Why the Way You Cut Your Meat Can Make a Huge Difference
You probably know that cutting meat against the fiber will ensure it is never chewy or difficult to eat. America’s Test Kitchen has tested this rule by offering several so-called “tough” and “tender” cuts of meat. In short, they found that cutting can make any cut easier to chew, no matter how hard or soft.
The full videos tell the story, but they point out that while most of us know that the internal cooking temperature of meat and the cut itself can play a role in how tender or tough the meat will be when it hits the plate, how you cut it when you serve – or when you cook – also plays a big role. To test this, they took a flank steak (usually characterized as “tough” and critical for proper cutting) and strip fillets (usually “tender”, since this is where the New York strip comes from), cooked them at 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54 degrees Celsius). ). They then used a CT3 Texture Analyzer to measure how much force it took to “bite” the meat.
They found, of course, that the side steak, when cut with the grain rather than the opponent, required four times the force to “bite” about 5mm into the meat. This is a huge change when it comes to mouthfeel and chewiness, and a great reason to fight grain. Well, in fact, they found that the same could be said for the traditionally “tender” cuts – while the flank was definitely stiffer when cut with grain than the strip, when cut along the grain, they were both about the same tenderness. … This doesn’t mean you can end up and replace the entire strip with a well-cooked, well-cut sidewall, but it does mean there shouldn’t be any “hard” cuts – as long as you cook them well and cut well when serving. their.
Science: How To Cut A Steak | Illustrated chef