Beef tips: I need to be educated
What exactly are beef tips? I've seen recipes that describe them as "Stew beef" and at other times as "sirloin tips". Meat is not my forte, but I want to learn.
I'm also looking for some really delicious recipes that features a beef-filet-type meat - tender and melt-in-your-mouth -without mortgaging the house to buy the whole filet. Can beef tips be what will fill the bill?
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3 Comments:
They are short loin flap meat. Picture a porterhouse. The piece at the "top" is known as the tail. If that were not cut off at an inch or so, it would run down the side of the animal. When this meat is cleaned up, it becomes sirloin tips. Beef bacon.
zapatista at 1:12PM on 04/01/08
Beef tips most often refers to tenderloin tips or sirloin tips. Obviously, these are two very different cuts, and will get very different results. To make matters even more confusing, these types of retail terms are not well standardized or regulated, and the reality is that a word like tips could mean just about anything. This is true with other names too. What is commonly labeled club steak in one area will be called Delmonico elsewhere, and NY strip somewhere else. A cut labeled London broil might be a flank steak or top sirloin. But it also might be top round or chuck.
Also, many retailers identify meat only by the largest cut, even when there are terms that specify exactly which portion of the cut is being sold. For instance, chuck could mean cross, shoulder, 7-bone, etc.; top round and bottom round are quite different; and, unless you buy a whole rib roast, you probably won't know whether the one being sold came from the large end or small end. And so on.
For the type of beef tips you're describing, you'll usually want tenderloin. If a retailer is selling meat labeled simply "tips" you should ask what cut they came from. You mention not mortgaging the house to buy the whole filet, but buying a whole tenderloin will actually save you a whole hell of a lot of money. You just need to learn how to properly trim it (not at all difficult... Alton did a great demo a while back which you can see here), and then cut some nice steaks and/or small roasts for your freezer. Use the trimmings and tips for things like stroganoff, etc.
LoCo at 3:10PM on 04/01/08
I totally agree with Loco about buying the whole tenderloin if you have the space. Otherwise, at least buy some whole filets or sirloin and cut them up yourself--usually better meat, and cheaper. If you freeze the meat about 20 minutes it will slice very easily.
Also one of my favorite meals this winter has been Cooks Illustrated's Beef Stroganoff which uses filet mignon, but a little goes a long way. I've also had the butcher chop the filets for me. That allows me to choose the filets I want, while also saving me time and money from buying the tips, or doing it myself.
bobcatsteph3 at 7:16AM on 04/02/08