I’ve been learning more about breaking down beef primals into ordinary cuts. So I got a whole choice top sirloin at Smart & Final in April and let it wet age for 5 weeks.
I broke it down today. Because I’m an idiot, I took no pictures of the process.
I have never been a fan of typical sirloin steaks, and going through this process helps me understand why. If you just cut slabs from a whole sirloin, there’s a ton of connective tissue holding 3 main muscles and a couple minor ones together.
I separated the outside muscle (the picanha) from the center muscle. It yielded a roast of about 2.5 lbs.
And I cut away the inside muscle (I’ve heard it called the mouse, not sure why). That yielded a 12 oz steak and lots of trim for grinding.
The center muscle has a tendon right through the middle, so I cut there with the grain to split it in half and remove the tendon. After squaring up, each of those halves yielded 4 trimmed steaks of 10-14 ounces each.
I ended up with about 3 lbs of trim for grinding and about the same that would be great dog food if I still had a dog. The chickens can only eat so much.
So I cooked one of the steaks, sous vide then sear in a skillet with clarified butter, minced garlic, and fresh rosemary. And yes, finally remembered to take a picture.
I’m honestly very pleasantly surprised. Because I cut the muscle out of all the connective tissue, there’s no gristle at all (unlike a ribeye). And of course it’s not as tender as filet mignon, but it’s not so far off that the comparison is ridiculous. And it actually has more beefy flavor than filet.
So factoring in the waste, I’m into this for about $7-$8/lb, and I just ate a 12 oz $30-$50 restaurant steak, maybe more.
All day long, folks, all day long!
I broke it down today. Because I’m an idiot, I took no pictures of the process.
I have never been a fan of typical sirloin steaks, and going through this process helps me understand why. If you just cut slabs from a whole sirloin, there’s a ton of connective tissue holding 3 main muscles and a couple minor ones together.
I separated the outside muscle (the picanha) from the center muscle. It yielded a roast of about 2.5 lbs.
And I cut away the inside muscle (I’ve heard it called the mouse, not sure why). That yielded a 12 oz steak and lots of trim for grinding.
The center muscle has a tendon right through the middle, so I cut there with the grain to split it in half and remove the tendon. After squaring up, each of those halves yielded 4 trimmed steaks of 10-14 ounces each.
I ended up with about 3 lbs of trim for grinding and about the same that would be great dog food if I still had a dog. The chickens can only eat so much.
So I cooked one of the steaks, sous vide then sear in a skillet with clarified butter, minced garlic, and fresh rosemary. And yes, finally remembered to take a picture.
I’m honestly very pleasantly surprised. Because I cut the muscle out of all the connective tissue, there’s no gristle at all (unlike a ribeye). And of course it’s not as tender as filet mignon, but it’s not so far off that the comparison is ridiculous. And it actually has more beefy flavor than filet.
So factoring in the waste, I’m into this for about $7-$8/lb, and I just ate a 12 oz $30-$50 restaurant steak, maybe more.
All day long, folks, all day long!
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