Brad Baych, Author of "Primal Cuts" cookbook - Afterhours
The principal focus of this discourse centers on the nuanced practice of salting steaks prior to their preparation, an essential technique that significantly enhances the flavor and texture of the meat. Throughout our conversation, we delve into the insights provided by Brad Bates, the esteemed author of "Primal Cuts" and a knowledgeable butcher, who elucidates the merits of allowing a steak to be salted overnight. This method, he posits, not only fosters an optimal crust formation but also contributes to a more harmonious seasoning throughout the cut. Additionally, we engage in a wide-ranging dialogue that encompasses various cuts of meat, culinary preferences, and the intricate relationship between seasoning and cooking techniques. Ultimately, our exchange serves to illuminate the artistry inherent in butchery and the culinary experience, inviting listeners to appreciate the subtleties that elevate the simple act of cooking into a refined practice.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Primal Cuts
- Butcher wizard
- Thomas Keller
- French Laundry
- Barnes and Noble
- Primal Cuts Club
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcript
Welcome to Barbecue Nation with JT and Leanne After Hours, the conversation that continued after the show was done.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to After Hours here on Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:I'm JT along with Ms. Whippen and Brad Bates, the author of Primal Cuts.
Speaker A:Great book, by the way.
Speaker A:He's also the butcher.
Speaker A:I bit my lip.
Speaker A:Butcher wizard on YouTube there, and he's got a lot of things to offer there, but he is not prepared for this.
Speaker A:I. I know that for a fact.
Speaker A:Which is good.
Speaker A:Which is good.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Are you ready, Brad?
Speaker B:I am.
Speaker B:I couldn't be more ready.
Speaker A:Okay, well, I'll start with something simple because something I missed in the regular show and I wanted to touch on you have you.
Speaker A:You were a convert.
Speaker A:You are a convert.
Speaker A:When people were talking about salting their steaks prior to cooking.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Excuse me.
Speaker A:And you.
Speaker A:You talked about that pretty good in the book.
Speaker A:Some people are doing it an hour or so before, some are doing it overnight.
Speaker A:Like that.
Speaker A:After all your trials and tests and experiences.
Speaker A:What are, what are you saying?
Speaker B:So, yeah, I would say this is the.
Speaker B:I did a video about steak myths, and this was one that I really wanted to touch on of how early do you want to season your steaks?
Speaker B:Because, again, I've always been in the steakhouse world, in the culinary world of restaurants where, hey, someone orders it, boom, we put salt and pepper on it and we cook it.
Speaker A:Right, Right.
Speaker B:I do find that when I did the experiment of salting overnight, it did help for crust formation and have that good seasoning layer at the, on the, on the outside.
Speaker B:So it was, it was very much, in my opinion, worth your time to take your steak out, put it on a, like a wire rack so it has lots of airflow.
Speaker B:Season it with just salt and then leave it in a open air, like, refrigerator overnight.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:And it provided a better crust, in my, in my opinion.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, that's legal.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Okay, here we go.
Speaker B:You can't do it for.
Speaker B:You can't do it if you're going to serve 200 people a night, you know.
Speaker A:No, no, no.
Speaker B:But if you're just talking about what we're going to have for dinner, that's, It's.
Speaker B:It's well worth your time.
Speaker A:Okay, so, Brad, if you were declared supreme ruler of meat cutting for one week, what would you decree as supreme ruler?
Speaker B:Okay, so let's see.
Speaker B:Like, I don't know, we need to elevate the, The.
Speaker B:All the chuck cuts, all the ones, all the, the flat irons, the chuck eyes, stuff like that those are, like I said, my favorite cuts.
Speaker B:Everything I. I just tend to gravitate towards comes out of the Chuck.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And Chuck awareness.
Speaker B:Where's Chuck Awareness Month?
Speaker B:That's what we need.
Speaker B:Because it is.
Speaker B:It is important because I think some of these cuts don't get the course now.
Speaker B:It was kind of funny.
Speaker B:I get some comments on YouTube whenever I talk about Chuck Eyes or Denver Stakes, that I'll get some comments that'll say, like, you know, be quiet.
Speaker B:Stop talking about it.
Speaker B:You're raising the prices on these.
Speaker B:On these different cuts of meat.
Speaker B:You know, And I'm like, I don't have that much influence on the beef prices, but thank you.
Speaker B:But, you know, the awareness we can give to those Chuck cuts, the better folks.
Speaker A:Here's the deal.
Speaker A:There's very few people that have influence on the beef prices that way.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And definitely not some.
Speaker B:Some guy on YouTube.
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:What's.
Speaker A:Brad?
Speaker A:What's the oldest item in your refrigerator?
Speaker B:Oldest item, my refrigerator.
Speaker B:That's good.
Speaker B:I got.
Speaker B:I got some.
Speaker B:You know, Are we talking about the stuff that's way in the back and it's got mold?
Speaker A:Whatever.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Whatever.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:I love pickled vegetables, so pickled asparagus, pickled carrots, things like that.
Speaker B:I know I get a lot of stuff for only eating meat, but I also do enjoy a nice pickle or pickled vegetable.
Speaker B:So I would say that those are in the back and I always kind of snack on those.
Speaker B:But those are my.
Speaker B:Some of my favorite stuff that's stuck way back in the back of the fridge.
Speaker A:I'm a. I'm a sliced pickled beets guy.
Speaker A:I love sliced pickled beets.
Speaker A:If you could work with one of your food heroes, who would it be?
Speaker B:Let's see.
Speaker B:You know, as far, I kind of like, separate the.
Speaker B:From YouTube personalities and to, like, restaurants.
Speaker B:So my.
Speaker B:Back.
Speaker B:When I went to culinary school, my favorite restaurateur was Thomas Keller from the French Laundry in Napa.
Speaker B:And, you know, I still haven't made it up there.
Speaker B:It's on the short list, hopefully, of getting up there.
Speaker B:But, like, that was one of the things when I was a culinary student many, many years ago.
Speaker B:That was one of my like, like, true from afar mentors.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:As far as, like a YouTuber, YouTube personalities.
Speaker B:I would love to go cut with.
Speaker B:With the bearded butchers.
Speaker B:I don't know if you guys are familiar with.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, they have one of the biggest butchery channels on YouTube and they have a whole ranch and the butcher shop and the whole.
Speaker B:They really do the thing, right?
Speaker B:They, you know, they are doing it for real.
Speaker B:I would love to go cut with them someday.
Speaker B:That would be awesome.
Speaker A:I would love to know who sharpens their knives, right.
Speaker A:They have to have the sharpest knives on the face of the planet because they just go like butter through everything here.
Speaker A:They really do.
Speaker A:If you could cook for and dine with a historical figure, who would it be and what would be on the menu?
Speaker B:That is a.
Speaker B:Also a great question.
Speaker B:You were not joking.
Speaker B:These are tough questions.
Speaker B:So with.
Speaker B:I'm a big sports fan, so I don't know if, like, I am.
Speaker B:I used to live in Massachusetts back when.
Speaker B:A long time ago.
Speaker B:My parents were in the Air Force, so we traveled a lot on a lot.
Speaker B:But that was one of the spots that I would.
Speaker B:I grew up in.
Speaker B:And, you know, I would love to have dinner with.
Speaker B:Cook for Tom Brady.
Speaker B:Now, I know he probably would not eat the beef.
Speaker B:He would probably.
Speaker B:Completely different.
Speaker B:And it would be tough to cook for him, but I would love to sit down.
Speaker B:That would be like.
Speaker B:That would be a great.
Speaker B:A great meal to have a great conversation to have.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:I think Brady or whoever cooks for him shops in the part of the grocery store that we barely go to.
Speaker A:We walk through it.
Speaker A:We don't stop.
Speaker A:You know, I think that's where Tom probably gets his food.
Speaker B:I know it's like I said, he probably wouldn't be happy with my.
Speaker B:With my menu selection, but.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:What's your least favorite food to eat?
Speaker A:You personally, Brad?
Speaker B:Let's see.
Speaker B:See, that's.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:Oh, you're asking some hard ones today.
Speaker B:Because I. I'm.
Speaker B:You know, there are very few foods that I don't like, but.
Speaker B:That's a tough.
Speaker B:That's a tough question.
Speaker A:I'll give you a hint.
Speaker A:Mine.
Speaker A:Lima beans.
Speaker A:I hate lima beans.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think they look like Martian kidneys myself.
Speaker B:Well, yeah, I don't have any.
Speaker B:I don't think I have an aversion to lima beans.
Speaker B:You know, I pretty much.
Speaker B:I like a lot of stuff.
Speaker B:Like, I really.
Speaker B:That is a really tough one because I can't even really think about that.
Speaker A:Oh, that's okay.
Speaker A:That's all right.
Speaker B:I know it's crazy.
Speaker B:I like it.
Speaker B:I don't think I've been asked that question.
Speaker B:It's like, I get like, my favorite foods are.
Speaker B:But, you know, I'm pretty much as it goes.
Speaker B:Like, I'm up for anything.
Speaker A:I got it.
Speaker A:If we put your skills to music, what would the music be?
Speaker B:My skills to music.
Speaker B:So I would think.
Speaker B:So if I was like doing a soundtrack of, of cutting meat, it would be classical because I think like, it is an art and it is a like very smooth.
Speaker B:Everything is like if you watch someone who like is really much really doing anything that's.
Speaker B:That they've done a thousand times, it is like that, that smooth art to it.
Speaker B:And I think that would be.
Speaker B:I would just go to classical music and be like, okay, this is, this is a soundtrack of me cutting me.
Speaker A:Okay, a couple more here.
Speaker A:Boxers are briefs.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So I'm a boxer brief guy.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I'm in the middle.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:You're not the first.
Speaker A:And you touched on this in the book and on your videos.
Speaker A:Grass fed or finished beef?
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:So, you know, I am a.
Speaker B:See, I don't necessarily gravitate towards grass fed beef.
Speaker B:I am more a.
Speaker B:That, that corn fed kind of grain fed beef just because of the flavor aspect of it.
Speaker B:I find that the grass fed beef, you know, obviously is a little smaller.
Speaker B:The, the cuts are smaller.
Speaker B:But again I, I like it all though.
Speaker B:I don't complain.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Two more.
Speaker A:What would your last meal consist of if you were on death row?
Speaker B:A pastrami sandwich with sauerkraut on rye, mustard, the whole Swiss cheese.
Speaker B:The whole thing.
Speaker B:Yeah, I am.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's one of my favorite bites.
Speaker B:Is, is that, is that sandwich a Reuben sandwich or a pastrami sandwich?
Speaker A:Any.
Speaker B:Yeah, any of those.
Speaker B:Like, I would, I would, I would gravitate towards.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Last one.
Speaker A:If I gave you a box of items or whatever of everything you lost in your life up to this point, what would be the first thing you would reach for?
Speaker B:Think I've lost?
Speaker A:Yeah,.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:That's a, that's a good question.
Speaker B:I wonder if I lost.
Speaker A:Nobody said this show was going to be easy, Brad.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:There is a, you know, something I would like to have back.
Speaker B:That is kind of weird.
Speaker B:It was moment.
Speaker B:You know, Momento would be the culinary school.
Speaker B:So when I was in culinary school, I.
Speaker B:We got a pack of tools and there was a chef's knife in there that I used a ton of times.
Speaker B:I used it in pretty much the beginning part of my career.
Speaker B:I'd worn it down to a, to a nub almost.
Speaker B:I think I would like to have that back.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I'm not quite sure in the moving process of different houses where it went, but like, I think that would be a cool item to have it's out.
Speaker A:There somewhere, I'm sure.
Speaker A:Might be in a landfill now, but it's somewhere.
Speaker A:Brad Bage, the author of Primal Cuts and also the Butcher wizard on YouTube.
Speaker A:Thanks for spending time with us.
Speaker A:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:Yeah, thank you, guys.
Speaker B:I just really appreciate, you know, I love talking meat.
Speaker B:So I'm.
Speaker B:I'm here for whatever.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Oh, real quick, give them all your social media stuff again.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So the Primal Cuts cookbook is on Amazon.
Speaker B:It's on Barnes and noble.com I YouTube.
Speaker B:I'm Butcher wizard on YouTube.
Speaker B:That's where I hang out mainly.
Speaker B:And then I have a private members only community called Primal Cuts Club where we talk about.
Speaker B:More about saving money on meat.
Speaker B:So that's primal cutsclub.com so I'm.
Speaker B:I'm everywhere people want to be.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Thank you, Brad.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:That's it for this edition of after hours on Barbecue Nation.
Speaker A:Leanne.
Speaker A:Thank you, Brad.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:And remember our motto, turn it, don't burn it.
Speaker A:Take care, everybody.
