Grass Fed Beef Preparation & Cooking Tips
- Sear on High heat. Then, use lower heat to finish cooking .
- Use less cooking time when grilling or frying grass fed steaks .
- We recommend using a food thermometer to monitor temperature.
- Keep temperature to medium do not overcook!
- See our Recipes Page for more info on preparation and cooking techniques.
- Visit our Beef Guide for photos and descriptions of specific grass-fed beef cuts .
- Have a question about grass-fed beef? Check out our FAQ .
How To Prepare Skirt Steak For Grilling Or Smoking
The Skirt steak is sold ready trimmed and rolled so that it takes up less room on the counter.
To prepare for cooking, it is best trimmed a little more to get rid of any excess fat so that the meat grain is exposed to keep it tender.
Be careful with your knife when doing so as the skirt is a relatively thin steak as it is, and if you cut too deep and remove too much meat, it becomes very thin and easy to overcook.
Medium-rare is the perfect choice for the skirt.
The skirt can be used in pretty much any recipe, with any marinade or method of cooking.
If you plan on eating it in all its unfettered beef glory, you need only season it with a generous pinch of salt and pepper in preparation to cook it.
If you intend to smoke the skirt, a rub with some extra virgin olive oil will allow the meat to retain moisture.
What Is The Most Tender Skirt Steak
The outside skirt is the premium skirt. Every high end restaurant and steakhouse uses outside skirts because they are more tender. The Outer Skirt is the Ribeye of the skirts while the Inner Skirt is the sirloin. The skirt is often confused with the flank steak, which while similar, is a very different cut of meat.
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Whats The Difference Between Inside And Outside Skirt Steak
Id venture a guess, nothing scientific here, just a guessthat the average carnivore doesnt know therere two types of skirt steak. Id also guess that if youve had skirt steak in the past it was most likely inside skirt more on that later. My final guess is that if youre reading this blog its because you know or heard that there are in fact, two different cuts of skirt steak and curiosity got the best of you so you Googled: Whats the difference between Inside and Outside Skirt Steak?
However you got here, let me start by extending a sincere thank you for stopping by and encourage you to check out the BEST way to cook a skirt steak, its a game changer. Top it with some chimichurri and youll make an $8 home cooked steak taste better than any $50 steak youd buy at your local fancy steakhouse.
Guaranteed.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, whats the difference between inside and outside skirt steak? While they are both long and thin cuts of meat with a thick grain to them, they differ in many ways. In appearance the outside skirt is both longer and wider than the inside skirt. It is also about 50% thicker.
How To Cook Skirt Steak
Both outside and inside skirt have a good amount of fat within and between the muscle strands, which helps keep it moist when grilling it. The grain on the inside skirt is a little bit wider, so it might have slightly more fat.
A lot of skirt steak recipes call for marinating the meat before grilling it, and because of its looser structure, skirt steak will absorb the flavors of the marinade quite well. But there’s no need to marinate it for more than 30 minutes or so, as .
Since skirt steak is tough, the best way to cook it is very quickly over the hottest grill you can get. As a matter of fact, some people will even skip the grill altogether and cook it directly on the coals. This actually works quite well, because you do not want to overcook skirt steak. Cooking it directly on the coals gets the surface of the meat nice and brown very quickly, without cooking the inside of the meat for too long. Ideal doneness is medium-rare to medium.
Most importantly, skirt steak absolutely must be sliced thinly against the grain. Because it’s so long, your best bet is to cut it into shorter sections first and then slice those sections across the grain.
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Need Some Flavor Ideas
The robust flavors of skirt steak can handle some hearty dry rubs or marinades.
Try creating a customized blend using coarse salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, thyme, oregano, mustard, chili powder, cayenne pepper, or coriander, or use this recipe for Steak Dry Rub!
Get creative with marinades like citrus juice, chopped fresh herbs, garlic, red wine vinegar, or soy sauce for an Asian twist.
What Raised Right Means To Crowd Cow
No Unnecessary Antibiotics
Animal welfare is of utmost importance to us, and we only work with farms and producers that provide humane and clean living environments for their livestock.Better living conditions mean animals are naturally healthier so antibiotics simply aren’t necessary.In the rare cases where an animal gets sick or requires medical attention, antibiotics are only used therapeutically never to promote growth or to “proactively” prevent diseases.
No Added Hormones
We believe animals should develop at their own pace 100% free of artificial growth hormones.In other markets, animals are not typically provided enough space to build up their muscle, so hormones are given to promote growth.In contrast, our farms take the extra time, care, and effort to allow their animals to grow the way nature intended, gaining weight naturally.This translates to not only the safety and health of the animals, but also the premium quality of our products.
Personally Known & Taste-Tested
We have strong relationships with each producer we work with and have done our homework to ensure they meet our high standards.We only supply meat and seafood that we’d put on our own tables a product that’s delicious and raised ethically, cleanly, and sustainably always taste-tested by experts and better than anything you can find in your grocery store.
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Recipes For Skirt Steak
Although perfect on a hot grill, you can also cook a skirt steak in a cast-iron skillet or under the broilerâor anything else you can get extremely hot. Just remember, you need to cook this cut very hot and very fast. Under no circumstances should skirt steak be cooked past medium-rare it will be way too tough.
If you’re making fajitas or any other stir-fry dish, slice it up first , then marinate and cook it.
What Is The Best Way To Cook Skirt Steak
Skirt steak is best seared in a hot pan. A cast iron skillet or a sizzling grill are my top picks. Here are some more tips for cooking the best skirt steak!
- Dry the surface for better crust: I always dry the surface of my steak before seasoning or searing. Any excess moisture will create steam and reduce the likelihood of creating a nice crust on the steak.
- Do not overcook: A quick hot sear will create a flavorful browned crust, and undercooking by just a minute will reduce the fear of going too far. The best texture comes with just a few minutes of contact on the heated surface, to medium-rare doneness. Skirt steak is thin and lean, so going past medium-rare or medium doneness will yield an extremely dry and chewy steak.
- Cook it hot! Cook it fast with high heat, instead of low heat for slow cooking. There is not much connective tissue in skirt steak. Fattier cuts of meat with lots of connective tissue fare better when cooked over low heat for long periods of time, because the low-and-slow method helps to break down connective tissue. Thats not an issue with skirt steak.
Hot and fast is the best way to cook skirt steak to end up with a tender piece of meat. The brief flash time, just a few minutes on each side, ensures a juicy finish.
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What To Serve With Skirt Steak
These thin strips of steak are perfect for use in fajitas. Just heat up some sliced peppers and onions and maybe give them a little char. Throw them on some corn tortillas with salsa verde and sour cream and it will be awesome!
Another great way of serving this steak is to head over to the produce cooler at Costco and buy a prepackaged Caesar salad. Assemble the salad and top with the cooked steak for another amazing meal option.
And hey, as long as you are on a buying spree, make sure to pick up one of those Prime Costco briskets to throw on you pit this weekend!
Why Skirt Steak Is A Great Cut To Marinate
We dont typically marinate steak since we have found that beyond its surface. For a thick-cut steak, that means minimal flavor impact. But skirt steak is different: It has much more surface area than other cuts. And because its so thin, the ratio of surface area to volume is quite large. That means there is a lot of exterior space for a marinade to flavor. If you look carefully, the grain of a skirt steak forms peaks and valleys like, well, a pleated skirt: The amount of fabric required to make a pleated skirt is much greater than the amount required to make a straight skirt. To illustrate this, we placed a measuring tape on a skirt steak and carefully pressed it into the valleys. When we removed the measuring tape, we found that the surface area for a skirt steak was three times that of a strip steak of the same weight.
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What Temperature For Steak
Again, were ONLY cooking this steak to a medium-rare at most medium . If youre looking for a steak that you can cook to anything more than this, this is not the recipe for you.
- Medium-Rare: 130 135 degrees F.
- Medium: 135 145 degrees F.
- Medium-Well: pick a different cut of steak like a ribeye or filet.
- Well: put the steak down and try this Salisbury Steak Recipe instead.
This is my favorite instant read meat thermometer, an affordable piece of equipment that will help you become a better cook.
PRO TIP let the steak sit at room temperature in the marinade for at least 30 minutes prior to grilling. This will help it cook more efficiently.
Flavor Texture Fat Content And Tenderness
With its open grain and distinct marbling, the skirt has a reputation for big flavor and tenderness when cooked correctly.
Having lots of muscles connected by fat, this cut has a fabulous fatty flavor, but dont expect it to taste like a regular steak. It has a profoundly unique flavor that is buttery and very beefy, which some liken to the richness of liver but with a nicer steak-like consistency.
The open grain takes very well to a marinating.
Normally, not getting much past the surface, a marinade is somewhat wasted on a steak, but with the skirt it has open ridges and a wide grain that the marinade can soak into, meaning it holds a lot more of it and can stand up to the strong flavor with its intense beef hit.
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The Ultimate Guide To Buying Slicing And Cooking Skirt Steak
Ever wondered about cooking skirt steak or about the difference between a skirt steak and other long, thin, and flat steaks? Well, wonder no more! Heres your easy guide to finding, slicing, and cooking skirt steak.
Where its from: the skirt steak is from the plate part of the cow as seen in the graphic below:
Pros and cons: good, nice strong beefy flavor, excellent in fajitas or beef rolls. It does contain more muscle than other flat steaks, so its important that not to overcook when cooking skirt steakthey should always be served medium rare to rare for ultimate tenderness and flavor.
Similar steaks: the flatiron, the flank, and the blade/flap. The skirt steak isnt quite as tender as some of these other ones , but it does have some great flavor!
Where to buy: You can order organic grass fed skirt steaks online on our website via the button below!
Cooking skirt steak: skirt steaks are good , though since they are a bit cumbersome they dont fit as well in a pan. You can skip the marinade and still make a delicious steak, though skirt steaks are not quite as tender as, say, flatirons. You can also use skirt steaks in beef rolls, but be sure to pound the meat to tenderize it first and break down the muscles in it ! And of course skirt steaks are great in fajitas. Just be sure you dont overcook! Another delicious way to make skirt steaks is this tasty slow cooker method !
1. Slice up the raw steak.
Where Does Skirt Steak Come From On The Cow
The Skirt steak is well known and has been around since we started butchering and eating cattle. It is part of the plate primal, which is the part of the body that sits just under the rib primal.
Skirt steaks come as either the outside skirt or the inside skirt.
The outside skirt comes from the outside of the chest wall and runs diagonally from the 6th to the 12th rib.
The inside skirt is situated a little further back within the chest wall itself and sits flat across the lower part of the ribs.
The outside skirt being thicker and more uniform means that it is usually sold to and bought by commercial buyers as its easier to present to retail customers.
The inside skirt being thinner, tends to shrink slightly when you cook it as the muscle fibers tighten up, which is another reason why restaurants prefer the outer. Either way, they are both tasty.
For details on many more cuts of beef and where they come from, check out our cuts of beef guide.
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How To Properly Slice Steak
One last bit of info before I send you on your way with this delicious skirt steak recipe, and it might be one of the most important steps how to cut steak once its cooked!
You can visibly see the fibers running through the skirt steak , this is called the grain. Youre going to thinly slice the steak in a perpendicular cut, or against the grain to achieve the most tender bite.
Example: For this steak, Ive made one cut right in the middle of the steak, dividing it into two more manageable pieces. Then I turn the steak 90 degrees, so the grain is going in a perpendicular direction to my slicing.
Skirt Steak Is A Meat Lovers Dream This Thin Quick
Often times a hunky piece of ribeye or filet catches your attention at the market. However, there are other options for tender, flavorful, and more affordable cuts that are often overlooked. The next time a beef craving creeps up, try something new and exciting, and grab the unsung skirt steak.
Skirt steak can be simply seasoned or marinated for extra gusto — its often used to make fajitas. Its best cooked in high heat for a short time, to deliver juicy slices of meat quickly to the dinner table.
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Other Names For The Skirt Steak
Rarely, it is called the Beef Plate or the Philadelphia, but other than the differentiation between the inside and the outside, the skirt is rarely called by any other name because it is well known.
Sometimes it can be referred to as the dish it is intended for. So, for example, you may hear people refer to it as the fajita or Tex-Mex Skirt.
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Where To Buy Skirt Steak
You should be able to find skirt steak in the meat department of your supermarket, more often the inside skirt versus the outside skirt Most of the surface fat should have been removed by the butcher.
Although skirt steak and flank steak are two different cuts of meat, the two are referred to interchangeably. But they should both be labeled separately as such.
How To Cook This Steak
The marinated skirt steak has been processed to increase tenderness and as a result Costco advises that you cook it to an internal temperature of 160F.
Normally, cooking a steak to 160F would make it Well Done and completely ruin the poor thing. However, this steak has been tenderized with a papaya extract and pumped up by 22% in weight with a marinade.
Between the tenderizer and 22% marinade you could cook this thing with a blow torch and it would still come out tender and juicy.
There is usually over three pounds of steak per package which is more than I need for most fajita dinners. I like to cut the steak in half before cooking and reserve one of the halves for grilling later in the week.
I grill these steaks over direct high heat for five minutes per side. When I am using my Weber Q1200 I let the grill preheat for 15 minutes so the heavy cast iron grates are at a temperature of about 520F when the steak starts cooking.
As always, use a digital thermometer to measure the internal temperature. And again, even though every part of my body is screaming at me to take this steak off when it hits 135F I keep grilling to 160F.
If you dont have a grill then you can sear this under the broiler in your oven.
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