.
All packaged ready to eat products (sandwich meat, meat pies, pulled pork, ribs, fish) are also required by law to be a free standing meat plant (we are meat plant 6201 with a double A rating). There is a fine line between what is a RTE (ready to eat) and a product blended by a butcher shop which we are running into problems with in the industry as well (sausage that is uncured vs. corned beef that's not cooked, the corning process is actually very carefully watched by the inspectors). We have to keep track of incoming products, cooking times, cool down times, pack times, pack amounts, who we wholesaled too etc. One of the golden rules for this is, if you sell wholesale (restaurants etc) you have to be inspected.
abc123 was nice enough to email this company and ask them for the information needed to find out who their supplier of meat was which he supplied in a post above. This is excellent information - thanks.
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duckdown
Mar 12, 2009 01:48 PM
Picked up a 2.5lb piece from Goldin today
No labels on the vaccuum pack, but it looks good already
He told me to boil it in the bag completely for the 3 hours, then portion it out and freeze it
Picked up a freshly baked loaf of Dimpflmeiers Rye Bread and will be making this probably tomorrow..
will report back
›40 Replies-
re: duckdown
Davedigger
Mar 13, 2009 07:23 AM
You mentioned in your shawarma thread that Goldin is somewhere near Falafel World. Is he in BWV?
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re: Davedigger
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re: Davedigger
pinstripeprincess
Mar 13, 2009 08:14 AM
looks like it may have been removed. it was an article about his family and their house renovations and what not. it said parkdale but he's actually in the junction according to my smoked meat surpriser.
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re: Davedigger
pinstripeprincess
Mar 13, 2009 09:51 AM
found the link:
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/509948here's the review with photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonguean...i'm no maven and haven't even nearly covered the deli scene in toronto, but as far as i'm concerned this is montreal smoked meat. it is not schwartz and i wouldn't consider it better than schwartz but i will definitely be getting my cravings filled regularly from goldin's.
large spices covering the whole piece of meat makes it easy to guess what mix he's using, unless a secret ingredient lurks in a rub. he wasn't very giving with information but it seems that he mostly carries medium fat briskets and when he dropped one off he didn't have us specify if we wanted it on the leaner or fattier side. this definitely seemed on the leaner side though i appreciated the veins of fat running through the side of the brisket.
boiling for about 2.5 hours... (not the full 3, i mean its cooked meat that we're defrosting and heating through, there isn't actually cooking involved is there?) it gurgled in the pot and we let it rest after pulling it out. cutting it open, there was about 2 cups of liquid that we poured back onto our slices just before eating.
the meat seemed a little harder/denser than I would have expected. slicing the brisket in half and then against the grain, the meat was definitely stiff and exposed the lack of larger pieces of fat to really make it tender. we could have improperly sliced it because we were anxious and didn't want it to cool down to quick, hence the stiffness but i suspect the culprit to really be the amount of fat and what looks to be a single rather than a whole brisket with the fat layer in the middle.
even still, the sandwich was delicious. The meat was a bit salty and the spices were nice, though I felt they lacked that "secret ingredient" that I think would put it over the top. The meat fell apart in flakes with each bite but it still was missing that really nice mouth feel and tenderness from larger bits of rendered fat. Pickiness aside, this is still quite good. next time i'll just get full fat!
edited: maybe i wasn't being as descriptive as usual so i thought i'd just add this. the spices overall blended really well together with not one really standing out among the rest. even with the obvious mustard seeds everywhere, it wasn't really pungently mustardy or had much if any heat. the smoke was sweet and mostly present when you would finish chewing/the bite (though that could be my persistent congestion) and strong enough but balanced well with cure flavour. it was really good smoke flavour. nothing bitter, nothing bad. just good solid hardwood smoke. everything really had a good balance: cure, meat, spices and smoke.
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re: LTL
pinstripeprincess
Mar 13, 2009 11:05 AM
boil in the bag, steam if not in bag.
we boiled it in the vacpack for 2.5 hours after defrosting it. we only ate about half of it so when i dig back into it next it'll be going into a chinese steamer over my wok for the reheat. your meat will come with instructions.
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re: pinstripeprincess
Glad that you liked it.
I'm sure I had a different cut of the brisket than you did.
I had the deckle, which was marbled throughout. It definitely had the mouthfeel that you said was lacking. The fat melted with each bite. It was tender and the flavour was great.
I thought that Goldin's was definitely in the same league as Schwartz's. I've had amazing sandwiches at Schwartz's but I've also had dry ones that I didn't enjoy at all. Remember that part of the greatness of a smoked meat sandwich is the way it is sliced and the part of the brisket it is sliced from. If you didn't get the piece that yields the kind of meat you like the most, you would find it either too dry or fatty.
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re: duckdown
You are a lucky man. Enjoy it. I have one of his deckles chillin in the freezer. We're having it Sunday night.
Again, it keep very well after cooking, either in the fridge or frozen. All you have to do is steam it a bit to reheat it. After that, it's as good as when it was cooked.
Have it tonight and report back already!! :-)
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re: acd123
duckdown
Mar 13, 2009 01:03 PM
I would love to make it tonight but I'll be the only one eating it
I really wish this guy wouldn't make such large packages.. He should ideally have them in various sizes
Someone else got a 1.5lb sized one, which would be perfect for me... But 2.5lbs is alot
I'm also kind of screwed for the reheating process.. I have no bamboo steamer and not alot of cookware that I could see being able to steam in
Maybe if I put a colander in the topp of the dutch oven and steam it that way, but like someone above said, I'm sure alot of the steam would escape and I'm not sure how well it would work
Tap Phong is a zoo to get to and park around, anyone know of another place to buy one of these bamboo steamers in the Mississauga/Brampton area? Or west end at least
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re: duckdown
I've seen cheap steamers in dollar store type places. But if you put a lid and foil over the meat in the collander you should be able to steam it with reasonable success. I've done it in the past with vegetables and dumplings.
Whoa weird -- I just realized I'm listening to Duck Down by Boogie Down Productions as I reply to you.
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re: jamesm
jayt90
Mar 13, 2009 01:17 PM
A bamboo steamer will be the most reliable, in a dutch oven, with the cast iron lid off; your 2.5 lb brisket will be a tight fit, so you need a large steamer.
There is a large Vietnamese market on Lawrence West, south side, about 2 blocks east of Black Creek, and they should have steamers. .
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re: duckdown
Davedigger
Mar 13, 2009 01:37 PM
I said steam escapes, but it absolutely does the trick. I steam frozen crab legs in the colander all the time. It works perfectly well, and would probably work even better since the brisket won't be sticking out from under the lid like my crab legs do. LOL!!
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re: acd123
pinstripeprincess
Mar 13, 2009 01:05 PM
i didn't interact with him myself but my reliable reporter seems to have indicated that he wasn't very communicative overall... so i will persevere and communicate with him as much as i can to ensure deckle! thanks for getting my lingo on straight :)
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re: acd123
pinstripeprincess
Mar 13, 2009 01:15 PM
i'm disappointed then. my surpriser was apparently in constant communication with goldin while others were complaining here he was taking too long to respond. it sounds like we got in before the big rush and there is no way we would have asked for anything less than medium. i may have to email him photos and ask him what is what.
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re: pinstripeprincess
Following is an excerpt from an email I got from him a couple of weeks ago after he dropped off an order:
"...the part of the brisket I have given you thus far is the decal (or deckle) it is the top part of the brisket and the best marbled. There is less of it than the flat part. The flat part also comes 'medium' and though there is marbling in it, most of the fat sits on top of meat, rather than running through it. I mention this because in the future you will probably receive this part of the brisket at some point. It too is juicy and tasty, but I thought you should know."
I think that makes sense in terms of the photos you posted. You did get medium but not the deckle.
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re: acd123
pinstripeprincess
Mar 13, 2009 01:39 PM
that's what i was thinking! if i can go full fat that's just how i'm going to do it from now on.
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re: pinstripeprincess
pinstripeprincess
Mar 16, 2009 08:31 AM
i know some of you are holding onto some briskets...... surprised this thread has been left to its own devices.
in the mean time i thought i'd throw up a quick 2nd sandwich review. too salty. way too salty. i was begging for a glass of water just partway in. also, while i enjoyed it and it will be a schwartz substitute... i'll admit that it didn't really bring about any massive cravings and i haven't polished off all the meat as quickly as i would have thought.
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re: redearth
pinstripeprincess
Mar 16, 2009 09:38 AM
i suspect a brine though i don't believe there was any mention on the sheet we received. colour would be the main indicator and he's not very forthcoming with any details so i'm not sure i'd ever be told.
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re: pinstripeprincess
I've just been given some additional information. Alex isn't able to match up Chowhound usernames with the emails he has recieved so he can't respond directly. I'm not sure if the C'hound rules permit his to respond directly on this board so I'm happy to act as the interlocutor.
It is indeed a dry rub that Alex uses.
Pinstripeprincess, as for thye type of brisket you got , next time just tell him what you want. If you want to deckle or more fatty flat part, just ask for it. He's definitely willing to provide you with what you like. He did not have any deckles left when you placed your order.
Most importantly, I think, is his comment, that you should have boiled the bag for the entire 3 hours, as specified on the instructions. You asked above as to whether the meat is already cooked when it is delivered. It isn't. Alex mentioned that this probably accounted for why you meat was a bit dense.
As Alex put it, "it is only cured and smoked by us, actually cooking takes place in the purchaser's pot.", and it takes 3 hours to cook properly.
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re: acd123
pinstripeprincess
Mar 16, 2009 12:16 PM
i've mentioned before that next time i will be specific about fat content. but i've also said that he wasn't very communicative with us. there was an order for meat and he never asked what we wanted and just gave it to us without even telling us what the fattiness was. i didn't have the experience first hand so i can't say why there was so little info in that way but there was.
other than the fattiness, i can't say that density was a cooking fault. the 2nd sandwich was steamed which would help to retain some moisture in the meat and certainly cook it a bit more. the texture was a bit more tender but really had very little difference. it flaked the way i expected a sandwich like this would flake, but it wasn't tender the way i expect a proper medium fat sandwich to be like... because of the fat. the rendered fat makes a huge difference in the type of tenderness to expect. nothing was tough, just appropriate to the level of fat.
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pinstripeprincess
Mar 12, 2009 01:30 PM
ah ha ha ha.... dear god this and the caplansky thread had me on a craving and dear sweet lord it seems that i have been given an awesome surprise and will be feasting on goldin's tonight with some double-fried spuds. i just had to share my excitement.
photos and thoughts to follow.....
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foodyDudey
Mar 12, 2009 11:43 AM
I just tried to mail him and get this message (I'm usuing gmail also)
The email address "smokedmeat1@gmail.com." is not recognized. Please fix it and try again.
Is that the correct address? I have to get some before embee buys it all.
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duckdown
Mar 11, 2009 11:49 PM
I have a question
2.5lbs is too much for me to make at once, since only 2 of us will have a sandwich. If it freezes well before cooking, but comes vaccuum sealed, how are you supposed to prepare it then?
The vaccuum sealed bag will be useless (cut open) so how does that work?
›8 Replies-
re: duckdown
The Chowhound Team
Mar 12, 2009 08:32 AM
A helpful discussion about heating smoked meat has been split and moved to the Home Cooking board. Please post your replies to duckdown in the new thread. You can follow the discussion at the link below:
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re: acd123
HarryLloyd
Mar 12, 2009 11:12 AM
is this just cured meat or is it also smoked? if not smoked how can it possibly compare to MSM? and how can you call it "smoked meat"
Chow!
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re: HarryLloyd
redearth
Mar 12, 2009 11:57 AM
Cured and smoked. Which means it sits in either a dry cure or a wet brine, probably containing sodium nitrate, for a week or more, then is smoked for probably around three hours. This is the standard procedure for MSM - the final stage is to steam it, which is done after you purchase it, to fully relax and moisten the meat.
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re: acd123
redearth
Mar 11, 2009 11:25 PM
He got back to me today, with the following:
"The smoked meat is ten dollars a pound. It can be picked up or delivered if you are in the west end of the city.
Most packages I currently have are about 2 and a half pounds. They are all medium fat. Some a little leaner than others. It is vacuum sealed and freezes very well before and after cooking. It comes with instructions. Cash is preferred."-
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re: redearth
jayt90
Mar 12, 2009 06:22 AM
I would order one, and probably pick it up, if it was near Yonge St.
A year ago a wholesale club sold 2kg slabs of Dunn's smoked meat at $11/kg. in cryovac. They still have pre-sliced pouches of Dunn's at $16/kg.
There is a possibility Goldin's smoked meat comes from a Quebec wholesaler rather than locally cured and smoked. It would be useful to know.
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re: jayt90
BusterRhino
Mar 12, 2009 07:18 AM
The easiest way for you to find out who packs this product is the seal on the bag. All meat plants in Canada have to be licensed by their respective provinces or federally. You will see a brand on the outside that has an establishment number on it (BR's is 6201). If your bags (or packaging) does not have these seals on it they are operating outside of the law and I would strongly discourage buying it - especially if you are buying by email and having it shipped (in store they can have the plant license on the wall). Local health codes do not even come close to the provincial or federal codes - especially in the case of a cured meat. It should also have the ingredient deck and nutritional labeling on it or made available to you (Once again the difference between buying in house and having it shipped).
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re: acd123
BusterRhino
Mar 12, 2009 01:13 PM
Don't shoot the messenger, I am just stating the law. I would also bet that if you asked the person at the farmers market who their abattoir was they would be able to give you the number (all butchered animals in Canada sold to the public have to be slaughtered at a licensed slaughterhouse). Someone earlier was asking about inspection and safety - all I was doing was letting people know about the system so if they really wanted to find out they could.
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re: jayt90
I've found out that Goldin buys his meat from a federally inspected facility. The federal inspection number of his meat supplier is 158. He emailed me with the name of his supplier (Corsetti Meat Packers on St. Clair) and I looked it up on the CFIA website.
Alex's product is handmade using an old family recipe. It is cured in a blend of garlic, cracked peppercorns and toasted spices. Then it is smoked over hardwood coals.
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re: jayt90
The Chowhound Team
Mar 11, 2009 07:41 AM
Folks, we've removed a number of replies to this. Whether you think health inspections are necessary or important is off topic for this board. As a general rule, all discussion of health inspection results, food poisoning incidents, etc, is considered off topic, but we're going to allow this question since there seems to be some question of whether it's inspected at all.
If you know what name/address Goldin's is inspected under please post that info, so that people who are concerned can check it out on DineSafe for themselves. Opinions on whether or not this is a valid concern are off topic, and will be removed.
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duckdown
Mar 10, 2009 02:35 PM
I saw the post before it got deleted, but didn't catch the e-mail addy
Sounds excellent.. I'm gonna give him a shout
How did you pay? Paypal?
›4 Replies-
re: duckdown
I got the meat the day after I placed the order. I think he lives close by so he dropped it off at my house. I don't think he would do that if you're not in his neighbourhood. You would probably have to pick it up, at his house perhaps.
I paid cash.
I just have to say again that his meat is abosultely amazing. My wife and I have another piece in the freezer and we can't wait to devour it.
I plan on buying several hundred pounds (or more) of smoked meat from him (Alex) over the next several decades. I want him to do well so that he keeps on doing it. The downside of posting this info is that if everybody loves his stuff, there may be a shortage and I won't be able to get any :-)
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re: acd123
duckdown
Mar 10, 2009 05:58 PM
Ah, that was also what I wanted to know... pickup or dropoff would be ideal ( i dont mind picking it up ).. shipping the meat through a parcel service could be difficult
I emailed him but I haven't gotten a response, sadly
I'll probably buy two 1.5lb pieces
What did the 1.5lb piece shrink into? How many sandwiches roughly, 3-4 ?
cheers
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pinstripeprincess
Mar 10, 2009 01:27 PM
so how much is this stuff? maybe he's really giving you vac packed schwartz ;)
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re: pinstripeprincess
Totally reasonable. $10 per pound uncooked. Quite a bit of shrinkage during cooking, however. It's worth every penny.
I have eaten enough Schwartz's in my time to recognize it :-)
He makes it himself. It seems like he got quite a skill and he's looking to make a go of his smoked meat business.
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re: acd123
pinstripeprincess
Mar 10, 2009 01:42 PM
good to know! i think the schwartz's is $11/lb and even then that's a total gamble. the last time i had someone bring one back and they specified medium... dear lord it was so lean, lacking in smoke, and salty that we threw most of it a way. a total and utter shame.
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