The Chicken Dinner Of Steaks
Sirloin steak is kind of the also-ran steak in some ways. That tasty and, well, tender tenderloin runs right between the sirloin regions, which are sirloin, top sirloin, and bottom sirloin. Sadly, sirloin isnt quite as tender as tenderloin, but dammit, a sirloin is pretty tender, often retails for less than $8 a pound, and can be sliced up for delicious sandwiches, used in savory stews, or enjoyed as an entree. In fact, in many mid- to lower-range steakhouses, if you order a steak thats around $12 to $15 with potato and side included, youre going to get sirloin, and youre probably going to be cool with it.
Sirloins dont typically come super thick, so cooking them is pretty simple. You can cook these bad boys over medium-high direct heat for two to four minutes per side, depending on your desired level of doneness.
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Essential Tips For Cooking Steak
Buy the right steak for the job.
Since steaks come in a variety of sizes and price points, theres a steak for almost every cooking type or dining scenario. Feeding a hungry crowd from the grill? Flank or skirt are your best choice. Buy a filet or porterhouse to feed two for date night. Grab rib eyes or sirloin steaks for dinner with friends.
Season the steak well.
Every single kind of steak is made better by a generous sprinkling of salt in advance of cooking. For thick steaks like sirloins, season the steaks a few days in advance. Flank and skirt steaks can also be seasoned with quick marinades.
Use a thermometer to determine doneness.
A digital probe thermometer is the best tool you can buy for cooking steak. It will give you an instant read on the steaks doneness and prevent over cooking.
It doesnt have to rest.
Conventional wisdom is that all steaks should be rested before slicing and serving, but anecdotal research suggests that resting doesnt actually make for a juicier steak. And besides, a warm steak often tastes a little bit juicier anyway.
Always slice steak against the grain meaning that you cut the visibly fibers of the steak in half to shorten them and keep the steak tender.
What Makes A Great Steak
The best types of steak are tender, juicy and well-marbled, since nobody enjoys dry and chewy meat. Fat is the main flavor component in steak. Beef quality is therefore graded for tenderness, juiciness, and flavor according to USDA Meat Grades. Muscles getting less use are usually more marbled and tender, so the best cuts are in the center of the cow, mainly the rib and loin sections.
There are 3 levels according to USDAs beef grades:
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The Complete Guide To Beef Cuts
Can you tell your sirloin from your beef shin? Want to know how to cook the perfect onglet? Read on to find out how to prepare, cook and serve specific cuts of beef, how they differ, what part of the cow they come from and what they taste like.
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While most of us know the rough difference between the most popular cuts of steak, when it comes to the more unusual cuts it can all get a bit confusing. Many of them fall in and out of fashion only recently have cuts like onglet started to appear on menus and theres a growing demand for fattier steaks over the traditional leaner favourites. As a nation were much more interested in how to cook, too, so cuts that require specific cooking methods arent as inaccessible as before.
Tips For Making Steak Tender And Juicy
For cooking center-cut steaks on the grill, stove or oven, here are some tips to ensure tender steak every time:
- Choose thicker steaks for maximum tenderness.
- Use room temperature steaks for even cooking, especially for thicker cuts.
- Pat dry the steak before cooking to help get a good sear.
- to help tenderize the meat.
- Cook thick cuts on indirect heat and finish on direct high heat .
- Use an instant-read thermometer to check internal temperatures and avoid overcooking.
- Rest your steak for 5-10 minutes covered with foil or a plate after grilling, allowing juices to retreat back into the steak for maximum tenderness.
- Cut against the grain when serving.
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Don’t Order Chicken At A Steakhouse
There’s a strong argument to be made for never ordering chicken at a restaurant. It’s far less flavorful than many other types of meat. And if you order your chicken dish from a steak house, there’s a good chance it’ll be overpriced. If you think you’re going with the healthier choice by opting for poultry, think again. Chicken portions served in restaurants are often larger than those of red meat. This eats into whatever calories you saved by eating a leaner protein.
You may disagree with this line of thinking. But ordering chicken at a steakhouse is surely something to think twice about. No matter how appetizing the dish sounds, chicken is always going to be an afterthought on a steakhouse menu. Not only are you settling for an inferior product, you’re missing out on what the establishment does best.
Chicken is an extremely common meal. Why waste a trip to the steakhouse on it? Instead, fully enjoy the experience with expertly cooked piece of steak something you assuredly can’t find on every corner.
Do Order A Rib Eye From A Steakhouse
As the name implies, rib eye steaks come from the rib cage of the animal. They’re often cut with the rib bone attached and hold on to a lot of the fat from the bone. The fat in the steak breaks down during the cooking process to both tenderize the meat and give it flavor. The high fat level in a rib eye makes it one of the most flavorful steak cuts you’ll find at a steakhouse.
One important factor to consider when ordering a rib eye is how it is prepared. This cut of meat is often best cooked by pan searing. Because of its high fat content, rib eyes are prone to flare-ups that can occur on the grill. The grill’s high heat can also quickly dry out the meat. Cooking it in a pan is a slower process that gives the fat time to break down and tenderize the meat, creating a mouth-watering steak.
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Host A Steak Tasting Party
Heres a fun idea host a steak tasting party for your friends and family. We just had a dinner party at our house with some friends, and I ordered five different cuts of steak from Omaha Steaks Custom Butchers Services. They worked with me over the phone, creating the perfect order by customizing the size and cut of each steak to fit my needs. Out friends had a blast tasting each kind of steak, and comparing the flavors, textures and favorites. Here are some details about our Steak Tasting Party, if youd like to host your own.
Now I know what to order from the custom butchers services at Omaha Steaks. How about you?
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Sirloin Strip Steak New York Strip Kansas City Steak And Shell Steak
The New York stripwhich you may hear referred to as a sirloin, Kansas City steak, or a shell steakis like the Miss Congeniality of steaks: Its got something for everyone.
The primal cut is a strip loin, Henderson explains. Thats where the strip steak part comes from. New York steak is a strip steak is a sirloin. Then to call it a Kansas City means the bones in. The New York strip comes steak comes from essentially the lower mid-portion of the back where the cows ribs end. Those muscles, while its still part of the loin, is a little more dense of a cut than the ribeye, Pandel says.
Pandel thinks of the New York strip as the steak-eaters steak. Its got great texture, its got a good chew to it, itll eat well at rare itll eat well at medium-rare itll eat well at medium. It falls between the filet and ribeye on both the tenderness and flavor scales, presenting solid middle ground. Its the perfect cut for somebody who doesnt know what they want, Flannery says.
Like a ribeye, a New York strip steak tastes great on a hot grill, but your best bet may be whipping out your cast-iron skillet. Because the New York strip is usually a pretty even cut, it has a lot of surface area, and it does well on a cast-iron pan on high and medium-high heat, Pandel explains. He suggests searing it on high heat, letting it rest, and basting it with butter and aromatics.
Cant choose between filet and strip? Get both in one. Photo: courtesy DYLAN + JENI
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The Godfather Of Steaks
If rib-eye is king, then filet mignon is the godfather. Its one of the priciest pieces of beef you can buy because it comes from the very tip of the tenderloin. Its the most tender meat on the cow, and each one only produces a few cuts. Its almost completely devoid of fat, sinew, and tendon, which gives it that soft, buttery texture.
The great thing about filet mignon is that it can be cooked in various ways and will always taste amazing. That is, if you dont overcook it. It should be a crime to serve filet any more done than medium rare, but it happens.
We recommend using a combination of direct and indirect heat when grilling a filet mignon. You can sear it over high heat then move it to low heat to finish. Or you can try incorporating a sous vide reverse sear method.
Breaking The Ice With Some Important Beef Primals
Generally speaking, a beef animal comprises more meat sections named primals . We refer here to primals such as chuck, rib, drop loin and leg sections.
Primals that are processed into more manageable parts are called subprimals. They are smaller and more cost-effective to transport, handle and one can easily find them in any grocery or restaurant.
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At Last Other Pricey And Noteworthy Beef Cuts
The dry-aged tomahawk rib is a cut of meat touched by the dry-aging process, making it lose about 23% to 30 % of its water weight to get meaty and fragrant beef. It has on the level of one of its ends the so-called rib cap- a part that contains a lot of fat and proves to have more flavor. You will get a lot of meat though, and since its fragrance is stronger due to the dry-age process, it only needs a good salt and pepper seasoning, nothing else.
The Japanese Miyazaki Wagyu rib-eye without bone steak is a hard name to think of as it is its price. Miyazaki name comes from the province or state in Japan where these specific beef cattle which have never cross-bred, are grown. One can see on the spot the difference in color and marbling from any other beef meat in this world. This unique steak has such a strong flavor that does not need any marinade, so once you have the chance to cook such an expensive product try to not experiment with your chefs ideas.
Beef cuts explained video
It wasnt that hard making you aware of a couple of essential steak terms that you can encounter, isnt it? Let us know about other beef cuts that youve found important as well or youve enjoyed the most.
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What Is Kobe Beef
Kobe is the trademark of a Japanese company. Somewhat similar to how Champagne refers to sparkling wine from a specific region of France, Kobe refers to cuts from a specific breed of cattle known as Wagyu, which are raised in strict conditions. Pure Kobe beef from Japan cannot be purchased legally in the US, but it is possible to find domestically raised Kobe-style beef. While Kobe beef is considered to be a delicacy, those who have tasted it either consider it the best beef in the world, or don’t understand the hype. When compared to USDA ratings, Kobe beef is considered two grades higher than Prime.
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So What Are The Best Cuts Of Steak
Now that youve gotten the rundown on the different beef cuts, lets really dig in and talk about some of the most common cuts of steak and how to select and cook them.
The Porterhouse vs. The T-Bone
A lot of people get the T-Bone and porterhouse steaks confused. As mentioned before, both of these steaks come from the loin area, and they both have a T-shaped bone with meat on each side.
The porterhouse steak is cut from the rear end of the short loin and because of this includes more tenderloin steak on one side of the T and a large strip on the other side of the T. A T-Bone steak is cut closer to the front of the loin and thus contains a smaller section of tenderloin.
Since both of these steaks are really made up of two separate steaks, the tenderloin and the strip, lets talk about those next.
The Tenderloin
The tenderloin steak is sometimes also called the filet mignon or Châteaubriand if youre French and fancy. Tenderloins are the most expensive cuts of steak and are sold boneless. Theyre also usually cleaned completely of any silver skin, gristle and fat. Because theyre on the smaller side, tenderloins are usually cut thicker than most steaks.
The Strip
This cut of steak is also commonly referred to as a NY strip and “top sirloin steak”. These steaks are typically sold boneless and are almost rectangular in shape hence the name strip. This meat is well marbled with some large pieces of fat around the edge.
Things To Order At A Steakhouse And 7 Things To Skip
When you want to go out somewhere special to eat, you have a few options open to you. However, some choices stand above the rest. There are few culinary experiences that can match a trip to a great steakhouse. While other food fads have come and gone, the steakhouse has stood steady decade after decade. After all, who doesn’t love a rich, juicy steak? There’s a simplicity to what a chophouse does that will never go out of style: excellent food cooked in an excellent manner. Add a great atmosphere to the mix, and it makes sense why this kind of restaurant has stood the test of time.
It’s hard to go too wrong when it comes to ordering at a steakhouse. But make no mistake, whether it’s the lackluster flavor or a pure rip-off, all menu items are not created equal. These are a few of the things you should order at a steakhouse and a few more that you should skip.
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The Steak For Special Occasions
Buffet-style meal service has gone the way of the dodo. But, we can all remember the meat carver who always sliced the prime rib too thin for our liking when we went to the fancy buffet with grandma. Prime rib is a cut of beef often reserved for holidays, weddings, or other events that call for feeding a large group.
Think of the prime rib as multiple rib-eyes combined into one, roasted for hours to heavenly, fat-rendered perfection. The traditional way of cooking a prime rib is in the oven after searing the outside. However, if you want to take the flavor up a notch, we suggest utilizing your smoker or high-quality pellet grill.
Don’t Order Raw Oysters At A Steakhouse
Raw oysters are mainstay on steakhouse menus, and though they may be delectable appetizers, you should think twice before ordering them. Oysters are a breeding ground for bacteria called Vibrio. Most vibrio infections cause mild stomach illness, but severe cases can lead to bloodstream infections, severe blistering, and even death.
All the myths you’ve heard about how to avoid tainted oysters “you can tell a good oyster from a bad one,” “alcohol kills harmful bacteria,” “just a few oysters can’t hurt you,” “only eat oysters harvested in months with the letter ‘R'” are false.
Bacteria aside, oysters can also go bad just like any other perishable item. Although you can technically keep oysters in your fridge for up to five days if they’re stored properly, they should be eaten within a few days of being harvested, ideally within 24 hours if you want the best flavor. So if you don’t live near a body of water, you should probably stick to the wedge salad.
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Vacio Or Bavette Steak
One of the steaks you might not have heard of is the vacio steak, an extremely popular steak in Argentina . The vacio is a primal cut of the flank, but it’s actually quite different from a flank steak. In the cow, the vacio hangs beneath the loin and is bolstered by the cow’s belly, which encases the meat in layers of fat. When butchered, the vacio steak has an unusual diamond shape, weighs between four and five pounds, and can feed a good-size party of hungry Argentines . It’s always slow-grilled whole, then sliced, and the well-marbled meat is tender and very flavorful. The crispy belly fat is almost as cherished as the steak itself.
In France, the vacio steak is called the bavette d’aloyau. It’s the exact same cut, but as you might expect, it’s cooked in the French way. The bavette is cut into individual steaks and is either marinated and grilled or pan-fried in butter and served with a shallot sauce and French fries. So, the next time you’re sipping wine in a bistro on the Champs-Élysées, and see steak-frites on the menu, order it, and enjoy a steak that’s loved on two continents.