Cross Rib Steak help page

[fateater]

I picked up some organic boneless cross rib steak, on sale... I don't know how to cook it.

I tried pan searing one this morning, and it was tough and tasteless. I seasoned it with salt and pepper, and cooked it pretty rare - I don't know, the juiciness was nice but it was chewy and hard to slice and yeah, tough and blah. I could only eat half of the 220g piece.

I don't want to wreck the next one! Any tips?

(I'm an ex-vegetarian and haven't cooked meat in YEARS.)

Also, why is it okay to eat rare, bloody red steak but ground beef I'm supposed to cook through?

Thanks

[Louisa655]

I picked up some organic boneless cross rib steak, on sale... I don't know how to cook it.

I tried pan searing one this morning, and it was tough and tasteless. I seasoned it with salt and pepper, and cooked it pretty rare - I don't know, the juiciness was nice but it was chewy and hard to slice and yeah, tough and blah. I could only eat half of the 220g piece.

I don't want to wreck the next one! Any tips?

(I'm an ex-vegetarian and haven't cooked meat in YEARS.)

Also, why is it okay to eat rare, bloody red steak but ground beef I'm supposed to cook through?

Thanks

If this is a tough cut of meat (which I think it is), this is how I prepare it and it'll taste quite nice:

Sautee onions and garlic in pan.
Add steak and sear both sides.
add 1-1-1/2 cups of bone broth and set on a temperature that will make it bubble gently with a tight-fitting lid.
Don't forget to add salt, pepper and any other seasonings you fancy.
Cook for at least 2 hours or slightly longer. The meat should begin to fall apart, and soak up the juices of the bone broth.

Serve steak with some mashed potatoes/sweet potatoes (if you are eating starches), or stirfry other vegetables of your choices.

On serving plates, it's nice to add some guacamole or horseradish to spice things up a bit.

I loved cheap cuts of meats when my children were very young and I was trying to make our dollars stretch. All tough cuts taste good after a few hours of slow cooking. /Lu

[fateater]

Oh, yum! That sounds so good. Especially the falling apart, soaking up the bone broth juices part....I will try that, thank you

[Louisa655]

Oh, yum! That sounds so good. Especially the falling apart, soaking up the bone broth juices part....I will try that, thank you

This is definitely one of my winter 'comfort foods'. I just purchased a big 'ol tough steak to cook this way this week. Love the smell of garlic and onions and bone broth. So easy to make and so delicious. Good luck with it! /Lu

[yodiewan]

The reason steaks are safer to eat cooked rare as compared to ground meat is that the ground meat has a much, much greater surface area. Most of the harmful bacteria on meat are on the surface. So the inside of a steak is pretty much safe. If you sear the outside, the risk is pretty minimal. With ground meat, it's basically ALL one big exposed surface. The bacteria can have access to it all. This is just one reason why grinding your own meat at home is a great idea. If you grind it fresh and use it immediately, the bacteria don't really have enough time to multiply to harmful levels. I made some heart tartare a few weeks ago and it was delicious.

A quick Google search tells me that cross rib steak is what I would call a shoulder steak. That would definitely benefit from a long slow braise as Louisa outlined.

[fateater]

Ah, that makes sense, thank you for the explanation.

I'll do some searches for shoulder steak recipe ideas as well, thanks

[workinprogress]

For you knowledge, Cross Rib steaks are not the same as Ribeye Steaks. Cross rib tends to be tough, were as a Ribeye is a gift of the Gods!