The Five Best Steaks You Have Never Tried

The world of beef steaks is a complex assortment of bovine anatomy. There are the steaks that most people have heard of, cuts like the Ribeye, Sirloin, New York Strip and Filet Mignon, even if they do not know the exact differences between them. There are an equal number of steaks that are absolutely amazing that most people don’t even know exist!

Let’s take a look at some of the lesser known steaks:

Teres Major

The Teres Major is a steak that is cut from the chuck subprimal and there are only two of these steaks per cow. The entire steak typically weighs right around a pound and is consistently rated as the second most tender steak available only behind the filet.

The Teres Major is incredibly tender, has great flavor and is typically priced at least half as expensive as the only slightly more tender filet. This steak might just be the best balance between quality and price and if you want to eat like a King for the price of a Prince then ask your butcher to find you some!

This steak looks like a small tenderloin and is typically either cooked whole with indirect heat or sliced into medallions and cooked quickly over searing high heat.

Harvesting the Teres Major from the chuck is not an easy process and requires skilled knife work from a trained butcher. Many big chain supermarkets and meat processors don’t feel it is worth the time to cut this steak and as a result it either gets sold as part of a chuck roast or is ground into burger meat.

Flat Iron

The Flat Iron steak shares features with the Teres Major. Both steaks come from the chuck, weighs about a pound, have great flavor and are incredibly tender.

While the Teres Major looks like a tiny tenderloin the Flat Iron is a long, flat steak that is often confused with the flank steak. You can improve any recipe that calls for flank steak (fajitas, stir fries) by substituting the much more tender Flat Iron.

The natural thinness of the Flat Iron makes it ideal for searing over high heat.

Chuck Eye

The Chuck Eye is the third steak in this list that is cut from the chuck. This particular steak is almost identical to its much more famous cousin, the Rib Eye. In fact, the Chuck Eye is simply a continuation of the cut that produces the Rib Eye. The Rib Eye section transitions into the Chuck Eye as soon as the spinalis muscle, also known as the “Rib Eye Cap” is no longer present.

Despite being almost identical to a Rib Eye steak the Chuck Eye typically sells for 30-40% less simply because it is not well known.

Bavette

The Bavette steak, also known as a Flap steak, comes from the bottom of Sirloin section of the cow and there are just a few pounds of this cut per animal.

The Bavette is a thin steak with a very open, loose grain structure. The Bavette is very similar to a Skirt steak but is more tender. Because Bavette has a very open grain structure it is able to really soak up marinades.

Bavette, like Skirt, is typically best prepared by searing over high heat. It is critical that this steak is sliced across the grain to maintain tenderness.

Picanha

Picanha is the national steak of Brazil and is quickly gaining fans in the United States. This is the steak you see impaled on metal skewers at Brazilian style steakhouses. It is often said that if the Rib Eye is the King of Steaks then Picanha is the Queen.

This steak comes from the top of the Sirloin and is best when the fat cap is left intact. Because the steak comes from the Sirloin it is typically inexpensive compared to Rib Eye and New York Strip.

The Picanha typically weighs 3-4 pounds and is best prepared by slicing into individual steaks.

What Is Your Favorite Steak?

So there you have five great steaks that most people don’t know about! You can take this list to the grocery, have a quick chat with your butcher and come home with a spectacular steak for a lot less than you would spend if you were buying Rib Eyes!

So what about you, what is your favorite steak to grill? Drop me a line in the comments below!