Hello, I am Chef David Rose and I am the Executive Chef for Omaha Steaks.
My career has taken me everywhere. From the back of the house of restaurants, hotels,
the TV screens, food and wine events, my kitchen, and now the Omaha Steaks kitchen.
I'm going to show you the ultimate steak guide from how to pick the correct steak,
the differences between all of your steaks. I know it can be intimidating. And,
how to prep and cook the perfect steak every single time. So, let's jump right into it.
Now the key to any high quality steak is the color. What you're looking for
is that bright red color that's in the meat and it's accentuated by that beautiful, luxurious
white marbling. Looks good. I know, right? If your steak is vacuum sealed remove it from the
vacuum seal and allow it to oxygenate so you can really tell the true color of the steak.
In the steak you have two types of fat. We have the intermuscular, which is right here,
and then you have the intramuscular, which is actually in the meat, and that is marbling.
That's the fat that melts into the meat and gives you that nice, delicious fatty flavor that is
so good. Now, if you look right here on the filet you don't see much of that marbling in there but
we'll get to that in a second and I'll explain the differences. Every steak is trimmed differently.
That's why you need a true professional to look for the color, the marbling, and how to trim
every steak specifically. The very last thing you want to do is aging. Very important. We here
at Omaha Steaks age our steaks for at least 21 days. And, what that does, it allows the
beef to break down and really enhance the flavors and make it super tender. Now you
know what makes great beef. But, what makes each steak different? There are basic similarities,
but I'm going to show you exactly what makes each and every steak different from one another.
The filet mignon is the most tender steak. It comes from the tenderloin,
which makes up about one to two percent of the entire animal. It's an underutilized muscle which
A - gives it that fork tender deliciousness and B - makes it mild and the reason why it's
expensive. But it's an exceptional cut of meat and it's one of my favorites.
Now what makes a filet a filet? The filet is usually boneless, trimmed at least twice,
so it takes a very skilled hand. It always has that barrel shape right there like this,
and a minimum of an inch to two inches in thickness for perfection. Now at Omaha Steaks we
have three different types of filets. The first is our Butcher's Cut. It's trimmed twice and on the
outside you're going to see a little bit of fat on the exterior. But don't worry, that's going to
melt right there into the fillet and make it extra tasty. Next to that we have the triple-trimmed.
It is trimmed three times on the outside and will have no exterior fat. And last, but definitely not
least, is the Private Reserve, which is trimmed three times and aged for 28 days, making it extra
fork tender. Now we want to talk about how to cook the filet. It's so tender and so mild, so you want
to be very mindful of that as you're cooking it. A perfect 125 is perfect for this lean, mild cut
of meat. You want to sear it. Get a nice hard sear on it to keep that filet super juicy. I like to do
a nice butter basting, a little bit of garlic, a little bit of thyme, and you baste it right there
in the pan. And, that fat from the butter is going to really complement the leanness in the filet.
The top sirloin is another popular steak and is very different from the filet. It is a naturally
lean steak and has very little marbleization. Great high-quality top sirloin has a medium-firm
bite, not tough at all, just a little bit more of a bite to it. The top sirloin is a boneless
steak and usually ranges between five and eight ounces. Now, it's usually symmetrical,
but the Butcher's Cut, if you look right here, that is from the center of the center cut,
which is nice and high which gives it a really nice cooking temperature and also extremely
flavorful. For cooking the top sirloin it's a really thick cut of meat, so it's best to cook it
to 120 to 130 for that medium-rare doneness. It's a very big, bold, in your face kind of steak. So
don't be shy or timid when it comes to seasoning, because the top sirloin can definitely take it.
As far as cooking method, what I prefer to do is a pan roasting, where you start out in the pan,
get that nice sear on there, and then finish it in the oven. That will ensure it gets that perfect
edge-to-edge pink every single time and also have that amazing sear on the outside.
So don't be shy. Get the rubs, get the seasoning, and have fun with the top sirloin
Now what we have here is the Omaha Steaks New York Strip. The New York strip is the quintessential
steak for grilling. It has great marbleization and fat that melts right there into the meat as
you roast it over an open flame. It comes from the short loin, which is the same area that the filet
does. So if you look at a T-bone, right next to the fillet you're going to see the New York strip.
When you bite into it, it's that satisfying beefy flavor and chew that you look for that's
indicative of any great Omaha Steaks New York strip. The New York strip ranges from 8 ounces
to as big as 14 ounces and sometimes more. When you see the bone on the New York strip,
you guessed right, that is the bone from the T-bone. It's gonna always be one to two inches
thick and have that nice oval shape. That is super indicative of any good New York strip steak.
Now when you're grilling a New York strip, I'm all about being generous with that seasoning on
there - heavy salt, heavy pepper, garlic, thyme, rosemary. You get crazy with it.
Dealer's choice. Now, be very, very mindful that there is a lot of fat and marbling in the
New York strip. So if you're cooking it inside there might be a little smoke. Medium rare is
the perfect temperature for these New York strips. You want to allow time for that fat to render off
and sizzle and sear, because that fat is going to equal flavor. And give you that perfect medium
rare doneness with that nice juicy bite with the perfect marbleization. And it's going to be good.
Now let's talk about the ribeye. The ribeye is one of my favorite cuts of steak, because
it has marbling, marbling, and more marbling. It's going to have that distinct line of fat
right there in there and it's supposed to be there. That's what gives the ribeye its luscious,
delicious flavor. It comes from the rib and it is amazing. Now the ribeye can come one of two
ways -boneless or bone-in. And another one of my favorite cuts is the tomahawk steak.
You've probably seen that big old Fred Flintstone steak. That's a tomahawk. As far as the way the
ribeye looks, it has that nice oval shape and about two-thirds of the way up that nice
amazing super white cap of fat. In the middle, you have the heart of the rib eye and above that,
you have the rib eye cap. Now these right here. These are the ribeye crown steaks. This is
all cap from the top of the ribeye right here. And that is the most flavorful,
tender and well-marbled piece out of the entire ribeye. Now when you cook the ribeye,
it's all about that marbling. This can handle definitely a medium temperature, between 130
to 140. And what that temperature is going to do, it's going to allow all that amazing
marbling to melt and just add superior flavor, juiciness, and texture to that ribeye. With this,
aggressive salt, aggressive pepper, fresh herbs, rubs, seasoning, you name it. Use it. Nice hard
sear in a cast iron pan and then I put it into the oven for that perfect reverse sear
to that medium-rare temperature to where the fat melts down and goes into the meat, and then into
your mouth. So don't throw that fat away because that's good fat, and that fat equals flavor
Now for the T-bone steaks. If you cannot tell the T-bone gets its name from the shape of the bone.
It looks like a T. It's from the short loin, so it has the best of both worlds with the fattiness and
rich marbleization of the New York strip combined with the leanness and mild flavor of that filet
mignon. It's truly two perfect bites for the price of one. How is the T-bone cut? The butcher,
what he does, he takes the bone saw and goes right down the short loin. So depending on exactly where
the butcher cuts, you'll have more or less of the filet. What is the difference between a T-bone
and a porterhouse? A T-bone is where you have about an inch or less of filet. A porterhouse
is anything bigger than an inch of filet on that side. So all porterhouses are T-bones,
but not all T-bones are porterhouses. Now, as far as size of the T-bone, T-bone is at least
18 ounces and porterhouses go from 24 ounces and up. Now when it comes to cooking a T-bone, I think
with this the grilling works best. What I highly suggest with this is a nice seasoning of salt and
pepper and onto the grill you go. Now you've got to keep in mind, that there's two different sides
to the T-bone - the New York strip and the filet mignon. Both are going to cook at different
temperatures, different times, and have different characteristics. So what I do on the grill is find
the hotter side and the cooler side and use the hotter side to render than all that delicious
fat that's in the strip and use the cooler side to get the filet mignon to that perfect medium-rare.
And you want it to kind of come together at the same time. So what that means is
temperature control, temperature control, you guessed it, temperature control, is going to
give you the tools you need for a successful, perfectly done T-bone steak every single time
Today, I'm going to dispel the many myths about frozen steaks. Now if you buy a fresh steak at the
grocery store and try to freeze it, it's not going to be good. The reason is not because it's frozen,
but because it's freezing slowly. When you freeze that fresh meat at home,
the water is going to expand and it's going to lose all that juice that makes the steak so good.
Now the solution to that, what we do here at Omaha Steaks, is flash freezing. What that's going to do
is freeze the steak very quickly so that water does not damage the steak and it doesn't expand.
Now the other great thing about flash freezing is that we, here at Omaha Steaks, press that
pause button on the steak. So once you freeze it, whether it's been aged 21 days or aged 28 days,
you get that same deliciousness from the moment it's flash frozen, delivered to your doorstep, and
goes into your mouth. Okay, so you got your Omaha Steaks, but they're frozen. I'm going to show you
how to properly thaw them and get you cooking in no time. Now the great thing about the way we
flash freeze our steaks is that every single steak is vacuum sealed. That's going to ensure that
every steak is thawed out appropriately. Now the best way to thaw out the steak is to put it right
there in that vacuum seal package into the fridge for at least 24 hours. And I guarantee perfection.
Now, what if you don't have 24 hours? I got you covered. Simple, easy, to the point. Get a bowl of
cold water, keyword cold water. You want to keep the steak inside of the vacuum seal packaging
and just like that, submerge it all the way in there for 30 minutes. And I guarantee that will
be just the trick to have you a thawed steak in no time and get you cooking from bag to plate.