fat content of steak

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jacksonpt
jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I eat a lot of steak, mostly NY strip steaks. they are pretty lean through the bulk of the steak, but generally have some fat around the edges. I assume this is where most of the fat content comes from.

However... I'm a little anal about eating fat, so I trim my steaks REALLY lean, often times losing 1/4 or more of the total weight of the cut.

Any guesses about how much of the fat I'm eliminating by doing that? I can log a strip steak and it generally has around 20g of fat. I assume that's as sold, but I trim off the vast majority of the fat before eating... so can I knock that down to something like 8g?

I'm just trying to be more accurate when logging my meals.

Replies

  • JWeaser
    JWeaser Posts: 302
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    I have asked myself this question time and time again!! I love Ribeye which is the fattiest steak there is but I cut off ALL the fat and assumed the fat content on the USDA is if you eat it... would love to see the responses, better yet, how to calculate your favorite steak WITHOUT the fat!
  • corgifan
    corgifan Posts: 155 Member
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    Try searching for trimmed nutritional values. I'm not sure which one would be most accurate, but maybe try looking up several to get an idea of what most estimates say?

    Most estimates I've seen are about 55 calories/ounce and 2 g fat/ounce (1 saturated).
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
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    If I wanted to get crazy about it, i'd have to do each steak individually. Plop the steak on the scale, weigh it. Cut off the thick fat on the outsides and weigh that. Then estimate, based off of what you've trimmed from the outside, how much fat is left in the steak. It's completely an estimation. In the end, what matters is what your eating, not what your logging. Why not opt for a bottom sirloin steak or something that's much leaner, especially if you're worried about the fat content.
  • Skeith5
    Skeith5 Posts: 89 Member
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    Check out the USDA website. You can pull up nutrition information and they specify whether you are eating lean only or not. Of course there will still be some fat content, but it sounds like you eat your steak like my wife and I do.

    http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=17032

    They don't specify the different types of steak, but they do have different options for how it's trimmed and prepared.
  • epj78
    epj78 Posts: 643 Member
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    Totally depends on the marbling or the fat within the steak. Depending on the animal - the amount of fat in the marbling differs greatly not only from cut to cut but from animal to animal. Marbling is really what gives a really good steaks its flavor. So, a ribeye has a lot more marbling then a NY Strip. But figuring out what you cut off and what is left is a total guesstimate. The fat listed in most database is a guesstimate too - although usually pretty close due to USDA guidelines.

    Prime cuts will have the most marbling (hence the higher prices, marbling isn't easy to achieve and makes things really tasty); select cuts will have the least.

    Here is a good website on how to pick the most low fat versions of beef. http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/faqs/f/beeffaq.htm
  • grassette
    grassette Posts: 976 Member
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    They fatten up the beef in the feed lots so that the muscle is marbled with fat, so even though you might trim some off the edges, unless you are buying your beef privately straight off the range, the fat runs right through the steak itself, as well as along the edges. From what I've heard, beef that hasn't been fattened prior to slaughter is totally tough.

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