Pulled Beef from Benz. Pulled beef, smoked over natural wood, with a whiskey-apple sauce.
Pulled Beef from Benz is pre-cooked, pulled beef from the Benz butcher shop in Köngen: 60 percent beef, smoked over natural wood, and refined with a sauce made from whiskey and apples. No liquid smoke, processed meat, or flavor enhancers – 400-gram tin, two burger portions.
Buying pulled beef is the less common choice. Most people reach for pork because it is easier to cook and more forgiving. Beef requires more patience and a cut with enough connective tissue, otherwise it will become dry. Benz has put in the effort to develop a product that tastes unique rather than just like pulled pork with a different animal: bolder, darker, with a sauce based on whiskey and apple juice rather than just ketchup. You heat the meat, and the burger you would normally order at a burger joint comes from your own pot.
Bold beef, mild smoke, apple and whiskey on the finish
Benz’s pulled beef first tastes like beef – noticeably more characteristic flavor than pork, almost like a braised roast, just in fibers. The smoke from the natural wood lies over it, but more quietly than with pulled pork. Then comes the sauce: a slight sweetness from the apple juice, a depth from the whiskey and red wine, plus roasted onions and seasoning with mustard and celery. In the end, a warm, slightly malty note remains that is reminiscent of whiskey while staying mild.
The fibers are longer and stronger than with pork; they retain their bite when heated. The meat holds together in fibers and can be pulled apart with a fork. The sauce coats it more like a glaze than a liquid. Those who want more sauce can add a little apple juice and let it reduce briefly.
Two limitations: The dish contains wheat flour from the roasted onions and is therefore not suitable for people with gluten intolerance. And anyone who only likes their beef pink will find the dish too well-done – that is simply the nature of the dish.
Burgers with coleslaw, wedges on the side, or straight onto the grill
The meat is heated in a pot over low heat for about fifteen minutes or in a cast-iron skillet directly on the grill. The variation that the Benz family recommends: classic coleslaw made from white cabbage, carrot, and yogurt, the meat on a toasted brioche bun, lettuce on top. Serve with homemade wedges or sweet potato fries. One tin makes two well-topped burgers.
If you want something other than burgers, there are alternatives: the meat on baked potatoes with sour cream. In tortillas with corn, black beans, and lime as tacos. Or as a topping for a flammkuchen variation with red onions and a bit of mountain cheese – the whiskey-apple aroma goes better with cheese than you might think. For a mixed burger evening, place the Pulled Pork from the same producer next to it and let your guests choose.
A suggestion for the grill: Empty the tin into a cast-iron skillet, place it on the edge of the embers, and stir occasionally. After ten minutes, the meat is hot and has picked up a bit more smoke. Briefly toast the buns on the grate, assemble, and you're done – and no one had to fire up the smoker at five in the morning.
For a plate instead of a bun: The meat on a salad of romaine, roasted potato cubes, cherry tomatoes, and a yogurt dressing. The sweetness of the sauce and the acidity of the yogurt pair well together, and the portion is enough for three instead of two.
Good to know: Beef dries out faster than pork. Heat it covered and over the lowest heat possible. A splash of apple juice or a spoonful of water before heating keeps it juicy. The microwave is not a good choice here. The product is lactose-free.
Beef from the Alb, smoke from Köngen
The beef comes from the butcher's abattoir in Göppingen, and the animals come from family farms in the Stauferland and Swabian Alb regions. Cuts with plenty of connective tissue are suitable for pulled beef – exactly the kind used for braised roasts. These occur during the butchering process at the Benz butcher shop, and it is from these that this product was born.
The meat is smoked over natural wood and then cooked slowly until the connective tissue has become soft. Afterward, it is pulled and mixed with the sauce: beef broth from their own bones, ketchup, whiskey, apple juice, red wine, roasted onions, and spices. The whiskey takes on the role that wine usually plays in braising – it brings depth and a little smokiness that pairs well with the wood smoke. After filling, the tin is heated again, which makes it shelf-stable unopened for around two years.
Behind this is a fifth-generation business. Master butcher Daniel Benz runs the Schwanen butcher shop with his wife Monika; daughter Gina is a master butcher and food manager. The three founded the gourmet delicatessen in 2019. It is one of the products with which Gina Benz deliberately expanded the delicatessen beyond the classic butcher shop cuisine – with meat that still comes from the region.
The burger that tastes like a butcher shop instead of a snack bar
Pulled beef from a tin is rare, and from a butcher shop that breaks down the meat itself, even rarer. The dish is too bold for every day, but just right for an evening with friends when the burger should be better than from a delivery service. A customer wrote to us that they use it exactly for that: quick, simple, good.
As a gift, it suits anyone who likes to grill or likes to eat burgers and prefers not to prepare both. Together with the pulled pork and a tin of gravy, it makes a package from the same butcher shop that covers three completely different evenings. The tins keep in the cupboard until the right occasion arises.
And one more reason to prefer beef to pork: Those who don't eat pork have hardly had a choice with "pulled" dishes until now. This tin closes the gap – with meat that comes from the region and a sauce that suits the beef instead of imitating pork.
Pulled Beef from Köngen: beef, smoke, and whiskey – all you have left to do is toast the bun.
