Speaking of good inexpensive steaks...ever try Spencer steak? I find that cut at Butera. They usually sell it thin-sliced but I ask for a 2" thick cut steak and it usually costs me about $3.00 for the whole steak. It's quite tender & flavorful...almost like a ribeye. Only thing is, there's a thin strip of sinew that runs right at the center of the steak...I just cut around it.

Liz in Norwood Park wrote:Speaking of good inexpensive steaks...ever try Spencer steak? I find that cut at Butera. They usually sell it thin-sliced but I ask for a 2" thick cut steak and it usually costs me about $3.00 for the whole steak. It's quite tender & flavorful...almost like a ribeye. Only thing is, there's a thin strip of sinew that runs right at the center of the steak...I just cut around it.

A Spencer is supposed to be a boneless ribeye. What you describe with the sinew in the middle, sounds like a flatiron, or maybe even a hanger steak?

hmm....maybe it is a flat-iron! But they label it Spencer steak...go figure!

The steak with the sinew (or cartilege, actually) in the middle isn't a flat iron, it's what they call around here (in KC) a "patio" steak, altho' some places call it a "charcoal" steak. It's one of the new-geometry chuck steaks, of which, IMHO, the flat iron is the best.

Geo

I talked to a meat department guy at Costco today who said that flap meat was not a big seller. I guess if it's not priced high enough, some people just figure it can't be good.

In any case, I called Whole Foods and they said that they did have flap meat,
$11.99/lb, almost 3x the price at Costco. For that price I'll buy NY Strips or ribeyes.

If anyone knows of a reasonable source for the flap meat please post a response.

I'm wondering the same thing. The thread about Costco no longer carrying tri-tip makes me wonder, can you still get f**p s***k at a Costco, or anywhere else, in Chicagoland?

I looked up beef flap meat in my "Field Guide to Meat" book by Aliza Green.

It is from the Bottom Sirloin Butt. That piece has the tri-tip, the ball tip, and the flap.

I think if you want to go to a store and ask for it, it might be helpful to know that - that name would be on the case of meat in their cooler if they have it, unless they have specifically a case of flap. I know I've seen bottom sirloin butt in the cooler of the meat department I work in (at least at times).

I had bottom sirloin last weekend at Fogo de Chaou. It had an excellent flavor, but wasn't as tender as say, top sirloin, and wasn't my favorite. But oh my, I'd sure like to try to make a burger out of it.

Nancy

I'll keep my eyes open for f**p s***k the next time I go to Costco (and maybe even Harvestime, one never knows).

While this is an old thread, just wanted to let people know that whole foods, at least the lincoln park one, sells flap steak as their skirt steak. Now, if you can stomach paying $11.99/# for either cut, be my guest. Just wanted to let folks know. I was looking for flap when making america's test kitchen's beef soup recipe. It's still pretty hard to find but, as my Whole Foods experience attests, with all the vacuum-packed meat out there nobody really knows what they have anymore, they just read what's on the package it comes in.

shadesofjay wrote: as my Whole Foods experience attests, with all the vacuum-packed meat out there nobody really knows what they have anymore, they just read what's on the package it comes in.

a great testament as to why folks should really find, and go to a local butcher shop vs. a chain grocer to buy their meat.

jimswside wrote:a great testament as to why folks should really find, and go to a local butcher shop

Ain't that exactly right! I've visiting some friends in Alton IL, and needed a big pork butt to make pulled pork yesterday. My friends said that I might try the local butcher instead of going to Schnuck's. So I stopped by, talked to the guy, and he said "I'll cut you one out of a shoulder." Minutes later I had a 10lb butt in my happy possession. Can't imagine something like that happening at the supermarket.

Geo

jimswside wrote:a great testament as to why folks should really find, and go to a local butcher shop vs. a chain grocer to buy their meat.

I wish it were so simple. Even most butcher shops just traffic in vac-packed meats.

Honestly, going back to earlier in this thread, costco offers some of the best meat, and sometimes surprising cuts that they can shame some butchers. Now, I'm not saying they butcher their meat, but I just dont' seem to buy much anywhere else. You can get prime steak there for less than select @ the local grocery stores and that's something a butcher can't even come close to doing. Last time I looked Paulina Meat Market was more expensive than even Whole Foods.

shadesofjay wrote:
I wish it were so simple. Even most butcher shops just traffic in vac-packed meats.

nowdays thats how most meat is shipped, so its the nature of the beast. However a butcher shop that has been in business for 50+ years, and the butchers that work there will know what cut of meat they are selling, and typically cut it to order. I also feel better buying from the local little guy, vs. a corporate chain even if it does cost me a few more $$$, just a personal preference.

just a fun fact, some butcher shops buy their meat in the same way as costco gets praised for, my butcher orders beef that is graded "choice and up", and if the supplier is out of "choice" he gets shipped "prime", and passes it on to his customers.

To be a real meat geek - if you really want to know about meat, and I think some of you might, there's some interesting reading out there.

Not too hard to find is "A Field Guide To Meat" - it's a great book for explaining which cuts are called this and that and the other - for each cut, it lists all kinds of names used for that cut. Also talks about how it should be prepared, how much to serve per person and that kind of thing.

Another easy to find on the internet, but expensive as hell - is NAMP's "Meat Buyer's Guide". It's a very official book that slaughterhouses must follow criteria how what muscle can be sold as what, how it should be cut and trimmed. The very nice thing is that the Field Guide to Meat refers to this book - and the Meat Buyer's Guide has very nice pictures.

If you ask your meat department - they should be able to go look at the box any piece of meat came out of - and it should be quite officially labeled by the NAMP standards. Only problem here is it's best to shop in the morning when the guys who actually took it out of the box and packaged it up are still there.

You can educate yourself and get to know what different cuts are by how they look.

I requested the Meat Buyer's Guide from a library - they got me a copy from some rural place.

I'm glad I gave myself this education, because now I can go to the Mexican store and if the names are only in Spanish, which I don't speak, it doesn't matter, I know what meat looks like....

Nancy

Bought my first flap today at the Costco in Mettawa. $5.79/lb, but it looks fully trimmed...no silverskin, no lumps of fat. Going to try a dry rub overnight and toss it on a very hot egg tomorrow night.

-Will

WillG wrote:Bought my first flap today at the Costco in Mettawa. $5.79/lb

:: perk! ::
I'll be right back ... gotta run to Costco ...

Haven't seen it at the Mt Prospect Costco in over a year -- if they have it, I'll be buying some.

Bought some last Sunday at the Clybourn location. Can't remember the price.

Beverator wrote:Bought some last Sunday at the Clybourn location. Can't remember the price.

It was 5.79 at clybourn, too. I totally forgot to post that I'd seen it. Unrelated, the prime strips are now up to $13.99/lb, getting them dangerously close to the price of the prime dry-aged strips at Joseph's on Addison.

They had no flap meat at the Lake Zurich Costco. I asked a guy in the meat department about it and he had no clue what I was talking about. He said that they had short ribs which was the same thing. I said no, it was from the bottom sirloin, and he went back and talked to somebody else and came back and said something about tri-tips and how they don't carry them anymore because there was no interest. If that's true, I'm utterly disappointed in my fellow Lake Zurichians. Two days later I went to the Mettawa Costco and they had lots of flap meat, but no tri-tips. What bugs me is that Cook's Illustrated specifies flap meat in many of their recipes. I don't thnk they know how rare it is here. They even admit that they use flap meat instead of their preferred skirt steak (in some recipes) because they don't have skirt steak readily available where they are, which is opposite of the Chicago area, where skirt steak is abundant.

flap is up to 5.99/lb at clybourn costco. they also have inner skirt for ~3.99/lb.

It's back! Found at Lincoln Park Costco yesterday. $7.99 I think.