The best thickness for a steak

[AlFulchino]

What is the consensus of this wise body for the thickness of your favorite steaks?

I have just rounded up my first two bulls, both about two weeks short of a year old...they are sitting in a small pen by the side of my house and i plan on loading them tomorrow..i have my choice w the usda butcher of how thick to have the steaks cut......what are your thoughts and reasons on the size.thickness of raw steak cuts for the prime cuts of meat?

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

depends on how much you like to eat and how rare or well you like them cooked.
I have a friend who is a butcher and we have come the the liking of 1" to 1 1/4" for a porterhouse and ribeye. Wife and I both like them med rare so this works out well to split one. If you like them on the rarer side go thicker or thinner if you like them more on the well done side... or if you eat a lot go thicker..... but I'll beat ya if you burn it....
Just my thoughts but thats what you asked for

 

[Sirs]

I agree with Brew on about 1" to 1 1/4" or even 1 1/2" if it is marbled good. me and the wife like them abit on the thicker side we like them about mid way between rare and med. rare. If its real lean meat and you like it rare cut it thin otherwise you'll burn it to get center even cool.

 

[Runningwolf]

I agree 100% with the above post. I like my steaks also Med rare. But like he said if you like them well done you might want to go a bit thinner. Not part of your question, but before I grill them I always coat them with olive oil before seasoning them. This makes a big difference in taste and keeping them moist locking in the flavor, and it's healthier.

 

[Wade E]

I like them right at 3/4" myself. You can nail them on high on the grill taht way and get a good char and still take them off fairly quickly without over cooking the outside to try and get the inside cooked medium. If you have a great grill like IBGlowin you may not have this problem but I dont have a super grill. Mine always tends to flare up so short and high is kind of how mine has to cook to get the best results.

 

[Randoneur]

I like them 3/4 - 1 and no more - I like them med - well.

 

[AlFulchino]

thank you for the replies so far.....i am filling the cut sheet out and find myself by replies here and some online research to be raising the cut thickness of some of the more expensive cuts ( 1-1.5 inches) and going 3/4-1" on others...i was originally 3/4 inch straight down the line

some of the tougher meats will be roast and crock pot material and a lot of hamburger

 

[Flem]

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 on most. Maybe a little thicker on the filet mignon.

 

[ffemt128]

1-1 1/2" and yes the Filet Mignot needs to be about 2+" I like them cooked Rare - Med Rare. You know, brown on the outside and mooing on the inside....

 

[milbrosa]

I dry age subprimal strip loins, ribeye, and sirloin. I've settled on 1 inch and medium rare for 90% of the steaks I cook.

I'll have the butcher cut me a 2 inch thick high quality porterhouse occasionally and grill it rare. Serves 2 people at least, and the dog.

 

[Rocky]

I realize that I am deep into the minority on this, but I lke my steaks sliced THINLY, about 1/2" or so. To me the best taste from the steak is from the caramelization that occurs on the surface of the meat. The thinner the cut, the more surface area per unit weight, ergo, the more good taste (at least to me). Also, I prefer my steak prepared in a frying pan with olive oil, garlic and lots of black pepper rubbed onto the meat. I cook at high temperature, searing both sides for about two minutes each. Fry up some onions and mushrooms and deglaze with a good red wine and pour this over the steaks. Yummo!

 

[grapeman]

Rocky that is one of my favorite ways to preapare a steak also only I carmelize the onion and mushrooms and pour in about 2-3 cups of a nice red wine. Reduce that down just a touch and then add the seared steaks to that pan until done (not long). That infuses the steak with the red wine, onion and pepper flavors. Take the steak out and plate it. Continue to reduce the wine mixture to make a nice reduced glazing and pour over the steaks when like a syrup.

But then again a nice inch thick steak on the grill is great too.

One question for Al though. Did you leave the bulls uncut and if so why? I don't recall from your original posts when you got the bulls. I always found steers to be more tender than the bulls, even when young.

 

[AlFulchino]

Thanks for the continuing comments and opinions...very helpful....
Rich, this question you raise of bull or steer was the first thing i raised to the farmer that i purchased my first two bull calves.....he stated that at a yr or under there was no difference and that for a short period the castration wound would slow the growth down a tad....since then i have scoured the internet and queried local beef growers.....the over all consensus minus a few people on the internet is that butchered before 18 months keeps things very tender and flavorfull. Additionally, wwhile one of the first two is a hereford, the second is a jersey...the jersey is known as one of the tastiest breeds around....i wont get the lbs that i get from the hereford but i have asked the two not to be mixed and we have filled out seperate cut sheets....this will be the one thing out of my control, but to have it usda certified and saleable, i have to do this...maybe next yr i will do one myself, i have four more bulls and one is a jersey....so maybe will do that myself and keep

Rocky thanks for you ideas on a thin cut...you said hi heat....how high can you get in a frying pan?

FFment, i keep upping the cut of the filet and tenderloin

Milbrosa do you see a drastic difference in dry aging flavor?

 

[AlFulchino]

hormone implants in the steers you buy

http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/X6533E/X6533E01.htm

this link is to a study done in Norway that tells the tale of how steers in the US are given implants and or food additives to replace natural hormones because otherwise there is a loss in FCE (food conversion ratio) and overall meat gain

----

the overall main reason that i have come to learn about the need for castration is to curtail fighting and injury in pens and feedlots, but this article above is saying that to get the meat production back up in terms of dollars spend on feed that one must give the steers a hormone replacement

i was also wondering why this subject is really not discussed w other animals...when i butchered my chickens pheasants and turkeys the thought never occurred to me whether castration was an issue, and i am now wondering whether this issue is thought of w deer/elk etc hunters

i guess i will know in about a month

 

[grapeman]

Good points Al. I always used to have them cut or crimped while young to minimize wound recovery time. As long as you butcher them at that young age it should be good. I have noted puberty in bulls begin at 8 or 9 months, but like humans it can vary some by region, feed, etc. I love raising my own when I can because I have control over what that animal eats.

Best of luck with it. I can taste it from here! Yummmmmmm

 

[JohnT]

Make mine a 2.5 inch thick porterhouse (cooked a perfect medium)!

 

[winemaker_3352]

1-1 1/2" and yes the Filet Mignot needs to be about 2+" I like them cooked Rare - Med Rare. You know, brown on the outside and mooing on the inside....

Absolutely!! That is how I love my steaks. Ditto to this!!

 

[AlFulchino]

just backed the trailer up to the small corral.....lunch and a haircut and then i have to entice them up a ramp without making mincemeat out of me

 

[almargita]

I may be the odd ball, but we only eat our steaks well done..... Don't care if the so-called experts & chiefs say thats not the way to eat them, its the way we like them! If they are too thick, then I butterfly them to make them easier to get well done, And don't say to just buy hamburger, If I like a good steak burned, so be it!! Bring a bloddy steak to me & I'll throw up on your plate............

Al

 

[AlFulchino]

no reason to apologize Al...its the reason i asked the question....i know a lot of people like you....they want to see no blood...almost no juice etc

the whole size of the cut thing in my mind also needs to be tied to ones own ability to apply heat quickly to seal in flavor

by the way...both bulls walked up the ramp with out much trouble...perhaps because they have been handled so much, i dont know...just happy to have it done...they spend the night in the trailer and around 6 or 7 i will have them on the road