Super cool steak cuts, formerly "Oddball Steaks"

We have a lot of steak threads on the site- best steak, how to cook a steak, best inexpensive steak, best sauce or preparation for steak, etc.

For this thread I would like to concentrate on some gems that usually find their way into the grinder either by dearth of interest, difficulty of marketing, or lack of butchering skills and vision. A cow contains some mighty tasty parts that can be cut into steaks. I'm not talking about tri tip, hanger, or other so called "butcher's cuts" that have been mainstream for quite some time. I refer to some interesting bits hidden away in unlikely parts of the animal. They may be pried off of the shoulder clod or scraped from the heel, but if you can find them they're cheap and as tasty as they come.

First up, the spider steak, also called the oyster steak, or la fausse araignée. It comes from the leg, a primal not known for steaks, although there are a few (the pear and the merlot, hopefully to be covered soon).

Feel free to add your favorite bits while I taste my way through an entire cow (hey, I got a guy).



It's a tender, fatty, and flavorful piece cut from the inside of the aitch bone by the hip socket in the 6-8 ounce range. Extrication is not easy. Cook in a pan or grill, and you'll be one of the only people in your city eating it, even if you live in NY. There are only two of these little guys on the cow. Ask your butcher, but he may look at you as if you're green.

Dear Lord! That marbling is marvelous!

.....and bang, pow, boom, Ouch is back eating the beef. Welcome back.

DoctorShavegood said:

I've been waiting for someone to show us the meat of their aitch bone.

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Hey. This is a family site. At least until Nick gets back.

Coming soon- the Denver cut, the calotte, the paleron, the "Delmonico", la poire, the culotte, and who knows what.

ouch said:

Coming soon- the Denver cut, the calotte, the paleron, the "Delmonico", la poire, the culotte, and who knows what.

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So professor, is there going to be a pop quiz on all of this? I'm a pretty good note taker, but I may need visuals.

I can almost taste it

DoctorShavegood said:

So professor, is there going to be a pop quiz on all of this?

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No, a taste test.

ouch said:

No, a taste test.

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Thank God, I was getting nervous about my tenure as a Steward of the Mess Hall.

Don't worry- you're safe.

The coulotte off the sirloin cap is tasty. I will usually sear it then slice it thin if I don't turn it into other tasty pieces like fried steak nuggets (Chislic?!). It is also nice for stir fry or fajita pieces.

The chuck hanging tender is another piece that is flavorful and tender but I think it has been discussed enough to be mainstream.

Some markets will have beef breast. It is chunk or slice of the brisket/shoulder area that braise nice.

ouch said:

It's a tender, fatty, and flavorful piece cut from the inside of the aitch bone by the hip socket in the 6-8 ounce range. Extrication is not easy.

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I like what you are doing here Ouch. The grinder takes so many cuts its not funny.
Removing of the cut is not difficult if you have a butchers hook.

I like the Picanha aka - Rump Cap. Not that off beat in some parts of the world but it is here. At the end of the day it's just rump steak but by removing it from the rest of the rump the grain runs one way.

Did you have a whole beast slaughter just for you? If this is from your local butcher then you are a very lucky man.

It's one of the few benefits of working in the hipster capital of the world.

Next up will be flap meat.

What a cool thread, thanks ouch!

I would love to have access to a high-quality butcher. I use a country meat market that gives me excellent meat at a good price, but they can't deal with exotic requests. Maybe I need to try and find a hipster butcher in Dallas or Fort Worth.

That looks great. I have no idea how I'd explain that to a local place though.

ouch said:

First up, the spider steak....

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Sound like my kind of steak!

Next- the sirloin flap, bavette d'aloyau.





Is it a flank steak? A hanger? Skirt? Nope- this little known gem is cut from the sirloin butt flap (oddly, a nickname of an old girlfriend) and is terrific marinated (my hatcho miso marinade recipe appears elsewhere) and cooked in a blazing hot pan. Fabulous flavor.

I remember Cooks Illustrated doing a piece on the relative flavor/toughness of different cuts. From what I remember, on a scale of 1 to 4 stars, the standards (NY strip, ribeye) were 3 stars each in flavor and toughness. The filet was a 2 for flavor, 4 for toughness (being the most tender).

The flank steak, and a cut called a skirt steak (I think), were the only 2 that got 4 stars for flavor. Both were 2 stars for toughness, which is why I would assume you see stuff about "cut diagonally on the bias against the grain". They did mention that skirt steaks were cheaper than flank steaks, which also got my attention.

Having said all of that, if there's a cut that tastes like the outer (marbled) edge of a ribeye that costs less, I am all ears.