Hanger Steak: New to me on the West Coast, w/ Q-view

[mneeley490]

So when my buddy let me accompany him into Restaurant Depot recently, I found a cryovac package of Hanger steaks on the sale shelf. I had heard of them, but never seen the cut before out here. Price seemed pretty good, so I gave it a try. It was about 7-8 lbs, and the package looked like about 7 or 8 steaks inside. But when I opened it, there were just 4 huge cuts. Had to trim a bit of fat & silverskin off, and the meat was so tender, it was a bit difficult to work with. I'm still not sure where this cut originates on the cow; I've heard it is also called "flap meat".  

Anyway, I kept the steaks intact, and decided to do a reverse sear. It came out very tasty!

Out of the package and trimmed. Still over 1-1/2 lbs apiece.

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• mneeley490
• Jan 7, 2014

Seasoned with the mighty Tatonka Dust. Then into my MES30 with cherry wood until the IT was 115°. Then onto the Weber for a nice sear.

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• mneeley490
• Jan 7, 2014

Sorry, no pics of the smoke or grill, but here are two of the steaks after resting. To give you some idea of scale, that is a 1/2 sheet pan they're sitting on. They ended up on the rare side, but I think that's the way they were meant to be.

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• mneeley490
• Jan 8, 2014

A couple small chunks plated with bread and an opened Potato Bomb.

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• mneeley490
• Jan 8, 2014

The next night, I thin-sliced some of the leftover steak, laid on some bread with horseradish, and topped with Beecher's cheddar cheese under the broiler for a few minutes. Even better!

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• mneeley490
• Jan 8, 2014

 

[johnduoh]

Hey Mneeley490, great find especially if you got a good deal and those awesome. :drool

I grew up West Coast myself, then moved all over Midwest and Texas for work. It's funny how cuts of beef are so regional. For instance no one in California ever made brisket growing up, and 4 years ago Tri tip was featured as a "new cut" at my HEB store in Houston. Then there are the unknown gems such as flank steak that begin to gain popularity and eventually price as they become know to the public in different markets. Hanger is just such piece of meat. It's a cut that hangs from the diaphragm of the steer and is some times refered to as butchers steak , because most of them used to keep it for themselves. It is similar to a flank steak, but more pronounced in flavor and a of a more tender texture . Typically this cut is lightly marinated and cooked hot and fast to a rare to medium rare temp with great results.
Here in Chicago over the last 4 years, I have seen this steak become the go to offering for steak and fries in some of the better mid to high price restaurants. Of course now it's listed as "Hangar Steak with Pomme Frites" and gone up from $15 to $25 a plate in most of those restaurants :)
It's definitely one of my favorite cuts and if you can get it reasonable still keep enjoying it often. If you want to experiment with one grilled more hot and fast, such as you would flank steak, then finish with a litttle compund herb butter or a even a chimichurri sauce. You won't be disappointed.

 

[stanjk]

A great piece of meat for sure! Those 4 big pieces are usually trimmed up and divided into two steaks by following that seam of connective tissue down the middle. Sometimes the two steaks are butterflied to even out the thickness. And like John stated above, grilled hot and fast, not past medium, less is better. Check out YouTube for some videos on how to butcher them up. Can't go wrong with hanger steaks.

 

[moikel]

I have eaten it in France years ago.Now it's often on the menu in SouthAmerican places,chargrilled nice meal. Hard to find in the stores as fewer butchers break up whole carcass beef.

 

[mneeley490]

Thanks! If I ever find it again, I will cut them in half lenthwise. These were pretty unwieldy on the grill. But they tasted great!

 

[driedstick]

Those look great, very nice on the rev sear.