Green Mountain GrillsHow to Cut a Whole Strip Loin Into 13 Steaks (and Pay About $17 a Steak)
Pat broke down one certified Black Angus strip loin from Butcher Dave's into 13 New York strips and three pounds of burger. Here is how to do it at home, what it costs, and the two rules that matter once the knife is down.
Somebody asks us this at the counter every Saturday. Steaks cost what they cost now, so how do you keep grilling them without wincing at the register?
The answer is the one Pat gave on camera in May: stop buying steaks. Buy the whole strip loin and cut them yourself.
One certified Black Angus strip loin from Butcher Dave's in Holland gave him 13 full New York strips and about three pounds of burger meat. It took a knife, a board, and about half an hour. Each steak worked out to roughly $17.
The same Black Angus strip at a grocery store runs twenty-something dollars apiece. That gap is your reason to keep reading.
Here is how he did it, what to buy, and the two steak rules that come after the knife.
Why buy a whole strip loin instead of steaks?
Three reasons, and price is only the first.
You pick the thickness. A packaged steak is whatever the store decided. A loin lets you cut inch-and-a-half steaks for the grill and thinner ones for a weeknight pan.
Nothing is wasted. The ends and the odd pieces become burger. Pat's loin gave up about three pounds of it, which is a second dinner hiding inside the first.
And you know what you have. One animal, one cut, one date. Thirteen steaks that all cook the same way because they all came from the same place.
Where Pat buys his beef
People ask him this constantly, so the secret is out. Butcher Dave's on Olean Road, Route 16, in Holland, New York.
Pat put the question to Dave directly: why here and nowhere else? Dave's answer, in his own words, is that all of his beef is raised in Iowa and Nebraska, one hundred percent Black Angus, has to meet ten standards before it earns the certified Black Angus label, and is aged 28 days before it reaches his counter.
Dave also carries our charcoal and a small selection of pellets, so a Saturday run to Holland covers the meat and the fuel in one stop. He told us he is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 to 7, and Sunday 9 to 5, closed Mondays.
What you need to break down a strip loin
You do not need a butcher's setup. You need a sharp knife with some length to it, a board bigger than the loin, and a place to put 13 steaks.
- A long, sharp knife. A 6-inch trimming knife handles the fat; a longer slicer makes cleaner steak cuts if you have one.
- A big board. We sell disposable BBQ boards for exactly this kind of mess.
- Freezer bags or butcher paper for the steaks you are not cooking this week.
- A bowl for trim. That is your burger.
Pit note
Ask for the strip loin whole and boneless. It is the same muscle your New York strips come from, just uncut. If the case only has portioned steaks, ask at the counter. Dave cuts fresh every day.
How to cut a strip loin into steaks
- Trim the fat you do not want. Pat took most of the cap off before cutting. Leave a thin edge if you like the flavor, but a thick cap on a strip steak just flares up on the grill. Everything you trim goes in the burger bowl.
- Set your thickness. Pat aims for an inch to an inch and a half and uses the width of his knife blade as the gauge. Pick one thickness and keep it, so the whole batch cooks the same.
- Cut straight down in one stroke. Let the blade do the work. Sawing back and forth leaves a ragged face that cooks unevenly.
- Square off the ends. The tapered pieces at each end are not pretty steaks. Cube them for the burger grind or save them for kebabs.
- Count and bag. Pat's loin gave 13 steaks and about three pounds of trim. Bag what you will not cook in the next couple of days and freeze it flat.
How much does a whole strip loin save you?
Pat's numbers from the May cook: about $17 per steak, all certified Black Angus, plus the burger. His comparison was the grocery store price for the same grade, twenty-something dollars for one steak.
Call it $3 to $5 a steak, times 13. That is the price of the knife and the charcoal, with the burger thrown in for free.
It's so much easier to buy it and break it down yourself, folks. It's as easy as that.Pat, breaking down the loin in May
Two rules once the steaks are cut
Cutting your own steaks does not change how they cook. It just means you have 13 chances to get it right, so learn the two things Will Fry the Grillin' Guy repeats every spring.
Take the chill off first. A fridge-cold steak cooks faster on the outside than the inside. That is where overcooked edges and a raw center come from. Let it sit out 20 to 30 minutes before it hits the grate. Simple fix, big difference.
Rest it before you cut. Five to ten minutes on the board. Will Fry calls it a power nap. Cut too early and the juice ends up on the plate instead of in the steak.
A probe thermometer takes the guesswork out of both. Pull a strip at 130 for medium rare and let the rest carry it the last few degrees.
When buying whole is not the move
Be honest with yourself before you drive to Holland.
- No freezer room. Thirteen steaks is a lot of steak. If you cannot freeze eight of them flat, buy four.
- You want one steak tonight. A whole loin is a project, not a Tuesday.
- You want a different cut. This math works for strip loin because it is one long, even muscle. Ribeye and tenderloin break down differently.
- Your knife is dull. A dull knife tears the meat and your patience. Sharpen it or borrow one first.
Season it like the shop does
The steaks in the video went on over lump charcoal with a steak rub and nothing else. That is still our answer. Coarse salt and pepper with a little garlic, a hot fire, and the two rules above.
Bring your questions to the counter inside the McKinley Mall, or send us a note through the contact page. If you cut your first loin, we want to see the board.
