By
eHow Food & Drink Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Things You’ll Need:
Step1
Get to know the cuts, which are sold under many different names. Tenderloin, also known as filet, is boneless and is the most expensive; strip, also known as New York, is boneless and has real beef flavor; T-bone and porterhouse, which are similar, have a large bone; rib steak (with a bone) and rib eye (boneless) are fattier, with rich flavor; and top sirloin is leaner and less expensive.
Step2
Determine how tender you like your steak. The most tender cuts come from the part of the animal that gets the least exercise. From most tender to least tender: tenderloin, strip, porterhouse and T-bone, rib, top sirloin.
Step3
Use the U.S. Department of Agriculture's grades as a basic guide to quality. Prime beef has the most marbling, or fat within the meat, but is found mainly in restaurants, rarely in grocery stores. Choice, with good levels of marbling, is juicy and tender, and the most widely available. Select tends to be leaner and less flavorful, and dries out more easily.
Step4
Check with your butcher to find out if the meat has been aged, which tenderizes and mellows the flavor.
Step5
Allow at least 4 oz. of steak per serving - double or triple that for hungry eaters, or if the steak contains a bone.
Comments
longlivetd said
on 5/20/2008 Make Friends With Your Butcher! A friendly butcher will cut you lesser cuts of meats into 'prime' looking 2" steaks. A 2" sirloin is impossible to find in a grocery store, but looks beautiful, tastes great when cooked decently, and makes you feel like a king eating a 20$ hunk of meat.
Anonymous said
on 8/8/2006 The thickness of the steak should be equal throughout the area of the steak. If it is uneven, some parts will cook faster than others.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 A good butcher has good bacon, and I find that wrapping a few good slices of bacon around the edge of a good steak holds in some of the good juices that otherwise drip out. While you're at the butcher - buy some bacon.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 You can use cheaper cuts. I use chuck steak with a good powder tenderizer. First take out the steak and put it on a plate.Sprinkle the tenderizer all over the steak. Next use a fork to poke holes all over.Let it stand untill room temp. Then grill.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 Look for dry-aged, naturally raised beef if you can find it. It has the best taste.