A cheap tender cut of meat!

[Guest guest]

Here is a cheap cut of meat that is already tender! I picked this up

from www.garynorth.com.

It's called the flat iron steak.

Here is a report from a butcher.

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Flat Iron Steak, hype or heart?

The Flat Iron steak. You see and hear about it in TGI Friday and

Chili's commercials. You've seen it on some 1 and 2 star restaurant

menus lately. What is it? Why haven't we heard about it before now? Is

it a worthwhile cut of meat? I'm going to answer all of these

questions.

What it is: The Flat Iron steak is a relatively new cut of steak. It

is rather untraditional, as it takes a defter touch while cutting,

cooking, and serving. Also, because of the anatomy , there are only 2

to 4 flat iron steaks per head of cattle, so butchers didn't

traditionally place these cuts in the meat case, as there wouldn't be

enough to display.

More specifically, the Flat Iron is from the Top Blade, which is off

the shoulder of the animal. Here is a boneless shoulder, the top blade

is the part that has been removed and is next to it.

Normally this muscle is cross-cut into top blade steaks. However,

these steaks are tough and full of connective tissues (gristle).

Instead, Flat Irons are cut from the two layers of the top blade and

have all of that connective tissue removed. When sliced thin, on the

bias, incredible marbling is apparent.

Why haven't we heard about this cut until now?: Well, as previously

mentioned, this is an non-traditional cut. But, in 2002, the National

Cattleman's Assc. used the Checkoff Program, (a very cool program

itself) to commission a muscle profiling study. In this study between

NCBA's Center for Research and Technical Services in partnership with

the University of Florida and the University of Nebraska where every

major muscle of the animal was analyzed separately for flavor and

tenderness. The reason behind commissioning this study was to find

better, more efficient cuts from the Chuck and the Round for both

retail and food service uses. The results were pretty surprising. One

of the most surprising things the study found was that the Flat Iron

is in fact, the second most tender cut of meat from the steer, after

the tenderloin. This cut then became the center star in a new

promotional push by the NCA entitled " Value Cuts " .

Is it a worthwhile cut of meat? The Flat Iron is, in this butcher's

mind, one of the most versatile pieces of beef. It takes to a marinade

like no other, it's tender beyond belief, and you can cook it with

much success in many methods. Plus, it's cheap. Since it is from the

shoulder, it can be found for as little as $3/lb here in the Midwest,

and probably not much more than that elsewhere. You can grill it, use

if for stirfry meat, use it for fajitas, braise it, fanfry it. Really,

it is a great little cut that hopefully you will want to go out and

try. If your butcher doesn't carry it, ask them to do some for you. IF

they dont know how, refer them to the NCA's site, beef.org, or explain

to them what I just showed. It will be worth your time.

http://confessionsofabutcher.blogspot.com/2005/12/flat-iron-steak-hype-or-heart.\

html

Here is the post.

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The flat iron or top blade steak is a very cheap cut of beef and had

been thought to be fit mostly for stewing due to the fact that it

contains so much connective tissue or gristle. However, the National

Cattleman's Assoc. commissioned a study to maximize the best use and

value of a side of beef and the flat iron steak was developed by

specifically removing this connective tissue.

Many stores carry this cut but often do not remove the " shoe leather "

gristle. Safeway stores have a nation-wide policy of custom cutting

your meat if requested....here is what to do: go up to the meat

counter and tell the butcher that you want to purchase all of the flat

iron steaks from one of the plastic delivery packs that the store

receives from its processing plant...this pack weighs about 9 lbs. In

it about 5 1/2 to 6 lbs of flat iron steaks are available. Tell the

butcher that you want to have the aforementioned connective tissue

removed -this will take about 15 minutes- and I have never been

charged for the trim waste. My Safeway charges $4.49 per pound

prepackaged but charged me $2.99 per pound because I purchased the

whole bundle and I wasn't obligated to buy the remaining 3 lbs of meat

from the shoulder.

This all amounts to about $2.00 per adult serving for the tenderest

cut of beef excepting the tenderloin.

Cook on the grill or broiler for 8 - 10 minutes and try not to cook

past medium...simple marinade of olive oil and Kikoman an hour before.

__________

--

" We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever

spent before, and it does not work... I say after eight years of this

administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started

-- and an enormous debt to boot. "

- Henry Morgenthau (FDR's Treasury Secretary)