Searching for and finding a good quality steak can be much more difficult than one would imagine. Just because you order a rare or medium-rare, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’ll you’ll be getting the cut or the cook that you want. Whether you are browsing the supermarket of the pages of a menu at a high-end restaurant, you’ll likely have a confusing time choosing the best steak. You’ll first have to wade through a million different cuts with a lot of confusing names then you’ll have to decide what kind of cook you want. Needless to say, the entire situation can be confusing. This is where this guide is going to come in handy. It’ll prepare you for most everything that you’ll need to know about steaks and how to get the most from them.
What Exactly Is Steak?
Seeing or hearing the term steak could mean many different things to many different individuals across the globe. At the most basic level to many, steak is going to mean any cut of meat sliced across the muscle fibers of the animal. Steak is also a word that might many any thick cut of meat to some. Some people even use the term to refer to certain vegetables, like cauliflower steak. However, in this instance, when you hear the term steak, you should think of beef steak.
Where Steaks Come From
You’ll find that there are literally thousands of different ways that you can cook a steak. Just visit sites like https://www.corriecooks.com/instant-pot-garlic-butter-beef-steak/ and you’ll see this plain and clear. However, if you want to be able to take advantage of such recipes and use them to the fullest, you’ll need to know which cuts work best in certain situations. To understand this, you’ll need to know what parts of the steer the meat comes from. That being said, different types of steaks can come from just about any part of the steer, although there are four common areas that are usually utilized for such cuts.
The Rib – This rib is the section of the steer where you’ll get cuts like the Delmonico, Tomahawk, and Ribeye
The Short Loin – From this area, you’ll get the Top Loin, the T-bone, the New York Strip, the Porterhouse, and the Club steak
The Sirloin– This is where you’ll find the Sirloin and Pin Bone Sirloin cuts
The Tenderloin – As you’ve probably guessed, this is where you’ll get the sought after Filet Mignon and Chateaubriand steaks
Why Is Steak So Expensive?
Whether you are shopping in the grocery store or off the pages of some menu, it will be the ribeye, the strip loin, the tenderloin, and the T-bone that are amongst the most expensive cuts. All four come from the areas that were mentioned above, but this doesn’t explain why they are so expensive. In fact, there are a number of reasons that these cuts cost more than the others. The first is supply and demand. These cuts of steaks are just more sought after. They have a reputation for being tender and flavorful right down to the very bone. Another reason is that they are considered somewhat scarce. These cuts only make up about a total of eight percent of the carcass of the steer. The low meat-yield makes the prices all that more expensive.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
