Greetings Carnivores,
I’m often faced with a bit of a guessing game when dealing with customers. Let me explain: A man’s wife sends her husband to do some shopping and, on his list is a roast of Beef for Sunday dinner.
Today, a somewhat bewildered man was standing before me, questions in his eyes, with just such a task. Sadly, he wasn’t sure what his wife wanted but, she DID say she wanted a roast “that you would find in a buffet”.
Ok, … now we’re getting somewhere.
The typical Beef roast you find in a buffet line is called a “Steamship Round”. It is a full leg of Beef called a Hip that has been ‘squared’ off so that once the cooking has been completed it will ‘stand’ on it’s own to facilitate easy carving.
Ok so, … back to my bewildered looking customer. He told me it was just going to be he and his wife sitting down to dinner so, I suggested he buy a roast from any one of the four muscles that make up the whole (Steamship) round. They are: the Inside Round, Outside Round, Eye of Round, and the Sirloin Tip.
Here’s the part I always encounter when answering questions about Roasts. “What’s the difference between the Sirloin Tip and the Sirloin Butt (or Top Sirloin)?.
The answer is … PLENTY!!
I have always had a problem with the “Tip” portion being called a “Sirloin” at all. As far as I’m concerned it’s very confusing for the lay-customer. The Sirloin Butt (Top Sirloin) comes from the Loin and as such, is a non-hard working muscle or ‘Floating’ muscle. Conversely, the Sirloin Tip comes from the thigh part of the leg (below the Top Sirloin) and is a muscle used for mobility, therefore: MUCH HARDER WORKING.
Although the Sirloin Tip is still a nice roast (or steak if you will) I think a lot of people, not knowing any different, select the ‘Tip’ thinking “Hey, … it’s a Sirloin … and it’s WAY cheaper than the ‘OTHER’ Sirloin … let’s go with this one instead.”
There’s nothing wrong with that but … if you buy a Sirloin ‘Tip’ thinking it’s a Sirloin Butt (‘Top’ Sirloin), you’re likely to come back and tell me how disappointed you were with the tenderness of your roast.
It’s true, … the butcher will always suggest something more expensive. It’s what we do. Not unlike the waitress at the Burger Joint asking you if you’d like fries with that? It’s called “The Up-Sell”. The difference here is this: I want you to be able to make an informed decision based on information I have given you about these two very different muscles. Remember what I said a while back? (in an older post) Repeat after me … “THE TENDERNESS OF ANY GIVEN MUSCLE DEPENDS ON THE AMOUNT OF WORK IT DOES IN LIFE”
I hope this helps. Any questions … I’m here to answer them for you … and remember … there are NO stupid ones.
Until next time Carnivores, stay hungry and as usual, please follow my posts on Twitter @DougieDee and like and share them on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/carnivoreconfidential
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