What Steak makes the best Steak Sandwich?

in this video we are doing a deep dive into steak sandwiches and specifically I've always wondered does it matter what stake you use like can you actually taste a different side by side in sandwiches made with different cuts of steak but then I thought well it kind of depends on how that steak is being used in the sandwich so we are testing two different sandwiches on opposite ends of the steak sandwich Spectrum first we have a Philly cheesesteak made with three different types of steak and then using those same steaks we'll test a medium rare steak on ciabatta bread with greens and chimichurri and the results were pretty surprising it just like melts away like you get a tiny chew and then it just kind of melts away texture wise it's pretty easy to pick up on some big differences especially when you get before we get to the testing though let's first cover the steak sandwich framework at high level these are the six components that make up a steak sandwich obviously number one is the steak but then we have the bread the cheese the sauce the hot toppings and cold toppings now all steak sandwiches won't have all of these components for example our Cheesesteak has steak the bread is a hoagie roll the cheese is cheese whiz there are no other sauces fried onions are the hot toppings and there are no cold toppings now this steak framework is important because the choices we make to build the sandwich directly affect the overall flavor profile of this sandwich let me explain so flavor can generally be thought of as these six components taste smell texture sight physical and the human factor so for a Cheesesteak the tastes are salty and Umami the aroma is Beefy oniony and roasty the texture is chewy creamy with a soft bite from the onion pieces and the site is actually not super pretty it's kind of beige and gray but if you've had a Philly cheesesteak you know that this colorless sandwich is packed with flavor from a physical perspective it has a uniform temperature since the sandwich is steamed with the beef in the wrapped up version and there are no cold toppings it's kind of one homogeneous temperature throughout now compare that to sandwich number two which has lots of temperature contrasting ingredients the bun is toasted which is warm there is a room temperature chimichurri sauce it has cool greens then the warm beef and a warm Toasted Bun and physically these two sandwiches are experienced at two very different temperatures then lastly we have the human factor as someone who grew up in Pennsylvania and has been to Philly countless time for Philly's games visiting Redding Terminal Market and other events the Philly cheesesteak is a nostalgic sandwich for me and one where I have memories of what it should look taste and feel like and my question today is focused on just one of these components in the framework and this is what stake makes the best cheesesteak at home however to answer that we need to understand this question and that is how does the flavor of steak change depending on the cut that is used well from the Food Lab by J Kenji Lopez alt he proposes that each day kind of exists on these two planes be flavor and tenderness for example a filet mignon known as the most tender cut in the cow would be a 10 tenderness however it doesn't actually have a ton of fat and beefy flavor so it scores a two a rib eye on the other hand is something like seven tenderness and nine on the beefy flavor scale a strip steak would be eight and seven and so on now these are ultimately subjective values but it serves as a mental model that you can use to theoretically evaluate every cut of steak and for this video we are testing these three one we have the flank steak which is a leaner cut that's great for a crowd two we have a rib eye which is the classic cut used in the Philly cheesesteak shops and lastly we have one of my favorites the flat iron which is really tender due to its thin muscle fibers almost like a filet mignon but also has loads of beefy Flavor now generally yes the flank and rib eye are going to be a little bit less tender but remember for this first sandwich we we are slicing it super thin which will make it really easy to regardless and also this is loaded with cheese sauce and fried onions so my question is can you actually taste a difference in the beefy flavor and tenderness in the context of a sandwich well let's make some cheese steaks and find out but first thank you to today's sponsor Porter Road who supplied all the meat you'll see in this video Porter Road is an online butcher shop that delivers quality cuts of dry aged beef chicken and pork directly to your door and the best part for me is it feels like you're shopping at your local butcher shop because they hand cut each steak and produce cuts that you won't find at the grocery store like just go to the beef page and have a scroll you'll see three different cuts of rib eyes whole pavette Stakes Terrace Major Denver steak individually portioned flat irons boneless short ribs Korean cut short ribs and a bunch of cuts you may or may not have heard of and they always work with local farmers who raise the animals the right way on the pasture with no added hormones or antibiotics so to get 15 off your first order head to the link below pick out some cuts and the promotion will apply automatically and thanks again Porter Road but let's get to eating these steaks foreign for the cheesesteaks I made three identical sandwiches with 120 grams of sliced beef 45 grams of cheese sauce and 35 grams of fried onions so let me quickly show you how I prepped each item with the home cook in mind for the beef I grabbed out a flat iron ribeye and flank steak from the freezer and I let these slightly thaw in the fridge for easier slicing and I followed the same exact process for each by slicing a cross of them as thin as I can with a Cleaver and the idea here is to get as close as you can to the thin strips of steak you'll see in a Philly cheesesteak shop now some people would suggest a meat slicer or a mandolin for this but I want to keep this practical and easy and you can get the meat plenty thin enough with a sharp and thin blade I started with the flat iron which you can see has this beautiful marbling and thin muscle fibers then you can see the nice fat cap of the ribeye which I slice some of that fat up and included this and lastly we have the flank steak which is technically the least tender of these Cuts however when cut super thin like this it may not be the case and here's a look at the beef after it has been sliced and you can definitely see a difference in the marbling the muscle fiber and also the color now before we get to cooking the steak let's quickly make the onions and cheese sauce for the onions I want them fried and brown but not soft and sweet like you would see in caramelized onions so for this I cut up one white onion and do kind of a medium dice as I want them to be a component of the sandwich and while I was cutting I also prepped the Velveeta cheese for the cheese sauce now add the stove over medium-high heat I added about 30 grams or two tablespoons of beef Tallow to fry the onions in once melted I add the onions a Sprinkle of salt and let those start to Brown up on one side for two to three minutes that beef Tallow will provide some uniquely beefy Aromas compared to a neutral oil and after the onions have started to Brown I flipped them over and then just turn the heat down to low I'm gonna let these cook for another five to eight minutes and this is what I want them to look like when done they are nice and brown yes but still have a little bit of bite to them and once those were done I just portion them out into bowls and lastly let's make the cheese sauce while slices of provolone or American cheese do make a great Cheesesteak I'm a whiz-wit kind of guy and this sauce is super simple set a pan over medium heat and add about 200 grams of whole milk then bring that to a simmer and then I gradually add 200 grams of Velveeta and another 50 or so grams of American Cheese Slices and 2 grams of sodium citrate which is an emulsifier I like to gradually add the cheese so I can melt the cheese in stages and really dial in my consistency this took about seven minutes and it may look really thin but as it cools down this thickens quite a bit so I added 45 grams of the cheese sauce to each bowl and again these are completely identical outside of the steak that is used to cook the cheesesteaks I set a griddle over medium heat and added each of these sliced steaks down along with a Sprinkle of salt over the top now while the steak is cooking I'm further tenderizing it by breaking it up with my spatula and even now you can kind of see that flat iron is breaking up a little bit easier than the other two after about four minutes I go ahead and add the fried onions to each of the steaks and start to fold those in to cook for another minute or so lastly I like adding my cheese sauce directly to the meat instead of the bun so it completely coats all the meat and becomes nice and cohesive to assemble I like to add the roll directly down on the meat to start to steam for a minute or two and then flip the beef and cheese over into the bun and you can just see this beefy onion cheesy mix admittedly it's not the most sexy thing but that is pure flavor right there now a Cheesesteak is not complete without wrapping it in some wax or parchment paper so everything becomes nice tight and cohesive I let those sit for about two minutes for slicing them in half and you can see we have this nice tight little package of moist meat but the bread is sturdy enough to hold up to it I've been starving all day so I am so ready for this taste test so in these tests I'm looking to answer these questions one is there a significant difference in texture when the beef is sliced thin and chopped up two is there a significant difference in flavor between the three cuts and thirdly is one of the steaks clearly better than the others it just like melts away like you get a tiny chew and then it just kind of melts away now right away with sandwich one this sandwich was good but it definitely wasn't hitting that nostalgic beefy flavor and texture that I know and love it's really good I think that one wasn't super beefy flavored um and a little bit of chew to it when we get into sandwich too though the flavor and texture difference are super obvious to me wow that one melts oh my God that's so good immediately bumps up in the beefy flavor category also the texture completely melts like this one is in my opinion like definitely an upgrade from number one number one's good I mean it's cheese onions and beef still but you definitely get an upgrade with this uh with this number two it just melts in my mouth and oh my gosh this Stark difference of one and two then leads me into sandwich three [Music] wow again big uptake in beefy flavor two and three just big uptake in beefy flavor I don't know if there's a massive difference between two and three both of them very tender nice and just beefy Flavor now because I love cheesecake I naturally went back through each of them and this really further cemented for me that sandwich 2 was clearly differentiated than the others two the the texture is I I think the best of all three it just it melts away it's so it's just a delight an absolute Delight to bite into oh that's so so good number two for me is definitely the favorite then I think it's three followed by number one let's see what these are I think this is going to be flat iron rib eye and flank steak so number one flank steak number two flat iron and number three rib eye so all three are great sandwiches like I'd have no problem eating them but when you actually look at these side by side for me the the texture and the meltiness the beefy flavor of the flat iron steak really is a significant upgrade um for a Cheesesteak and this is what I'm going to be using going forward so to recap is one of the stakes clearly better in Cheesesteak form again all of them are good no problem eating any of them but that flat iron makes a better cheese steak than the countless ones that I have had in Philadelphia now you may be wondering why don't places in Philly use a cut like a flat iron well a flat iron steak is a relatively small cut from a cowl that would be much harder to buy in bulk for everything they need compared to the whole rib roast that can be bought for a restaurant setting additionally they have industrial meat slicers so they can get that steak as paper thin as they want however at home this is why the flat iron is such a great candidate you don't need to bother with getting a meat slicer or a mandolin and potentially cutting your fingertip off you just freeze it slightly thaw it then slice it thinly with a knife and store those slices in the freezer until you are ready to make a Cheesesteak flat iron is also cheaper than ribeye though we don't love the secret out too much or prices might increase as they have for a lot of butcher Cuts so the flat iron was the clear winner for test number one but now we're gonna flip to the other side of the steak sandwich Spectrum with a chimichurri full slice steak sandwich on Ciabatta let's get into this now remember for test number two our steaks are going to be thick sliced and cooked to medium rare for the bread we have ciabatta there are no cheeses then for the sauce we have chimichurri which is an oil and vinegar mixture loaded with fresh herbs spices and garlic in addition to a little bit of mayo for some creaminess there are no hot toppings and then we have arugula for the cold toppings and this is going to lead to a very different sandwich in terms of the flavor profile the tastes are going to be salty sour and Umami from that brown beef the smell is going to be herbaceous from the chimichurri and greens and maybe just a little bit beefy the site is going to have plenty of contrasting colors from Green beige pink and red from the steak and the texture is going to be chewy crunchy and crisp from some of those greens and that temperature is contrasting as well now when you take a look at the side-by-side flavor profiles of these two sandwiches while the flat iron was an outlier in test one on the whole this type of sandwich is much chewier with how the steak is sliced thick and the bread choice it also has a completely different taste and aroma so will the flat iron still be the clear winner well let's make this simple but delicious steak sandwich and find out I'm starting with the same three steaks we have the ribeye flank steak and the flat iron except this time we are keeping them completely whole for cooking and cooking them to medium rare instead of well done like the thin pieces in the cheese steak I added a Sprinkle of salt to both sides of each take and then just store these in the fridge until I was ready to cook so meanwhile let's prep the chimichurri for the chimney I first chopped up two cloves of garlic and before finally chopping about a half a bunch of parsley and as a note here a mix of fresh herbs is good but I'm just going straight parsley next I set a bowl over a scale and added 100 grams of olive oil 30 grams of white wine vinegar 2 grams of red pepper flake 2 grams of oregano the minced garlic and all of that parsley then I gave that a rub mix and remember this chimichurri is going to be a little bit sour it's going to be herbaceous it's going to have a little bit of spice and be a very different flavor profile compared to that cheese steak so for the steaks I added three pans to my stove and then added a big drizzle of neutral oil over high heat once the pantemp hit 400 degrees Fahrenheit I added The Salted steaks to the pan for each of these I'm shooting for medium rare or about 130 degrees Fahrenheit internal and I want a nice brown crust on the outside so I let these cook while flipping occasionally and checking that internal temperature intermittently these took about six to eight minutes in total before I took them off the pan to let rest for a few minutes before slicing in while the steaks were cooking I got out a loaf of ciabatta bread and cut that into some sandwich Shades so we're lightly toasting these in the oven once rested I cut each of the steaks across the grain into similar thickness slices and you can definitely see some different muscle structures here first we have the rib eye which has that nice extra little bit of fattiness second we have the leaner flank steak and lastly we have that nice flat iron which has a deeper red color when it's raw and when it's cooked due to myoglobin proportions to assemble the sandwiches I lightly toasted the ciabatta and then went ahead and added a smattering of mayo to both sides of the bread after the Mayo I added a little bit of the chimichurri on the bottom slice next up I added the bitter greens of the arugula before loading on each of these sliced steaks we have the flat iron the flank steak and lastly the ribeye then in reverse order I added a final spoonful of the chimichurri to deliver our oily sour herbaceous sauce it's such a simple but delicious combination man this is such a good steak sandwich combo now remember this type of sandwich as a whole even though we cooked it to medium rare is going to be much chewier because of the thicker slices of steak when compared to that cheese steak from earlier and again here are the questions I want to answer first in a chewy sandwich like this is there still a noticeable difference in the chewiness of the steak itself and secondly with sour bitter taste and herbaceous Aromas is there a noticeable difference in beefy flavor and right away you can hear a difference in textures compared to the cheese steak with the crunch of the bread and the crispness of the greens foreign now I quickly ran through bites of the first two sandwiches and found that in comparison they were pretty similar between the first two fairly similar nothing really popping off the page to me however as soon as I bit into sandwich number three it still tastes great but the texture is noticeably different definitely chewier no question now when I came back for second bytes of each of the sandwich I really wanted to focus just on the beefy flavor and ultimately I didn't think there was a big difference here as far as taste goes I wouldn't say they're drastically different though because you're getting the pop of the the chimichurri with the arugula the Mayo and that's a really pretty dominant flavor that's mixed in with the BB flavor so it's a lot harder to tell if there's a big difference in beefy flavor really the texture is the big thing um that I'm picking up here lastly I did bite into the ribeye and flat iron steak slices side by side and you can definitely tell a texture difference but when it's in the context of a sandwich that difference is definitely mitigated so tasting these side by side definitely more tender but once it's in the context of the sandwich with a chewy ciabatta roll definitely a lot harder to pick up on that textural difference except for the flank steak so in conclusion let's answer the question what steak makes the best steak sandwich in short I did not have a bad steak sandwich during this video however the flat iron was the clear winner in test number one in both the beefy flavor and tenderness but it was basically even with the rib eye in test number two and the beefy flavor was basically the same for all three Cuts now now what's more important here is we need to learn how to evaluate the steak sandwich and you can do that by asking yourself these three questions one where does my steak fall on the beefy flavor to tenderness chart two how is my steak gonna be used in the context of the sandwich framework for example will it be sliced super thin or cooked to medium rare and sliced thick and lastly how do my choices in the sandwich framework affect the overall flavor of the sandwich in terms of taste texture Aroma sight physical and human element because as you can see we ended up with very different flavor profiles that will change depending on what type of steak you may want to use all in all this was a set of fascinating tests and looking at how you can choose the best cut of steak for your steak sandwich depending on what you are actually making with it so both recipes will be up on my website and linked down below but that will wrap it up for me in this one I will catch you all in the next one peace y'all

Channel: Ethan Chlebowski

Views: 445,014

Keywords: Ethan Chlebowski, steak sandwich, how to cook steak, best steak sandwich, steak recipe, cooking steak, sandwich recipe, how to make a steak sandwich, steak sandwich gordon ramsay, the best steak sandwich, best cut of steak, steak explained, what cut of steak for philly cheesesteak, what cut of steak for steak sandwich, what is the best cut of steak, what is the most tender cut of steak, how to cook steak in a frying pan, how to cook a steak

Id: 83eQ9flwVS0

Length: 20min 50sec (1250 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 13 2023