In praise of Chuck - - steak.

[flamin lib]

TygrBright's post re: grills lead me to inspriation.

There’s beef and there’s beef. Once you get past the tenderloin, rib-eye and T-bones there’s a whole lotta’ cow still out there.

For me sirloin is way over-rated, too lean. Makes a pretty good carpccio with pepper, basil and olive oil or maybe a fair steak tartare with a simple soy marinade but too lean to carry much flavor. There’s a famous Steak and (some kinda’ malt beverage) restaurant that’s made a signature of it. Somebody’s Club or somethin’ like it. It’s all in the marinade: ¼ cup soy, ¼ cup mild vinegar, a cup of orange juice and one of 7-Up or similar lemon/lime soda. Overnight and then on a really hot grill. I think this will probably work with top round too, it’s way too lean to carry much flavor and tough to boot. Needs all the help it can get. Never over-cook a non-prime cut unless yer leavin' in in the crock pot overnight.

Me, I’m likin’ some chuck steak. Comes from high off the shoulder and has done a lot of work so it’s not the most tender cut around but it has a lot of marbling to spread a smidgen of fat throughout. You can marinate it like that famous steak above or try soy, prepared mustard, citrus of your choice (grapefruit has a lot of natural tenderizer along with the acid) and some herbs. For me, just sprinkle it liberally (everything I do is liberal) with a prepared meat tenderizer and onion powder then let it set for ‘ bout 4 hours.

Now to cook red meat that’s to eat with a fork and knife I like to make it hot-n-fast. Charcoal with a 1500 f temp for three minutes on each side and let it rest for ‘bout 10 minutes. If it ain’t flamin’, you ain’t cookin’. Most important part is lettin’ it rest so’s the juices can re-distribute. Failing that, do it on the stovetop in a really hot skillet with a smidgen of bacon fat. Any solid fat will do; butter, lard or what have you. ‘S been my s’perience that solid, high cholesterol saturated fat caramelizes the meat best. Ya' know what they say: eat right, exercise and die anyway. Three minutes on each side and let it rest. Hell, yer leavin’ all the fat in the skillet anyway (‘cept for the stuff that carries flavor).

Yep, a chuck steak is ‘bout as good as it gets. Had enough work to store a lot of flavor, some fat to carry it and still somethin’ you can serve proudly with a baked ‘tater and nothin’ else. And you can get it for $2.50 a pound on sale.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Our Safeway sells a cut called chuck eye steak. It is my absolute favorite, no matter the price.

The fact that the price is under 4 bux a pound make sit even more attractive!

It is tender. It is tasty. It is also ugly. Butt ugly. It is the convergence of four muscles and has a big seam right through the middle of it.

But it has this great fat around it. The kind of fat that mostly melts and leaves you with that wonderfully crispy, tasty goodness you always hope for.

Chuck .... I couldn't agree with you more.

[Kali]

2. ssshhhhh don't tell anybody or it will go the way of flank steak

an ethnic foods-throw away cut now often selling for more than fillet!

[The empressof all]

3. There is a cut from the chuck called Flat Iron

IMO, it's the best steak you can get for a reasonable price in the grocery store. Tasty and full of flavor yet cut to be tender and moist. It's easy to grill and is tasty with just salt and pepper.

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/flatironsteak.htm

They are usually sold in little kryovac packages in the meat section. I usually don't care for beef as much after it's been frozen but these freeze real well without damage to the flavor. I always buy a few when they are on sale.

[eleny]

4. I like to grind chuck for the best tasting hamburgers

According to Julia Child, the chuck gets a lot of the blood in it when the carcass is hung upside down during the processing of the animal. This helps to give it good flavor.

[flamin lib]

5. I hadn't though of the blood drainage thing, but it sort of makes sense.

I grind chuck for burgers too. The fat ratio is just about perfect and if you select the roast and hae the butcher grind it-or do it yourself-you can have those medium rare burgers without concern for e coli.

[NMDemDist2]

6. I found out what my 'mystery' meat cut was today, turns out it is a Chuck

they called it a shoulder steak

in case you missed the thread it's here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=236&topic_id=44012&mesg_id=44012

and here it is, a Chuck Shoulder roast on the grill