What cuts do you prefer when processing your beef?

[Silver]

I’ll have to ask. What is a cube steak?

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I’ll have to ask. What is a cube steak?

A tough steak, usually round steak, ran through a cuber to thourally tenderize it. I dip mine in buttermilk, roll in seasoned flour, fry in a hot cast iron skillet full of oil, and the make gravy out of the drippings to pour back over the steak.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

Fillets 1 inch, ribeye and NY strip 3/4, sirloin 1/2, round cubed, 4 lb roasts, 1 lb burger, stew meat, neck bones and liver.

 

[Silver]

A tough steak, usually round steak, ran through a cuber to thourally tenderize it. I dip mine in buttermilk, roll in seasoned flour, fry in a hot cast iron skillet full of oil, and the make gravy out of the drippings to pour back over the steak.

So….. a minute steak?

 

[hillbilly beef man]

Never heard of a minute steak, but I suspect that we are talking about the same cut, just one is in hillbilly terms and the other is Yankee terminology.

 

[faster horses]

A tough steak, usually round steak, ran through a cuber to thourally tenderize it. I dip mine in buttermilk, roll in seasoned flour, fry in a hot cast iron skillet full of oil, and the make gravy out of the drippings to pour back over the steak.

That's exactly what I do.

 

[faster horses]

So….. a minute steak?

That's where the confusion happened when I gave cutting directions to a processing plant in Iowa. They call it minute steak, we call it cube steak. It is bottom round that has been run through a 'cuber' to tenderize it. Makes the best chicken fried steak. Like hillbilly said, dip it into buttermilk, then seasoned flour and fry in a skillet. Make milk gravy from the drippings.
They cut my top round into little pieces of meat because they didn't understand and didn't bother to ask. I use my Deni meat tenderizer or a meat hammer to make them into cube steaks.
They are still good, but rather small.

 

[sstterry]

A tough steak, usually round steak, ran through a cuber to thourally tenderize it. I dip mine in buttermilk, roll in seasoned flour, fry in a hot cast iron skillet full of oil, and the make gravy out of the drippings to pour back over the steak.

If you will dip in flour first then the buttermilk and back to the flour, it will help the crust adhere better. Also, after they are all breaded, let them sit on a wire rack for a few minutes to let the breading set.

 

[greybeard]

I try to marinade it for at least an hour.

Have you ever tried to marinate any 'tougher' cut of steak with pineapple?. It works good, and fast. 30 minutes at most. Leave it on too long tho, it turns the steak mushy.

 

[Silver]

That's where the confusion happened when I gave cutting directions to a processing plant in Iowa. They call it minute steak, we call it cube steak. It is bottom round that has been run through a 'cuber' to tenderize it. Makes the best chicken fried steak. Like hillbilly said, dip it into buttermilk, then seasoned flour and fry in a skillet. Make milk gravy from the drippings.
They cut my top round into little pieces of meat because they didn't understand and didn't bother to ask. I use my Deni meat tenderizer or a meat hammer to make them into cube steaks.
They are still good, but rather small.

Well I have learned something today. Never heard of a cube steak until now.
It’s a good thing we’ve cleared this and other things up or I would assume you Americans were eating big cube shaped steaks and putting sleds on your heads when it gets cold.

 

[Dave]

I would prefer to have the entire entire steer cut into fillet mignons but so far I have not found a butcher to do that. This was brought on be a memory of my son at about 8 years old. We were eating some venison back strap. He said this is real good next time lets cut the whole deer into back strap.

 

[tex452]

Well I have learned something today. Never heard of a cube steak until now.
It’s a good thing we’ve cleared this and other things up or I would assume you Americans were eating big cube shaped steaks and putting sleds on your heads when it gets cold.

I’m an American, and I learned something too.
I never heard of cube steak.

 

[greybeard]

If you will dip in flour first then the buttermilk and back to the flour, it will help the crust adhere better. Also, after they are all breaded, let them sit on a wire rack for a few minutes to let the breading set.

backwards.
into the milk/seasoning mix first, then the seasoned flour, then repeat. double breaded

2 things make the coating fall off.
1. The meat is wet on the outside. It needs to be patted dry before being breaded. Ideally, the meat is completely sealed by the batter. If the meat is wet on the outside before breading, that moisture on the outside turns to steam as soon as it's dropped into the hot oil and turns to steam, which builds up pressure and pushes the batter off. And if you have ever gotten a CFS at a eatery and found you have a 6" diameter cfs but only a 5" diameter piece of meat inside, you know they breaded it wet. The steam in that instance just expanded the breading out bigger than the piece of meat.

2. The oil isn't hot enough to brown/sear the mixture and hold the batter on in one continuous coat. Great for making the gravy later but you end up with a cfs that has a lot of the batter missing.
Once you drop it into the hot oil, DON'T mess with it until it's time to take it out (or flip it if you don't cook it with oil completely covering it)

DON'T listen to that pasty skinned so-called 'Pioneer' Woman and her bread crumb coating. The only thing she's pioneered is how to get a lot of money from city folks.

I hate to say it but ol Kent Rollins up in Oklahoma has some pretty good video tips on how to do it too.

 

[greybeard]

I’m an American, and I learned something too.
I never heard of cube steak.

Supposed to be Cubed. The term comes from the indentations the commercial mechanical tenderizers make. Nowadays, the shape of the roller is different but originally they were Little (square) cube shaped pockets. Like this


Just like the hammer type tenderizers lots still use at home.

 

[Dsth]

I" for London Broil? I like your idea of ketchup, mustard and Worchestershire sauce and rubbed on then grilled. Do you have a specific ratio?

We got our last beef from Iowa. I asked the processing plant for cube steaks. I got canning meat. They didn't know what cube steak was. They call it minute steak. So I have to pound these small canning meat pieces myself to have cube steaks.

I was born and raised in Iowa so minute steak is a normal cut of meat here. I was told at a young age that it is referred to minute steak because it is generally used as a breakfast steak with eggs. it is round steak cut to about 1/2 inch and run through a tenderizer at the butcher shop. only takes a minute to cook thus the name "minute steak"

 

[Philip-TX]

I’m an American, and I learned something too.
I never heard of cube steak.

Think chicken fried steak....MERICA!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

So, is minute steak the same as cubed steak? Is Chicken Fried Steak made out of cubed steak?
I haven't had CFS since I lived in Kansas.
I flash fry cubed stk, and make a white gravy served over toast.
Or my nephew likes just flash fried and cut up with baked beans.

 

[greybeard]

Is Chicken Fried Steak made out of cubed steak?

Yes.

As I haven't heard the term 'minute steak' for many many years, (Marine base somewhere on the Atlantic seaboard) I can't speak of it's relation to a CFS. It was served for breakfast (occasionally) but not breaded. I think tho, I have also seen the term used in some of those soy based TV dinners that were kinda popular in the 80s.
YRMV, depending where ya live I suppose..

 

[sstterry]

backwards.
into the milk/seasoning mix first, then the seasoned flour, then repeat. double breaded

2 things make the coating fall off.
1. The meat is wet on the outside. It needs to be patted dry before being breaded. Ideally, the meat is completely sealed by the batter. If the meat is wet on the outside before breading, that moisture on the outside turns to steam as soon as it's dropped into the hot oil and turns to steam, which builds up pressure and pushes the batter off. And if you have ever gotten a CFS at a eatery and found you have a 6" diameter cfs but only a 5" diameter piece of meat inside, you know they breaded it wet. The steam in that instance just expanded the breading out bigger than the piece of meat.

2. The oil isn't hot enough to brown/sear the mixture and hold the batter on in one continuous coat. Great for making the gravy later but you end up with a cfs that has a lot of the batter missing.
Once you drop it into the hot oil, DON'T mess with it until it's time to take it out (or flip it if you don't cook it with oil completely covering it)

DON'T listen to that pasty skinned so-called 'Pioneer' Woman and her bread crumb coating. The only thing she's pioneered is how to get a lot of money from city folks.

I hate to say it but ol Kent Rollins up in Oklahoma has some pretty good video tips on how to do it too.

I disagree; into the flour first (very light) that binds to the moisture on the meat, then into the milk which in turn binds to the thin coat of flour and back into the flour for the breading. The first coat of flour is very light that foums a glue like consitancy to allow the milk and the coating flour to also bind to the meat.

PS, I too watch Kent Rollins, but he uses a wet batter as opposed to milk or eggs. I have never watched that Pioneer woman.

https://kentrollins.com/cowboy-classic-chicken-fried-steak/

 

[greybeard]

I'm not much on cooking glue..