Which cuts of meat should you stay away from? While it largely comes down to personal taste,
we have some suggestions for the steaks you're better off skipping.
Here are 6 cuts of meat you should absolutely never buy.
You don't have to spend a fortune to get a good cut of meat. In fact,
there are plenty of less expensive options that will ensure that you have a delicious steak night.
However, the round steak is not one of them. We don't want to say it's bad,
but we did rate it as the worst option when it came to our ranking of different cuts of steak.
Why? Well, mostly because it's super tough, without any of the tenderness you want.
Round steak comes from the rear rump of the cow, and you can find round steak that comes from the
top, the tip, or the bottom. If you're going to give this cut a shot, try to find a top cut. It
will be slightly more tender than your other options, but that's not really saying a lot.
Generally, the only thing you'd do with this kind of meat is make a roast beef sandwich.
If you slice it very thin, it may not be that bad.
But would we serve it up as the main attraction? Definitely not.
"Say the words. 'I want the roast beef sandwich.' Say the words and I'll give you a piece."
It might surprise you that we included filet mignon on our list of meats to avoid,
but hear us out. You may have heard that filet mignon is the best cut to order,
and that's certainly true if all you're looking for is tenderness.
It is an incredibly tender cut of meat, which makes it a real joy to bite into.
But because there's not that much fattiness there, you're not going to get much in the
way of flavor. A truly good steak will have not just the ideal texture but also the ideal taste.
And here's another thing about filet mignon: It's going to set you back a pretty penny. This
cut of meat is quite expensive, especially if you order it from a restaurant that knows how
to cook it well. All things considered, there are better options out there that
you won't have to pay as much for. So why wouldn't you try those instead? Filet mignon
might have a lot of hype surrounding it, but you don't have to buy into it.
One thing we do love about a good filet mignon, though? Since it's low in fat,
it's great for people on diets who are looking for a way to treat themselves.
While there are some valid applications for flank steak, we definitely think it's one of
the cuts you should avoid. This is especially true if you're looking for the best cut of meat
to cook yourself. That's because flank steak is easy to mess up. And if you do, you're in for a
really tough piece of meat that's going to be difficult to chew through. Nobody wants that.
"Mmhmm, no, no, uh uh. Hell no!"
Flank Steak tastes best when it's prepared medium rare. After you take it off the heat, you should
cut it thinly, against the grain. That makes this tough piece of meat a lot easier to chew.
However, preparing it perfectly takes a lot of practice. If you're not already an expert,
you may want to pass up on it in favor of an easier steak to cook. One plus about
the humble flank steak, though? Since you have to cut it so thin for it to be edible,
you can serve it to a lot of people if you have guests over. But that's not so helpful if you're
just cooking for yourself and for your family, which is probably the case most of the time.
Like the filet mignon, tenderloin gets a lot of good press. It's one of the most recognizable
cuts of meat, and there's something about it that just sounds fancy, like it's something
that you should want to order. But is it really the best item on the menu? We'd argue it's not.
While the tenderloin is, as its name suggests, tender, that's about all it has to offer
ravenous meat eaters. When asked about the most overrated cuts of meat out there, Peter Serpico,
executive chef and owner at Serpico, admitted that for him, it was definitely beef tenderloin.
According to him,
"It's not that there's anything wrong with it; it's just that it's generally too expensive
for what it is. As an alternative, I always recommend a hanger steak.
Just as soft but much more flavorful."
And since you can, in fact, find hanger steak at a lot of restaurants now,
it just seems like that's a better choice.
Maybe you're getting where we're coming from here, but in our opinion,
it just doesn't make sense to pay more for a cut of meat simply because there's a lot
of hype around it. The flavor is more important.
"Kobe" beef
We're a big fan of the ribeye because of its texture, its price point, and its overall
deliciousness. And you might be familiar with one of the most well-known types of ribeye:
Kobe. This kind of meat only comes from one certain kind of cow
called the Tajima , which is raised in Hyōgo, Japan.
When it comes to beef, this stuff really is the cream of the crop.
The cows are super healthy and pampered, the marbling of the meat is impeccable, and the
taste is completely out of this world. If you ever get a chance to try it, you definitely should. But
here's the thing. Just because you order it off a menu doesn't mean you're getting real Kobe beef.
Restaurants often use the term "Kobe" as a marketing ploy for a lot of meat that's just,
well…not really Kobe. Real Kobe will be expensive,
and it will likely be difficult to find outside of Japan. It's not the
kind of thing you're going to come across at a chain restaurant or even in a gourmet burger.
You shouldn't pass up on the real thing,
but you should be very hesitant to buy just anything with the label "Kobe" slapped on it.
Strip steak is one of the most desirable steak options out there. It comes from the short loin
of the animal, which is the same area that produces the porterhouse and T-bone steaks.
That means you're getting some quality meat when you choose a strip steak.
However, since this cut is from a tasty part of the cow,
you're going to pay more for it. And here's the thing: It's not that tender.
It's also lacking the flavor you'd find from other nearby cuts, like a T-bone. That's largely because
it's served without the bone, which helps retain flavor and prevents the meat from overcooking.
Our recommendation? Instead of choosing a strip steak,
go with what's known as a club steak or a shell steak instead. It's the same cut of meat,
but it's served with the bone attached. After all, if you're going to pay more
for a cut of meat anyway, you should make sure it's packing as much flavor as possible, right?
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