# Steak can tear families apart **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550 "2018-10-06T04:47:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/81 "2018-10-08T01:15:00Z")
I’ll take a T-bone, cooked medium. Or beef wellington if it’s available. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/82 "2018-10-08T01:17:26Z")
I’ll sometimes even prefer a tri-tip or a rib steak, not everyone prefers to trade flavor for tenderness especially seeing as steak houses almost exclusively use grain fattened beef as that is what consumers will pay more for. For the same reason I would prefer grass finished beef as it tends to have more beef flavor. But that is what I grew up with, we use to get half a cow for the family every year and they were all pre-feedlot and much more lean. It is interesting how what you are told is good and are use to can change the perceived value. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/83 "2018-10-08T01:18:17Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > With all that, I’m sure any reasonable grade of beef would do. I laugh at the upscale urbanite burger stands bragging about their kobe or wagyu hamburgers. What’s the point? After they get doused with three or four toppings it could be roadkill possum in the middle for all you can taste it. It’s stupid but not because of the toppings. The reason prime (or any high grade) beef is expensive is because of the high amount of intramuscular fat distributed throughout the meat. If you’re going to grind it you can start with cheap ass beef and add as much fat as you want from trimmings. Grinding prime of Kobe beef for hamburger is like recycling a Rolex to make paper clips. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/84 "2018-10-08T01:25:00Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > I’d be very happy with **any** good-quality steak that’s been cooked by someone who really knows what they’re doing. I would hardly even care. (I mean, excluding any cut that’s known for not making a good steak at all.) An expertly-done nice steak is just a great thing. My preference overall is a filet (or steak tips because I’m cheap). I have a texture thing and I can’t really handle fat and I hate bones in almost all my food with very few exceptions. However, I’ll take a lesser cut done exactly right over a “good” piece cooked poorly. That’s actually how I decided I liked filets. I was served an excellent one and having grown up with people who can’t cook, and it was a revelation. Dried up hockey puck steak tips, crunchy burger, blackened hot dogs. It was a nightmare for me as a child. Gray roast beefs were the fanciest we’d get. So this perfectly medium rare, properly seasoned circle of beef, so soft I could use a butter knife? Oh man. I still think about that dinner a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/85 "2018-10-08T01:44:53Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > No real interest in a filet. Too mild. I like a Ribeye, on the rare side of medium rare. Strip steak is good too. > > Even if those are more commplace cuts I can do at home, good steakhouses have cooking equipment that brings them to a whole nother level. I was going to mention something along these lines. I love a filet, it does melt in the mouth, but, IMO, a New York strip, has a lot more flavor. I can’t remember the last time I went to a steakhouse, but, I’d peruse the menu. And, is this a joke? Why would someone be annoyed with what someone orders unless you were on a tight budget, in which case you probably shouldn’t be picking up the tab. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/86 "2018-10-08T02:10:49Z")
Did a Costco shopping trip today. Thanks to this thread we had to buy some t-bones and toss them on the grill. Mmmmmmmm ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/87 "2018-10-08T05:31:54Z")
I like big steaks. Filet mignon usually are a small cut for my taste but I like it. I like New York strip but they can be hit or miss. I am almost always satisfied with a nice big too sirloin. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/88 "2018-10-08T13:54:05Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What the hell is _FRESH_ kimchi? You make the kimchi, and instead of letting it ferment for a week or more, you just eat it. Same principle as eating cookie dough. 🆒 > [@DesertDog](#): > > > [@Pleonast](#): > > > > But what I really enjoy is a hamburger sandwich made from the same meat, freshly ground. With some ketchup and fresh sweet pickle relish. > > With all that, I’m sure any reasonable grade of beef would do. I laugh at the upscale urbanite burger stands bragging about their kobe or wagyu hamburgers. What’s the point? After they get doused with three or four toppings it could be roadkill possum in the middle for all you can taste it. Sure, you can make hamburger from other grades, but if your taste can distinguish the grade and cut of a steak, you can distinguish the grade and cut of ground beef, too. Same for adding toppings–the difference in taste is still there, if you’re looking for it. > [@zoid](#): > > It’s stupid but not because of the toppings. The reason prime (or any high grade) beef is expensive is because of the high amount of intramuscular fat distributed throughout the meat. If you’re going to grind it you can start with cheap ass beef and add as much fat as you want from trimmings. Grinding prime of Kobe beef for hamburger is like recycling a Rolex to make paper clips. Mixing ground lean beef and ground beef fat does not result in the same product as grinding a single cut. Really, go to a butcher shop, buy the cut you want, and have them grind it front of you. The result is different because the inputs are mixed differently. Now, if you were making sausage, I’d agree, because those are ground and mixed so finely. But for a hamburger grind, it’s not the same. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/89 "2018-10-08T14:06:29Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > You make the kimchi, and instead of letting it ferment for a week or more, you just eat it. Same principle as eating cookie dough. 🆒 That’s essentially a really funky cole slaw- isn’t it just cabbage & vegetables, powdered chiles, fish sauce/dried shrimp and salt? > [@Pleonast](#): > > Sure, you can make hamburger from other grades, but if your taste can distinguish the grade and cut of a steak, you can distinguish the grade and cut of ground beef, too. Same for adding toppings–the difference in taste is still there, if you’re looking for it. I’m not convinced; there’s a huge difference between eating an otherwise unadorned steak by itself, and grinding it up, cooking it and eating it with some combination of mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese (just for the most classic version). While I’m sure it’s not indistinguishable from Wal-Mart hamburger meat in the big plastic tube, it’s probably a lot more subtle than the difference between say… a ribeye and a strip steak. Another thing to consider is that in a lot of places, the ground meat is often trimmings and leftovers- ISTR reading that a lot of times there’s more “good” cuts of meat in there than we’d otherwise assume. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/90 "2018-10-08T14:26:39Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That’s essentially a really funky cole slaw- isn’t it just cabbage & vegetables, powdered chiles, fish sauce/dried shrimp and salt? Yes and no. The cabbage is soaked in brine for a while, before being rinsed and layered with the chili-fish paste, so it’s slightly “pickled” even when fresh. > [@bump](#): > > I’m not convinced; there’s a huge difference between eating an otherwise unadorned steak by itself, and grinding it up, cooking it and eating it with some combination of mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese (just for the most classic version). Yes, they are different, which is why I prefer one to the other. 😛 > [@bump](#): > > While I’m sure it’s not indistinguishable from Wal-Mart hamburger meat in the big plastic tube, it’s probably a lot more subtle than the difference between say… a ribeye and a strip steak. > > Another thing to consider is that in a lot of places, the ground meat is often trimmings and leftovers- ISTR reading that a lot of times there’s more “good” cuts of meat in there than we’d otherwise assume. Any hamburger you buy at a store or restaurant is going to be made from trimmings or scraps. If you want a hamburger made from a single cut, you have to grind that single cut yourself or have the butcher do it for you. It’s why I tell people not to disparage a single-cut burger, if they haven’t actually eaten one. And they probably haven’t. And they difference may be subtle to some people, but we’re in a foodie thread about the subtle differences in cattle finishing, and steak grades, cuts, and temperatures. I think we can tell the difference. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/91 "2018-10-08T14:51:59Z")
I tend not to order steak out at all, unless you want to count prime rib. I buy awesome steaks, and cook them to awesomeness, so I prefer to order things that are inconvenient to make (such as a single slice of a standing rib). What do I buy for home? Ribeye, of course, because it’s obviously the superior cut. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/92 "2018-10-08T15:50:02Z")
I love me a good steak, but I’ve come to realize I don’t know jack shit about them and what makes a steak better/worse/more flavorful than any other. However, I would love to learn. Does anyone have a website they can lead me to which breaks down steak cuts, what makes them good/unique and stuff like that? Yes I know I can just GTS, but I like human interaction. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/93 "2018-10-08T16:39:29Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > Another vote for ribeye here, with Delmonico a close second. I want mine done to just lose the red and start to pink in the middle with a good sear on the outside. > > Costco sometimes has the rib caps cut off and rolled and tied. They are about 1.5" thick and very good when they are available. > > No sauce please, just salt and pepper. My local Costco started selling those rip cap rolls a few months ago and I’ve been getting them, too. Really good! ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Innuendo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@Textual\_Innuendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Innuendo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/94 "2018-10-08T17:38:21Z")
This may be off-topic, but it sounds like we’ve meandered far afield enough it may be within the realm of tangential relevance: does anyone here do cow-shares, where you go in with some other folk and get half or a quarter of a cow at a time? I was just reading about them and would be all about that, but don’t really know how you go about finding one. I have tried googling “cow share in \” and haven’t really had much luck, it mostly seems to be about raw milk weirdos. So anyone who cow-shares, how did you join your cow-share group? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/95 "2018-10-08T17:53:19Z")
> [@Textual\_Innuendo](#): > > This may be off-topic, but it sounds like we’ve meandered far afield enough it may be within the realm of tangential relevance: does anyone here do cow-shares, where you go in with some other folk and get half or a quarter of a cow at a time? > > I was just reading about them and would be all about that, but don’t really know how you go about finding one. I have tried googling “cow share in \” and haven’t really had much luck, it mostly seems to be about raw milk weirdos. > > So anyone who cow-shares, how did you join your cow-share group? We had the option but didn’t do it (we’re not a big beef household) - it was essentially through the grapevine- someone’s relative or friend had a cow they were slaughtering, and they had put the word out via friends and relatives, who spread the word from there. Another guy I used to work with actually maintains a small herd of cattle- during the course of a conversation about his micro-scale ranching vs. his job as a corporate IT VP that he was part of a cow-share (wasn’t his cows actually), and I sort of think it was an invitation to ask more, but I wasn’t interested, so I didn’t follow up. So in my experience, you kind of have to know someone, or at least know someone who knows someone. Here’s what I’d do if I had to find one- I’d go to my local farmer’s market and ask any of the local ranchers/meat vendors if they know of anything like that. Chances are, they probably do, or they can direct you to someone who does. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/96 "2018-10-08T18:06:48Z")
Local Harvest [https://www.localharvest.org/store/csa.jsp?srt=6#](https://www.localharvest.org/store/csa.jsp?srt=6#) They catalog a ton of farmers markets, CSAs etc nationally. Search by zip code or keyword. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/97 "2018-10-08T18:16:40Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I love me a good steak, but I’ve come to realize I don’t know jack shit about them and what makes a steak better/worse/more flavorful than any other. However, I would love to learn. Does anyone have a website they can lead me to which breaks down steak cuts, what makes them good/unique and stuff like that? > > Yes I know I can just GTS, but I like human interaction. > **[Beef Guides](https://www.seriouseats.com/beef-guides-5118010)** > > Proven techniques, dozens of carefully honed recipes, and your FAQs, answered: Our beef guides offer the info you need to perfect steaks, roasts, and burgers. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/98 "2018-10-08T18:33:53Z")
First choice: New York Second choice: Steak chalupa at Taco Bell. Compromise is impossible, heresy will not be tolerated. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/99 "2018-10-08T18:35:29Z")
> [@Textual\_Innuendo](#): > > This may be off-topic, but it sounds like we’ve meandered far afield enough it may be within the realm of tangential relevance: does anyone here do cow-shares, where you go in with some other folk and get half or a quarter of a cow at a time? > > I was just reading about them and would be all about that, but don’t really know how you go about finding one. I have tried googling “cow share in \” and haven’t really had much luck, it mostly seems to be about raw milk weirdos. > > So anyone who cow-shares, how did you join your cow-share group? We used to do that when I was growing up, my dad would buy a half or 1/4 steer, but they threw in a free frozen locker there, so a family of 3 could do a 1/4. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550/100 "2018-10-08T18:53:56Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Piffle! Tender, but comparatively lean and flavorless ;). > > The king of steaks is obviously a well-marbled **ribeye** , dripping with succulent fat. Yup. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steak-can-tear-families-apart/822550.md?page=6)