Slumming With Chuck Steaks

I’ve always had a preference for chuck when it comes to ground meat, because I like the lean to fat ratio. And although I’ve for a long time known about so called mock tenders, I have never had chuck as a steak. I recently found a cut of chuck steak that more resembles a ribeye than filet. I grilled them twice in the last couple of weeks and think they are delicious, at an almost give away price. They are a little chewy but that for me is desirable and the flavor leaves little to be desired. Worth a try.

Really not good for grilling unless you grind it up. Best for braising.

There is a cut that is technically part of the chuck but is only a saw blade’s width away from the rib, the chuck eye steak. IMO, it’s just as tender as a rib eye, but the muscle groups are smaller, thus the steak itself is on the small side. It grills up as a nice steak, if you can find one with proper marbling.

Also, flat iron comes from the chuck as well.

I’ve recently turned to buying less expensive steak cuts of washugyu beef at our local Japanese butcher and chuck roll, together with flatiron tips cuts, have been house (and guests) favorites. Only because we truly prefer these beefier cuts.

I find the much more expensive ribeye, strip and sirloin as having just too much marbling that they started to get more cloying to the taste with every bite; whereas the beefier, yet still tender and tasty flatiron and chucks have just the right amount of fat marbling to balance well with the marbling. The washugyu chucks and the flatiron tips make very fine grilling steaks.

Edited: corrected for flatiron tips (not flank as originally poste).

Flank has always been a favorite of mine, but chuck just sees too much action and has too much connective tissue that just tightens up and toughens when cooked over direct heat. Ymmv, of course.

Chuck eye is OK in a pinch.

When I was a kid we would have steak once in a while. Maybe once a month or two. It was a chuck steak that my mom would tenderize with a fork, Adolph’s Meat Tenderizer and Italian salad dressing.

These days I buy chuck to grind and that’s about it.

The beefy, tender flatiron steak, perfect for grilling, is cut from the chuck.

Back when money was really tight, we used to buy the thickest 7-bone chuck roasts we could find. We cut out the flatiron and seared it just like any steak. Really good especially with eggs for breakfast. We separated the chuck eye from the under blade and used the chuck eye sliced and sautéed and braised everything else. Sometimes we just braised everything beneath the blade. We bought in bulk and froze stuff for later. Plenty of good meat if you cook it properly.

AKA Jewish Tender. Since the true tenderloin isn’t kosher, this cut was known in the trades as a Jewish Tender. Now poiitically corrected to mock tender.

Yep, that whole back half of the animal thing is SUCH a frustrating aspect of Kashrut.

I love chuck (the more fat the better), but not as a steak. A favorite recipe of mine learned at my mother’s knee (a great Jewish cook): as a ragu over pasta, as follows. Cut 2-3 pounds in 1 to 2 inch cubes and brown in large pan. Add to large can of chopped plum tomatoes and a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste. In sauce, add half a diced green pepper, a diced onion, a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, and a few pepper flakes. Last, add mushrooms, a lot. Either whole button or large quartered. Simmer for 4-5 hours until meat is tender but retains its shape. Adjust seasoning and ingredients to taste. Serve over pasta or on a good crusty Italian roll. A favorite sunday winter dinner of mine. Tha aroma while cooking is heavenly.

My family has fallen in love with flat iron steaks. My supermarket sells them in a cryovac package – usually about 1.5 pounds. I salt the meat liberally and put it on a wire rack in the fridge a day ahead of time. I take it out a couple of hours ahead of cooking to get the chill out of it. Then I sear on as hot a grill as I can get. Once I rest the meat I cut it against the grain. It is consistently one of the most flavorful and juiciest cuts of meat. I make a lot of NY strips and ribeyes at home but my kids prefer the flat iron.

The store had them for $3.99/lb (half price) this weekend. I helped myself to seven of them. They were cheaper than ground beef!

I’ve been grilling Chuck Eye steaks for years. 1/3 the cost of Ribeye and from the same muscle group. You only get 4 real steaks from each animal. They were about $2.99 lb just a few years ago but have jumped to $6.49 with the recent popularity.

We had chuck steak/chuck roast a lot when I was a kid. Couldn’t afford the other cuts. It usually wound up in the pressure cooker. When it was done, we called it pot roast. My mother also had a couple of other long lost recipes for turning chuck steak/chuck roast into something edible.

I have noticed Flat Iron prices have gone way up here compared to a year ago.

Chuck steaks are showing up in BBQ discussions. Folks are applying a beef rub of choice, smoking them at 275 or so until “probe tender” and then slicing them up to serve on sandwiches and report great results. I haven’t tried it. If going to the trouble to smoke something, I would just as soon buy a nice packer.

I did a beefsteak on my deck this weekend. This consisted of me simply cooking different cuts of beef, putting them on a cutting board, slicing them and letting my guests enjoy with their fingers. No utensils or salads are allowed at a beefsteak. Anyway, my first course was chuck sliders. I forgot to get the butcher to give me some beef fat so instead I ground the three pound chuck roast along with a frozen stick of butter. I’m not 100% sure, but those may have been the tastiest, juiciest burgers I’ve ever had. All I added was a bit of kosher salt and some cheddar. Served, beefsteak style, on slices of French bread.

I have only had chuck braised, and find it superior to round roasts. YUM!!

I’ve done 48-hour sous vide chuck before. It tenderizes the meat so much that after you sear it, it ends up more like a ribeye than a chuck steak. It’s a great option if you want to save a lot of money and you have the time.