I dont eat beef myself, but for others i like grilling flank steak to serve with chimmichurri or salsa.

I think that with beef, you have to bite the bullet and cough the dosh. Entrecôte or côte. Serve a little beef and add other meats to minimalise the cost.

Funny, I was almost going to start a thread about ribeye steaks and how I just don’t get the appeal.

My inlaws brought a pile of them this weekend. I’ve been through it a few times already this summer, someone spending a small fortune on these only to have people cutting around all the fat in frustration. I said I wouldn’t play grill master, so my BIL grilled over three foot high flareups, my FIL asked if that’s normal, I said I have no idea. After dinner I grabbed all the fat scraps from everyone’s plates, picked off the meat, and had enough for the dog to where I skipped the can of wet food.

Last night I took three remaining steaks which weighed in over three pounds, trimmed the fat which got it down to just over two pounds, cubed them and made kebabs. Nice and tender, my family loved it. But as a steak, forget it.

Rant over.

My favorite steak tends to be the strip. A little more chew, good beef flavor, the fat is managable on one side. I typically trim before cooking but I know many object to that. Save money for a party and buy it whole and cut to your preferred thickness.

3 hours SV seems like a lot. I go for about an hour. No more than about 2 as that’s where I believe food safety becomes a concern at low temps.

Bone-in ribeye, preferably. And well marbled - not with big chunks of fat. I find it to be the most tender and flavorful. If marination is involved, I like flatiron or flank.

If I had a smoker, my go-to would be brisket........I LOVE brisket!! For now, I just pick it up already smoked and ready to go at my local smokehouse.

Beef brisket. Any piece of meat that's cooked quickly tastes the same to me. Doesn't matter if it's a NY Strip, a ribeye, or a hamburger. Beef brisket has a unique flavor that's dependent on the dry rub and wood.

Tri-tip and flank steak are favorites for me. Love the flavor of both. I have tri-tip marinating for dinner tonight.

Gardengal you got me thibking at least part of my prejudice is due to lesser quality beef.

I really like skirt steak, too.

Flat iron is a personal favorite and while I do really like skirt, it's too fatty/caloric for me. Tastes great though. I do love a t-bone.

For myself I prefer a well marbled rib steak. For company you can't go wrong with strip loin for taste, tenderness & cost. I have been unlucky serving tough & tasteless sirloin steak too many times 😕.

So I’m not alone in my dis-preference for sirloin! It is a troublesome cut and I think in future I’ll counsel SWMBO to avoid it.

In general, I struggle to grill a good steak. My goal is always a crusty charry exterior with a rare-to-nearly-raw interior. My grill simply doesn’t get hot enough to do that. At best, if I choose thick steaks, part-freeze them, heat the grill as much as it will go, then slap the steaks down on the hottest part, and even drizzle enough oil to get a charring flareup, I can sort of get a good result. But usually not.

So my favorite cuts for the grill are flank, skirt, or bavette. Sliced thinly across the grain, these are tender enough even after being grilled to a little crusty.

As for ribeye, they are spendy enough, by my standards, that I‘d much rather sous vide and pan-sear the $50 or so of meat for a group, then toss them on the grill just long enough to get a hint of grill marks. Yes, it’s cheating.

John still-a-HU Liu

DH likes flank or flat iron, I don't mind either but like rib eye too. We'll grill chuck eye. I like the flavor and the price is great. (ok, not as great lately but still better than rib eye expense) Medium rare works well for them.

The only time I've enjoyed sirloin is when a local store was offering canadian kobe sirloin. Discounted somewhat regularly. They were quite good. The chain closed our branch and no one else has had them locally.

Go figure that I'd be the odd one out, sirloin is actually one of my favorite steaks. A bit less tender, but more flavor.

Like FOAS, I don't get the appeal of ribeye at all, or tenderloin either, for that matter. Tenderloin is tender but tasteless unless you marinate or sauce it. Ribeye tends to be too fatty/greasy for my taste.

If you want smoked beef, I agree that brisket is perfect, but smoked brisket is not a steak, it needs hours, not cooking while guests wait.

Annie

My favorite is rib eye, but the grade makes a huge difference with any steak. We usually get beef from a relative that raises beef, but if I buy in a store I get prime.

Another sirloion lover here.....or NY strip.

And agree rib steaks are over rated....but there is a "thing" currently with a hatchet steak...meh.

Brisket and skirt steak are different animals....as is a flank steak.

I have marinated a 3 inch thick piece of chuck and grilled medium rare and found it delicious. But this is where the quality of the beef is important as it can be tough.

And tenderloin can be wonderful....Back when we tailgated at Football games with others and had sort of a "can you top this" thing going, my husband would buy a "chub" center cut of the tenderloin about 4 pounds,slip slivers of garlic into it, and rub with some magic stuff and grill it medium rare, chill and at the tail gate slice it for sandwiches on my home made buns.

$50 bill with horseradish

At the prices of beef right now, I couldn't afford steaks for a party! It would be burgers!

If I was loaded and could afford steaks, probably NY Strip because it's tender enough without all the fat of rib eyes.

For personal like, we like tenderloins the best.

Beef is about $5 a lb more than it normally is. I can imagine that your SO looked at steaks being $15 a lb and opted for the more reasonably priced, $10 a lb sirloins. I would not grill sirloin for guests, it's way too tough. I will make sirloin for myself on a skillet for a quick lunch meal if I'm in a hurry. My husband cannot even chew sirloin. HA!

What the heck does SWMBO mean anyway?

I like rib eyes and tenderloins.

SWMBO-She Who Must Be Obeyed.

Ribeye closely followed by KC strips. Sear both sides for one minute on high heat and then move to indirect heat.

John Liu - if you have trouble getting a char crust you should try one of the Char Crust dry rubs. Guaranteed to get a good crust, seal in the juices, and very good flavor. I've only used the Hickory and the Hickory/Molasses rubs but they have a few others.

Char crust

Like Annie and a few others, we raise a small herd of beef cattle. We started with all red Herefords but after breeding them with a Black Angus bull most of the offspring are now Black Baldies. We currently have 2 steer that have an appointment with the Amish butcher in October. Good thing because I am just about out of steaks except sirloin which I only use for fajitas, chinese, and kabobs.

I know I am strange. I don't believe in marbling in beef.

I believe marbling in beef is expensive, I also believe that a cardiologist is even more expensive.

I like hanger steak. Not a very popular cut of meat, so it's relatively not that expensive. We all know it is tender if cooked properly and it's very flavorful even it has basically 0 "marbling".

dcarch

Hanger steak with outside fat removed

No marbling

Look forward to a nice dinner for tomorrow

I agree hanger steak is delicious but can be hard to find since there's only one per animal. I've heard butchers like to put them away for themselves. We've ordered hanger from a local butcher shop and it's expensive.

dcarch - That membrane down the middle looks tough as he!!. Do you cut it out before cooking or eat around it?

I grilled two 12 ounce filet mignons this weekend. They were out of this world. Definitely my favorite. But certainly not for a cookout LOL! I'd go with burgers! :-)

Those are some very large filets Chessie. They must have been 2.5"+ thick! Did you butterfly them?

Yeah, you would have to take out a loan if you were feeding them to a crowd.

They were about 2" thick, probably a bit more than that after grilling as they do tend to plump up a bit. Absolutely wonderful too. No I did not butterfly them - and they were perfect. I am lucky to have family in the cattle raising business. It is such good beef. It cooks faster than what I get from the grocery store - a lot fresher and none of whatever processing they do for commercial beef.

Sirloin is fantastic for meatloaf. :) It's lean without being tough or soft. :)

Delmonicos would me my choice for steaks. That's like New York but with the bone on.

I agree with the tenderloin but some people don't appreciate the flavor of lean beef. Hm.... No, I mean for barbecue, with al the lovely outdoor flavors of the wood. Plain ol' gas grill does nothing for it.

Best yet is lamb riblets. If you can find them...

Can't stand lamb. Beef or pork or chicken for me.

By the way., the term "delmonico" doesn't mean much in the way of a specific cut. Ribeye is probably the cut that you are referring to.

"LoneJack Zn 6a, KC dcarch - That membrane down the middle looks tough as he!!. Do you cut it out before cooking or eat around it?

That layer of gristle/ligament is indeed very tough. But I don't throw it away. I cut it out before serving and save it for making beans. Under pressure cooker, that becomes very tender and delicious.

dcarch

"---By the way., the term "delmonico" doesn't mean much in the way of a specific cut. Ribeye is probably the cut that you are referring to.---"

I ate at Delmonico restaurant (NYC) many times. They told me "It originated between 1840 and 1850 as the house cut at Delmonico's Restaurant"

dcarch

I actually enjoy the rinds and veins of fat

from a ribeye or similar cut. However, I can’t eat large amounts of fat anymore; my gallbladder rears up and smites me. The days of big slabs of fat pork belly are in the past for me.

John NoFat-HU Liu

"I eat at Delmonico restaurant (NYC) many times. They told me "It originated between 1840 and 1850 as the house cut at Delmonico's Restaurant"

Exactly why it's not an actual recognized cut. Any restaurant can serve a steak and and give it any name they wish. That is what happened with Delmonicos.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-a-delmonico-steak-995643

Well, Delmonico is what the butcher called them all through my youth, and what it said in California restaurant menus, so Delmonico they remain in my house. Y'all can argue about it to your hears' contents. :D

My preferred is Keens and PeterLugers but have never turned down a good NYC steak house.

Back on topic, i don't recall ever grilling prime steak for a dinner party. We usually do a mixed grill for 6-10. Seafood apps, then raw salad sides with the protein. Maybe a warm veg/salad.

Probably a big fat t-bone for just 4...including us. I'm so familiar i can't screw it up the way i go about it. Have neve done that but would probably be my choice.

Important to visit the true butcher to get what i want. Do not want to grill my guests ahead of time what they prefer. A quality steak is a steak cooked properly. Dry brined.

I only sous vide tough cuts for casuals like a london broil. It can be good. Sliced paper thin with a good sear.

Pork shoulder MomofukuBoSsam, Ribs, smoked chikens, brisket... are most often on our list. With a smoked shrimp/scallop/salmon prequel. Most of our close friends do not smoke/grill much or never. They all have cast iron steaks, burgers, dogs, salsa, avocado, humus, chips and dips with teen children at home...so we avoid that common script.

T-bone might be a good choice. 2 pounds, 30 bucks. This is a pic from WholeFoods. We don't care for the tenderlion but some like it like the 'boneless-chiken-breast-white-meat-folk'. 😂

Way too much steak for us but we like to be generous for friends. I like to hear "we are so full, thank you for a wonderful meal"...i like to send my guests home with a to-go brunch salad meal for the next day. (if they want it but most do)

No one is arguing about it. Was simply trying to offer information. I used to think the same as you.

sleevendog - when you have a T-bone or Porterhouse you are having a strip steak on one side of the bone and a tenderloin (fillet mignon) on the other side. But I may have misunderstood what you said about not caring for the tenderloin.

Yes i know that. I wasn't clear. I meant for guests, say a party of four, (including us), a two pound t-bone would be generous cut and served as above. As long as i purchase from the true butcher, i can get it thick cut and confident it will be cooked properly. We do not eat big portions. aprox 3.2 oz for a burger and 3-4 oz for NY strip. (i get 5 burgers from a pound)

This thread brought up a mistake dinner party. A couple years ago we had close friends over for a lenghty 3 hour+ social casual meal, muliple courses. Commercial fisherman, big meat and potato lovers. (think the DeadliestCatch). Hilariously unfiltered potty mouth. A half dozen shared and individual appitizers, not tweezer portions. Cod cakes, cheeks, tongues, moose meatballs, king crab seafood salad. Mini lobster rolls. Fresh scallops from a neighbor. We caught the cod and were prepping to leave the island after a long holiday so had too much food. They had gifted us the moose and a big box of king crab. I had gifted them, as i do every year, a big box of Jersey and heirloom tomatoes from NY.

Not really a mistake, but i must have mentioned a 'steak' dinner invitation. I can't re-peat what he said exactly but it included 'itty-bitty-two-bite'. Hilarious.

They can't get good tomatoes or prime thick NY strip steak.

This is how i prep it for us. Small portions and hard to overcook while getting a good sear being so thick. I had had enough food by that point. A 2-3 pound t-bone off the grill served platter style would be a generous steak dinner. He would get his fill. They both like tenderloin or any good quality steak. I should take up a big t-bone next trip, 😂. Fair trade for a 20lb box of king crab.

The good end trimmings go in our burger grind mix and the other bits go in the pup food.

Now, this is a steak meal for guests. Just saw this on another cooking forum. AnnT did post here in the past but ran into issues. I did a screen save to give credit. She would not mind...

Before even zooming in to read, I thought, ”That doesn’t look like a feast for guests, that looks like breakfast for Moe!”

So sweet, right?. A few years between them in age, maybe 12-15?, Then via a blog scenerio diary... Moe is not a kitchen person...she runs that very well.

Just nice to see her posts. Killer on point just about anything... in the steak and potato and bread dealio. Nothing wrong with breakfast for dinner, or steak and potato for breakfast?

I like the NY strip with the bone.