The 5 best steak cuts, according to a butcher (ranked by taste and price)

Shopping for steak just got easier.

I was born and raised in Massachusetts, so I unfortunately missed the joys of shopping at Stew Leonard’s as a kid. Now a resident of Connecticut, I’m lucky enough to visit this wonderland of meat and dairy regularly.

For the uninitiated, Stew Leonard’s is a specialty grocery store in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey that holds the title of “The World’s Largest Dairy Store” from Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

With surprises around every corner, it might as well be Disney World for my kids, but I think it’s the best place on earth for a different reason: It has an incredibly wide selection of high-quality beef.

The cost of beef is going up, some might say exponentially. We eat steak at least one or two nights per week, and with a gaggle of growing kids, it’s getting pretty expensive to keep up with the demand.

I decided to reach out to the team at Stew Leonard’s to get their insight on the best cuts of steak and spoke with Rocco Ricciardi, store director at Stew Leonard’s Farmingdale, who was a butcher for eight years at the Yonkers location. I was happy to learn about a few cuts I hadn’t considered before.

The 5 Best Steak Cuts as Ranked by a Butcher

5. The Best Value: Sirloin

When it comes to value, Ricciardi recommends sirloin. “It’s a leaner cut, but it has a lot of flavor and is not as expensive as a ribeye or porterhouse. The trick is to not overcook it, so it’s great to throw on the grill for a quick weekday dinner.”

Sirloin comes from the rear of the cow, so it’s a big, tough muscle. That said, if you cook it correctly, you can get a really great steak for between $9 and $15 a pound.

4. The Most Versatile Cut: Skirt Steak

Next, we have skirt steak, which happens to be Ricciardi’s favorite. “It has a great flavor and cooks up fast,  just a couple of minutes on each side gets you to medium-rare. It also soaks up marinades really well. I love to serve it with chimichurri, but I will also slice it thin across the grain to put it on top of a salad.”

My family and I love it for taco night, too. The skirt steak comes from the diaphragm muscle, so it has a lot of tight fibers. The key is to slice it across the grain to keep it super tender. The national average currently ranges from $12 and $17 a pound.

3. The Most Underrated Cut: Flat Iron Steak

This is a cut I don’t usually cook at home, but thanks to Ricciardi’s advice, I’ll be adding it to my cart soon. “The flat iron is a total hidden gem,” he says. “Customers may skip it because they see the lower price tag and assume it’s a tough, cheap cut, but it’s a heavily marbled steak that’s very tender and has a great beefy flavor.”

The flat iron steak comes from the shoulder. It has a connective tissue seam running through it, but if you purchase it from a quality butcher, they will remove it, leaving a super tender and affordable cut of steak behind. Just ask your butcher if it’s been “seamed out” to be sure you’re getting a well-trimmed steak. The national average currently ranges between $13 and $20 a pound.

2. The Most Forgiving Cut: New York Strip

If you’re nervous about the hefty price tag that comes with the more expensive cuts of steak, I’m right there with you. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than watching $100 worth of steaks burn to a crisp due to a grill malfunction.

Flare-ups aside, the most forgiving cut of steak is the New York strip, according to Ricciardi. “If you’re new to cooking steak at home, start with a New York strip. Other cuts can be lumpy or tapered, but the New York strip is nice and uniform, so it cooks completely flat and at the exact same speed. You won’t end up with one side overdone and the other side raw in the middle.”

Of course, this is my kids’ favorite steak—they have expensive taste, just like mom! The national average currently ranges between $18 and $20 a pound. For me, even though it’s a bit more expensive than ribeye, I think it’s a better value. There is less fat and gristle, so I feel it stretches more when trying to feed a family.

1. The King of Flavor: Ribeye

Coming in on top is the ribeye, which is really a thing of beauty. Ricciardi agrees: “If you want the most flavor, you want a ribeye. It has the best natural marbling of any cut, and that’s what gives you that rich flavor that leaner cuts like a filet just can’t compete with. You can sear it in a cast-iron skillet or grill it, but it’s always going to stay juicy, tender, and flavorful.”

All that flavor comes with a hefty price tag, ranging between $17 and $22 a pound. Even though it’s more expensive, I prefer to get a thicker ribeye. That way, the fat has time to slowly render without the risk of the meat getting overcooked.

Read the original article on Simply Recipes