DIY deli / sandwich meat

[Dragonbones]

In a thread in Restaurants entitled "WCIF Unforgettable Deli Sandwiches?", elektronisk asked

so I pick up some nice deli meats (or make my own)

Ok, now you are pushing it. How do you make your own meat?

First, for purchased meats, see this thread.

As for DIY, any meat which is tender enough and sliced thinly works well for sandwiches, as do those which are ground or cooked until they start falling apart. When I do a slow oven-roasted Mexican chicken, like I don't try to replicate processed round loaves of meats like bologna or water-injected, salt- and nitrite-laden meats like your typical deli meat because they're neither tasty (IMO) or healthy, but you can easily make meat-filled sandwiches without them.

1. Ground meats: obviously burgers are the easiest homemade sandwich meat, but you can get ground turkey, ground chicken, and ground lamb in addition to pork or beef (see the butcher on the east side of Zhongshan N. Rd. sec. 7?, just above Tianmu road near the gym, near the old El Gallo spot), or just pop some in a food processor or finely mince with a knife or two. Spice it well, add optional binder like egg, press or roll it very thin (super thin if using a rolling pin and putting it between sheets of oven paper), optionally bread it, and saute it. Thinly sliced meat loaf is good in sandwiches, and some people like pates.

2. Braised meats: Cook a nice fatty meat in a slow cooker or crockpot until it falls apart, like pulled pork or carnitas: link 1, link 2, link 3.

3. Roasted and thinly sliced meats: Instructions are all over the internet. Just truss up and roast yourself up something like a turkey breast, a big hunk of top sirloin for roast beef, top round, bottom round, or shoulder, etc. Or you can brine and poach chicken -- check out this torihamu, which is marinated 2 days and sous vide (gently poached -- but I'd avoid the plastic wrap method and truss it instead, as I don't trust plastics not to leach harmful chemicals or odd tastes). Here's another roast beef.

4. Terrines: Layer thin strips or off-cuts of moderately fatty meats and spices in a greased loaf pan, and bake (possibly in a bain marie). The fats render then congeal to bind the loaf together. Add a bit of gelatin if using leaner meats or precooked meats to help bind them. Chill overnight before removing from the pan, and slice thinly. Here's a nice looking recipe for duck terrine and ginger-plum salsa I think I'll try. Also see these: link link link

5. Canned, flaked seafood: Canned seafood like tuna, salmon, crab etc. can be mixed with a sauce and spices and spread on bread.

[louisfriend]

In a thread in Restaurants entitled "WCIF Unforgettable Deli Sandwiches?", elektronisk asked

so I pick up some nice deli meats (or make my own)

Ok, now you are pushing it. How do you make your own meat?

First, for purchased meats, see this thread.

As for DIY, any meat which is tender enough and sliced thinly works well for sandwiches, as do those which are ground or cooked until they start falling apart. When I do a slow oven-roasted Mexican chicken, like I don't try to replicate processed round loaves of meats like bologna or water-injected, salt- and nitrite-laden meats like your typical deli meat because they're neither tasty (IMO) or healthy, but you can easily make meat-filled sandwiches without them.

1. Ground meats: obviously burgers are the easiest homemade sandwich meat, but you can get ground turkey, ground chicken, and ground lamb in addition to pork or beef (see the butcher on the east side of Zhongshan N. Rd. sec. 7?, just above Tianmu road near the gym, near the old El Gallo spot), or just pop some in a food processor or finely mince with a knife or two. Spice it well, add optional binder like egg, press or roll it very thin (super thin if using a rolling pin and putting it between sheets of oven paper), optionally bread it, and saute it. Thinly sliced meat loaf is good in sandwiches, and some people like pates.

2. Braised meats: Cook a nice fatty meat in a slow cooker or crockpot until it falls apart, like pulled pork or carnitas: link 1, link 2, link 3.

3. Roasted and thinly sliced meats: Instructions are all over the internet. Just truss up and roast yourself up something like a turkey breast, a big hunk of top sirloin for roast beef, top round, bottom round, or shoulder, etc. Or you can brine and poach chicken -- check out this torihamu, which is marinated 2 days and sous vide (gently poached -- but I'd avoid the plastic wrap method and truss it instead, as I don't trust plastics not to leach harmful chemicals or odd tastes). Here's another roast beef.

4. Terrines: Layer thin strips or off-cuts of moderately fatty meats and spices in a greased loaf pan, and bake (possibly in a bain marie). The fats render then congeal to bind the loaf together. Add a bit of gelatin if using leaner meats or precooked meats to help bind them. Chill overnight before removing from the pan, and slice thinly. Here's a nice looking recipe for duck terrine and ginger-plum salsa I think I'll try. Also see these: link link link

5. Canned, flaked seafood: Canned seafood like tuna, salmon, crab etc. can be mixed with a sauce and spices and spread on bread.

[elektronisk]

How to make corned beef or pastrami that actually works? Never found a recipe that actually produces what I want, and I follow directions very carefully. Teach me that and I'll teach you how to make lutefisk.