Do you cut skirt steak with or against the grain?

The best way to cut skirt steak is to always cut against the grain of the muscle fibers, as is the case with most cuts of steak. When you cut meat against the grain, you make it more tender and easy to chew. Follow this guide to learn how to properly cut a skirt steak to yield the most tender and flavorful bite.

What does cutting against the grain mean for skirt steak?

The grain of the steak is referring to the direction the muscle fibers run within the piece of meat. Cutting against the grain means to cut through the fibers and make them shorter. This makes the meat more tender and easier to chew.

Are you supposed to cut meat with the grain or against the grain?

With any steak cut, you should always slice against the grain, which means against the direction that the muscle fibers run. This is true of all different cuts of meats.

What does it mean to cut skirt steak against the grain?

The grains are the long lines of muscle fibers that are quite clearly defined, running from one end to another. Cutting a skirt steak against the grain will yield the most tender slices. You can cut against the grain by cutting perpendicular to the long parallel muscle fibers present on the steak.

How to cut a steak properly?

Use a sharp knife to cut through the steak. A blunt knife will give it a jagged and torn effect and be difficult going. Furthermore, a sharp kitchen knife will also save you significant time and effort. Your knife should cut through the steak just like it would cut through butter.

Why is skirt steak more tender than flank steak?

The toughness means it has more flavor and because the muscle fibers in a skirt steak are less tightly packed than flank, then it more readily absorbs marinades. Since skirt steak is ​tougher than flank steak it is easier to cut flank steak than it is to cut skirt.

Is skirt steak on the inside or outside?

Because there are two skirt steaks per side of the beef—that is, one on the outside and one on the inside—almost every outside skirt from either side of the beef gets sent to a commercial kitchen of any kind. This means that the skirt steak available in a butcher’s shop is most likely the inside skirt.