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  • Feb 25, 2008, 03:02 AM
    Oneill474
    Affordable tender steaks
    I cannot afford a tender cut of beef. Occasionally Sirloin will be on sale.
    But rib eye, T -bone- porterhouse and those cuts of meat pass the Sirloin category are
    Out of my price range.

    Is there a steak below Sirloin. That is decently tender. I have tried other cuts
    But mainly they are stewing meats, not for pan frying.

    Any Suggestions??
  • Feb 28, 2008, 06:56 PM
    N0help4u
    I like chuck eye steaks but I don't see them many places.
    I also like what I call breakfast steaks. They are sliced really thin and I make steak hoagies with them. I HATE steak-ums and that is what most hoagie places seem to use anymore.
  • Mar 16, 2008, 02:50 PM
    Raymonator
    There are several cheaper cuts of meat that are real tasty and extremely tender depending on how you cook them. You mentioned pan frying, I don't think there is ANY cut of beef that will be enjoyable using the frying pan method... even filet mignon (also know as tender loin) but if that's your only method of cooking, this may help you a bit.
    There are a few exceptions however for this type of cooking. One is called the minute steak, which is usually a slice off the bottom round, passed through a tenderizer machine, that either picks it with hundreds of needles, or is passed through a wheeled chain type of tenderizing machine, that every large grocery store meat departments have. The problem with this type of steak, is that if you are planning on freezing it for a later time, it won't be very tasty or tender, reason being, all of the blood will melt out of the steak when you thaw it out, leaving for a very dry leather like steak. If you buy the minute steak on you way home from work, and plan to eat it that evening,(which is the best way to cook steak or roasts) then I think you'd be pretty impressed with the taste and tenderness even if it's pan fried. Some stores give their steaks a different name, so if you ask for a minute steak, they may not know what you're talking about, although an older butcher with several years under his belt would most likely know what it is you want. If not, just ask the butcher where you shop, for a bottom round steak ½" thick, and ask him if he can "pick" it or tenderize it with their tenderizing machine. They usually don't charge for doing this as it takes the hourly paid butcher about 3 minutes to do this.
    Now, you can also buy what is called an eye of the round, which is a beautiful round piece of meat, very red, and no fat hardly at all on it. The eye of the round is often cut into very paper thin slices for a Chinese Fondu. Some restaurants, also cut it up into 3/4 to 1" steaks, and tie a piece of bacon around it, and the name changes to Tournedos steak. I've even seen some restaurants sell it as Filet Mignon steak ( or tender loin steak) because in shape, the eye of the round does look very much like a tender loin, but it's much less expensive than tender loin, but they charge you the same price as a tender loin, which I find very dishonest and would never set foot in that particular restaurant again. So keep this in mind, if ever you order a filet mignot or tender loin steak in a restaurant, and it comes to you wrapped in bacon, you'll know right away that it's not the real thing. Tender loin or filet mignon has it's own beef fat around it and you can't pull it off like you can a piece of bacon with tooth picks inserted to keep it about the steak. Anyway, for home use, to enjoy the eye of the round steak, ask your butcher to slice a few steaks (they're round and about the size of a hockey puck once sliced) but beautifully deep red. Again, ask him to tenderize it for you. When you get home, wrap a piece of bacon around it and use tooth pics inserted on the sides to keep the bacon there. This is a great steak for a cheap price once tenderized. Now, 'm assuming here you only want to pan fry your steaks. I don't know if you have what I'm about to suggest or not, but if you don't, I strongly encourage you to buy one. I'm talking about a slow cooker. They're inexpensive as well, and can be purchased anywhere that sells toasters or electric frying pans etc.
    Place any of the choice cuts of beef mentioned above into the crock pot in the morning (even if the beef is still frozen hard as a rock) add an onion or whatever veggie you like, or none at all if you prefer, and then just add maybe a half inch of beef broth like Campbells or something like that which you can get at any super market. Turn your slow cooker on high, place the frozen beef and what ever inside, put the lid on it, and don't even think about until you get home that night. I can promise you, you will experience the most tasty, tender, steak, roast, or cubes of beef you have ever eaten. The slow cooker is extremely safe, and can be left unattended all day long, even on high it cooks extremely slow, which is why I like to add the liquid beef broth, for taste and peace of mind.
    Most slow cookers are made of tin or metal on the outside, and have a removable pottery type clay insert that fits in the cavity of the pot. Some are oval in shape, other are round, neither is better than the other, it's just a shape.
    Give it a try and let me know if you do. If you're not interested, all I can say is, you're missing out on a great way to cook inexpensive cuts of beef, that are extremely tasty and tender when cooked properly or slowly at low temperatures.
    Here are some lower end cuts you can look for :
    Bottom round (steak or roast)
    Eye of the round (steak or roast)
    Blade or Shoulder Chuck (steak or roast)
    Beef cubes (which is basically Blade cut into cubes)
    Cross Rib (not to be mistaken with Prime Rib)
    Flank steak (use to be inexpensive but is rising in price)
    Note: Any piece of meat that comes from the front portion of the animal, is much cheaper in price (not in flavor) than the rear section of the animal, with the exception of Prime Rib of course. Also note, if you were to buy a prime rib steak, and fry in a pan, chances are it would be as tough as leather. Restaurants cook a Prime Rib at very low oven temperatures and allow several hours to cook and baste.
    Hope this helped a bit.
  • Mar 17, 2008, 03:03 AM
    Oneill474
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Oneill474
    I cannot afford a tender cut of beef. Occasionally Sirloin will be on sale.
    but rib eye, T -bone- porterhouse and those cuts of meat pass the Sirloin category are
    out of my price range.

    Is there a steak below Sirloin. that is decently tender. I have tried other cuts
    but mainly they are stewing meats, not for pan frying.

    Any Suggestions???

    Thanks for the advice. Yesterday I purchased chuck 7 steak to make
    Pepper steak. Had to throw it out. Steak was so tough. It seems all
    These cheaper cuts are like stew meats, not for pan frying. I'll try your
    Suggestion. With the economy in a downturn, it looks like I'll be buying
    Cheap cuts of beef.
  • Mar 17, 2008, 03:54 AM
    Raymonator
    Using chuck is not recommended for a pepper steak. If a butcher recommended that to you, start shopping at another meat store. Instead, you should have used bottom round, or even top round if it's on special. However, keep in mind that even an expensive piece of meat, will be tough(er) by frying it in a pan like that. Often you'll see the steak curl or lift at the edges when frying in a pan. You can be sure if that happens, your steak will be as tough as boot leather. Cheaper cuts of beef, need to be cooked slowly, at low temperatures (250 to 300F). Invest is a crock pot also known as slow cooker, which are around 20 bucks. You will be absolutely amazed of the tenderness of even the cheapest cuts of beef will be. Works great for chicken and pork too.
    The ONLY time I use high heat for steaks, is when I am bbq'ing on propane or gas bbq, or on a Jen-Air kitchen grille. The idea is to sear the steak, keeping the juices inside. Depending on thickness and whether you like rare, medium or well done steaks, I would recommend buying a meat thermometer [Dollar stores have them] and insert the stem of the thermometer into the steak while bbq'ing until the needle has moved to the desired cookness marked on the round dial.
  • Mar 21, 2008, 05:31 PM
    twinkiedooter
    I take one or two bottom or top round roasts and put them in my crock pot adding just a cup of water and cook them on low all day or at least all day or overnight and then all day. I cannot stress enough just how lucious these roasts are. They literally fall apart. I then put them into plastic storage containers and freeze. When I want lunch or a quick dinner I thaw them out in a sauce pan with a lid on on a low setting. It tastes like I just made the roast.

    I have used every kind of cut of meat in my crock pot and I can tell you from experience that you would NOT have thrown out the chuck steaks as they would have cooked up just wonderfully in the crock pot and made a very tasty meal. Too bad you threw them out. You could have pre-cut them and cooked them on low and then when fully cooked made your pepper steak out of them.

    The trick to pan frying a steak is to keep adding a small amount of water as the steak frys in the pan. I make very juicy pan fried steaks. The steak must first be seared in the pan. The trick of the added water is wait until the water has almost evaporated and then add no more than a tablespoon or two and use a fork to move the steak around in the pan. My husband taught me this trick but he would use beer and make the best tasting steaks with the beer added to the steak when it was cooking a little at a time. Yum, very tasty. You might want to try this Ray also. An iron skillet also makes it taste better also.
  • Mar 23, 2008, 02:36 PM
    twinkiedooter
    Oh yes, I did forget one good kitchen utensil - the meat hammer. I used to use a meat hammer and pound the bejesus out of a steak. That would make the less tender cuts tender. Then I would gently fry them in the iron skillet like I mentioned above. No shoe leather in my kitchen ever!
  • May 22, 2008, 06:09 AM
    cecbo95
    First of all try to find an outlet for a choice grade of meat, not select. A butcher shop or I like Costco. Flank steak or skirt steak are my favorites, a little chewy but the flavor is the best. The bottom butt triangle (sometimes called the tri-tip) is also very nice. If you can sweet-talk a butcher into getting you a Hangar steak, you will be very happy but it may be cost prohibitive. A butcher may also be able to get you a top butt cap from the top butt sirloin, wonderful steak. Most of these cuts I mentioned are usually roasted whole and then sliced thinly, such as for London Broil.

    I know all of this because I teach this sort of thing at a local college.

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