chuck roast [General]

2012 Dec 26
Hey guys,

Where can this be found in Ottawa?

2012 Dec 26
Any real butcher should be able to hook you up. If they can't cut you one then they must be getting boxed beef. I know for sure that Lavergne could hook you up but you'd still best call ahead because this time of year they could be out.

2012 Dec 26
BTW if I'm not mistaken "chuck" is a pretty big section of the animal and the roast sized piece from there might have different names. Not 100% sure without looking it up but I believe a blade roast may be part of the chuck, for example

2012 Dec 26
OK, I just looked it up and I was right - "chuck" is a very large sub primal piece and you won't find a consumer-sized piece called just a "chuck". Though there are several pieces of the chuck that have that in the name. According to canadianbeef.info the pieces of the chuck are :

- chuck roll, more commonly known as the blade roast
- chuck tender ("scotch tender" at lavergne, or "top blade")
- flat iron (top blade, oyster blade) - though if you ask for a flat iron at lavergne you may get an outside round from the hip
- shoulder clod aka cross rib
- clod tender
- pectoral
- short ribs


2012 Dec 26
Thanks for the info zymurgist..yeah it is based on couple days ago Rachael Ray show...www.rachaelrayshow.com

Looked really really good..i can tell you my roast doesn't fall apart by just using tongs or my hands.


2012 Dec 26
Are there any pictures of the roast before being cooked? If so, I could tell you what it is. The tiny picture at that link looks like it was tied which may suggest it was a simple blade roast. Blade roast is 3 different muscles that come together with a lot of fat in between, and you typically separate the muscles somewhat to trim out some fat, but still leave it all attached. Then you have to tie it to hold it together to keep the bits and pieces from flopping around.

I've done a fair bit of blade and cross rib roasts (both chuck) and they are absolutely fantastic when done low and slow. Yes, they will just fall apart no matter how you do them as long as you go low and slow.

2012 Dec 26
yeah if you don't mind watching this short video..they show it here :p i was hoping you would be able to identify it like this:

www.rachaelrayshow.com

2012 Dec 26
sorry this is the video..the other one showed it already done:

www.rachaelrayshow.com

2012 Dec 26
Yeah I found it there - only a brief closeup at about 16 seconds and not a very good one. Looks to me like it is some kind of non-standard custom cut. I think I recognize the seam there which is either the blade or the one next to it which I seem to recall is the cross rib. The two halves when you cut them apart will obviously have the same cross section if you know what I mean.

But I'd say it is pretty hard to go wrong with blade or cross rib. Or honestly with any of the lower quality cuts that need low-and-slow. The chuck gets a lot of publicity because all the self-proclaimed BBQ experts have been lead to believe it is the only cut that is any good for burgers or chili or whatever, but in my experience there is nothing magical about it.

In fact for my money when going low and slow like that I'd want something that has a fair bit of tendon in it because when tendon breaks down into soft, mouth-watering yumminess it adds some very unique flavours that you can't get without it. One of my favorites when I was a butcher was the "heel", which always goes into the ground and you never see it sold on its own. It is located on the hip just below the kneecap, and it looks a lot like a smaller version of the sirloin tip, which is adjacent and just above the kneecap. The sirloin tip can also have a lot of tendon if you get it special cut to not remove that, but there is way more on the heel.

I'd just go for any of the lower-quality cuts that have a fair bit of fat in them, and like I said for my money if you really want to kick it up a notch go for something with a lot of tendon.

2012 Dec 26
This could be what they've got there ... might be a more standard cut in the US I dunno.

www.grillmeats.com

That seems to me to be a thicker blade steak judging by the seams and marble pattern. If you imagine that continuing up vertically for 14 inches or so, that would be the entire blade, and at lavergne it would get cut into 3 pieces for blade roasts. They'd still be a fair bit thicker than that.

That piece also looks like it still has the cap on but the bone still in, so it is a different shape than the typical blades around here. There are 2 muscles on the other side fo the bone (shoulder blade, thus the name) and usually the one furthest from the blade gets removed.

Looks like the thick part of the shoulder blade in the very center from left to right, and about 2/3 the way to the top. Then the blade extends down to the left in the 7 to 8 o'clock direction from there.

2012 Dec 26
p.s. crap I miss being a butcher :-(

2012 Dec 26
So if I went with blade or cross rib..would I/can I do that low and slow too? slow/low meaning 3-4hrs at 450 or so? 450 seems high to me but they did that in the recipe above.

2012 Dec 26
450 seems way high to me too, but yeah blade or cross rib would do the trick

2012 Dec 26
thank you sir...i bow to your knowledge of meats :)


2012 Dec 30
That cut looks like a blade steak for sure. I'm not sure I'd consider anything cooked at 450 to be low and slow...

If you're looking for something to do a long braise on check out the pot roasts from Costco. It's essentially a great big chuck eye steak. We. Usually do them in the slow cooker with veggies and red wine/beef stock for 6 hours. They fall apart like pork butt when you take them out. And at $20 for two good sized roasts they are pretty economical as well.

2013 Jan 3
Produce Depot on Carling virtually always has both blade roast and cross-rib roast for excellent prices. I have a slight preference for the blade rest--seems to have a more luscious texture.

2013 Jan 7
I picked up two big top blade (IIRC, this was at least a couple of years ago) roasts from Costco at HuntClub/Merivale. Not sure if they still stock them or if they do it consistently. Pretty sure top blade is a subsection of the full chuck.

I smoked them for pulled beef tacos and enchilladas which was pretty great.