COOKING TIPS
Below are some preparation suggestions that may help you in your cooking cuts of grass‐fed, grass‐finished beef from Big Picture Beef.
These tips are from our good friends at Spring Pastures Farm in Maryland, the southernmost state in our Big Picture Beef Northeast Region. Enjoy!
General:
1) Always let the meat thaw to room temperature. Nothing will ruin good recipes more than trying to cook a piece of beef that has a 65‐degree surface temperature and 32‐ degree internal temperature. This is not as important for long, slow, crock‐pot‐style cooking. Of course for certain dishes such as stir‐fry where thin slices are needed, it is easier to slice the meat while it is still slightly frozen. With the right sharp knife, you can get paper thin cuts this way.
2) For dry cooking such as steaks, you can concentrate the flavor by removing the cut completely from the packaging and place it on a rack so it can dry some more. We add salt during this time so that the salt penetrates the meat while thawing and drying.
3) Because we do not feed our animals grain or commercial feed, they have a different nutritional profile, flavor and texture than grain‐fed beef. Respect the qualities of the meat and you will be rewarded.
Cooking Steaks: sirloin, Porterhouse, T‐bone, rib steaks, NY strip. These are classic steak cuts. Some of these have bone‐in and others do not.
Everyone has his or her preferred method. This is our method. A digital probe thermometer helps. "Slow first/brown last." If you are not grilling, put the steak in a pan in a 220‐degree oven. Turn over after 8 minutes. Insert probe in the thickest part of the steak nearest, but not touching, the bone. When the internal temperature reaches 122 degrees (rare) or 124 degrees (medium rare), remove the pan from oven. Remove steak from pan. Leave drippings and fat in the pan. Heat pan on stove on high or until the fat is just beginning to smoke. Sear steak one minute ONLY on each side, no more. Remove steak from the pan and let rest a minimum of five, preferably ten minutes. If grilling, do not grill directly over coals, move the coals to the side and use indirect heat.
For the cuts above be careful of using marinades. Marinades add water to the meat that will dilute the taste and produce steam while cooking, negating the desired effect of aging and dry cooking. The exception to the previous statement: skirt, flank, and hanger steaks should be seared at a high temperature and can benefit from a light marinade.
Skirt steak: sometimes known as a hanger steak. This is a thin strip of meat that “hangs” from plate portion while the sides of beef are aging. Most of your steaks will be thicker than the skirt so adjust cooking times accordingly. It is very flavorful and is one of the few steaks where a marinade can enhance rather than degrade the flavor. Can be grilled, cooked slow as in the steak instructions above, or even pan fried or grilled on high heat quickly. Cut against the grain.
Flank steak: cook and cut the same as for skirt steak. Flank is from the back abdominal area and has many muscle fibers running in a similar direction.
Flat iron: small steaks from the chuck. Very flavorful but require careful cooking as in the steak suggestions above.
Shin: is a cross cut from the front legs. This is flavorful but somewhat tough meat with a marrow‐filled bone in the middle and lots of connective tissue. It is made for very long, slow, wet cooking. Crock pots and pressure cookers are useful here.
Top round: from the rump, upper leg. Lean and very clean taste profile. Can be used in stir‐frylike Asian‐style quick prep cooking. Can also be cooked as a steak provided you follow our steak instructions above. Slice thinly at a diagonal against the grain as in a flank steak. If cooking as a steak, add extra fat either as butter, tallow, lard, or olive oil and then cook to 124 degrees (rare) or 128 (medium rare). Trying to cook a top round to medium doneness will run the risk of making it tough. Can also be prepared using wet cooking. [rare & medium temps vary from above]
Chuck roast, shoulder roast: from the shoulder. These are wonderful cuts for slow, wet cooking. Pot roast or stew or barbacoa. You can also use for stir‐fry if you cut around the connective tissue, which breaks down in slow cooking. Often better the next day.
Brisket: from the “chest” below the chuck. Delicious and dense. Used in making corned beef. If not making corned beef, it requires slow, wet cooking, though we recommend not too much liquid. In fact, one of our favorite simple recipes is to slice enough onions to cover the bottom of a pan wide enough so that the brisket cut can lie flat. Add salt and pepper to both sides of the brisket. Lay the brisket on top of the onions. Cover the dish. You can use foil if there is no top. Put in a 300‐degree oven for 3–4 hours. Remove cover for the last 30 minutes. The brisket can be sliced thinly and is great the next day.
Loin tip steak: Also called the sirloin tip roast but it's not really a sirloin. Can be dry‐roasted until the internal temperature is 128 degrees and then tent with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes and then slice thinly. Can also be sliced thinly before cooking for stir‐fry. Excellent for shish kabob if marinated. If cutting for kabobs, be sure to cut out the seam of connective tissue that sometimes runs down the middle.
Beef cubes: Wet cook or marinate for shish kabobs or slice thinly for stir‐fry.
Ground beef: Your imagination is the limit.
Rump roast: from the bottom round, the rear leg of the animal. It is usually lean with not much fat. It is very muscular. Unlike top round, which with care can be cooked like a steak, bottom round is too dry and muscular for grilling. Unlike a chuck or arm or shoulder cut, the muscle fibers in a bottom round all run in the same direction, which opens up possibilities. You can cook a rump roast with a slow cooker or wet cooking like a chuck or arm roast.
Thanks for this tip sheet goes to Thomas Garnett & Brooke Henley & Ryland Garnett at Spring Pastures Farm!