SHOPPING LIST: Cooking Skills: Beef and Steak 2, Chapter 7 (Cuts and Basic Butchery)

A beef joint (topside or sirloin, about 1.2 kg), a piece of chuck (about 1.2 kg), a whole trimmed sirloin or striploin (about 1.2 kg), beef chuck and fatty beef (such as short rib or brisket) for mince, butcher's string, a sharp chef's or boning knife, a large chopping board, a damp cloth, a kitchen scale, a food processor or a hand mincer, freezer bags and a marker pen, baking parchment and a tray.

Trimming and tying a joint (6 portions)
[ ] 1.2 kg topside or sirloin joint
[ ] 3 metres of butcher's string
[ ] 1 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
[ ] 1 tsp flaked sea salt
[ ] ½ tsp black pepper

Cubing chuck for stews (4 portions)
[ ] 1.2 kg piece of chuck
[ ] 4 freezer bags
[ ] 1 marker pen, for labels

Slicing steaks from a whole sirloin (4 steaks)
[ ] 1.2 kg whole trimmed sirloin or striploin
[ ] 1 sheet of baking parchment, cut into squares
[ ] 1 tray, for freezing

Grinding mince at home (4 portions)
[ ] 500 g chuck, in 3 cm cubes
[ ] 200 g boneless short rib or brisket with some fat, in 3 cm cubes
[ ] 1 tsp flaked sea salt

For the experiments
[ ] Extra chuck for the trim-waste test (about 300 g)
[ ] A second small joint for the tying experiment (about 500 g)
[ ] Shop-bought beef mince (about 150 g)