Which steak is the best?
Choosing the perfect steak can be difficult so we compared the top premium steaks. Which steak is the best?
Healthy Halal has so many different types of steaks to choose from so we understand if you might need some direction when considering which steak is Healthy Halal’s best. Although it largely comes down to personal preference, three cuts of steak seem to take top prize for being the best halal beef steaks: filet mignon, ribeye, and sirloin. Let’s examine these three steaks, discuss their pros and cons, and help you decide which Healthy Halal meat online steak is the best.
Filet mignon
The halal beef fillet steak is also known as tenderloin filet, tenderloin steak, filet de boeuf, tender steak, beef tenderloin, among others. It’s taken from the smaller end of the tenderloin that runs along either side of the cow’s backbone. Because this muscle makes up only 2-3% of the animal, it can be an expensive cut of steak and is very highly prized.
Why you might love a filet mignon:
Widely considered to be the most tender part of a cow, the tenderloin muscle does not do as much work as tougher muscles from the shoulder and leg muscles. The result is a steak that is so tender that it seems to melt in your mouth when properly prepared. Another potential benefit to this steak is that it is one of the leanest steaks with little to no marbling (fat between the muscle fibres) so if you are limiting your fat intake but love halal steak, the filet is a winner.
Why you might not love a filet mignon:
A lack of fat in the halal beef filet mignon might sound like good news at first but fat is what gives steak its flavour and keeps it from drying out while cooking. When it comes to lean steaks, there is a fine line between perfectly cooked and overcooked so we recommend that you use a meat thermometer. Despite the filet mignon having a fair amount of flavour, most would agree that other steaks are more flavourful than this steak. To overcome these issues, filet mignons are often wrapped with bacon to provide both flavour and protection against drying out. This adds cost, more work, and an additional mess to a premium steak.
Ribeye
Halal beef ribeye steaks go by many names: cowboy steak, Spencer steak, tomahawk steak, market steak, or Delmonico steak. As the name ribeye name suggests, it comes from the halal grass fed beef rib primal cut and is comprised of three muscles: longissimus dorsi, complexus, and spinalis. These run from the cow's hip bone to the shoulder blade. If you are familiar with prime rib, ribeyes are a steak cut from a prime rib roast so they are the same in terms of marbling, flavour, and tenderness.
Why you might love a ribeye:
If you love juicy, flavourful steaks, few steaks can beat a halal beef ribeye. This steak has lots of marbling throughout and large areas of fat which makes for a very juicy steak with a robust “beefy” flavour. Because of the fat, this steak is more forgiving and can be cooked to higher temperatures than the filet mignon and still remain juicy and delicious. This muscle group does not get much exercise so the ribeye is a fairly tender steak.
Why you might not love a ribeye:
Despite being tender, the ribeye is not as melt-in-your-mouth-tender as the others on this list. It also has more fat so depending on how you feel about fatty steaks, ribeyes might have more than what you want. There is a fair amount of fat located in the middle of the steak separating the longissimus from the spinalis dorsi so if you avoid all fat on your steaks, you might not like this cut of steak.
Sirloin
The halal beef sirloin steak has been called many names: New York, strip steak, ambassador steak, boneless club steak, and Kansas City strip. It’s cut from the cow’s loin primal which is located along the spine in the hindquarter of the cow, running from the ribs to the rump. The loin primal is cut into two sections, the short loin (where this steak is from) and the tenderloin (where the filet mignon is from). This area does not get much exercise and produces some very tender steaks.
Why you might love a sirloin:
If the filet mignon is considered the most tender cut of steak and the ribeye the most flavourful, the sirloin takes the second prize in each category. This steak is incredibly tender and has a decent amount of marbling and a large fat cap along one side so it is juicy and flavourful. A sirloin does not have large amounts of fat running between muscles in the middle of the steak but it does have a large fat cap on one side and a bit of marbling in the halal meat. This fat keeps it juicy and flavourful.
Why you might not love a sirloin:
Although there is not much to complain about when it comes to the sirloin, there is the fat cap to consider. The fat cap offers flavour and juiciness but needs some direct heat before the rest of the steak so it can start rendering. Another turn-off for some is the line of nearly inedible fat between the fat cap and the meat, which does not render as it cooks. Although this strip of hard fat is not through the meat of the steak, this might be too much for some people if they take a bite by accident.
Final considerations
Before we pick a winner, it is important to note that the type of steak matters less to us than how the halal beef steak is cooked. You could buy the most expensive wagyu steak with perfect marbling but if it’s undercooked or overcooked for your tastes, it will never taste great. Have a restaurant cook it for you or use a meat thermometer when cooking steak at home - and don’t forget to let it rest for a bit before cutting into it so that the juices don’t rush out.
Another consideration when searching for the best steaks is the quality level of the steak. It’s nearly impossible to know the quality of meat when purchased from a big-box grocery store where they care more about the price margins than the quality. If you don’t know how to spot a high-quality steak, go to a butcher and start a conversation. -or even better, buy halal meat online and get high-quality steaks delivered right to your door with Healthy Halal.