I thought of making this post after reading a related post critically discussing an article about the best proteins to grill, which didn’t even mention steak.:
Here are a few of my favorite steaks (and how l like to cook them. Spoiler: mostly on the grill)
T-Bone / Porterhouse
This cut has it all: strip side, tenderloin side, tasty bone to gnaw on like an animal. Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, a few minutes each side on a hot grill.
Ribeye
This cut fell under my radar for years, but I’m appreciating it more for its flavor and fat content. Cooking preference, same as above.
Tenderloin / Filet Mignon
This one is a divisive cut-- some think it’s the finest cut of all, others think it’s relatively flavorless compared to other cuts. My wife and I like a nice filet from time to time; I get filet cuts from a steer tenderloin, which seems like a good combo of maximum flavor and “like butter” tenderness. Once again, grilled, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper. I put charcoal on one side of the grill, sear both sides on hot side of grill, then cool side of grill to finish cooking until it’s perfectly medium rare in the center.
An alternative, usually in winter, is Steak Au Poivre: cover the filets in cracked pepper and a little salt. Sear in a cast iron pan.Transfer to oven to finish. Then for the sauce: add a splash of cognac / brandy to pan to deglaze browned steak bits (some set the cognac on fire at this point; I don’t think it adds anything flavor-wise. Be careful in any case!). Then mix in some heavy cream and beef demiglace ( I use a dollop of beef “Better Than Bullion”).
Flank Steak
Tasty cut of steak. I like to marinade it and grill it to medium rare. Carne asada-style marinade for fajitas or general Tex-Mex style; otherwise another go-to marinade that works great with flank steak is:
The Porterhouse has a piece of strip steak and a piece of tenderloin joined on a bone. I prefer the strip steak by itself because it can be cut thick and after a good searing can be finished more slowly. The tenderloin can be made well also, it’s great tender meat but not all that flavorful, it is well served by searing and even charring to get some flavor while leaving the interior rare. You will pay a premium for a Porterhouse and tenderloin while the strip steak is priced much better, so if you’re not in a mood for both just get the strip steaks to save some money, and it’s a little easier to grill without undercooking or overcooking one of the two sides in the full cut.
Good point on the strip alone being priced better and easier to cook. I still like a good old fashioned Porterhouse cut though, or T-bone with generous tenderloin side. I keep an eye out for sales.
A high-quality ribeye is a thing of beauty, and will usually be what I order at a restaurant that I am confident knows what they’re doing with it and has well-sourced meat. Too many of the ones I find in the supermarket have too-large chunks of fat in the middle of the steak; I want well-distributed marbling.
NY Strip is my go-to, particularly if I’m cooking it. I buy it thick-cut, sous vide it rare, and then finish it in butter in a cast-iron skillet. I might put some herbs in the sous vide bag (I particularly like rosemary). Maldon sea salt and fresh ground black pepper at the end.
Sirloins are often overlooked, but shouldn’t be discounted. Lot’s of good flavor. Sure, it can be a little chewy depending on the quality, but I think it’s a good option at a middle-of-the-road/chain restaurant. I order it rare, knowing that I will probably get medium-rare, rather than giving them the opportunity to overcook it.
I don’t mind a tenderloin/filet mignon, but it doesn’t excite me. Not enough flavor for the price. I do like me a good Beef Wellington, but I don’t make them very often. Just too much work.
I like ribeye. But my favorite is Boneless Shell Sirloin Steak, although my local supermarket rarely carries it. It’s a large tasty steak. No, it’s not as tender as tenderloin. But it has so much more flavor.
The internet tells me it’s also called: Top butt, butt steak, top sirloin butt, top sirloin steak, center-cut roast
I’ve also recently discovered Picahana. I’ve only had it as a roast, not as a steak. But it’s fabulous. It’s always my favorite at Brazilian steak houses.
I think they are from ~ the same part of the cow, but I’m not certain.
Seems like those flat cuts: flatiron, flank, skirt, hanger, used to be dirt cheap but have increased a lot in price per lb. over the years as they’ve gotten more popular.
Interesting, first I heard of this, so I googled it. Looks like it would be really good slow-cooked in a smoker, brisket-style, with that fat cap on top just rendering out and basting it the whole time:
Ribeye: spongy texture when cooked, often with a strip of fat around the edge/quarter of the cut. Good flavor but I’m not a fan of the spongy texture and fat. Also, it’s no challenge to cook - any idiot can cook a ribeye and do well.
Tenderloin/Filet: great flavor, also no challenge to cook properly. Another idiot steak.
Skirt/Flank: intense steak flavor, a bit chewy but good. Often marinaded but really doesn’t need that step.
NY/Strip: decent flavor, horrid texture: chewy, stringy. I’ve no idea why it’s well regarded.
For me: Top Sirloin. Super intense beef flavor. If you can find a good one (with fat cap) and sous vide / sear it properly, it may be the best steak you ever taste.
They’re close. Picahana might be top round found further back than the shell steaks. There is a lot of flexibility in naming of beef cuts so it’s hard to say what you’ve had but they’re both relatively tender meat found high up on the loin area.
Ok, so the same way I’d cook any thick-cut steak on the grill like a filet- sear and finish indirect. Even with a quicker grilling, that fat cap has to add some nice flavor to the meat.
Yes, the fat cap is tasty. I used to get shell sirloin with a nice strip of fat on the side, but these days, if I can find it at all, the butcher has often trimmed that off.
Can you find a good meat market that can cut it custom for you? I have a go-to meat market, and I want to call them and see if they can cut me a couple Picahanas
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Ribeye: spongy texture when cooked, often with a strip of fat around the edge/quarter of the cut. Good flavor but I’m not a fan of the spongy texture and fat. Also, it’s no challenge to cook - any idiot can cook a ribeye and do well.
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Naw, it shouldn’t be spongy. It is a little looser-grained than some other parts. I like the strip of fat around the edge, but sometimes the chunk of fat in the center is excessive.
Meh. Bland, too lean, too soft. I like my meat to feel like meat. It’s okay, but it’s way over-priced in my book, and not as good as many cheaper cuts.
Okay, but often stringy. I agree that the flavor is better than the texture.
Heathen! This is one of the easiest, most reliable steaks, in my experience. It’s not my very favorite, but it’s widely available, and kinda my go-to when I can’t my favs.
Agree on this one. I’ve never sous vided, and the whole “use a ziplock bag to cook it and then throw away the bag” turns me off, as does the “plan a long time in advance” part. But I guess with covid I am having to plan in advance anyway (to defrost – I used to buy fresh on my way home from work) so I dunno, maybe I should get into this.
My wife and I are big fans of splitting a porterhouse or ribeye when we go out to eat. We used to each eat our out steak, but I couldn’t figure out why I always felt like I was going to explode afterwards. Turns out my wife only ate a few bites and would casually shovel the rest onto my plate, causing me to eat 1 5/8 steaks. So new we just share.
When I’m grilling, I usually go with a ribeye or fillet.
Unfortunately my meat guy closed last year. So now I need to find a new source of custom meat.
Actually – sous vide question here. I like my steak very rare to medium rare. My husband likes his medium rare to medium well. I routinely pull my meat off the stove/grill/broiler and leave his to keep cooking.
How would this work with sous vide? Could I cook it to my liking, then put my bagged steak in the fridge, turn up the temp to his liking, and then pull mine out of the fridge to sear? Or would that create problems? Cook his, then drop the temp and add mine? Something else?
That’s a tough one. I’d pull your steak from the water bath and don’t refrigerate (it’ll be fine for a while, and you don’t want a cold center). Turn up the water bath on your hubby’s steak and let it go for 15 minutes. Then sear both. Yours may be less center-warm than his, but the sear will hide that issue somewhat. I think that’d work out fine.
Alternate plan: cook both cuts the same in the water bath, then sear both. Let hubster’s steak sear well past the good crust to bring it up to temp. Tricky though.
It’s a decent steak, but the texture is mealy as hell no matter how it’s prepped. And the flavor is just okay beef-intensity-wise compared to other cuts.
It’s a large tasty steak. No, it’s not as tender as tenderloin. But it has so much more flavor.