Buying and cooking the right beef

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tomomatic
tomomatic Posts: 1,794 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Pork is easy. It's the magical animal from which all bacon comes and all cuts of pork are awesome. Chicken is even easier. There's only dark or white meat. Beef is... a mystery to me.

I don't usually cook red meat, but when I do, it's a simple sirloin, NY Strip or T-bone on a grill. Nothing fancy. We eat a lot more pork loin and chicken at my house.

Lately, I've been cooking other things with beef and failing miserably. I don't think I'm buying the right cuts of meat for my recipes. Recently, I bought chuck steak for stir frying and that turned out too tough... even thought I took a tenderizing mallet and beat the meat for a good 15-20 minutes. I'm even more confused when it comes to whatever brisket is.

Anyways, I'd appreciate any pointers.

Replies

  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    beef-made-easy.jpg

    ETA- This website helps:
    http://rickbakas.com/retail-beef-cuts-explained-infographic
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Tough cuts like brisket need to be cooked for hours...I like smoking mine for a few hours and then letting it finish in the oven...I cook it really slow at low temperature until the meat is around 190 or so. Sometimes I just throw it in a crock pot though and braise it for about 8-10 hrs on low...it's pretty good and great for week nights but nothing as awesome as true BBQ smoked brisket.

    Chuck is good for that Sunday pot-roast...but I actually just prefer to do short ribs in that RE. Chuck is also good if you're grinding your own hamburger....you could use sirloin for that as well if you wanted it leaner (too lean for me). As far as other oven roasts go I'm pretty partial to a rib eye roast (who isn't) cooked medium rare..this is usually Christmas dinner at my house given the expense is a little out there for an every day kind of meal. I also do a lot of Tri Tip roasts...traditionally this is done over indirect heat on a grill with smoking cherry oak but I just do it in the oven...I like it MR to Med...takes about 30 minutes or so @ 350*.

    For steaks, we typically eat a lot of flank steak in my house...largely I think to traditions for both my wife and I growing up...done right it's pretty tasty but it's most definitely a lesser cut (cheap and feeds a crowd). On more special occasions I will do a beef tenderloin or beef filet...sometimes a NY strip (my favorite but not my wife's).

    For stir fry and such I usually use sirloin.
  • gsgitu
    gsgitu Posts: 118 Member
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    that's a nice picture and a start, but books have been written on this subject. that's what i could write here. one thing the pic does not cover is you can buy a chuck from your local supermarket and one from the local organic farmer down the road and the one from the farmer will taste ten times better, cut like butter, and chew like fillet. i hate fillets, overpriced glorified cuts. give me a good roast or ribeye any day. the one from the supermarket will chew like rubber no matter what you do. taste will be bland. over fatty. there is more to it than just the cut. also the pic doesn't say what to do when you go in and they don't have the stew meat already prepackaged for you. what cut do you buy? roast? sirloin? either. what cut is the stir-fry cut? flank, sirloin. it is a good start though.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    that's a nice picture and a start, but books have been written on this subject. that's what i could write here. one thing the pic does not cover is you can buy a chuck from your local supermarket and one from the local organic farmer down the road and the one from the farmer will taste ten times better, cut like butter, and chew like fillet. i hate fillets, overpriced glorified cuts. give me a good roast or ribeye any day. the one from the supermarket will chew like rubber no matter what you do. taste will be bland. over fatty. there is more to it than just the cut. also the pic doesn't say what to do when you go in and they don't have the stew meat already prepackaged for you. what cut do you buy? roast? sirloin? either. what cut is the stir-fry cut? flank, sirloin. it is a good start though.

    Um ok. :huh:
  • gsgitu
    gsgitu Posts: 118 Member
    Options
    that's a nice picture and a start, but books have been written on this subject. that's what i could write here. one thing the pic does not cover is you can buy a chuck from your local supermarket and one from the local organic farmer down the road and the one from the farmer will taste ten times better, cut like butter, and chew like fillet. i hate fillets, overpriced glorified cuts. give me a good roast or ribeye any day. the one from the supermarket will chew like rubber no matter what you do. taste will be bland. over fatty. there is more to it than just the cut. also the pic doesn't say what to do when you go in and they don't have the stew meat already prepackaged for you. what cut do you buy? roast? sirloin? either. what cut is the stir-fry cut? flank, sirloin. it is a good start though.

    Um ok. :huh:
    i like the pic. not bashing it. just not detailed enough for me. not here to offend or play the i know more than everyone else game.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    Easy method is the more in costs the more tender it will be. If you want to stir fry you need an expensive cut or it will be like rubber. Things like chuck and round need to be slow cooked to tenderize them.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Options
    that's a nice picture and a start, but books have been written on this subject. that's what i could write here. one thing the pic does not cover is you can buy a chuck from your local supermarket and one from the local organic farmer down the road and the one from the farmer will taste ten times better, cut like butter, and chew like fillet. i hate fillets, overpriced glorified cuts. give me a good roast or ribeye any day. the one from the supermarket will chew like rubber no matter what you do. taste will be bland. over fatty. there is more to it than just the cut. also the pic doesn't say what to do when you go in and they don't have the stew meat already prepackaged for you. what cut do you buy? roast? sirloin? either. what cut is the stir-fry cut? flank, sirloin. it is a good start though.

    Um ok. :huh:
    i like the pic. not bashing it. just not detailed enough for me. not here to offend or play the i know more than everyone else game.

    Good thing that it wasn't for you. :flowerforyou:
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    Lately, I've been cooking other things with beef and failing miserably. I don't think I'm buying the right cuts of meat for my recipes. Recently, I bought chuck steak for stir frying and that turned out too tough... even thought I took a tenderizing mallet and beat the meat for a good 15-20 minutes. I'm even more confused when it comes to whatever brisket is.

    Anyways, I'd appreciate any pointers.

    A great place to learn about the different cuts of beef and how to cook them:
    http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/zen_of_beef_cuts.html

    In regard to your chuck steak, you have to keep in mind that chuck is from the shoulder. It's filled with tendons and sinew. So it'll be tough if you don't either grind it into ground beef, or cook it low and slow to until it reaches higher temps to melt the tendons.
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
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    Chuck is fine for stir fry if you cut it small enough and cook it for only a short time. Indeed, for all cheaper cuts of beef, you want to cook either just a little bit or long and slow. Other than grinding it into burgers, I can't think of anything you would do with briscuit other than slow cook it.

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