On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:45:14 -0700, gloria.p wrote:

> Bogbrush wrote:
>> Sqwertz > writes:
>>
>>> I've seen references to it being skirt steak, hanger steak, flank,
>>> and even brisket. Part of the problem is that probably because
>>> today's meat cutters are pretty clueless and would rather outright
>>> lie to customers than admit they don't know or offer to find out.
>>
>> Where do you get that from? Todays meat cutters, properly trained ones
>> and not the clones in Walmart etc, know their stuff as well if not
>> better as before. Its called education.
>
> Have you looked in the back room of a supermarket meat department
> lately? For the most part, no one "cuts" meat. They unwrap it
> from large packages that come from a central warehouse and rewrap it
> in clear plastic in smaller packages. I think in most stores you'd have
> a hard time finding a side of beef, or even a fore- or hind-quarter.
> Many places even get their hamburger preground. Union wages have caused
> the stores to do away with butchers and replace them with part time
> "wrappers".

My main grocer gets cryovaced or wax-boxed primal cuts and cut them
down to size at the store, grinding any trimmings. They have a
central meat processing facility in San Antonio where they do get
while sides, supplemented by plenty of case-ready cryovac from the 3
or 4 major processors (Swift, Farmland, Tyson, Excel)

-sw