Subway to sell to Arby's

[temery]

I don't know how much more profit can be squeezed out of a typical Subway store. While a few folks who own multiple stores do relatively OK, franchisees with only one or two stores make a pittance. Demands on franchisees are regarded as the most ridiculously oppressive of any food franchise.

As to sandwiches, Pittsburgh is a good to great sandwich town with a notable exception - no Jewish delis. And very few true delis of any kind. Most supermarkets don't even make sandwiches at the deli counter. That said, a few decent Reubens can be had at sit down restaurants/bars. But pastrami is pretty much non-existent here, which is a bit surprising as if there's one city that would readily adopt the LA burger topped with pastrami, it's here.

'Depends. Owner operated can make good money. Absentee owners aren't going to do so well. This is likely true throughout the industry.

 

[gioff2323]

Maggianos little Italy. ( Tampa/ Orlando).

Good lord. I’m sorry you’ve never experienced good Italian food before.

 

[August_West]

I thought pastrami was a different cut of meat with more fat.

Pastrami many times is Brisket (Corned Beef) but yes, the traditional cut that for example Katz's and other top pastrami Purveyors uses the Navel Cut of beef (also alternately known as Beef Belly or Plate They are from pretty much the same part of the cow right next to each other (Brisket and Navel/Plate) and yes it is fattier than the flat cut of a whole Brisket, put the point cut of a full Brisket is pretty damn fatty as well. My next Pastrami will be made from a Navel cut. But Pastrami Brisket is absolutely fine and acceptable and comes out great (and many Delis use that instead of Navel.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Pastrami many times is Brisket (Corned Beef) but yes, the traditional cut that for example Katz's and other top pastrami Purveyors uses the Navel Cut of beef (also alternately known as Beef Belly or Plate They are from pretty much the same part of the cow right next to each other (Brisket and Navel/Plate) and yes it is fattier than the flat cut of a whole Brisket, put the point cut of a full Brisket is pretty damn fatty as well. My next Pastrami will be made from a Navel cut. But Pastrami Brisket is absolutely fine and acceptable and comes out great (and many Delis use that instead of Navel.

By the time you trim the fat from cut you buy for a pastrami or the cut you buy for a corned beef, how much difference is there as far as a fat cap or marbling within the cut?

 

[August_West]

Just buy the corned beef on sale around St. Patrick's Day. Much cheaper than a proper brisket.

That's just simply not true in my experience, although it used to be. At least in my area. 20 years ago you are right, I used to buy Corned beef the day after St Patty's at .99 cents a lb. But that stopped, I didnt see anything this year at any of the supermarkets on the after St Patty's fire sale cheaper than 5.99 a lb and that was at costco. so no it is not much cheaper, in fact it is double the prices of the 2.99 I regularly pay for a packer.

Also note that some of those cheaper cryovac's corned beefs can be crap they are injected with water/Brine in a quick process instead of the longer soak. There are some good ones out there too, but so many are just bloated and crappy.

Was advised to soak them to cut the solution a bit.

You should ALWAYS soak them in cool clear water for 8 hours at least, or longer (and change the water at least twice in that time to flush the salinity before smoking. When people simmer Corned beef for say corned beef and cabbage our whatever you dont need to soak because you are doing that in the water already , but even then you should change the water just once after the first 30 minutes of simmering, and then simmer another few hours.

What rub do you use?

My own. (playing around with amounts from some common web recipes)
Coriander seeds
Mustard Seeds
Whole Black Peppercorns
---The above 3 I smash a bit, to break them but not too fine
Plus
Coriander Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Mustard Powder
Brown Sugar

Pastrami Rubs are dominated by Pepper and Coriander. That is the traditional flavor profile of Pastrami that people think of.

 

[jibsey]

D’Angelo’s is the best chain sandwich shop.

love the cheesesteak but just the one in Southington in central Ct.
but these sub places are very pricey. I took my grandson and friend into Subway and 2 basic turkey footlongs were over $20 but there wasn't much meat.
In Florida Publix makes a nice sandwich double the meat good value.
I would think the supermarkets give you better value and fresher product.

 

[jibsey]

That's just simply not true in my experience, although it used to be. At least in my area. 20 years ago you are right, I used to buy Corned beef the day after St Patty's at .99 cents a lb. But that stopped, I didnt see anything this year at any of the supermarkets on the after St Patty's fire sale cheaper than 5.99 a lb and that was at costco. so no it is not much cheaper, in fact it is double the prices of the 2.99 I regularly pay for a packer.

Also note that some of those cheaper cryovac's corned beefs can be crap they are injected with water/Brine in a quick process instead of the longer soak. There are some good ones out there too, but so many are just bloated and crappy.


You should ALWAYS soak them in cool clear water for 8 hours at least, or longer (and change the water at least twice in that time to flush the salinity before smoking. When people simmer Corned beef for say corned beef and cabbage our whatever you dont need to soak because you are doing that in the water already , but even then you should change the water just once after the first 30 minutes of simmering, and then simmer another few hours.



My own. (playing around with amounts from some common web recipes)
Coriander seeds
Mustard Seeds
Whole Black Peppercorns
---The above 3 I smash a bit, to break them but not too fine
Plus
Coriander Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Mustard Powder
Brown Sugar

Pastrami Rubs are dominated by Pepper and Coriander. That is the traditional flavor profile of Pastrami that people think of.

Can you make pastrami that tastes like real NY Deli Carnegie style used to?

 

[August_West]

By the time you trim the fat from cut you buy for a pastrami or the cut you buy for a corned beef, how much difference is there as far as a fat cap or marbling within the cut?

Well to start with, all Pastrami is corned beef. , a Pastrami can't be a Pastrami unless it is made from a Corned Beef. It doesnt matter what cut off meat you use, You could make Pastrami out of Eye Round or top round or whatever (it wouldnt be good, not enough fat which keeps the meat moist) but it is really about the process. The meat needs to be cured and Brined first (Corned) before it can be anything. That is why as HuskyHawk pointed out, you could just buy a whole Corned beef and turn it into Pastrami. I prefer my curing of a Fresh Brisket to anything you get in Cryovac, but it does take days to do.

As far as fat trimming lets put it this way, It depends on personal taste. I (as Im sure will shock none of you, hahah) love the fattier portions, when I go to NY delis I ask for fattier pieces mixed in my Sandwich. Whether it be Pastrami or Corned Beef. So I pretty much treat them the same way, I do find though that I like to leave more Fat on the portions Im cutting for Pastrami because the smoking part of the process really renders it in a tasty way whereas If you are just doing straight traditional corned beef that is simmered the fat simmered in water for 4 hours isn't as unctuous in the mouth. So I may trim that a bit closer. Also you kinda got to know your fat. There are like 2 or 3 different types of fat/Marbling in a Brisket, some is good fat, some is kinda gross fat especially simmered. So yes Ill cut stuff meant for corned beef a bit closer. Good question.

This is where whole Packer Briskets come into play. In my picture I did a flat into Pastrami. This is because my wife likes it on the leaner side. In the Curing bucket pic you can see that flat and you can also see the point I separated from the flat already before Cure. I really prefer the point for but the point on this Brisket was kinda weird shaped and hard to deal with (uneven thicknesses) and wouldve been a Bear to handle on smoker so I used it as Corned Beef and simmered it, Cut myself a great Sandwich out of it, and used the rest for Corned Beef Hash. THat is why I like dealing with whole Briskets, there is no waste, I use every inch of that sucker for different things after trimming.

 

[August_West]

Can you make pastrami that tastes like real NY Deli Carnegie style used to?

Im getting damn close. Not quite there yet, but I will.

 

[August_West]

Unquestionably, the best two deli sandwiches are tongue and chopped liver on rye. End of story.

I Love tongue I usually use it in a combo. Chopped liver great too.

 

[PNolanFan]

Do we need a top deli in CT thread? I am sure that probably has been done at some point

 

[Dogdeacon]

Yup that place is good. Different than anything else around.

Chacarero is great, chicken better than the steak surprisingly. Their sauces are killer. Somehow it was better when it was a street cart, maybe b/c everything was freshly made & served or because it was like $5 for a small and $6 for a large (10-ish yrs ago).

But probably b/c Chacarero would have a huge two way line every day at lunch always worth waiting for. And novices would get in the wrong line get to the front and realize they were supposed to have a ticket that you got when you pay and order your sandwich. Most of the time people were nice and direct newbies to the correct line, but occasionally if you witnessed someone that slipped thru and had to restart at loooong first line, it made your sandwich taste that much better.

 

[Shamon30]

Kinda weird. Article says Roark Capital already owns Jimmy John's.

Regardless for national chain sub shops Jersey Mike's is far and away the best. And, if you are traveling and tight on time, you don't always have time to find the local sandwich shop. Consistency is a strong attribute.

Quiznos, DiBella, and Potbelly are my favorites.

 

[seeya27]

They're all a last resort for me. Any local deli is generally far better than whatever these chains can provide.

Subway's franchise model I assume is not helping them. They just went crazy with expansion to the point that franchises are really easy to get (plenty of unqualified people own them), cannibalizing each other's business due to their proximity, and the consistency is just not there.

I'm incredibly fussy about sandwich shops. My father was a kosher wholesaler and I learned to be extremely fussy.

Here in No. Dallas where I live there are a couple Jewish-style delis that are plenty decent.

But as sub shops go, Jersey Mike's is uniquely consistent and high quality. Great bread you can't find anywhere else in the metroplex. Literally

But like everything in this inflation age, they are not low cost.

 

[Greedo]

I used to work in environmental consulting in the south that required a lot of travel to rural places. On one such occasion the only place to get food within a 30 minute radius was a subway that was part of the convenience store of a gas station. We stopped and got food there. As I was sitting down I noticed a Subway employee spraying windex on the glass above all of the meats, with windex particles raining down on all of the meats.

I paused for a second and then ate the whole sandwich.

 

[storrsroars]

I used to work in environmental consulting in the south that required a lot of travel to rural places. On one such occasion the only place to get food within a 30 minute radius was a subway that was part of the convenience store of a gas station. We stopped and got food there. As I was sitting down I noticed a Subway employee spraying windex on the glass above all of the meats, with windex particles raining down on all of the meats.

I paused for a second and then ate the whole sandwich.

You lived. Probably healthier for it. How's your psoriasis?

 

[jibsey]

Im getting damn close. Not quite there yet, but I will.

I think I'm going to try to do it. Costco sells a whole untrimmed brisket maybe 14 pounds. Could a sous vide be part of the cooking process?

 

[UConniki]

Good lord. I’m sorry you’ve never experienced good Italian food before.

Obviously you’ve never been to or lived in Florida. The food down here is atrocious, awful , inedible garbage and thats being nice.
Never went to an Italian restaurant chain before moving here, never had to living in Connecticut and surrounding states. The independent restaurants are worse than the chains for the most part. Even Ruth Chris steakhouse in Bonita is disappointing compared to the one a half mile from my home in Newington

 

[Hoophound]

Obviously you’ve never been to or lived in Florida. The food down here is atrocious, awful , inedible garbage and thats being nice.
Never went to an Italian restaurant chain before moving here, never had to living in Connecticut and surrounding states. The independent restaurants are worse than the chains for the most part. Even Ruth Chris steakhouse in Bonita is disappointing compared to the one a half mile from my home in Newington

Ha. I think the food in Naples is outstanding, but sometimes you pay $30+ for a cocktail. Getting a bit obscene. I was amazed how much cheaper prices were in New England and New York during our travels this year.

Maggianos isn’t good, but it’s also inconsistent. We went to the Boston location now and then over the last few years. We always stayed at the Park Plaza, which is right next to it, so it was just convenient at the end of a long day. Some meals were better than others. None were “good”.

 

[storrsroars]

Obviously you’ve never been to or lived in Florida. The food down here is atrocious, awful , inedible garbage and thats being nice.
Never went to an Italian restaurant chain before moving here, never had to living in Connecticut and surrounding states. The independent restaurants are worse than the chains for the most part. Even Ruth Chris steakhouse in Bonita is disappointing compared to the one a half mile from my home in Newington

We've had no issue finding good food in the Tampa/Bradenton/Sarasota area on multiple trips down for spring training. Then again, we never order Italian out, even when home. Easiest ethnic cuisine to make well at home so we usually opt for fish/seafood when in FL.

 

[August_West]

I think I'm going to try to do it. Costco sells a whole untrimmed brisket maybe 14 pounds. Could a sous vide be part of the cooking process?

Absolutely.

 

[OceanDoggie]

D’Angelo’s is the best chain sandwich shop.

I like D'Angelo as well, but for subs, I like DiBella even better.

DiBella's - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Deepster]

Im getting damn close. Not quite there yet, but I will.

And I’ll say it again. This is why we have deli
slicers. If you don’t you’re a noob.

 

[August_West]

This weeks curing experiment:
Pork Belly ! I’m curing 2 of those 3 portions
One for Maple Bacon , one for Peppered Bacon. Should be done curing Thursday or Friday and then on to slow smoking the slabs .

 

[August_West]

Can you make pastrami that tastes like real NY Deli Carnegie style used to?

I hit it! I could’ve piled it higher but I’m not a chazer

And I’ll say it again. This is why we have deli
slicers. If you don’t you’re a noob.

And that’s why I went to the slicer for tonight’s sandwich. I did the first round with knife cuts like Katz’s but I like it thin and stacked

Every person should have a deli slicer. It’s just as important as a spatula .