How should steak be cut

How should steak be cut

  • One bite at the time

    Votes: 58 93.5%
  • Into pieces before you eat it

    Votes: 4 6.5%

  • Total voters
    62
Blasphemy
yes, but that's not what I meant...
I'd never hack a steak into pieces.
I meant do you slice it thin or thick, with the grain, against, on an angle, into bites or strips... it depends on what cut you're eating.
 
Depends.

A really GOOD steak, cooked properly, can be cut with just the fork.

But the real answer is that the steak should be cut such that the meat can be appreciated in its fullness...in appearance, aroma, and taste.

It should display the marbling, texture, temperature, and juicyness.

It should be sized to be comfortably chewed and swallowed, allowing time and space for the full body of the meat and flavor, as well as the scent, to be savored. It should not be so large as to require "work" at consuming it or to displace the enjoyment of the experience.

If you're not going to take the time to enjoy a good steak properly cooked...well, you might just as well eat nothing but select grade lean round steak cooked well done and drowned in steak sauce. What would be the point?
 
Depends.

A really GOOD steak, cooked properly, can be cut with just the fork.

But the real answer is that the steak should be cut such that the meat can be appreciated in its fullness...in appearance, aroma, and taste.

It should display the marbling, texture, temperature, and juicyness.

It should be sized to be comfortably chewed and swallowed, allowing time and space for the full body of the meat and flavor, as well as the scent, to be savored. It should not be so large as to require "work" at consuming it or to displace the enjoyment of the experience.

If you're not going to take the time to enjoy a good steak properly cooked...well, you might just as well eat nothing but select grade lean round steak cooked well done and drowned in steak sauce. What would be the point?


This. We had a guy who worked with us years ago who was at a very expensive restaurant. His silver ware did not include a steak knife and he asked the server for one since he ordered steak. She ignored him several times until he pulled out his Buck 110 opened it and lay it on the table. When she saw this she looked at him and said"Sir if you can not cut you steak with your fork we will buy and cook you another one
". He folded the Buck and put it back in his pocket quietly.
 
I don't eat steak unless is a chop steak or a hamburger steak. I have the same amount of steaks as I've had cups of coffee,, bout 3 in 50 some years
 
Last edited:
We cook a lot of flat iron filets flank steak and Denver steaks. Because they’re cheap and delicious if cooked and cut properly. If you over cook then it’s shoe leather, if you cut it with the grain it’s shoe leather.
 
What are we 6? Who cuts their steak up into bite size pieces before eating? The real question is how steak should be cooked and anything above medium rare is the wrong ansewr.
I like mine about 25-30 seconds on each side. I like it to be still chilled in the middle. Anything longer than that is burnt all to hell and I cannot consume it.
 
Last edited:
Well, cutting on a plate(much harder than steel) ruins your knives. So, you should either cut steak with a disposable serrated knife, or on small personal wooden cutting boards for each person. Everything after that is extraneous.
 
I don't eat steak unless is a chop steak or a hamburger steak. I have the same amount of steaks as I've had cups of coffee,, bout 3 in 50 some years

I'm getting concerned about you. First it was grits, I can live with that due to the "grainy" texture, but steak, I have to draw the line on that one.

We don't eat a lot of steak in our house, but when we do it's standing prime rib roast cut into 1 1/2" steaks by the butcher at Piggly Wiggly. I freeze them, allow them to thaw until just a little frozen, salt and pepper both sides, throw them on a searing hot charcoal grill with lots of charcoal and sear both sides quickly, but allowing middle to still be cool. This produces an extra rare to rare steak that both my daughter and I love and my wife has grown to appreciate how tender, juicy and flavorful they are.
 
I marinate my steaks in an old family recipe. Had a big group one time and I heard one guy ask my wife for A1 before tasting it. I yelled across the room “I will effing end you if you dump crap on that steak before tasting it first. If you still want it after that I won’t be offended”.
 
I'm getting concerned about you. First it was grits, I can live with that due to the "grainy" texture, but steak, I have to draw the line on that one.

We don't eat a lot of steak in our house, but when we do it's standing prime rib roast cut into 1 1/2" steaks by the butcher at Piggly Wiggly. I freeze them, allow them to thaw until just a little frozen, salt and pepper both sides, throw them on a searing hot charcoal grill with lots of charcoal and sear both sides quickly, but allowing middle to still be cool. This produces an extra rare to rare steak that both my daughter and I love and my wife has grown to appreciate how tender, juicy and flavorful they are.

Forgot Cube steak,, throw some thick brown gravey on it and I'm good to go.
 
I marinate my steaks in an old family recipe. Had a big group one time and I heard one guy ask my wife for A1 before tasting it. I yelled across the room “I will effing end you if you dump crap on that steak before tasting it first. If you still want it after that I won’t be offended”.

I'm the same way. If I see someone drenching a steak I cook with sauce before tasting it, I get angry.
 
What cut of steak? Some are juicy and succulent one bite at a time. Others are best thinly sliced on the bias to prevent shoe leather effect.

There is nothing I despise more than chewing forever with no flavor.

THIS. You need to treat different cuts differently. You are not going to serve a beef tenderloin the same way you would serve a london broil top round. You will present a skirt steak differently than a NY Strip. They are all"steaks" but need to be cooked and plated differently. Plating is often just as important as the cooking. IMHO

Even a tenderloin can be presented in different ways. Most people are used to seeing it as a filet but I really love when it is presented as a chateaubriand. I am also a bit fan of a tomahawk ribeye which I would not debone.
0b81f5addf0248b3a2ab6648942fd4d1_full_size.jpg


db_bonein0078.jpg
 
Last edited:
WVSig got it right.
All steaks are not created equal.
Usually you cut the steak against the grain so you separate the fibers. If you cut it with the grain, you get whole pieces of muscle which can be chewy.
Some "steak" you have to pre-slice to serve. You don't slap down a hunk of flank steak, brisket or top round for the masses to butcher on their plate. You slice them thinly, across the grain and on a bias to give you tender pieces that are good size.
You have to cut off 1 piece at a time for a hunk of steak like a NY Strip, Rib Eye or sirloin. That way the remaing pieces keep their warmth. If you cut the whole steak up all at once then the last pieces you eat will be cold. If that's your thing then so-be-it. Everyone has their own way of doing things.
 
yes, but that's not what I meant...
I'd never hack a steak into pieces.
I meant do you slice it thin or thick, with the grain, against, on an angle, into bites or strips... it depends on what cut you're eating.
Oh yea, ok. I didn’t think this through. I meant after
I'm the same way. If I see someone drenching a steak I cook with sauce before tasting it, I get angry.
i swear on all that’s holy my wife’s dad pours steak sauce on every steak he eats before he even tastes it. I cooked filets the other week and he poured a1 all over his before he even took a bite. I’m pissed off just thinking about it.
 
Last edited:
Oh yea, ok. I didn’t think this through. I meant after

i swear on all that’s holy my wife’s dad pours steak sauce on every steak he eats before he even tastes it. I cooked filets the other week and he poured a1 all over his before he even took a bite and my wife can’t figure out why I don’t like being around him. I’m pissed off just thinking about it.

For a nice fillet you should salt and pepper it 3+ hours or just right before you cook it and sear it properly to the desired temp. Rest it and serve.

Resting in the most often missed part of cooking steaks. You have to rest the steak before serving no matter how you serve it or slice it.
 
They were delicious, except his. His tasted like steak sauce. A fookin filet...he put a1 on a filet. I don’t ever want to even speak to him again. Lol
 
Also, you need to bring the steak to room temperature before cooking it (no matter how you cook it). This allows for faster cooking and it cooks it evenly. I don't salt my steak until I start to cook it because the salt draws out the juices.
 
Great article. You are never too old to learn something. I knew the other 5 myths. I'll always bring my steaks to room temp but it takes hours, not minutes. I know for fact they cook faster and more exact when at room temp. I put them out a minimum 3 hours before cooking and season them except for the salt. I'll now salt them too.
Thanks!
 
I’m going to go ahead and call BS on the “so tender you cut it with a fork” claim. There are some cuts of beef that are cut thinly across the grain and can therefore be separated with a fork, but there are no steaks that are grilled and served as a hunk of meat that are then cut with a fork. How do I know, we’ll I don’t, but I’m pretty sure that if you could cut across the grain with a fork the whole thing would lack the texture of a good steak, it’d be like mush in your mouth.

I’ve eaten a lot of steak, and while it is hard on the knife edge, I prefer to cut my steak with what is effectively a straight razor.
 
I’m going to go ahead and call BS on the “so tender you cut it with a fork” claim. There are some cuts of beef that are cut thinly across the grain and can therefore be separated with a fork, but there are no steaks that are grilled and served as a hunk of meat that are then cut with a fork. How do I know, we’ll I don’t, but I’m pretty sure that if you could cut across the grain with a fork the whole thing would lack the texture of a good steak, it’d be like mush in your mouth.

I’ve eaten a lot of steak, and while it is hard on the knife edge, I prefer to cut my steak with what is effectively a straight razor.

Oh, yes there are, my friend! A properly aged, well marbled, U.S. Grade Prime T-bone or New York Strip can be EXACTLY this if properly cooked. Over cooking will toughen the meat.

And I'm not talking about thin cut steaks, either, though that can give the appearance of the fork-tender steak I'm referring to at first glance.
 
Back
Top Bottom