Cutting your own STEAKS
Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 6:30 pm
* This isn't really, purely "homesteading," this could be in the Costco thread under "tips and tricks." But if you're awesome enough to be able to buy 1/4 or 1/2 of a cow from a farmer.... or even super awesome and grow your own cow.... here's a wee bit of butchering wisdom.
Was at Costco with the intention of buying a strip loin, today, as industry buzz is that the price of beef is going up due to a shortage. Imagine my surprise when I got there and the per-pound price was the lowest I've seen in 5 years. $7.70 per..... two months ago it was $10. So I bought two loins. (pre-cut NY strip steaks, right next to these, were $10.50 per pound. I saved about $75 cutting them myself).
Disclaimer, I've never received any former butcher training, I've just done this about a thousand times so I know what works for me. Pro-Tip.... sharpen that carving knife. It'll take 3-4 gentle pulls through the meat to get it to the bottom. By the time I'd done 20 steaks, I could tell the hone was gone, it was getting harder to cut through the fat on the bottom.
That's what a steak looks like. I like them thick, approximately 1.75", because I like a heavy char on the outside of a bloody rare steak. I got 25 steaks out of those 31 pounds, so even if you consider what was left over waste, that's still about $10 per steak. If you're half-way good at cooking it, it'll be comparable to a $20+ restaurant steak.
As we know, I use the waste fat to make tallow, a replacement for cooking oil. This is a typical fat trim off of a steak, from the loin.
31 pounds of Choice, NY Strip loin, $240, became 25 steaks of 14-16 ounces each, 2 16 ounce packages of end pieces that will become steak tacos or beef tips, and a big pot of fat that I am currently rendering into tallow.
You can do it. Be brave. And also make sure you have a vacuum sealer and chest freezer handy (both available at Costco, because they know what it means to buy in bulk).
Was at Costco with the intention of buying a strip loin, today, as industry buzz is that the price of beef is going up due to a shortage. Imagine my surprise when I got there and the per-pound price was the lowest I've seen in 5 years. $7.70 per..... two months ago it was $10. So I bought two loins. (pre-cut NY strip steaks, right next to these, were $10.50 per pound. I saved about $75 cutting them myself).
Disclaimer, I've never received any former butcher training, I've just done this about a thousand times so I know what works for me. Pro-Tip.... sharpen that carving knife. It'll take 3-4 gentle pulls through the meat to get it to the bottom. By the time I'd done 20 steaks, I could tell the hone was gone, it was getting harder to cut through the fat on the bottom.
That's what a steak looks like. I like them thick, approximately 1.75", because I like a heavy char on the outside of a bloody rare steak. I got 25 steaks out of those 31 pounds, so even if you consider what was left over waste, that's still about $10 per steak. If you're half-way good at cooking it, it'll be comparable to a $20+ restaurant steak.
As we know, I use the waste fat to make tallow, a replacement for cooking oil. This is a typical fat trim off of a steak, from the loin.
31 pounds of Choice, NY Strip loin, $240, became 25 steaks of 14-16 ounces each, 2 16 ounce packages of end pieces that will become steak tacos or beef tips, and a big pot of fat that I am currently rendering into tallow.
You can do it. Be brave. And also make sure you have a vacuum sealer and chest freezer handy (both available at Costco, because they know what it means to buy in bulk).