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Why are steaks sold cut across the grain?


Shalmanese

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So pretty much all of your standard steaks, ribeye, sirloin, NY strip, tenderloin are sold cut across the grain. The only notable exceptions are skirt, hanger, flat iron and a few other steaks. The problem is that if you buy say, a 1" ribeye and cook it, then once you slice it vertically, you're eating a whole bunch of 1" muscle fibres. Instead, assume you had the same 1" ribeye cut with the grain and cooked it. Then, if you slice it on the plate against the grain, you're only eating fibres as long as the slice, probably 1/8" or less. This should result in much more tender meat.

When we cook roasts, we slice it this way, each slice is essentially a very thin cross section which turns out very tender. Why then when we cook steaks do we do the opposite?

PS: I am a guy.

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This question -- horizontal thinking applied to butchery -- reminds me of Stephen Hawking's question about why we perceive time as moving forward into the future. And, like that question, I have no clue whatsoever about the answer but am fascinated.

To what extent are non-US practices consistent with this approach to steak butchering?

Chris Amirault

eG Ethics Signatory

Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts

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Well, all those cuts you mentioned are pretty much really really tender, especially at the upper echelon's of grading, so I suspect the added benefit of slicing against the grain would be minimal.

The steaks themselves are usually cut against the grain, that is, the sirloin sub primal is cut against the grain to produce sirloin steaks, etc. A big tenderloin is cut against the grain the produce filets, etc.

I can't really imagine a tenderloin or a ribeye being made much more tender with against the grain cutting once cooked.

I guess if you really wanted to test it out, buy a whole t-loin or something and try fabricating steaks with the grain...then slice against for eating.

Let us know :)

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The grain of the meat runs in two directions, not one. by cutting steaks from the sirloin you cut across the grain in both these dimensions whereas by cutting along the grain you cut along only one. Then by slicing the steak you cut along one of the dimensions again. if you were to do it the other way you would have to cut very thin slices to get the same effect. this is not the way most people eat steaks, making this the best way to cut them for the greatest majority of uses.

If you were to make either a tenderloin roast or a standing rib roast and slice into very thin slices you would get the effect you are suggesting, but speaking for myself at least, having a little of the fibers contributes to the mouthfeel of a good steak, and the rendered fat in the marbling takes care of whatever my knife doesnt. If i wanted the fibers cut into the shortest possible lengths i grill hamburgers.

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From my limited knowlege I'll add the following contributuion:

The steak cuts you mention as cut across the grain run along the vertebrae and are the highest quality. Others such as flank need slicing thin across the grain. Skirt is that way because thats how it comes in the beast and butchers do little to it. The french call it bavette and the butcher will slash the grain before selling it to you.

As a butcher, we cut steaks that way because:

most you mention are sevral muscles running together, we cut across so we get consistency in quality and portion control.

Fat in or around the muscles ends up in all the steaks, without having one too lean and one too fat.

We cut through any interconective tissue (esp on rump etc).

and possibly most powerful, convention: thats what you chefs order!

www.naturalfarms.co.uk ~ our wholesale butchery

www.sussexfarms.blogspot.com ~ our pie kitchen

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What is the other direction the grain runs in? as far as I can see, meat is a bundle of fibres and the grain is only in the direction of the fibres.

the fibers are not individual strands along the muscles. in many cases they are connected together, so if you cut a very thin slice along the grain, you will end up with something like a sheet of muscle fiber, not individual strands.

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What is the other direction the grain runs in? as far as I can see, meat is a bundle of fibres and the grain is only in the direction of the fibres.

Runs in the same direction in 2 of the 3 spatial dimensions in this corner of the universe (or multiverse, as the case may be).

Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea? How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea!

- Sydney Smith, English clergyman & essayist, 1771-1845

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Actually I think that Alton Brown has a good episode on this sort of thing. Couldn't tell you which one, but he does a good job of explaining the muscle structure and why and when you cut against the grain.

Basically, muscles are made up of muscle fibers, bound with connective tissue into bundles, etc. These fibers can be quite long.

Best example is a thing like a skirt or flank steak. They are really good to eat, but can also be really bad if not handled right, and they help illustrate the point because they show the grain really well. Basically, the muscle fibers run along the whole cut of meat, so you potentially fibers that reach from one end of the steak to the other. If you cut this slices ALONG these fibers, you end up with slices of steak with really long muscle fibers. Especially in tougher cuts of meat, these give you the effect of being stringy, chewy and tough (anyone ever had chewy steak fajitas? Thats what they are like...cause that's what probably happened).

If you slice against the grain, you end up with slices that are thin and made up of fibers that are short. So instead of long stringy fibers, you have pretty much cut the fibers into shorter pieces of fibers. Short=more tender, easier to chew.

I did a quick search and found these pictures. Best I could do.

carving_against_grain1_e.jpg

carving_against_grain2_e.jpg

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As a butcher, we cut steaks that way because:

most you mention are sevral muscles running together, we cut across so we get consistency in quality and portion control.

Fat in or around the muscles ends up in all the steaks, without having one too lean and one too fat.

Precisely, steaks are rarely one muscle and dissecting out one muscle would result in a lean long steak which is fine for a flank or tenderloin but no so with other muscles. The flank must be cut thin across the grain because it is not tender but the tenderloin can be cut into 1-2 inch steaks that are tender enough to be enjoyed. I don't think I would enjoy a tenderloin as much if sliced into very thin strips. You would lose that certain mouth feel of the larger piece of meat.

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