Important Things To Consider
The flank steak is red because it is cut from a strong, well-exercised part of the cow. It is also a healthier choice compared to other portions of meat because it has a lower fat content. Often, the meat is left to cook until a dark brown exterior, while the interiors are left from rare to medium-rare.
Flank steaks are often not very thick, but when shopping for them, you should pay close attention to the width of your cut. A thicker end and thinner end of a cut may lead it being hard to cook evenly.
Grilling up a delicious flank steak is easy, but you can also opt to bake it in the oven if desired. All in all, it is best to marinate and then quickly grill flank steak until theres a nice char on the outside. This will allow you to enjoy juicy meat that hasnt been cooked dry with your preferred seasoning or sauce. If you choose to bake it, cover it in foil after seasoning and oiling the meat to create a steamy oven. The heat from the hot pan will help tenderize your cut of beef.
Skirt steaks are flavorful and work well with many rubs. Even the most basic seasoning, like salt and pepper, can turn it into something tasteful.
Try out a skirt, hanger, or flat iron steak if youre looking to substitute flank steak with something else.
How Does It Taste
Skirt steak has an unbelievably intense, rich, beefy flavor, but its also a tougher cut of beef. If youre looking for a steak that easily highlights the natural flavors, skirt steak may be the best choice for you.
When cooked correctly, you will find a perfectly tender, flavorful cut of beef that doesnt take too long to cook. The best temperature to enjoy skirt steak is a medium-rare to medium temp to ensure it isnt overcooked.
Which Is Better For Fajitas Flank Steak Or Skirt Steak
Skirt steak is the traditional cut for fajitas, but flank can work in its place. Skirt steak is better because of how well it marinades. The fibers in skirt steak arent tightly-knit, which allows the marinade and seasoning to penetrate deeper into the cut.
The strong meaty taste of skirt steak is also good, as it holds up to the heavy spicing of fajitas. Fajitas are best cooked with a quick sear over a high heat, which is perfect for the lean meat of skirt steak.
However, flank steak can also be used for fajitas, even if it isnt as well suited. Flank steak is a more tender cut, but with a closer knit fiber. This means that while it will hold a marinade, the flavors wont reach as deep. Flank steak has a less intense flavor, which some prefer.
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How To Cook It
There’s a single rule when it comes to cooking skirt steak: intense, unrelenting, high heat. Forget cooking sous-vide or startinglow and slow. Skirt steak should be cooked over the highest possible heat from start to finish, and here’s why.
With a normal steak, you have enough thickness that if you were to try and cook it over intense heat the entire time, you’d end up with a steak that’s burnt to a crisp on the outside before the center reaches the appropriate medium rare. Skirt steak has the opposite problem. It’s so thin that unless you cook it over maximum heat, it’ll be overcooked before you get a chance to develop a good sear on the exterior.
I like to light up an entire chimney of coals, pile them all under one side of the grill, then add a few more coals on top just for good measure. As soon as those coals on top are hot, throw the suckers on, cooking them with a single flip.*
*I know I’ve said to flip your steaks multiple times in the past, but the hastened cooking this produces ends up overcooking your skirt.
If you have hardwood coals, now’s the time to break’em out. They burn faster and hotter than briquettes, making them the ideal choice for grilling skirt steak.
The Cost Of Skirt Steak
With any beef product, the price will vary depending on where you shop. Skirt steak is no different and is available at most grocery stores, butcher shops, and even Target.
The average cost of skirt steak is $14.99, but you can find it for as low as $9.99 up to $65.42. The cost variation will depend on the volume youre getting, along with the overall quality.
Stores like Target arent known for selling the highest quality meats, which is why they have a much lower price. Smaller, gourmet butcher shops can sell beef at a higher price because its a better quality.
The price of beef will continue to rise and fall depending on the agricultural production, especially during a pandemic. Even smaller cuts like skirt steak will be affected by these fluctuations.
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Approachability Of Skirt Steak
One of the best parts about skirt steak is how approachable it is. You dont need a fancy grill or skillet to cook it, or worry about a time consuming marinade.
All you really need to cook it and do it justice is olive oil, salt, and pepper. All of the other things mentioned above are just additional things you can do to enhance the flavor of your skirt steak.
If youre new to cooking, or just cooking beef, skirt steak is a great place to start!
Background On My Meat Knowledge
Much of my meat knowledge has come from reading the Niman Ranch Cookbook. Besides having amazing recipes it has a lot of information on everything you wanted to know about meat and how it is produced.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It changed the way I looked at meat and helped me turn out some mouth watering meals in my kitchen. If you are interest in some really top notch beef and other meat recipes, I highly recommend picking up the Niman Ranch cookbook.
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Other Flavorings And Sauces
Like hanger and other loosely-texture cuts, skirt takes well to rubs and marinades. At the very least, you should be using plenty of salt and pepper. A good chili rub or a rub made with dried spices and aromatics like coriander, cumin, and cinnamon are a natural pairing. Take a look at the recipes below for some more inspiration.
Is Hanger Steak Expensive
It also tends to be the most expensive cut per pound. A fillet is definitely the last thing Id ever order in a steakhouse.In a good cut of hanger steak, theres just the right of marbling and great flavor. Even when cooked to well-done, hanger steak stays tender and juicy just what a great steak should be.
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How To Cut Skirt Steak
It is best to cook skirt steak as a whole. However, if you dont have a larger pan or grill or you want to use it in stir-fry recipes, you can slice it before cooking. There are two steps to slicing skirt steak, raw or cooked.
The first step involves cutting it along the grain into slices about 5 to 6 inches wide. Once you have completed these wide slices, rotate them 90 degrees and cut thin slices against the grain. You can cut these slices as thin half-inch pieces.
With thin slices, its best to cook in a skillet or wok. However, overcooking pre-sliced steak can be very easy because the cut sides will make it cook much more quickly, so use caution.
How To Cook These Cuts
Weve mentioned that each of these cuts are best prepared with a sear over high temperatures, but how exactly is the best way to do it?
Both skirt and flank steak are very easy to cook, no matter which type of grill you have.
All you need to do is preheat your grill to about 425°F to 450°F. If you have a charcoal grill light your coals with a chimney starter and place them in your grill to preheat. If you have a gas grill, ignite your burners and set your temperature dials to the appropriate settings. Searing can occur at 350°F or above, but the hotter you run your grill the more prominent your sear will be.
After your grill has reached temperature place your beef on the grates and press down firmly to ensure the entire cut is contacting the grates. For skirt steak, you might only need to sear for about 1 1/2 minutes per side, depending on how thin your cut is. Flip after 1 1/2 to 2 minutes and sear the other side for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
The process is the exact same for flank steak, but your cooking times will likely be longer since flank is a thicker cut of beef. Most times, flank steak cooks for 2 1/2 to 4 minutes per side on the grill for a perfect medium rare sear. Set it on the top rack on low heat for a couple more minutes if you prefer medium doneness.
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Best Cuts Of Steak Best To Worst Ranking
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You are sitting at the supermarket or staring at a menu and wondering which steak to order. We have you covered with everything you need to know. The most tender cuts of beef are the cuts the furthest away from both the horn and hoof On the contrary, the toughest steaks come from areas of the shoulder and leg muscles. As you can imagine, these areas are used a lot and therefore contain more tough material.
Ranked from best cut of steak to worst are the Filet Steak, the Ribeye Steak, the Hanger Steak, the Porterhouse steak, the T-Bone Steak, the top sirloin, the strip steak, the bottom sirloin steak, the flank steak, the skirt steak and the round steak.
Once you get into the top 5 steaks, you will see many argue for their favorite. Sometimes it comes down to preference based on fat content, flavor, etc. We decided to make tie breakers based on cost per pound. We feel like this is fair and is based on what the total market believes is the best steak.
Skirt Steak Vs Flank Steak
Skirt steak is often confused with flank steak due to their similar shape and appearance, but there are differences between skirt and flank.
Skirt is also considerably longer and thinner, and has more visible marbling on its surface. It also contains more grain, making it much smoother in texture.
Though it is tougher, skirt steak is also more flavorful when compared to flank steak. While flank steak is better suited for recipes where the meat must be fully cooked, skirt steak is ideal for recipes where the meat is cooked to medium. Even so, the two cuts are often used interchangeably in recipes, with some tweaks to the cooking method.
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Cooking Flank Steak On The Stove
If you want to cook flank steaks on the stove, you should opt for a cast-iron skillet to do the job, since it can handle higher temperatures. These steaks do best when cooking over high heat for a short period of time to give them the perfect texture and taste. Spray the pan with some cooking spray or add olive oil and cook on each side for about four minutes each. The optimal temperature is, again, a medium rare so your meat doesnt end up too chewy.
How Much Does Flank Steak Cost
Flank steaks are a cut of beef that typically costs around $9 to $14 per pound. Flank steak is great for grilling and can be purchased from most grocery stores or butchers at local places.
You might also like our articles about the cost of ribeye steak, prime rib, or porterhouse steak.
The meat costs at Sams Club and Costco are usually in the low $9 to $11 per pound range.
Wienceks Meat is a popular butcher that offers some of the best meats in town. Their official website states they charge $13 per pound, but you can also stop by their store to purchase the products in person.
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The Steak Breakdown: Your Ultimate Guide To Cuts Of Beef
The greatest thing to go from farm to table — at least since that time you had a dream about a date with Daisy Duke — is steak. But where does porterhouse come from? What’s the best way to cook a skirt steak? And, most importantly, what beer should you be drinking while enjoying a tri-tip? To find out, we teamed up with the butcher boys at PDX meat emporium Urban Farmer and watched them hack the prime cuts out of a cow, then came up with your definitive guide to beef cuts. Read on to know everything.
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Is It Worth The Price
Although skirt steak was once considered to be a scrap cut of beef, it has taken on a new life as people have realized how delicious it is. Once you understand how to cook it to perfection, it is completely worth adding to your meal planning.
There are many factors that make skirt steak a great option for whatever dish youre cooking. If you find in your budget that you can splurge on a skirt steak every once in a while, its totally worth it.
We hope that after reading this article you see for yourself why skirt steak is a little more expensive than other cuts of beef and that there are many ways to enjoy it!
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What Is Skirt Steak
Skirt steak is from the cows plate region, one of the primal cuts of beef. Each plate cut yields four skirt steaks two inner skirt steaks and two outer skirt steaks, also called the inside and outside skirt steaks.
The names can be confusing, as the inner skirt steaks are closer to the edge of the cows stomach, and the outer skirt steaks are located in the middle of the cows body cavity. However, the simplest way to remember these names is to remember that the inside skirt steaks come from inside the plate cut, and the outside skirt steaks come from the topmost outer edge of the plate cut.
Because of the different locations, the tenderness of these types of steak can vary wildly. The inner skirt steak tends to be tougher than the outer skirt. Usually, when skirt steak is mentioned for recipes, it refers to the outside skirt steak.
The entire plate cut, including both skirt steaks, has thick fibers and grains that make the meat tough despite its high fat content . The fat is visible in the form of marblingwhite streaks of various thicknesses run along the grain in a skirt steak.
The fat streaks may not contribute much to the texture of skirt steak, but they contribute greatly to its flavor profile. The fat dissolves and leaves a smooth glaze over the cooked skirt steak as the meat is cooked.
How Long Does It Take To Grill Skirt Steak
Skirt steak typically only takes 3 minutes on each side to be grilled. As its a thin, but tough, cut, a quick sear is best to lock in flavor without drying out the meat. If skirt steak is cooked too long, it will become very difficult to eat. Cook directly over the grill.
Flank steak is a slightly thicker cut, and will typically take 5 minutes to grill on each side. As a more tender cut, flank can be cooked for longer before it becomes tough. If you prefer steak cooked well done, flank is the better option.
While timing is important, the most crucial element is the temperature of the meat. The internal temperature should be roughly 130F. Use a meat thermometer to check. Adjust cooking times depending on how you like your meat, and the thickness of the cut.
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How To Grill Skirt Steak
A well-marinated skirt steak only requires 8 to 10 minutes on a hot grill. However, the grill must be extremely hot500°F or above. Marinate the beef anywhere from two hours to overnight. The longer the marinating time, the more flavorful and tender the meat will be as a result.
Place the marinated steak directly on the high flame grill and let it cook for at least 3 minutes on each side, uninterrupted. For a well-done steak, cook each side for up to 5 minutes. The ideal internal temperature of a skirt steak should be 150°F for well done, 140°F for medium, and 130°F for medium-rare.
Once grilled, let the skirt steak rest on a rack for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving it.
Seasoning Your Beef From Sam’s Club
As important as it to pick out the right cut of beef and what do with if, it’s equally important to choose how your going to season it. And it always started with salt.
Of course you can get salt at Sam’s Club, but what they offer isn’t anything special. For that I turn to Thrive Market. Thrive is an online shop for organic, healthy, natural, all those fun words ingredients. The salts you find in my pantry are available from Thrive Market. Get an extra 25% OFF your first order + a 30 day free trial membership when you sign up at Thrive Market! .
Pairing Sam’s Club and Thrive Market together is a great way to save money and have access to bulk and organic/healthy ingredients at the same time.
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