Round Steak

[Subdeacon Joe]

My bride and I got to talking about foods from our childhoods and wandered onto the subject of what soups, canned and/or packaged, were common in our households.  Which led to me talking about "Round Steak with Cream of Mushroom Soup Gravy," and me mentioning how we don't see the same kind of round stead in the stores anymore.  When I was raised (still haven't grown up) round steak looked like

 

and was about 3/4" to 1" thick.   Neither of us can remember the last time we saw one like that in the meat section of a supermarket.  I offered the opinion that the primals were being broken down further, and yielding higher profits.  She applied her superior Google-fu and found https://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/ab_round.html talking about the different "rounds" now on the market.  So, yes, the primals are being broken down into different cuts.  

But I do miss those big round steaks!  

More useful information from that site: https://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/ab_cowc.html

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Round steaks have great flavor but are tough. My ma used to pound them and braise them with sauces for what was called 'Swiss steak'.

 

 

For years you could by 'rump roasts', that 'watermelon cut' but now we never see it except as 'round roast'.

 

Thick-cut round steak has been sold for London Broil for several years now as an alternative to flank steak, which is more expensive, and in fact it works extremely well. Cut thin on the bias it's as good as flank to us.

 

In recent years there's more of an appreciation of the lean cuts; with the right prep they are great, full of flavor.

[J-BAR #18287]

Freshman year, veterinary medical school, weekly quizzes in anatomy class.  The prof put a round steak on a tray and said, "name everything you see."

 

We also used to play "name the vein" at KFC.

[Subdeacon Joe]

3 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Round steaks have great flavor but are tough. My ma used to pound them and braise them with sauces for what was called 'Swiss steak'.

 

Yep.  Mom had a little meat tenderizer that she pounded it with.

 

 

She used the side with the blades.  Two or three passes over the whole thing, then turn it 90 degrees and pound it again.  Both sides.

 

Sear in oil, and braised in Lipton, or was it Wylers?, Onion soup.

Served with mashed potatoes, green beans, carrot sticks, and slices of iceberg lettuce.  Kraft French Dressing for the lettuce.

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

13 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Thick-cut round steak has been sold for London Broil for several years now a

 

I think I learned about that in the early '70s.  Convinced Mom to buy one and I cooked it.  Came out medium rare and very tender.  Dad was skeptical about the "raw" meat, but allowed that it was some of the best beef he'd had outside of a restaurant.

[watab kid]

i prefer a nice think fillet but ill settle for a decent 1""+ porterhouse , 

[Rye Miles #13621]

Growing up we had round steak every Saturday night. It was cheaper than other steaks and while we weren’t poor we weren’t rich either. Yea it was kinda tough but it was good tasting. We had it with mashed potatoes and peas. 

[Michigan Slim]

I get round steaks every year from our "high speed beef".  Marinated overnight and cooked no more than medium rare over an oak coal fire. 

[Cypress Sun]

 

I never liked steaks when I was growing up. My step-father could take the most tender, juiciest and tastiest steak and turn it into dried leather every time. Wasn't until I moved out of the house that I realized it and could enjoy the taste of a well cooked steak.

[Stump Water]

49 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

I never liked steaks when I was growing up. My step-father could take the most tender, juiciest and tastiest steak and turn it into dried leather every time. Wasn't until I moved out of the house that I realized it and could enjoy the taste of a well cooked steak.

 

Ditto.  Except it was my mother.   She wouldn't touch a piece of beef until it was turned into boot leather.

 

Combine that with the fact that the family split a beef with either my grand parents or aunt/uncle (who were beef cattle farmers) that was 100% pasture until it was slaughtered (50 years before "grass fed & finished" was a thing).  That beef was 100% lean... and tough.  Even the hamburger was tough. And if you wanted to grill a burger you had to add in some type of fat so it would hold together and not fall through the grill grate.

 

[Pat Riot]

Have you tried smoking a cheap steak?

I buy bottom round roasts and cut them into steaks about and inch thick. Sometimes I put salt and pepper in them and sometimes various rubs I have. I set the smoker at 210° and let it settle in for 30 minutes. I put the steaks on the grill and leave them alone for 40 minutes then I check the internal temps of the meat. If it’s around 130° I open up the heat plate covering the fire box. I bump the grill temp to 460° and put the steaks on that side of the grill to sear both sides a bit over the fire. My wife and I like Medium Well steaks so I leave them over the flames when searing and pull them off at an internal temp of 145-150°.

They are tender and tasty. I am a Ribeye lover, but these bottom round steaks are great and low fat. 

One bottom round roast can give me 8-10 steaks. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I bought a cube steak last week.  The first in many decades.  It was very good.  

 

Now I'll have to go find a round steak.

[Sedalia Dave]

I love Tri-Tip. Alas it is not available in Texas. I also haven't seen a Flank Steak in quite a while.

 

My local butcher does get some really good Porterhouse that he will custom cut to my desired thickness of 1.25"

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

I buy prime rib when it is on sale, usually at a holiday like Christmas or Easter. I cut it into rib eye steaks and I smoke the ribs that I also cut off. I make the rib eyes about 1 1/2" thick and grill them med rare. I usually get the prime rib for $6 to $7.50 a pound, rib eyes are up to double that price.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

That's exactly what I do. Rib steaks for much less, and same quality.

[Pat Riot]

21 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I bought a cube steak last week.  The first in many decades.  It was very good.  

 

Now I'll have to go find a round steak.

I have this cage. At least that’s what I call it. It’s for grilling veggies. I use it to smoke cube steaks or stew meat. 
I take 2-3 pounds of it and I lay it out on a big cutting board and I season it. Traeger’s Saskatchewan Blackened rub works great. Then I lay it a piece at a time in the gave until I have the cage full 1 layer deep, then I put the top on to hold it all together and smoke it for about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes or when the internal temps of some of the outer cubes reach 150-155. Then I pull it off the grill, remove the top and “Wallah!” Smoky Steak Bites. 
It’s Gooooo-ood!

 

ready for the grill

 

On the grill about to be seared

 

Result

[watab kid]

look tasty