The Different Types of Steak and Their Characteristics
Beef is an excellent source of protein, and moderate consumption can be recommended as part of a healthy diet. Animal protein typically contains all nine essential amino acids your body needs.
Eating a juicy steak is a great way to include beef in your diet. You can purchase several types of steak, each with its own qualities. But how do you know which one you’ll most likely enjoy?
If this is your dilemma, keep reading because we’re giving you a brief overview of some common steaks.
What to Look For in a Steak?
There is an art to buying the perfect steak. To pick the best one, there are several factors you should look at, such as:
Marbling
The steak’s fat content can be determined by the marbling you can see. You want a steak with thin marbling rather than large clumps of fat within the meat. Chunky fat will turn greasy and can affect the cooking of the steak, whereas light marbling will melt nicely and result in a juice, rich steak.
Flesh
The color of the flesh is a vital part of the selection process. You want a steak with a rich pink color. Steaks with a dark color, like deep red, may mean the meat is from an ordinary cow. This could be tasteless and tough.
What To Avoid
Knowing what to avoid is also an essential part of buying steaks. You want to avoid the following:
- Too much liquid in the packaging
- Any wetness or stickiness (you’re looking for moist)
- Large clumps of fat
- Dark color flesh
- Meat that’s been frozen and thawed
3 Best Types of Steak: Our Recommendations
Now that you know what to look for and avoid let’s dive into some of the best cuts of steak. Here are our favorites that you must try:
Filet Mignon
Filet mignon is one of the more expensive cuts of meat. It’s cylindrical and comes from the tenderloin muscle. Because the muscle doesn’t get used much, it’s a very tender steak cut.
They have almost no fat content, so you won’t see a lot of marbling in this cut. Due to this, they may be a little less flavorful than other steaks; however, the buttery texture more than makes up for any missing flavor.
Ribeye Steak
If you want to test your marbling expertise, a ribeye steak is a good one to go for when you want to cook a steak. This steak typically has a lot of marbling and should have a lot of flavor. A ribeye steak is also a bit more forgiving to new cooks as it can stand a little overcooking thanks to its high-fat content.
Strip Steak
This type of steak can come in a few variants. Some common ones are New York Strip, which is boneless, and Kansas City Strip, which comes with bone. This steak should have a decent amount of marbling, giving it a good flavor. Some may find this steak cut a little chewier, but still tender.
Never Have a Bad Steak Again
Choosing between different types of steak doesn’t have to be complicated. Knowing a few tricks of the trade can have you eyeballing out the tastiest cuts of meat with a bit of practice. Remember to look for marbling and pay attention to the color of the flesh. Avoid any meat that’s been sitting in its juices.
If this article has got your mouth watering, find more great ones like it in our Recipes section.
