What is the Best Cut of Steak -
Complete Steak Glossary...
What the best cut of steak is, is subjective, a lot depends on the person you ask and their personal taste.
Where I prefer something like a porterhouse, my husband prefers a New York strip.
What 'a good cut of steak' is, depends... there are many.
The chart below will give you an idea of the different cuts of steak, and their individual characteristics.
Different Cuts of Steak
7-bone Steak:
Named because of the 7-shaped cross section bone running through it, this steak is from the shoulder primal, and its toughness means it needs to be braised.
Arm Steak:
Also called Swiss steak, this cut is from the bottom of the round.
Arm steak is tough, and is best braised.
You can use easy steak marinades to tenderize arm steak, but it is best-used cut up, in a stew or similar.
Beef:
The culinary name for meat from domestic cattle.
Boneless Chuck Shoulder:
An inch thick, at most, this cut is from the larger end of the chuck shoulder roast, and weighs about ten ounces.
This cut of steak has hardly any fat.
It is flavorful, but tough.
You can use a tenderizing steak marinade recipe, and grill it to rare or medium.
Alternatively, you can braise it.
Boneless Top Loin: aka New York Strip:
A popular cut from the short loin primal.
This cut is flavorful, tender, and very versatile.
Chateaubriand:
A thick cut from the tenderloin, normally served for two people to share.
Chateaubriand is juicy, and tender.
Chuck Eye:
A cut from the chuck eye roast, or chuck primal, lower down than the rib primal.
Similar to rib eye, but less flavorful and not so tender.
Chuck eye is a reasonable alternative to rib eye, if you are on a budget.
Club Steak:
Also known as Delmonico, club steak is smaller than a T-bone, triangular, and has a large eye section.
It is tender, flavorful, and cut from the short loin.
A good club steak has delicate marbling and a fine texture.
A bad one has big fat chunks, and a coarse texture.
Entrecote:
The sirloin cut known as contre-filet, which is the portion of sirloin on the opposite side from the filet or tenderloin.
Other names for entrecote include strip, striploin, porterhouse, New York, Delmonico, without the bone, or hotel steak, if it still has the bone attached.
In French, the word entrecote signifies any premium cut of beef.
Filet Strip:
These strips are cut off the short loin, before other steaks are removed.
You can broil a whole filet strip, then cut it into portions, bake it, and make Beef Wellington.
The tenderloin is the most tender steak, and filet strip is very tender, although some people find it too soft textured.
Filet Mignon:
The most tender of all beef cuts, filet mignon is mild flavored and lightly marbled.
Also known as tournedos.
Flank:
The flank is the belly muscle of a cow, therefore technically, not a steak.
The meat is cut into small pieces.
It is almost fat free and flavorful, but remains quite tough, no matter how long you soak it in a tenderizing steak marinade.
Flat Iron:
See Top Blade Steak.
Hanger:
The diaphragm section of a cow, hanger steak is flavorful... if prepared correctly... but tough and dry, if prepared wrong.
Inside Skirt:
Steak from the bottom sirloin, or flank, which looks like outside skirt steak but is more tender.
Kansas City Steak:
See Strip Steak.
London Broil:
A thick cut, top round steak, great when marinated for six to twenty-four hours, in your best steak marinade, then grilled or broiled.
Mock Tender:
A tough cut of steak (despite its name) from the point of the chuck primal near the top blade.
New York Strip:
Also known as boneless strip, or boneless top loin, this cut is well-marbled and firm in texture.
Outside Skirt:
Made from the diaphragm, this cut is flavorful, but quite tough.
Poterhouse:
A composite cut, from where the top loin and tenderloin meat, porterhouse steak is like an oversized T-bone, but thicker, and has more tenderloin than loin.
Porterhouse is normally between an inch and a half and three inches thick, with a fair portion of fat.
If you remove the bone, you will have both tenderloin and a top loin steaks.
Ranch:
The center cut of boneless, chuck shoulder steak.
Rib Steak:
A rib-eye, with the bone still on.
Rib steak is like club steak, but fattier and not as tender.
Rib steak is very flavorful.
Rib-Eye:
A cut from the roast sitting on top of the rib primal; a flavorful, boneless cut.
Round Steak:
Known in the UK and Canada as rump steak, round steak is a thin cut from the middle of the top round roast.
There is usually a big circular bone on one end.
You can broil or grill it, but you need to use marinade to tenderize it.
You can also braise it.
Round Tip:
This steak is normally untrimmed, and cut from the tip of the round primal.
If the fat is trimmed, it is called a trimmed tip steak, or ball tip steak.
Round tip steak is tender, because it is cut from near the tenderloin.
It is much more tender than other kinds of round steak.
Sirloin:
A big steak, normally two and a half, to three and a half, inches thick, with some wedge bone.
Sirloin is flavorful, tender, and is great... broiled or grilled.
You can pan-broil thinner sirloin steaks.
Skirt Steak:
A flat steak, flavorful but tough.
Skirt steak in the US comes from the plate primal.
Skirt steak in the UK comes from the flank.
Either way, it has plenty of connective tissue and marbling, making it good for marinating with your best marinade.
Spencer:
Another name for boneless, rib-eye steak, this cut is flavorful and tender.
The ribbon of marbling running through a Spencer steak melts while it cooks, making its flavor wonderfully rich.
Strip Steak:
Also known as shell steak, strip steak is what you have left when the tenderloin strip has been removed from the short loin.
These steaks are also known as Kansas City strip, or New York strip.
They are usually an inch, to two and a half inches, thick, and ideal for one person.
Swiss Steak:
See Arm Steak.
T-Bone:
A crosscut from underneath the porterhouse.
A T-bone has a section of tenderloin and top loin, separated by a T-shaped bone.
T-bone should be one, to three, inches thick.
You can pan-broil a thin T-bone, or broil a thicker one.
Tenderloin:
Cut from the beef tenderloin, part of the short loin primal, this steak is very tender.
Top Blade:
Also known as flat iron steak, top blade is flavorful and tender.
Top Sirloin:
A firm textured, flavorful, and lean cut.
Top sirloin is best prepared with your marinade recipes for six to twenty-four hours, then grilled or broiled.
Tournedos:
Another French name for filet mignon.
Tri-Strip:
What cut of meat do steak tips come from is a good question, here is a short answer.
A wonderful steak for grilling, tri-tip steak is cut from the tri-tip roast, a triangular sirloin primal cut from where the round and flank primals meet the sirloin.
Under Blade:
This steak is cut from underneath the shoulder blade.
It is similar to top blade steak, and 7-bone steak, but less tender.
This cut is usually left as a roast, but can be cut into steaks.
Under blade steak is not good for broiling or grilling, and is best braised.
Did you ever wonder how steak marinades originated, what the first steak marinades were, which steaks are preferred in other countries, or about the history of steak marinades?
Steak fans will find steak facts like these fascinating and sometimes it is very interesting to look back in time and find out how steak marinades have changed from their conception to present day steak marinating trends find a more detailed list of articles on our "Steak Marinade Recipe" page, along with a selection of wonderful and delicious steak marinade recipes.
