What did I buy?? (photo attached)

[Scott Mark]

Please tell me what you can about this roast. If it helps, I can post a picture of the whole thing.

I got this at Sam’s Club today. They display sub-primals of tenderloin, brisket, strip loin, and ribeye (all boneless). I’m told that you can ask for a sirloin sub-primal. But what is a sirloin sub-primal in Samspeak? My choices were “Top Round” and “Tender Butt”. I went to the case and pointed to the steaked Top Sirloin and said “I want that” and this is what I got.

The meat manager was definitely not working today. I’m going to have to be more diligent, but we happened to be at Sam’s and I happen to have two empty shelves in my drying fridge.

The label says “BEEF ROUND TOP ROUND”

The price says $2.76 / lb and there’s another sticker that says “Certified Angus Beef” and “Choice” If you remember my postings, I’m the one who thinks that the aged sirloin was very similar to the aged ribeye in texture and flavor. (And both were cooked sous vide, which makes shoulder roast feel and taste like good “prime rib” roast.)

Call it an experiment. But if this comes out steak-quality after a hot-tubbing (sous vide) I’m going to be one very happy camper. This is inexpensive beef.

I guess it doesn’t really matter what cut it is. In 30 days I’ll know if it’s the best bargain in the store or not.

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[Steven Almas]

That’s the top end of the round. It tastes a little like top sirloin, but is way chewy. Makes a good roast beef since it’s sliced really thin.

Aging can’t hurt this cut, that’s for sure.

[Scott Mark]

I went to a Sam’s Club that I don’t frequent and – suprise! – they had the sirloin subprimals on display! (So I got one). This one’s a few pounds smaller, only 11.5 instead of 16.2. And it fits in the subprimal bag instead of the brisket bag. And it fits in the chamber sealer. And it costs a whole two cents more per pound.

So now I’ll have two pretty large pieces of meat, ready to compare in about 30 days.

If I have time tonight, I plan to pull the brisket out, trim it, vacuum-seal it in a normal bag, and put it in the sous vide at 135 for dinner Sunday evening. Yum.

It’s the weekend! Reward yourselves!

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[Thea]

Top Round is not Top Butt, or Sirloin. Not sure this a generally a steak cut.

[Scott Mark]

BagLady wrote:

quote :

Top Round is not Top Butt, or Sirloin. Not sure this a generally a steak cut.

You have to understand that the worker pulled a bag out of the cooler, had no idea what to call it, and punched something onto the label printer. There’s no reason to believe that the label does or does not match the bag at all.

I mean – he pulled a bag out of the cooler and went to the cutting / labeling room. I think he was in that room for 12 minutes before he finally came out, handed me the bag, and said “I think this is what you wanted.”

So, I’m going to age it. I’m going to trim it. I’m going to chunk it. I’m going to cook it in a water bath. And then I’m going to sear it and serve it.

The bag labeled “sirloin” gives me more confidence.

I should probably spend some time studying the bags (NOT the labels) to see if there is any identification of the contents. I’ll do that next time I’m in the store – I’ve already thrown my bags in the trash.

[Thea]

According to the Meat Bible, the Round can be used to make Knuckle Steaks, peeled or unpeeled. Alternatively, they can make a Top Round Steak by removing the opaque portion of the membrane. the center is the most tender portion of this subprimal.

For the record, in the industry, the Sirloin is generally called a Top Butt as a subprimal cut. Similarly, you won’t find a subprimal called “New York” but Strip Loin.

–Thea

[Scott Mark]

Yesterday I pulled this after 30 days of aging. If I do this one again, I’ll go 45 days.

The “Round Top Round” separates pretty naturally into two large muscles, which I cannot name, one being very large and not marbled, and the other being very marbled but not very large. I cut them both into steaks, most of which went into regular vacuum bags and then the freezer.

All the “trim” went into the freezer. I’ve found that the trim doesn’t make very flavorful broth, so I’m planning to add it to the pot the next time I make broth, to get all the good collagen out of it.

We pan-seared some small cuts of meat for evaluation. I was surprised that, seared-but-blue-rare steaks were both flavorful AND tender, whereas the meat cooked to medium-rare was flavorful and quite chewy. Tuesday supper I’ll be cooking the steaks for several hours “sous-vide” to tenderize them, and I’ll report how it tastes. It’s amazingly beefy- I just have to get to tender. And for less than $3/lb I’ve got incredible steaks. And the kids kept peeping for tidbits, like a bunch of baby birds, saying that it was amazing beef.

I’m looking forward to pulling the picanha (the “rump cover) off of that top sirloin in a couple of weeks. That was less than $3/lb, also.

[Scott Mark]

I’m starting to think that the “round top round” was actually Top Sirloin, although the smaller of the two muscles wasn’t shaped like picanha (culotte, rump cover).

Anyway, I dropped a thawed steak from the larger muscle into the water bath at 129 degrees F for an hour, pulled it, dried it with paper towel, sprinkled with seasoned salt, and pan seared it for a minute on each side.

It was phenomenal. The kids all preferred it to the (unaged) porterhouse we had a week ago, but that might be based on memory, not a side-by-side comparison.

It was tender, but not “raggish”. Flavorful. And less than three bucks a pound (pre-aging).

I encourage you to try it sometime.

[Author]

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