Good beef

[jmakinen]

Anyone got any hints at sources for real good tasting beef - PK area?

One of the problems is I think there is very often a trade-off between tenderness and taste. I often find so-called fillets may be tender but the taste is often much less 'beefy' than what I may get from a sirloin, strip, etc. cut.

Not only that but I often find the 'fillets' even have an off-taste - something like resembling liver.

[lionel]

Proper beef from a beef breed not a dairy cow. Aged well, local and good prices , what more could you ask for...


http://koti.mbnet.fi/peksilah/myytavana.html

[Rosamunda]

I haven't bought beef in years but a local farmer near our mokki rears all organic beef cattle:

http://www.morby.fi/kott.html

There is a farmer breeding Scottish Highland cattle in the same area. I don't have his address but I seem to remember that the West Chark butcher in Raasepori (Pohja) sells his meat.

Then there is always Chef Wotkins factory shop if you want somewhere near a metro station (Kalasatama).

[Karhunkoski]

I often find so-called fillets may be tender but the taste is often much less 'beefy' than what I may get from a sirloin, strip, etc. cut.

Absolutely agree. Sirloin cuts have superior flavour. I use meat from a friend's farm, which he gets from Saarioinen under the buy-back scheme. Basically when you send animals to slaughter, you can buy back, say, half a bull, ready butchered and portioned into various cuts and mincemeat.



But whilst on the beef subject, the biggest mystery in Finland is how all the old breeding-mother and milk cows sent for slaughter somehow manage to undergo a sex change, and end up on the supermarket shelves as "härkä"

[jmakinen]

Bittman has gone somewhat 'independent' --

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes ... index.html

[meplusthree]

Antti Herlin owns a farm in Kirkkonummi where he raises Hereford and Aberdeen Angus beef cattle.
I beleive you can buy meat from there - you'll have to the rest of the gööglin yourself

[CatNip]

http://www.roslund.fi/english.htm
http://www.lihaexpertit.fi/
http://www.highlandcattle.fi/lihamyynti.php
http://www.hereford.fi/index.php?sivu=hlihaa&kieli=fi
http://www.reininliha.fi/
http://www.chef-wotkins.com/index.php?s ... VALMISTEET
http://lihatukku-tamminen.com/
http://www.lihakonttori.fi/index.html

[jmakinen]

Indeed there are a bunch of places selling - but any experience who has 100 (99? )% good stuff?

I've been trying most of them listed (not the 'exclusive' ones) but so far it's been pretty much of a crap shoot.

And secondarily was wondering what the general findings have been about 'good beef taste' with regard to different cuts. I myself have been often disappointed with fillets - tender but lacking 'taste' and often even have an off-taste which I doubt has been a function of being spoiled.

[wunderbier]

I don't care for filet mignon much either. It's a lot of money for something not much more interesting than, say, a chicken breast. These two links go into some of the other parts' flavors and things like that: 1 and 2 Basically, head away from that under-worked midsection of the cow and pretty much every cut is more flavorful than the tenderloin. I really like short ribs and ox tail, personally.

[jmakinen]

short ribs

Where have you even found someone who even knows what they are?

I've asked at Reini, Stockmann's and Heino - even showing pictures - and they all are dumbfounded.

[wunderbier]

short ribs

Where have yuo even found someone who even knows what they are?

I've asked at Reini, Stockmann's and Heino - even showing pictures - and they all are dumbfounded.

Sure, I bought some at Kauppahalli here in Tampere a month or so ago. They were American cuts (along the bone, each piece containing one ~10 cm rib bone) rather than English (across the bones, each piece containing several ~3-4 cm rib bones). I can't remember if it was called anything other than naudan kylki, but I'll check next time I'm over that way and post back to this thread.

What I haven't been able to find are skirt, flank and hanger steaks.

[wunderbier]

short ribs

Where have yuo even found someone who even knows what they are?

I've asked at Reini, Stockmann's and Heino - even showing pictures - and they all are dumbfounded.

Sure, I bought some at Kauppahalli here in Tampere a month or so ago. They were American cuts (along the bone, each piece containing one ~10 cm rib bone) rather than English (across the bones, each piece containing several ~3-4 cm rib bones). I can't remember if it was called anything other than naudan kylki, but I'll check next time I'm over that way and post back to this thread.

What I haven't been able to find are skirt, flank and hanger steaks.

Right, so I breezed through kauppahalli today. They had beef short ribs as naudanlihan kylki at 7,40 e/kg. Pork ribs ranged from 3,40 to just shy of 7 e/kg, depending on the cut and whether it was smoked or not. Pork trotters at 1,something per kg. Beef stew bones (ydinluut) cut up with a good amount of marrow were around 2 e. Pork fat back was cheap, but I don't remember exactly how much. I saw pork knuckles and some other odds and ends as well. It was a pretty good selection, all in all.