As consumers continue to embrace the web and smartphone technology, a bunch of new Apps are hitting the market with strong relevance to people with a passion for beef.
A good example is a new app called Ask the Butcher, designed to help de-mystify the cut selection, preparation, recipe choice and cooking process for foodies and everyday consumers with a passion for red meat.
“It doesn’t take a chef to master cooking a great piece of meat,” says the App’s developer, prominent Sydney red meat wholesaler and butcher, Anthony Puharich.
“The App is designed for people who might be unsure which cut is best to BBQ, braise or roast,” he said.
“Many people miss the reassurance of their local butcher – the one who greets you by name, has a new meat suggestion for your dinner every time you visit, and can advise about the best way to cook it.”
The Ask the Butcher App is all about filling that space. It aims to encourage meat lovers to get to know their meat and tap into that unrivalled knowledge only an experienced butcher can provide.
“Ask The Butcher is a comprehensive and accessible meat resource that champions the time-honoured craft of butchery, to help people to make better meat choices,” Mr Puharich said.
“We face more questions at the butcher’s cabinet now than ever before: does the consumer want grassfed or grainfed, free-range or organic, primary cuts, secondary cuts or offal? What can I do with beef cheeks?”
“The App is designed to take the consumer from the butcher’s cabinet to the kitchen: it will help them select a cut, know what to look for when shopping, how to prepare their meat and cook it perfectly – all with the reassurance of having an experienced butcher by their side,” he said.
Features include:
- Detailed information straight from the butcher’s block explaining each cut in sections such as ‘Suggest a Cut’ or ‘The Meat Rack’
- Tips and questions to ask your butcher about each cut
- Preparation suggestions and butcher’s recipes
- A cooking timer based on the species and cut of meat, cooking method and weight selected
- The opportunity to ask the butcher questions via email.
The App will also carry regular updates including recipes from renowned Australian chefs as well as the option for consumers to share their meat ‘success stories’ via social media.
“For users who download the App, Ask the Butcher is set to change the way consumers choose, prepare, cook and enjoy meat,” Mr Puharich said. “It’s filled with useful tools and information for beginners right up to more experienced cooks, providing users with a friendly, trustworthy and knowledgeable butcher in their pocket.”
The App brings together generations of butchers’ knowledge from the Puharich family. Anthony, together with his father Victor, owns and operates Vic’s Premium Quality Meat, a premium meat wholesaler to the food service trade since 1996.
The family also owns and operates the famous Victor Churchill butchery in Sydney, profiled in this earlier Beef Central article, “Is this the world’s best butcher shop?”
Mr Puharich said giving consumers easy access to the knowledge of a local butcher was becoming increasingly important.
“The Ask the Butcher App is such an easy-to-use tool that will help take the guess-work out of buying and cooking fantastic meat and make the experience all the more enjoyable. It’s not always about buying the most expensive cut, but knowing how to get the best results out of a cut that’s best suited to the purpose,” he said.
“Through the App, we want to bring back the personal and knowledgeable experience a consumer can only get from their butcher. As well as providing people the tools and advice when they need them, it’s all about sharing a mutual passion for meat.”
- Ask the Butcher is now available through iTunes App Store for $2.99 and is iOS exclusive. Visit the iTunes store to download the App.
Beef Essentials
Another helpful and well-designed App working in this space is MLA’s Beef Essentials, designed to ensure a positive eating experience assist home cooks to get the best out of their beef.
The Beef Essentials app helps customers choose the right cut of beef for their barbecue, roast, stir-fry or casserole with in-built cooking timers with reminders at key times.
It offers hundreds of different cooking methods for beef and provides the answer to the ago-old question – 'how to cook the perfect steak'.
To barbecue a steak, the app is used to select the cut, thickness and the desired degree of done-ness and the in-built timer will tell the user when to turn it, when to remove it from the heat and how long to rest it for.
The Beef Essentials app also includes a diagram of a beef carcase that pinpoints where different cuts are located, and allows users to save and name their favourite selections.
Based on the popularity of the app, MLA will investigate the future use of mobile applications for the promotion of beef and lamb to consumers.
- Beef Essentials is free and available from the Apple iTunes store.
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