The Best Kosher Steaks for Grilling
Neighbor and Kosher Blog reader Ari hosted a steak tasting at his home a couple weeks back. Here is his report.
We recently held a taste-testing of 4 high-end, USDA Prime kosher steaks available from Gordon & Alperin in Newton, MA. Unfortunately, Filet Mignon and other cuts from the rear of the cow are not available kosher in the United States (due to the difficulty of removing certain parts of the cow found in the hindquarters), so we tasted Center-Cut Ribeye steak ($32.99/lb., also called “eye of the prime,” the king of kosher steaks, available at a very royal price), Ribeye Cap steak ($19.99/lb., also known as the “tail of the prime”), Hangar steak ($19.99/lb., also known as “hanging tenderloin”), and filleted Blade steak ($16.99/lb.).
(I wanted to roll and tie individual portions of ribeye cap to make rolled ribeye cap steaks, but the quantity of meat we received wouldn’t allow it once cut into 14 pieces. Thus, instead we grilled the RC flat on the grill, and served it sliced.)
All meat was lightly seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper on both sides. The seasoning was prepared by mixing 3 tablespoons of kosher salt with half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. All meat was cooked to medium (about 150 degrees F), although the thinly cut blade steaks may have been accidentally ventured towards medium-well or well-done (one thin piece registered at 172 degrees F).
Taste-testing forms were provided to each guest, and 13 forms were received back. Participants were asked to rate each of the steaks from 1-5 in the following categories: tenderness, beefiness, saltiness, and appearance. Participants were also asked to provide an overall score for each steak on a scale of 0-10. Results are summarized below. Mean scores are reported first, followed by standard deviations.
TENDERNESS
Hangar: 4.08 / 0.49
RC: 3.69 / 0.75
Blade: 3.46 / 0.66
CCR: 3.85 / 0.90
BEEFINESS
Hangar: 3.69 / 0.75
RC: 3.23 / 0.83
Blade: 3.85 / 0.90
CCR: 4.76 / 0.43
SALTINESS
Hangar: 4.85 / 0.37
RC: 3.38 / 0.87
Blade: 2.31 / 0.63
CCR: 2.54 / 0.78
APPEARANCE
Hangar: 3.92 / 0.75
RC: 3.00 / 1.08
Blade: 4.31 / 0.48
CCR: 4.46 / 0.52
OVERALL
Hangar: 8.08 / 1.12
RC: 6.77 / 1.17
Blade: 6.92 / 1.44
CCR: 8.54 / 1.39
A few results stand out. The Hangar steak was universally regarded as the saltiest steak by far. This is probably due to the fact that it has many surface openings (due to a widely spaced grain) into which the salt used in the kashering process likely entered but did not exit. Thus, kosher Hangar steak should probably be cooked without any added salt. The remaining steaks had much more reasonable saltiness scores, more in-line with what a typical person would consider desirable.
Also, the CCR had the highest beefiness score by far (with high agreement). This is not surprising, given that the rib section typically produces the “beefiest” cuts. The other three cuts provided roughly similar beefiness scores as each other, well below the CCR. Surprisingly, the RC, which is also from the rib section, had the lowest beefiness score.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Hangar steak had a higher tenderness score than the pricey CCR (although the small difference might not be statistically significant, especially given the high deviation in the CCR tenderness score). Also surprising was the fact that the Blade steak had the lowest tenderness score, contrary to its official description. This may be due to the fact the Blade steak was overcooked a bit. In my previous experience, Blade steak has generally been recognized as extremely beefy and tender by my guests, so it is very important not to overcook it!
People seemed to prefer the appearance of the CCR and Blade steaks. I thought this category would provide very divergent resluts because appearance is such a subjective category, but with the exception of the RC, the standard deviations were on the low side.
Overall, people preferred the pricey CCR, followed by the Hangar steak. A signifcant drop before the 3rd place Blade steak and then the 4th place RC. However, the data was divergent. It should be noted that 5 of the 13 testers rated the CCR as a perfect 10, while another 5 testers gave it only a 7. However, only 1 tester gave the Hangar steak a perfect 10, while only 4 testers rated it as a 6 or 7.
The big surprise in this test was the relatively cheap yet highly-regarded Hangar steak. The similarly-priced RC did not fare nearly as well (although perhaps it would have come out better rolled). The cheaper Blade steak had moderate scores, but this may be due to overcooking. While the CCR scored the best, this was to be expected from the king of kosher steaks, and its exorbitant price will make it suitable for only the most special occasions.
Just a quick addition concerning the prices. The way Ricardo (the owner of Gordon & Alperin, who, by the way, is very friendly) quotes prices may sometimes be slightly counter-intuitive. In some cases, the amounts of meat received seemed to be significantly less than the amounts charged for. Apparently, this is because the above-cited prices are for untrimmed meat. Thus, although we received about 4 lbs. of CCR, we were charged $233 for it, or for about 7 lbs (at the stated $32.99 per pound). Thus, it seems that the trimming process removes about 40% of the weight of the CCR, making the effective cost of trimmed CCR an astonishing $58/lb. Similarly, although we were told that we were getting 4 pounds of RC, the meat received weighed only about 2 lbs. Thus, the effective price of trimmed RC is about $40/lb. The Hangar and Blade steaks are either sold at trimmed prices, or very little trimming is necessary for those cuts.
In any event, it is clear that G&A’s meat is generally of superior quality, but that quality comes at a very steep price.
BS”D
Man, there’s no possible way I would pay those prices for meat. Sure, it’s USDA Prime, and that’s worth a premium. Most kosher meat is ungraded, but if one purchases bulk meat, one should be able to identify the better marbled pieces to purchase, so that the picky consumer can end up selecting something close to USDA Choice, which is good enough for me, certainly.
As to hangar steak, skirt steak and the like, they are thin cuts of meat. Remember that the entire surface must be sprinkled with lots of salt- much more than would just be used to season it. In a thick piece of meat, it’s only alittle thicker than the outer surface which gets salted and therefore salty, but because of the thinness of the hangar steak, the outer surface and a bit more of both sides constitutes the entire thickness of the piece of steak, and thus it becomes extremely salty. My wife soaks the meat in water for 1/2 hour or so (remember that in koshering meat it is soaked, then salted and rinsed-consequently, on a thin piece of meat like that there is not adequate water contact during rinsing for salt removal except for that found immediately on the surface) and even then, it’s still plenty salty.
The CCR was delicious, but I personally think that the Blade steak was nearly as good, and for $16.99 per pound it is almost reasonable enough to have somewhat more often than merely occasionally.
Craig — You raise a good point about the grading. I want to try cheaper CCR. I have a friend from whom I can buy whole Argentinian (or is it Uruguayan? I forget) ribeyes for a lot less (something like $10/lb if I recall correctly), but it would require cutting and trimming myself, which I admit might be a fun exercise (although I don’t know if I have the proper knives to do it well)…
And about salting, you are probably right that the thinness of the cut matters to some extent, but Hangar is not extremely thin… I still think the grainy texture plays a role, although I’m pretty sure soaking would help as you suggested.
BS”D
OK Ari, let me explain. The hanger (hangar) steak is part of the diaphragm, basically a 1.5 lb to 2 lb flat piece of meat. It is salted just like that, on both of the flat sides as well as the edges around it. Other pieces of meat are off the forequarter, and they’re salted as bulk pieces of meat, several inches thick, at least, and oftern salted with bones intact, even though they may be served without the bones. Either the whole forequarter is salted, or else the large primals are salted. But let’s just assume that the rib steaks are salted as intact rib roast. What gets salted is the outside of the rib roast before it gets cut into steaks. Therefore, the flat sides of the steak do not get salted, except for the end steaks, where 1 side of each is salted. Bottom line is that the hanger steak is exposed to a lot more salt per pound of meat. So yes, it’s true that the muscle is coarse, and the salt can intrude somewhat more, but it’s also true that it’s hit with an awful lot more salt per amount of meat than a lot of cuts of meat. And like it, the skirt steak also is quite salty, and should be soaked prior to use. Although I haven’t done the research, it seems to me that the cheeks might also be somewhat saltier, and maybe even the tongue, but since they’re primarily braised in liquid, and since the tongue is usually blanched and skinned, the potential saltiness in those meats may be somewhat mitigated.
Anyone know of a location in NYC where I can get equivalent prime grade kosher steaks?
Ari & Craig,
Thanks much to both of you for the steak education … that’s one area I’m always confused about, especially with a limited budget.
While I have not purchased steak from G&A, we have splurged in the past on chagim and purchased lamb roasts. This is typically expensive anyway, and almost impossible to find locally, fresh (not much demand). Anyway, the first time we had it, which was two years ago, the roasts were not trimmed well (i.e., we paid a lot more than expected because there wasn’t much meat). Last year, we bought everything (roast plus the excess meat), which brought the effective price down, and requested that the roast be well trimmed. G&A did a fine job with the meat … our guests savored every bite of the roast. We ended up freezing the excess meat and bones, using them for R”H this year. There was enough meat of various proportions to grill (after marinating overnight in a mango-based concoction I came up with on the fly), and the bones we used to create a lamb stock. The grilled lamb was a hit.
Anyone know how the effective G&A prices and quality compare with those of the online butcher that had been talked about on this blog?