The Best Cut Of Steak To Serve Rare

There are those who insist that all steak should have some pink to it, with anything above medium being sacrilege. We're hardly doctrinaires about this sort of thing, but there's something beautiful about steak on the rare side all the same — that gorgeous rosy pink, that robust beefy flavor, that velvety, melt-in-your-mouth texture. But there are all sorts of different steak cuts, and some of them are better suited for rare cooking than others. We asked Jonathan Bautista, the executive chef of Ember & Rye in Carlsbad, California, and he had a very specific answer as to which kinds of steaks are best served rare.

"I think the best steaks to serve rare are the leaner cuts, like beef tenderloin or a New York strip," he said. To be sure, there are some who think that a beef tenderloin, or filet mignon, is a steakhouse cut better off avoided, but every cut has its use. Bautista further commented on the topic, noting that, "The texture of a leaner steak cooked rare will generally be more tender, depending on the grade and cut."

Fattier cuts may be too chewy if cooked rare

Knowing that leaner meats handle a rare temperature better is helpful if you happen to have a New York strip burning a hole through your refrigerator shelf. But what if you have something thicker, denser, and fattier? We all know that fat means flavor, so cooking a fatty piece of steak rare will surely result in an extra flavorful eating experience, right? Well, sure, so long as you're willing to chew on it like bubblegum. As Jonathan Bautista warned, cooking fattier cuts of steak rare isn't necessarily the best idea. "If the internal fat isn't warm enough or rendered, it can be a bit chewier compared to a leaner rare steak, depending on the cut."

However, Bautista also advised against making sweeping generalizations about cuts — the quality of the meat is just as important as whether it tastes good rare. "Prime-grade steaks are also better for rare cooking because their higher marbling tends to eat better," he said. So if you happen to have some prime grade steak (which is different than choice grade), or if you've managed to get your hands on some wagyu steak, it might not be a bad idea to keep things pink on the inside.

Recommended