Point cut or flat cut?

[Tormato]

The best Reuben that I ever had was at a Jewish deli in NYC. Piled high, I don't remember the deli, just the sandwich. That was about 50 years ago.

The worst Reuben that I ever had, about a decade ago, was at a local festival with only a few selected vendors, who cornered all of the food sales. It was made with plain roast beef, and not much of it. When asked about it, the owner of the vending business didn't care, he just shrugged his shoulders.

A few Manhattan places that I remember eating corned beef in my childhood which was a few more years prior to your lunch:

someplace down in the Bowery that used to take the corned beefs out of a steaming barrel in back of the counter and slice generously for each sandwich always on seeded rye bread

Carnegie Deli - that was a FAT sandwich, too expensive for my family, but went in high school with a friend

a big cafeteria a few blocks west of 42nd and Broadway (doesn't match the Jewish deli description), had FREE seltzer next to the water - ate there regularly but I remember eating there after the Beatles were in the area

maybe you were at a bagel place on 3rd Ave near Bloomingdales? or 2nd Ave deli which meets the Jewish food description ?

all the above were very generous with portions!

- Lisa

My best guess would be within about 4 blocks of Penn Station.

It's hard for me to believe that it's been more than 20 years since I've visited NYC.

[worth1]

Here's my mid point fresh out of the spiced brine I had it in for days on end.
It now in a big kettle of water cooking.
The same kettle it was in with the brine but washed out.

IMG_20230317_155530416_HDR.jpg

[rxkeith]

i bought a couple point cuts this week because they were a dollar less/lb than the flat cuts.
otherwise i don't really have a preference.



keith

[Sue_CT]

Anyone know what the price has been at Aldi's for it? It might vary locally. Sometimes it is available very cheaply after today or this weekend, sometimes not. Not than I can go get any, but it might worth a first instacart purchase, lol. My sister dropped off an entire corned beef dinner and Irish Sod Bread. Will eat it tomorrow since I had already had dinner but the bread is awesome. So I don't have to miss out either way!

[Tormato]

Anyone know what the price has been at Aldi's for it? It might vary locally. Sometimes it is available very cheaply after today or this weekend, sometimes not. Not than I can go get any, but it might worth a first instacart purchase, lol. My sister dropped off an entire corned beef dinner and Irish Sod Bread. Will eat it tomorrow since I had already had dinner but the bread is awesome. So I don't have to miss out either way!

Aldi here is 3.09/lb flat cut, almost out of stock, and no point cut.

Price Rite about 200 yards further down the strip mall, flat cut at 1.89/lb, point cut at 1.49/lb. I picked up my yearly supply.

Stop and Shop had one fancy brand at $12.99/lb. Us frugal Irish don't really go for that.

Over the next 8 months, or so, I will be testing several different brands of rye bread, Thousand Island dressing (Great Value out of stock, my wondering if it has anything to do with the 40% of people being Irish in this area), Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut. Someone has to do it, and it might as well be me.

[worth1]

Corned beef brisket in Texas HEB is as high as a cat's back.
$5.18 a pound.
Seriously!!!!!!
That's the reason I make my own.
And mine came out fantastic from the test slices.
The darn rye bread was over 5 dollars a loaf and they don't have rye flour.
So I punted and bought some King Arthur whole wheat flour to mix with some regular flour.
Also 2 bottles of caraway seeds.
I'll just make my own bread.

[karstopography]

Corned brisket under $2.00/# is a steal. I snatch up any vacuum packed choice or prime brisket if they drop anywhere close to $2.00/#. I’ve made my own bacon, but never corned beef. But, really the only time I eat corned beef or pastrami is on a sandwich. I dropped eating the annual New England boiled dinner when I moved away. New England boiled dinner and/or Corned beef and cabbage were definitely a big deal up there.

I made brisket on the BGE this week. Post oak smoke and lump oak charcoal to brisket internal temperature of 200°. Turned out great, especially the point. I almost enjoy a chopped up point with smidge of sauce on a bun with pickles and sliced onions the next day more than I like the brisket rested and warm for that first slicing. After smelling barbecue smoke all day, my olfactory senses are saturated and I’m sort of sick of it by the time the brisket is done. But, the next day, my senses have cleared and I’m ready to chow down on the brisket.

[Tormato]

So, I made my first Reuben.

All that I can say is that it's mid-March, and it was the best meal of the year.

The only slight problem was that, I'm still in a slight fog with a few things, from not getting enough sleep. And, I've been used to grilling a lot of ham and cheese, or just cheese sandwiches this mild winter (not soup weather).

With the Reuben piled high, and not thinking, I almost lost it on the (one-handed) flip.

[Danny]

Tormato, you okay? Why short on sleep?

[Tormato]

Tormato, you okay? Why short on sleep?

Off and on back pain. Sometimes I'm only comfortable while walking. Standing still, sitting, or laying down is when I have the problem. Cold, damp weather (30s and 40s with rain), like this past entire winter, is what triggers it. Colder, drier weather, with or without snow, and I'm OK. The weather is gradually getting better. A few weeks ago there was one sunny day, 70 degrees with a warm breeze, the one pain free day in 3 months.

[MissS]

Tormato, you okay? Why short on sleep?

Off and on back pain. Sometimes I'm only comfortable while walking. Standing still, sitting, or laying down is when I have the problem. Cold, damp weather (30s and 40s with rain), like this past entire winter, is what triggers it. Colder, drier weather, with or without snow, and I'm OK. The weather is gradually getting better. A few weeks ago there was one sunny day, 70 degrees with a warm breeze, the one pain free day in 3 months.

Next year spend the winter in the south. Jamaica sounds nice!

[Tormato]

Tormato, you okay? Why short on sleep?

Off and on back pain. Sometimes I'm only comfortable while walking. Standing still, sitting, or laying down is when I have the problem. Cold, damp weather (30s and 40s with rain), like this past entire winter, is what triggers it. Colder, drier weather, with or without snow, and I'm OK. The weather is gradually getting better. A few weeks ago there was one sunny day, 70 degrees with a warm breeze, the one pain free day in 3 months.

Next year spend the winter in the south. Jamaica sounds nice!

What would I do for food? And, I like friendly people.

I heard that almost every cook down there is a Jamaican jerk.

[worth1]

Speaking of jerk chicken or meat
The allspice tree is kin to the crape myrtle tree.
I tried dried crape myrtle berries and they have no flavor.
The green allspice wood is what they traditionally used for the grill to make the jerk meat but it's getting hard to find and you can't cut the trees for it.
The original barbacoa AKA BBQ from my research.

[karstopography]

I bought a vacuum packed 16# USDA Prime Brisket for $1.87/# yesterday at HEB. Sometimes they stick a few choice and prime briskets in the Select bin at the Select price, pays off to take a look.

[Tormato]

Runnin' late this year. I won't be cooking until tomorrow.

[worth1]

Totally not doing it this year.
Having fried catfish and hush puppies.
But I always keep Guinness on hand.

[pepperhead212]

Cheapest I saw this year was $2.99/# point cut, $1 extra for flat cut, so I passed...unless they have some leftovers, and drop the price.

[Tormato]

Point cut and flat cut (about .40/lb more) have always been under $2.00/lb, here. About 40% of the people in the area have some Irish in them, so it's about supply and demand. A one week sale will get people to buy again later, needing their fix. 51 weeks of the year it is about $6.00/lb or (much) more. Cabbage is always .29/lb for the week, going back up to .89/lb 'til the next year's sale.

And, the one week sale is getting worse, briskets usually are sold out on the second day of the sale. Next year, I think I'll travel well out of town,
to a city with a different ethnic makeup (same supermarket chain), to see if those stores sell out just as fast.

[worth1]

No deals here on corned beef brisket.
5 dollars a pound.
Brisket too expensive to buy and do it.
I'd be better off buying a chuck roast and doing it myself.
The corned beef is all flat cut and that is a deal breaker for me.

[Tormato]

One store about 10 miles away had point cut @ $1.99/lb, whole briskets @ $2.25/lb, and flat cut @ $2.99/lb. It's rare to see whole briskets, here. Churches, Irish social clubs, and the like, usually buy up almost all of the whole ones.