THE, NOT SO, PERFECT STEAK

THE, NOT SO, PERFECT STEAK.

The main things that set prime quality meat apart is the amount, and quality, of the fat; but, almost as important, is the manner in which it is aged. Though many health-conscious North Americans are overly cautious about fat, it is everything to prime beef, unlocking more flavour, nutrition, and better texture. “Marbled” meat; that has fat finely speckled throughout it, will keep the meat fibres from tightening up during cooking.

When purchasing steak, look out for steaks that look like the below photos.

* You may want to research about aged steak, different cuts, about cattle raising and feed, availability, etch.

Except that the cost is now far beyond the affordability of most North Americans, a full-lion cut (from the short loin, not-stripped) is by the best for roasting or broiling--naturally, it follows full-loin steaks are also by far, the best all round steaks. 

The steak shown directly
below does at least have
good marbling.

     

While it is not a really top quality steak,
marbeling somewhat lacking,
notice also (fat colour and type-                  I really do not know what this is, or was

 texture appears inferior) 
note that the bone and marrow appear     but note the white, flinty--almost chalky

red in colour as they should.                      appearing bone. I would NOT buy a steak

                                                                     that looked like this, even for my dog, 
                                                                      perhaps it had been seriously freezer
                                                                       burned and was found in a                                                             
                                                                    dumpster; or garbage can; 
                                                                       

"T-bone-raw-MCB" by MCB at English Wikipedia - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:T-bone-raw-MCB.jpg#mediaviewer/File:T-bone-raw-MCB.jpg

NOTE THE DIFFERENCES IN THE FAT ON THIS CLUB/T BONE STEAK(it's right on the line, personally, I would lean lean toward the CLUB designation)AND THE FAT ON THE OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS.

The fat and marbling of this steak looks as it should in a real quality steak; but again, note the greyish brown marrow and greyish white, flinty look to the bone; the carcass, once again, was that of an older animal; most probably a

"retired " dairy cow . The steak does appear to be over an inch thick so should still be fairly tender--IF, properly cooked.

A stripped loin steak. note the colour       Some kind of rib steak; note the flinty appearing                         

of the fat. Again, I would not buy this.        bone with the greyish brown marrow, and heavy fat 

                                                                      content--comes from an older (probably cow) carcass.

                                                                      and probably from very near the chuck end (US style,
                                                                       "chuck, prime rib"). Note also,  the  diagonal slant of 
                                                                       the rib bone                

              The fillet mignon portion may be cut into steak or it can be kept whole.

              Remember Chateaubriand is a recipe but the portion usually used is

              the larger portion of the beef tenderloin found just before the modern fillet

              mignon. When prepared as shown by the illustration on the left the 

              fillet mignon portion is often used in that famous British, dish, Beef      

                  Wellington.

          

                  
                  

ABOUT STEAK

Beef Tenderloin (Not the Fillet Mignon or Chateaubriand, Medallions or Tornadoes ) the differences are the size and the portion of the tenderloin from which they are cut. These cuts or steaks comes from a cut called the tenderloin which, as the name suggests, is a very tender cut of beef. The meat is lightly marbled but still very lacking in flavour and nutrition; but, because of the price, mass advertising, and because it is so tender; it is sometimes, considered the "King" of steaks, by some people.. 

The Stripped Loin, "Kansas City", or, "New York"steak. The difference depends entirely upon your location In the USA; they are the same cut of beef. This comes from the stripped loin and is a fairly well marbled cut with a border of fat along one side. it is a fairly good steak for cooking on the grill.  

T-bone or a Porterhouse: the famous steaks with the bone shaped like a "T" and the true "King " of steaks; the only difference between the two is the amount of tenderloin.

Notice the  colour of the fat, and the marbling in this entrecôte. As I believe

you will agree, it actually looks good and appetizing, possibly (as intended) it reminds you a little of the fillet (sirloin) steak illustrated above. But notice also the right side of this steak: what do you suppose that darker red, shiny substance; that so resembles a meat glaze is? Could it be that something has been mechanically induced-you know; similar to that "pink slime that is now being "legally" mechanically, injected into lower cost cuts; in order to  improve flavour, improve nutrition, make them more tender and to necessitate the label Canadian Food Product; Not To Be Taken Internally.

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Information from its 

description page there is shown below. 
Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. 

Rib Eye steak, pictured directly above, is the French entrecôte or boneless rib steak; when you cut into it, you get a steak that is heavily marbled with a large seam of fat running right through it--not very economical as the heavy fat is most often thrown away. Although it has more flavour than tenderloin, it still lacks in flavour and nutrition. 

Centre-filet, cut from the sirloin (Stripped loin or "New York) , in the USA this steak is sometimes sold as "Chateaubriand" which; of course, it is not. It is not tenderloin filet.

Again, notice the marbling and the consistency  and colour of the fat. Also notice the; now days, seemingly, ever present glazed appearance-again I ask: Now what could that possibly be? 

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Information from its description page there is shown below. 
Commons is a freely licensed media file repository.

The Top Sirloin. Also, sometimes in the USA, known as the top butt, round, or rump steak, (which it is not any of), can also be found on  some menus as a London broil. These cuts all have full flavour and nutrition( the flavour can be adjusted, through the addition of pink slime, to your EXACT choosing) and are a good choice for almost any purpose; but not (normally) as tender as the loin steaks; they should be larded when broiling or roasting and do not over cook. Use to cut into cubes for stir fry, stews, and especially, shish kabobs. The secret to a London broil rump steak is to slice it into very thin slices after cooking then dredge them in their pan dripping juices (which will, as with any meat, have concentrated flavour and nutrition) with some salt and pepper added in it before serving.

How to tell if your steak is going to taste good? 

I have already mentioned some of the visual characteristic that can be used to determine the tastiness, tenderness, and nutrition of beef, The fat should also be creamy white firm almost brittle in appearance. Another easily recognised visual  characteristic is marbling. Marbling is the amount of fat that is inside the meat, it is those flecks or seams of white that are speckled throughout a steak. The more marbling, the better the taste, in the US they have a quality grade system to label this aspect. The scale is Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, etc... Prime is of course the best. Only 2 % of all  beef is graded Prime --therefore only 2% can truthfully be called PRIME RIB. 

Meat that is heavily marbled does not increase your cholesterol any more than beef that is lean. The fat that is within the meat (marbling) on beef and the fat that surrounds the meat ("bark") are two different types, the marbling is not so bad for you, the bark is. So you don't have to eat tough, tasteless beef to feel healthy.

© Al (Alex, Alexander) D. Girvan. All rights reserved