# whats a good cut of steak that not to expensive ?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-cut-of-steak-that-not-to-expensive/670517
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 6, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-cut-of-steak-that-not-to-expensive/670517 "2013-10-06T18:03:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-cut-of-steak-that-not-to-expensive/670517/21 "2013-10-07T15:41:31Z")
> [@Krokodil](#):
>
> Hanger steak is great, if you can find it. Restaurants snap it up and pass it off as more expensive cuts (It resembles NY Strip). It’s inside the skin that hangs down from a cow/bull’s chest, so it’s priced in the same ballpark as skirt steak, but it’s a lot more tender and tasty.
Resembles NY strip? Huh?
[ ](https://i.imgur.com/ABZLY9e.jpg)
That’s Hangar. This is strip:
[ ](https://i.imgur.com/yCxu8Nx.jpg)
I guess maybe if you cut off one half of the hangar steak and trimmed it, you cold get the general shape of the strip, but the muscle grain is in the entirely wrong direction.
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### Author:  [@sylmar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sylmar)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-cut-of-steak-that-not-to-expensive/670517/22 "2013-10-07T15:53:50Z")
[quote=“neofishboy, post:15, topic:670517”]
As the muscle that forms the rib eye continues along into the shoulder, it becomes the chuck eye which, when cut into steaks, looks like this: [http://tinyurl.com/mp9hgxv](http://tinyurl.com/mp9hgxv)
It’s rare to find them sold as steaks as most butcher shops leave them in the chuck roast. The shop I worked in _did_ sell them and only charged a dollar or two more per pound than the whole roast, which was quite a deal because the things are absolutely fantastic. Chuck flavor and frequently more tender than rib eye.
[QUOTE]
This. And at ~ $4.00/ lb a bargain. You want to purchase the chuck steaks that were closest to the rib eye. To find them, look at the ~ center of the chuck steak. You’ll usually see a solid patch of fat there of varying diameter. The smaller this fat chunk is, the more similar to ribeye it will be.
Not hard to find in 1&1/2 “-2” thickness where I live. If you can’t find them, most meat departments will steak a roast for you at no cost if you ask.
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-cut-of-steak-that-not-to-expensive/670517/23 "2013-10-07T22:03:39Z")
> [@theR](#):
>
> What do you mean when you say they pass it off as more expensive cuts? I see it on the menu all the time at various places. Are you saying some restaurants purposely call it something else or just that they mark it up to similar prices as more expensive cuts?
I’ve never seen hanger steak sold under its own name in a restaurant, but there are parts of the country I’ve yet to visit.
> [@bouv](#):
>
> Resembles NY strip? Huh?
>
> [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://i.imgur.com/ABZLY9e.jpg)
>
> That’s Hangar. This is strip:
>
> [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://i.imgur.com/yCxu8Nx.jpg)
>
> I guess maybe if you cut off one half of the hangar steak and trimmed it, you cold get the general shape of the strip, but the muscle grain is in the entirely wrong direction.
When I buy it, I don’t slit it down the middle lengthwise, butterfly-style. The restaurants I’m talking about tart it up with gravy and mushrooms. I’m taking my old butcher’s word on this; I have no direct knowledge of it myself. But if you can’t find any, ask your butcher why it’s so hard to find.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-cut-of-steak-that-not-to-expensive/670517/24 "2013-10-07T22:26:23Z")
> [@Krokodil](#):
>
> I’ve never seen hanger steak sold under its own name in a restaurant, but there are parts of the country I’ve yet to visit.
Yeah, hanger steak has become a sought-after cut in the last few years, so you’ll find it on restaurant menus around here (Chicago.) I’ve almost never seen it at grocery stores/meat markets, though. Apparently, there’s only 1-2 pounds of hanger steak per steer, and it mostly goes to restaurants (or the butcher.)
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### Author:  [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-cut-of-steak-that-not-to-expensive/670517/25 "2013-10-07T23:15:07Z")
[Skirt.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skirt_steak)
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### Author:  [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-cut-of-steak-that-not-to-expensive/670517/26 "2013-10-08T01:35:12Z")
> [@Krokodil](#):
>
> I’ve never seen hanger steak sold under its own name in a restaurant, but there are parts of the country I’ve yet to visit.
Maybe I’m misremembering and confusing it with skirt steak, but I feel like I see it fairly often.
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-good-cut-of-steak-that-not-to-expensive/670517/27 "2013-10-27T20:29:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Yeah, hanger steak has become a sought-after cut in the last few years, so you’ll find it on restaurant menus around here (Chicago.) I’ve almost never seen it at grocery stores/meat markets, though. Apparently, there’s only 1-2 pounds of hanger steak per steer, and it mostly goes to restaurants (or the butcher.)
My expertise is limited, but when my butcher in Virginia told me to come around and get some, he hefted a piece of meat between 5 and 8 pounds. My memory could be warped by my awe at the sight. I was too broke to buy more than two pounds of it.
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