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[jdmessner]

Last year for the Super Bowl I was in Chicago to pick up my wife from the airport. On the advice of Bar-B-Lew, I grabbed an Italian Beef sandwich from Al’s to take back to the hotel for the game. It was my first real introduction to Chicago style Italian beef and it was mighty tasty. At the time I had no clue that six months later my son would be moving only a couple of miles from where I watched the game (and more importantly picked up the food)! This has given me an opportunity to gain a more in depth and firsthand experience regarding this fine cultural cuisine!

This year for the Super Bowl I will be returning to Chicago to watch the game with my son. I asked him if there was anything he wanted me to bring from the grill. He suggested Italian beef. I thought I recalled a thread from a while back with a rather detailed recipe. After searching the archives I found this link to a posting from Free Mr. Tony. Perhaps this could be moved to the “How I….” section for future reference.  I am looking to give this a try next week.

https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=1718.msg19565#msg19565

[Bar-B-Lew]

As much as we all want to make our own food, I would suggest in this instance that you just find an good establishment in the Chicagoland and buy the sandwiches fresh for the two of you to enjoy.  This sandwich is pretty unique in flavor, and why waste the effort stressing to try to get it right.  Buy some sandwiches and sit back and enjoy the game!

[Free Mr. Tony]

Sometimes I would agree that as the person preparing the food, as bar-b-lew suggests, it does beg the question whether certain preps are worth the effort.

However, often times there is a distinct sense of satisfaction to nailing a particular prep. I've had Al's, and I do think the recipe I found was a fair representation of what I tasted at the restaurant.

Let me know if you make it, and what you think of it. It was someone else's copycat, but a much more in depth copycat recipe than many others I've ran across. I do think a slicer is essential in this prep. I'm not sure the end product can be repilcated with a knife.

[jdmessner]

As much as we all want to make our own food, I would suggest in this instance that you just find an good establishment in the Chicagoland and buy the sandwiches fresh for the two of you to enjoy.  This sandwich is pretty unique in flavor, and why waste the effort stressing to try to get it right.  Buy some sandwiches and sit back and enjoy the game!

You have a very valid point. Depending on how the week goes it may very well be my fall back plan. Either way there will be no stress! I'll wing it and see how it turns out. No matter what happens I should be eating Italian Beef and hopefully seeing a good game (or at least some good commercials)!

Sometimes I would agree that as the person preparing the food, as bar-b-lew suggests, it does beg the question whether certain preps are worth the effort.

However, often times there is a distinct sense of satisfaction to nailing a particular prep. I've had Al's, and I do think the recipe I found was a fair representation of what I tasted at the restaurant.

Let me know if you make it, and what you think of it. It was someone else's copycat, but a much more in depth copycat recipe than many others I've ran across. I do think a slicer is essential in this prep. I'm not sure the end product can be repilcated with a knife.

Since it is a two stage process I figured I could cook and slice the beef at home a day or two ahead of time (I do have a slicer). Then I can simply reheat the meat in the juices once I am there. I'm thinking even if I do make the beef I will probably pick up a sandwich from Al's just to compare.