Germany Meat?

Dundee

Anyone in Germany for recommendations for finding good meat?  I have habe of course found good sausage and various pieces of pork, but beef is the elusive product.  Beef Brisket to be specific.

I have gone into the butchers here, aka Metzgerei, to order a brisket in English I would say, 

May I have five kilograms of beef brisket? I would like to have a twenty-five mm fat layer on one side of the piece. It must be well marbled throughout!

Which translates to this in German.

Darf ich bitte fünf Kilogramm Rinderbrust haben?  Ich haette gern eine fünfundzwanzig mm Fett Schicht auf einer Seite des Stuckes. Es muss durchgehend gut marmoriert sein!

This has resulted in all flat, or all point, or two points to make the weight. But nothing marbled enough to result in delicious juiciness.

The result is dry and often tough brisket, but it makes great chili.  And yes, I have been using the techniques found here, like 250F, let the bark form, wrap it, and pull it out to rest in a cooler when a toothpick goes in like butter.  But for some reason, that does not happen with a dry brisket.  German meat is very lean does not contain a lot of the growth hormones that American beef gets.  So the pieces are smaller and leaner.  So I am considering injecting.  Anyone in Germany also with advice?

Dundee

alaskanassasin

I wonder if they finish their beef with corn? Grass fed seems to run lean.

thetrim

Reach out to Don Marco BBQ.  The last I heard, he lives in Neidersachsen.  He may be able to help.  At one time, he was a big advocate/distributor for BGE, but he got buffaloed by them.

He gets a hold of  a lot of different types of beef (American Argentinean sourced)

https://www.don-marcos-barbecue.de/en/

FarmingPhD

alaskanassasin said:

I wonder if they finish their beef with corn? Grass fed seems to run lean.

I think they are mostly grass fed.  I’ve had German steak, tougher and not really much available for ribeye or strip steaks like we are accustomed to.  They do however know how to do pork.  Lot of their corn is harvested as silage for biogas plants to generate electricity, so a lot less corn for feed than we typically have in the US.

RyanStl

Interesting, I never considered types of beef would be so different country to country, but makes sense. Good luck with search.

buzd504

You may be getting portions of brisket because you are ordering by weight.  If the butcher can get you the full cut ("a packer brisket"), you may have better results.  Although 5kg should be about right for both the flat and point.

Dundee

Thanks all, and specifically thetrim, there are 2 Don Marco BBQ places within 30 min of my house in Southwest Germany,  Neidersachsen is about as far as you can go and still be in Germany, the Northeast corner.  About a 5 hour drive or so.  That does sound silly, because driving across Texas is a lot further.  I will check the local places out and let you know.  

buzd504 , I think you are right, Germans do look at you funny when you order a single piece of meat that weighs 10+ lbs.

paqman

Dundee said:

Germans do look at you funny when you order a single piece of meat that weighs 10+ lbs.

Have you maybe considered that it may not be because you are purchasing large amounts of meat? 😂🤣😂

A 5 hours drive doesn’t sound excessive to me if it is to find good meat but me and my wife are enjoying road trips 🤷‍♂️

Good luck, a good piece of meat makes all the difference.  If you can’t find anything decent, try brining for corned beef to make pastrami/Montreal Smoked Meat.  I am brining one as we speak, I’ll post something today or tomorrow about the process.

Dundee

paqman, interesting point, I may mention that, ROAD TRIP!  The German Rail system makes long trips longer, but a lot of fun.  We haven't been on one since the pandemic started though.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

If you are into bbq and/ komado cooking in Germany you need to get to know Don Marco. Assuming he's still in the game (been a while since I've seen what he's up to). If he's 5 hrs away, it will be worth the trip just in the knowledge you gain.

Ozzie_Isaac

I suppose moving to the USA is not an option?  J/K

Honestly, we have fantastic beef products here, but all the various cured meats, and non-beef products in Europe far out weigh that benefit.

Legume

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I suppose moving to the USA is not an option?  J/K

Honestly, we have fantastic beef products here, but all the various cured meats, and non-beef products in Europe far out weigh that benefit.

Maybe cured meats cure Covid?

Dundee

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I suppose moving to the USA is not an option?  J/K

Honestly, we have fantastic beef products here, but all the various cured meats, and non-beef products in Europe far out weigh that benefit.

I know, I grew up in west Texas, but I have lived all over the world.  My best cooks have always been in the USA.  But yes, German Pork is pretty amazing.  While my mind goes to Pulled Pork, their seasoned pork steaks are amazing.  Smoked, they are the BOMB.  We will move back the the USA in 2022 so I can dabble in other meats until then.