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Thread: Best way to prepare inexpensive steak

  1. #1
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    Default Best way to prepare inexpensive steak

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    I’m struggling to find a decent way to prepare inexpensive steaks, and was wondering what you guys do to help make a cheap piece of meat edible? What types of cuts are you buying and what techniques do you use for tenderizing the meat?

  2. #2
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    What do you mean by "inexpensive"? What cut are you referring to?

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    There is a lot of top round pretty cheap, although it’s tough as leather. I’m more just asking if you guys have a preferred economy cut and how do you prepare it so it doesn’t taste like shit. I’ve been living off of your hamburger steak recipe for the last year but want to switch it up a bit.

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    Chuck roast is a good cut, usually cheap, that grades higher than the rest of the carcass. Obviously you can pot roast it with carrots and potatoes, but you can also cut it into tips and fry them to medium rare.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnsonville View Post
    I’m struggling to find a decent way to prepare inexpensive steaks, and was wondering what you guys do to help make a cheap piece of meat edible? What types of cuts are you buying and what techniques do you use for tenderizing the meat?
    Get to know your butcher well and they might give you a discount on the odd shaped bits at the end of a fillet, mine does.

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    Buy them whole, chuck roast, rump. The tough cuts benefit from an exceedingly long cook at very, very low temperatures. Think like 165-175F. Depending on the size, you're looking at 3-5 hours. Season liberally, place into the very cold oven, and remove when you get to 125-135F depending on preference. Let rest. Turn your oven to 500F. Once it's hot, place back in the oven for up to 10 minutes to color the surface.

    Slice thin and enjoy. Makes good roast beef the next day for sandwiches.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe View Post
    Chuck roast is a good cut, usually cheap, that grades higher than the rest of the carcass. Obviously you can pot roast it with carrots and potatoes, but you can also cut it into tips and fry them to medium rare.
    Thanks for that, the tips are a good idea and I will try them this week

  8. #8
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    To go with what Rip said, chuck roast is vastly underrated. Coming from the shoulder, it's rich in connective tissue, which gives if good flavor. You just have to know what you're doing with it - long, slow, wet cooking is where it really shines, or applications where you cut it into small bits prior to cooking.

    Pressure cooking is a good way to deal with tough cuts in general - it gets you the effect of the long cooking in a fraction of the time. Electronic pressure cookers like the Instant Pot are well worth having for this and many other things (like dried beans). Make sure to avoid a quick release for cooking meat, as this tends to toughen it somehow - just let it come down off of pressure on its own.

    You'll end up with a bunch of good cooking liquid, too - don't throw that out. It makes for good rice, noodles, soups, sauces, etc.

    If you want variety, then learning what you like for spices can be fun, too.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnsonville View Post
    There is a lot of top round pretty cheap, although it’s tough as leather. I’m more just asking if you guys have a preferred economy cut and how do you prepare it so it doesn’t taste like shit. I’ve been living off of your hamburger steak recipe for the last year but want to switch it up a bit.
    Top round: you can season, roll them up with bacon and a boiled egg and brown, and then put in oven for 2 hours; look up the cuban dish bistec de palomilla (also very good) and bistec empanizado (the breaded version).

    Cubed stew meat is pretty cheap. I will lightly boil it (maybe 15 min) and skim and drain. Then I brown it in a casserole. You can then put it in stew or rice or whatever and it is pretty tender and crisp. It is about as good as browned sirloin.

    Extra oil helps.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnsonville View Post
    I’m struggling to find a decent way to prepare inexpensive steaks, and was wondering what you guys do to help make a cheap piece of meat edible? What types of cuts are you buying and what techniques do you use for tenderizing the meat?
    I'd highly recommend checking out the sous vide method for cheap cuts with a lot of connective tissue, especially if you happen to have a vacuum sealer already. Freezer bags will work also.

    I salt my chuck roast then bag it with a pad of butter, a rosemary sprig, and some minced garlic. Cook it for three or four hours at 131F then sear and eat.

    A serviceable sous vide rig can be made with a $30 greenhouse temperature controller and your analog crockpot.

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