Best cuts of steak?

[Tab]

In my first marriage, we did Filet Mignon a lot, but I soon learned it's very tender but basically flavorless, and imho, a waste of money.

To prepare my steak, I rub with garlic salt, let it sit for a while, get up to room temp a bit, allow the salt to draw the sugars and stuff out, then grill.

In general, I prefer London Broil, cooked with g-salt, sliced at an angle, or boneless rib-eyes, boneless strip steaks, or steak tips.

How about everyone else?

[Karenca]

1. I'm going to make a suggestion about the salt---

Salt leaches moisture from the steak. You should salt your steak after it's at least been turned, and preferably after the meat has rested for a few minutes, and right before serving.

You could rub the steak with garlic powder instead of salt..Try it!
And yes, Filet Mignon is NOT the greatest tasting steak.

[Warpy]

2. Actually, I'd suggest rubbing the steak with

crushed garlic infused olive oil. Yes, it takes a second longer to throw a garlic clove in a press and squish it into the oil, but the flavor of fresh garlic is so vastly superior to that of dried that it is well worth the few seconds. Garlic oil and pepper are quite sufficient for grilling appropriate cuts. If you're going to be gilling shoe leather, add red wine and marinate overnight in the fridge to tenderize.

Again, don't salt it until it's nearly done cooking, or just wait until it gets to the table. It won't kill anyone to grab the salt shaker, but salting the meat does draw out the juice.

[Karenca]

5. You're absolutely right

NO COMPARISON!
And the pepper should be freshly ground too.

The freshest items always make the best dishes.

[mike_c]

4. not necessarily so....

Salt leaches moisture at first, so in principle you're right about salting steaks shortly before cooking. In practice I don't notice much difference, but your mileage may vary.

On the other hand, salting a couple of hours or more before cooking can actually increase the moisture retention and flavor of steaks-- in essence brining them using their own moisture. Moisture is initially drwan out by the salt, but it then dissolves the salt to produce a high solute brine. Salt from the brine diffuses into the meat, carrying the water back in with it. The advantage of this is that the internal solute concentration of the meat increases, which makes it retain its juices BETTER than before. The key is time-- you have to salt the meat, wrap it tightly, and let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or more to "self brine."

[OldLeftieLawyer]

17. OK

I have two filets mignons in the fridge right now, and I'm going to salt one as you recommend and wrap it up, and we'll cook them tomorrow.

Be warned - I'll be reporting back after dinner.

I have a feeling this is gonna turn out really well...................

[mike_c]

24. just don't use more salt than you normally would to enhance flavor...

...since it's going to be drawn into the meat. That's one reason it really improves the flavor-- it incorporates that tastebud activating NaCl into the meat itself.

[Dora]

27. So, how did your steaks turn out?

:shrug:

[Karenca]

30. Looks like we're not going to find out..........nt

[Stinky The Clown]

22. mike, you're absolutely right

The key to doing this is time. Not enough and the moisture stays gone. Allow enough time for this to work and it is heaven. And the steak doesn't give off near as much liquid when it is cooked and rested for that essential three or four minutes before cutting it.

[mike_c]

25. and like many of the folks in this thread I'm an utter purist...

...when it comes to some cuts of meat. A dead cow steak is one of them.

LOL, I'm going to give a workshop/training in a fairly remote area next week, which will mean camping for a couple of days, which is as good an excuse as any to make dinner a slab o' rib eye cooked on the mini-grill with some grilled veggies and a cold beer! Simple, pure, and extraordinary!

[The empressof all]

3. I'm a purist when it comes to eating Steak

We don't have it often so I tend to spend a bit for the good stuff

We'll eat Rib Eyes.....With the bone. Broiled from room temp... about 6 minutes a side with a 10 minute rest. If I eat meat I want to taste it. So I like it plain. No rubs, no marinades, No spices...... a little salt after cooking is all it needs IMO.


If I do marinade or spice up beef it's with a flank steak. Flank steak if cooked properly is a very tasty cut. I tend to broil that as well about 6 or 7 min a side with a ten min rest. Cut on an angle and serve with tortillas, guac, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, peppers and sour cream for fajitas. I usually prefer to cook the flank steak naked too....but will occasionally use some soy/brown sugar type marinade for teriyaki.

[mike_c]

6. I like ribeyes....

eom

[Karenca]

7. I like porterhouse............nm

[OldLeftieLawyer]

8. Cheap and good

I learned while living in the middle of the USA that there was something called "family steak," an inexpensive, lean cut. It turns out to be called "top round" in the rest of the country.

Marinated and sliced against the grain, it's really quite good.

But, for my money, I'm sold on anything from Omaha Steaks these days, and we just cook 'em up, plain, because the flavor of the meat is best.

If I can't have Omaha Steaks, I'm happiest with a big, muscular sirloin. Ah, that's good eatin' ..........................

Oh, and about rinsing off the fat from ground beef - the flavor resides in the fat, so, what you're ending up with is tasteless but clean ground cow.

Cheap, go figure, always has the best flavor. That's why we use the cheapest cuts of beef for our chili and meatballs, and just drain them. The flavor remains. It never occurred to me that the amount of fat remaining is any kind of health hazard, although, for some people, it might be.

I'd rather die choking on a nice piece of steak fat............

[Karenca]

9. Like you, I like my steak plain best.

Course ground salt and freshly ground pepper ---at the table only.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

10. For what it's worth,

we went to lunch at a steakhouse over in DC a few weeks back, and saw Dickless Cheney there. He and his wife were having lunch. And, no, he does not cast a reflection in a mirror. I checked.

BUT, watching him eat his steak - it looked like a porterhouse from where we were seated - as I prayed for him to choke and die, I realized he's completely insane. The guy with the heart condition, the really bad heart condition, was cutting a piece of steak, then salting it down so that it was almost white, and eating it.

Wouldn't it figure that the guy wouldn't have taste, even with good meat?

[Karenca]

12. Ha!

I really do wonder sometimes about that "heart condition".
I don't know if I could have stayed if we happened to be at the same restaurant.
I have many strange dreams about being face to face w/ *Co, and
there's always a scarey ending.

[mike_c]

19. he was out in the day light...?

That's frightening. He must be feeding well. Has there been a rash of child disappearances in D.C.?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

20. Yeah, well,

it was a downtown place not far from the White House. http://www.theprimerib.com/

He is, by the way, huge. Looks like the side of a dump truck. I mean, seriously obese. That surprised - and cheered - me.

What I found interesting was that he didn't look up from his meal. Not once. I was gawking, as my lunch companion pointed out, and he never looked up, although he and his wife were talking the whole time.

[Mojorabbit]

26. I'm with you

For me nothing beats the taste of sirloin. Hubby however is a filet man.

[eleny]

11. I've found that it depends on the quality of the beef

There's a big difference in flavor between my grocery store t-bones and the ones I get from my independent butcher.

But I will say that no matter where I buy it, the chuck cut tastes good. I remember Julia Child once saying that it's because the beef is hung upside down and the blood goes to the neck area - thus flavoring the chuck.

Btw, here's an interactive web page where you can try to place the cuts of beef on the steer. http://www.mistupid.com/food/butcher.htm

[wryter2000]

38. I do love chuck

It's my favorite all-around cut of beef for stews, stir fry, and everything but roast and steak. The many different muscles and the pockets of fat (not marbling) make it unsuitable for roasts, certainly. But it's not tough, and it has the best flavor, imho.

[randr]

13. Quality of meat is the most important thing

We have several natural food markets in our area that sell home grown meat with no hormones or chemical additives. Some is even "field dressed" to cut down on hormones and adrenaline entering the meat during slaughter.
There is a definite difference in flavor and texture.
Coleman Beef out of Kansas, I believe, is a leader in processing natural beef and selling it in markets throughout the west.
One big noticeable difference is that meat refrigerated after cooking stays red and does not turn into that grey/brown color that is common from meat out of America's food marts.
As for favorite cuts, give me a tenderloin rubbed with garlic and pepper off the grill any day. I would also add that Elk meat beats Beef any day.

[Karenca]

14. Yes...I can't eat any meat (or practically anything)

unless I buy it from my Farmer's Market.

I never realized there was such a difference in taste until I starting buying
all my food from the Greenmarket about a year ago.

No hormones, no antibiotics, free range --- I used to think it was all hype.

There is no comparison----you don't even have to season it
and it's still wonderful.

[mtnester]

15. The difference in meat is the same with eggs too

If you get fresh, free range, organic, no hormones, no antibiotic eggs...you will never eat another store egg ever.

We buy the all natural meat as well...worth every penny of the price we pay in taste alone, let alone the peace of mind from eating it.

We rarely eat meat, but when we do, it is this kind.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

18. Absolutely

I had a conversation with the Meat guy at my local supermarket about a year ago - he turns out to be from the same area as I, so we just got to talking and talking and talking - nice man.

He said the meat they get - and this is a national chain - is so loaded up with preservatives, that it's shot through with so much water and other liquids, that there is no more hanging or ageing time, that it's not worth buying.

He told me he'd never purchase or eat meat from HIS OWN MARKET! I found that kind of compelling, but, I'm lucky in that we can get the organic eggs and meat and poultry very easily, and, for years, I'd rather go without than buy meat in a supermarket.

And, yes, the difference in the eggs is just amazing, isn't it? When I was a kid, my parents had an egg man who delivered fresh eggs twice a week to our house. These eggs that I buy now are the same - they puff up when you fry them and they actually TASTE like eggs!

I'm hungry .........

[mtnester]

23. The YOLK..it is the YOLK

it tastes like yolk...get some butter out and fry up some eggs, a little toast on the side...heaven

[grasswire]

16. New York strip

Actually, I couldn't tell you the last time I had a steak, except for a hangar steak from the supermarket a few months ago that was excellent eating.

But if I were going to order a steak, it would be a New York cut, otherwise known as strip. I like the flavor, the texture, and everything about it. Lots of pepper, pan charred, yum.

Oddly enough, the best steak I ever ate was in a little cowboy dive on a back road in Montana, where the "salad bar" was set up in a horse watering trough and the air was so still and hot that I was sweating just as much as was my glass of ice water. There was only one item on the menu. Steak. I remember it being very, very good.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. Cheap old chuck eye or blade steak .... or rib eye. Or flank steak

I actually prefer the butt ugly chuck eye, which is the small end of the rib eye muscle, where it goes into the chuck. As tender as a rib eye and more flavorful.

Rib eye is, to me, classic.

But my very favorite is flank marinated overnight then cut on the bias, with some of the marinade reserved to make a sauce.

MmmmMMMMmmmmMM!

[wryter2000]

39. Love flank

But the price! Oy.

[NMDemDist2]

28. my favorite

is the one sitting in front of me :rofl:

does prime rib count? that's my favorite cut of beef usually.....

[Karenca]

29. I would think it does

count.

I forgot about prime rib...one of my favorites!

[yellowdogintexas]

31. Rib Eye for grilling, Prime Rib if roasting..actually the same

cut, just prepared differently

However, a really good sirloin is lovely when grilled.

London Broil, if tenderized w/a good marinade and sliced on the diagonal is also excellent and is wonderful for stir fry

Flank Steak is the ingredient of choice for the classic Cuban Dish: Ropa Vieja which is wonderful.

Skirt steak makes the best Fajitas.

Just depends on your mood at the moment.

[Duer 157099]

32. Filet mignon, until I read this thread

Now I'm inspired to try some other cuts, as long as I render special treatment first.

So, I just got a London Broil and would love to hear specific suggestions about the BEST possible way to prepare this cut for sure-fire results.

My typical approach with filet has been to oil the meat, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, into a really really hot cast iron skillet for a few minutes on either side, then put the whole skillet into a 500 degree oven until desired doneness (med rare, 5-8 minutes or so), with exhaust fan on full power. Then, while it's resting under a foil tent, let a couple pats of butter melt.

I didn't notice that filets weren't flavorful, probably because of the butter :)

[Tab]

36. Filets are noted for tenderness, and not flavor

Believe me, I've spent more than I'd wish to admit on filets.

Even a london broil, take it out of the fridge, rub it with garlic salt, let it sit 10 to 20 minutes to come up to room temp a bit while you heat the grill, then cook.

I haven't tried it on a skillet, but I still think it's a great cut of meat.

I also like strip steak and boneless ribeyes, and sirloins too, but nowadays I seem to put my money into either london broil (and get a good marbled kind, not a fat/gristle laden kind), or ribeye or boneless strip, but I also like steak tips - prepare the same way, just rotate them more - equally yummy.

- Tab

[politicat]

33. I love skirt steak.

It has to be cooked rare to medium, and it has to be cut across the grain, but oh man oh man is it good stuff when it's done right. And if you can find it, it's cheap. No one uses it for much of anything except fajitas, and people are going to flank and sirloin for that.

[shanti]

34. rib eye steaks

and prime rib roasts - yum!

[NashVegas]

35. Another Rib Woman Here

Bone in. For seasoning, I like to use McCormick's Broil & Grill stuff.

[wryter2000]

37. New York stip

I'm with you about filet. So little flavor, it's a waste of money.

[japple]

40. London broil. But instead of garlic salt, I crush garlic cloves and add

salt, then crush some more, and add a little more salt and crush until it's almost a paste, but still has enough moisture to rub into the meat. Then I grill the meat until desired doneness and shortly before removing from the grill, I brush it with a mixture of worcestershire sauce, butter and bourbon. It's delicious.