Meat Experts Butcher One of the Most Tender Steaks: the Flat Iron - Prime Time

On this episode of ‘Prime Time,’ butchers Ben Turley and Brent Young use their expertise to butcher the beef chuck, or beef shoulder, to uncover one of the most difficult to cut yet tender steaks on the cow: the flat iron.
Credits:
Host: Ben Turley and Brent Young
Director/Producer: Murillo Ferreira
Camera: McGraw Wolfman, Murillo Ferreira
Editor: Murillo Ferreira
Executive Producer: Stephen Pelletteri
Development Producer: McGraw Wolfman
Coordinating Producer: Stefania Orrù
Audience Engagement: Daniel Geneen, Terri Ciccone
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For more episodes of 'Prime Time,' click here: trib.al/hhnKXqu
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[@ArcaneKeeperD20]

Prime time fills the Bon Appetite shaped hole in my heart.

[@denisonnongmaithm2883]

Don't disrespect Prime Time like that

[@Keithlovescake]

Yesssss

[@alligatormonday6365]

B.A. sucks ass now. They had the dream team now all they've got are 2nd stringers like Marcus Samuelsson's dumbass.

[@BrandenDanielNg]

Everything I love getting cancelled

[@ritchierich2793]

Their video was about entire cow and more of ASMR style...

[@Panther-kid]

Honestly, I'm so pleased with the quality of Prime Time, it's funny but more importantly it's educational. You guys rock, keep being awesome.

[@azieramie433]

In malaysia we called that part “daging harimau menangis” or crying tiger cause tiger cannot reach that part but he know its super delicious meat part.

[@BST1000SoccerStuff]

Oh wow! I'm looking it up now. This. Is. Amazing.

[@GiantPanther]

I've seen "Tiger cried beef" or similar at Thai restaurants and never thought twice about what it meant, that's really cool!

[@shiro_bakayarou]

hello fellow Malaysian

[@azieramie433]

@@shiro_bakayarou haiiii apa khabar

[@shiro_bakayarou]

@@azieramie433 khabar baik, my malay is quite trash thou cuz im chinese

[@ProHomeCooks]

epic tutorial, super interesting to peak into the world of pro butchery

[@majoroldladyakamom6948]

A P E A K is the top of a mountain or when fruit/veg are at their best ripeness. A peek is a look into, lol! Hope you're not home-schooling anyone above the 3rd-grade level.

[@frostytheredd]

HEY EATER CAN WE GET A COLLABORATION VIDEO WITH ALL THREE OF THESE LOVELY PEOPLE PLEASE?

[@torqued666]

@@majoroldladyakamom6948 Don't be a fucktard. Raise the bar. We're counting on you to do better for the world. We need better from you.

[@majoroldladyakamom6948]

@@torqued666 I was trying to help this person to wake up and smell The Dictionary (or Wiki), particularly on the Global Comment platform. 👍🤗 Watch out, your education level (or specifically lack thereof) is showing!, lol. I can teach any 2-year-old child how to use offensive language. Evidently, someone beat me to it, in your case. 🤮 Stay safe and well, you and yours, ok? ⚘🙏♥️🙏⚘

[@jonhedlund8058]

this isnt really probutchery this is more like store butchery, not even close to the skill of industrial butchers

[@oyamonaca]

Hy guys. In France, the sinue with meat, you d sell it to a restaurant to make a beef jus (gravy) or even beef stock for onion soup for exemple. Don t throw it away! By the way, about all those special cuts you should read French butchering technics books. Good to watch you back! Keep on. L.

[@winstonli8445]

oh yes the sinus will also act as thickener

[@jacobjuenger4454]

Yes it seems like they would be great pieces for stock.

[@jacobjuenger4454]

Either sell it for stock purposes or make your own and sell your own beef stock boys!

[@lukewarm2075]

Thanks awesome idea

[@sunnyqueen5685]

Yeah, I've always seen my mum buy some to make homemade stock!

[@firehawk12164]

Please do more vids like these, hyper detailed segments on a single steak cut makes me walk away feeling like I really learned something

[@ajh7722]

I love the breakdown of the "technical details" . The engineer in me loves that stuff, and i could watch these fellas break down beef all day. I appreciate the knife skills. Thanks fellas!

[@akennedy8945]

My family has always used the silver skin in stock making. There's always going to be some aspect of meat left of the silver skin. Admittedly the ss doesn't break down or add anything itself.

[@maxsmelvin]

Yeah, seconded. Stock. Especially brown stock. Fry it off first.

[@MelissaFlaquer]

+

[@nedbarton4905]

Came here to say this, making demi glace for the holidays tomorrow and it would be very welcome!

[@spectre205]

Yup, minute or two in a hot pan and into to the stockpot with your roasted bones and otherwise useless trimmings.

[@abbyc7815]

This is what I was going to say, cartilage/connective tissue can add gelatin to thicken stews

[@coltonvanessa5096]

Honestly this was the most informative video you guys have done, I learned so much about butchery in general. I learn a lot from all of your videos but this one in particular was fantastic

[@MrMtman86]

Thank you for what you do. The flat iron is my favorite cut. The effort is wholeheartedly appreciated!

[@jonathanlunneberg1722]

Watched this video last night. Stopped at my grocery store today and picked up a flat iron for dinner. After trimming a little of the silver skin that was still left and seasoning simply, I did a quick sear on cast iron with a butter finish. Absolutely delicious and tender. Thanks for the rec.

[@matthewcarandang]

I always love seeing these guys. It makes me happy and I’m glad this video found its way back to my KZbin recs

[@thelewis2898]

Butchering is SO interesting, I've learned so much from you guys and rewatching your videos is very rewarding because now that I have more experience I can actually see the different parts of the animal. I'm still learning but it's so cool to see how much I've learned since butchering is also my profession.

[@rosietsureai6963]

Caldo. Silver skin and the meat on them can be used for soup stocks. They can also be chopped up kinda finely and fried like carnitas or chicharones.

[@VacuumDweller]

In this time of supply chain disruptions, global unrest, and loss of traditional culture, I have been strongly considering learning Butchery as a trade skill to offer up to my local community. Ben & Brent have been truly inspirational in this endeavor and I wish you and your various enterprises the best!

[@proudnerd3]

I’m so happy to see you guys back and making videos! I know it’s been crazy busy/scary throughout this pandemic but this gives me some hope. Thanks!

[@BST1000SoccerStuff]

Thank you for watching!

[@djgstefan]

I used the leftover silverskin for my sauces. I saute it in a pan to get a fond. Deglaced with some whisky added garlic, onions, herb, etc, and then cooked for a while for a great pepper sauce. I'm not a trained chef, but people loved the sauces.

[@billybear9296]

Your videos are always epic, but this one really succeeds at showing the skill that is required for this sort of butchery. Well done.

[@michaelhuang2477]

@10:58, you commented on how grocery stores sometimes cut up the muscle horizontally with the connective tissue in the middle. This is how I actually found it in my store. I've marinated these steaks in a bit of salt, pepper, oil and some light soy sauce. When cooked towards the medium doneness, the connective tissue become semi-gelatinous, (still chewy), but enjoyable. Regarding, Ben's comment on what to do with all the silver skin with some meat stuck to it, you can cut it up, brown it up and use it for a stew or gravy. The silver skin will gelatinize as well. Same stuff sold in joint supplements, like chondroitin, etc. Cheers

[@the_flora_archives]

Miss you guys on my dash SO GOOD to see yall back making videos and just sharing your love of good food.

[@littleneedlesfarm6387]

Fun fact: Flat irons are the human equivalent of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles, which are 2 of the 4 rotator cuff muscles. This is what goes thru my head as a massage therapist when I watch these butchering videos! 🤣

[@Jisescrait33]

Anatomy is really cool!

[@tkjho]

silverskin is just fascia

[@Jisescrait33]

@@tkjho true!, A friend of mine who's really into anatomy told me that and i was like Omg! I didnt know

[@littleneedlesfarm6387]

@@tkjho yep!

[@glenm5679]

I discovered the flat iron this summer and I've made about 5 of them and they always turn out amazing! The meat wholesaler I get my meat from sells the flat iron untrimmed, so I have to clean it up myself and take out that middle sinew. I actually enjoy being so hands on with the meat and cleaning it and trimming it myself. It's a lot of fun. Great video guys.

[@samuelwu5648]

feed the silverskin to the guests in the basement

[@obnmeli4709]

my guests are young so their mouths won’t be that powerful. but i’ll give it a try

[@padraig5335]

@@obnmeli4709 Sick

[@bradtoepfer527]

It puts the silverskin in its belly!!!

[@michaelbarton5169]

I loooove the flat iron steak! A friend of mine, who's a Swiss-trained chef showed me how to break this down. You can use the scraps for stock (as was said by notre ami de la France) or my friend showed me a different option. Switch to a razor sharp chef's knife, hold it just off 90deg to the sinue, and scrape the meat off with a gentle sawing action. This gives almost a boeuf hache texture, which I then used to make the best tacos that I have ever made: the texture was so much better than ground beef. Great video! Cheers fr Nova Scotia

[@erichoffman1994]

I seriously love these videos! Please make more like it.

have to say that ouside of the butchering part, this steak is delicious and also very forgiving!! I started my grilling journey with this cut. First started eating it with the silver skin inside of it, but then i learned how to remove it, and this is another new level.

[@Cyrribrae]

Good to see you back! The flatiron is one of my favorite cuts, full stop (after watching Jamie Oliver talk about it - as a featherblade stake - years back). It's a shame that it's gotten more expensive lately. But still great! Didn't realize it was so much work to break down. Makes sense why it's hard to find sometimes. I can sometimes find it as a whole cut in the grocery store, like you said. Makes me feel better that I suck at taking out the sinew lol (I often take the easy way out with cutting it horizontally with the sinew right in the middle haha)

[@andreskanes1348]

I butchered for 10 years at a grocery store where we would get whole ribs, whole loins etc and then just break them down for steaks/roasts but we never recieved whole animals. This was a cut that we recieved already seamed out as an individual muscle, we sold it as a top blade steak (just cut straight through the whole muscle including sinew like you guys described), we would also cut it up for stew and occasionally grind it. For the longest time I thought it was junk meat until my meat manager took a piece to the deli oven and cooked it up for me. Holy crap. I was in love. Thanks for reminding me of its existence, since I left butchering I totally forgot about it. Time to go to the meat counter.

[@dwaynekoblitz6032]

I LOVE when you guys do butchering! So enjoyable to watch. Great video!! That steak looks delicious!

[@addinomarkamil2]

At the restaurant we always save the small amounts of trim with silverskin and save them to finish up demi glaces or other sauces, we'll hard sear them to get a fond and then use up the all the bones for stock and add that to reduce into an intensely beefy and roasty jus

[@Ilikeitlikethis]

Love your work. I eat a lot of flat iron steak from a local butcher but never understood why it was so good till now !

[@bensmith7536]

Its great to see you guys again. More please.

[@botaoli6684]

I have always kind of wondered why dont butcher shops sell steak trimmings on the side for stocks and glazes. All those collagen

[@alligatormonday6365]

Exactly! I'd buy lots of trim and bone for making stock and demiglace.

[@davidletts83]

We grind up our trim into burgers. When asked we have just given customers bones or fat trim for free.

[@botaoli6684]

@@davidletts83 I wish I get a butcher like this around the corner 😂

[@iggywow]

they had an episode where a ramen shop or something was buying lots of their pork trimmings like bones, trotters and such

[@nastynate838]

would definitely be some good ass scraps

[@waynel680]

Thank you guys! Body builders love this cut!

[@RPT4U]

In asian cooking or specifically cambodian cooking, we use the silver skin to make a sausage. We kind of chop the silver skin by knife, mix with some beef fat and ground beef and lots of asian herbs (such as galangal, lemongrass, paprika, rice etc.). We then, sundried it and let it ferment it for 24-48 hours. When cooked, there's a slight sourness from the fermentation combined with the saltiness and all the herbs. The silver skin also give a slight chewiness (which asian culture love) but not too much to stick in between your teeth haha. Btw, nice episode, I always learn so much from you guys

[@ES-sp4zr]

Got into flat iron steaks this year and have yet to put it on the grill. Going to try now. Fascinating video.

[@mkhanson1440]

These are great videos. This cut is probably one of my favorite cuts. I like to use it to make my street tacos. Turns out so amazing.

[@meag5723]

serotonin levels rose just seeing y’all have new ep of prime time :-)

[@killakan1204]

I literally just got 20lbs of flat iron for my restaurant yesterday. Its like they knew

[@fannycueva.62]

The part they called trim at min 5:26 is one of the most amazing taco meats called suadero (you fried up in a cast iron, medium heat for a large amout of time until it renders all of its fat, mostly common in the Mexico city Area but much beloved in all Mexico)

[@jonathanmcgregor7470]

Flat iron is one of the only steaks i ever buy, soooo under-appreciated

[@lukewarm2075]

Yeah i love it also its awesome to use in stirfrys so tender.

[@cps060]

Excellent demonstration. Thanks

[@Njurk]

Can’t be the only one that is satisfied when he runs the knife that smooth

[@VujaklijaG]

Great channel, presentation is so smooth that you can watch it, and lose time! And you can learn a lot! Tnx

[@TheBassofmike]

I always fry the trim with salt and pepper as I prep meat. Flavorful and chewy- almost like a meaty chewing gum. Love it.

[@sblair1100]

9:47 I find cutting away from myself while holding the thick gristle at the top of the blade. Great tutorial guys.

[@EverythingIsPhysics]

flatiron is my favorite steak that fits the budget. thanks for highlighting it!

[@kylewindere2133er]

Where I work, we call these “Butter steaks” because the natural butter flavor and extreme tenderness. We run through about 30-40 4 packs of clod boxes a week on average. The butter steaks are the biggest seller next to our chop meat which is a perfect pair. We’re usually able to sell 10-15 butters a day at $14per lb

[@bradbovey1748]

Been using flat iron steaks for steak tacos for about 3 years now! EPIC!

[@mariuszarszylo1476]

This makes perfect sense why I always loved the flat iron steak at TGI Fridays.

[@siyuanlu1424]

The flat iron trims we always poach them first to remove the blood of it then we make a savory brine and soak them in the brine when it is hot, Then you put a plate on top of the trims to prevent them from floating. And you just leave them there overnight it will become easy to bait but also savory. You can also cut them to strips then stir fry with some chili and oyster sauce then deglaze some brine. For the brine you can have a look on Chinese Chaoshan brine.

[@jrt2394]

one of the most interesting prime time episodes thus far!

[@benjendersen]

Flat iron is my favorite steak forba couple years, ever since I found out about them. I live in a small town with no butchet shop. About every 6 to 8 weeks I drive nearly am hour each way to get 4 flat irons. I cut each one into 3 and vac pac them and freeze. Absolutely worth it.

[@briangarcia8384]

The dance at 15:18 is me when I dip McDonald's Spicy nugs into Wendy's Chili after smoking a bowl.

[@matthewenfinger766]

I learned about this cut about 4 yrs ago. They serve it at a certain steakhouse, not sure if I'm allowed to say it on here. But it's delicious and tender, when done right, but as with all meat, you can get a bad cut. It's one of my favorite steaks.

[@ngeduch6963]

Yaaahhhh!!! Flat Iron getting some love! It’s one of my favorites! I suggest this to my customers all the time 😋

[@LyndseyMacPherson]

I would take that ball of sinew and brown it/use it in stock-making. Beautiful run-through of flat iron butchering--you guys are terrific!

[@dreadwing01]

Great walkthrough of finding the flat iron.

[@kumbackquatsta]

love these og butchery videos

[@alwayssmile1778]

I love you Randy Marsh. You are the best butcher ever!

[@mshell1959]

Great video guys. Thank you!

[@thebigsdog]

so glad to have a video with you guys. We need a weekly or bi weekly video lol

[@timdavies7596]

I wish you were my local butcher, I would be in every day getting advice and meat! You guys are awesome. I’m in the UK so a bit too far to travel for my tea! Haha. Keep the vids coming. Thank you.

[@ritchierich2793]

Wait don't the UK have this kinda of butcher that famous.. or is that just a gordan Ramsey exclusively..

[@chrisatkin7130]

Go find a real butcher, not a meat salesperson from a supermarket. A real traditional butcher will always have time to give advice and even suggest cuts you may never have tried. The bigger shops aren't always the best find a small one.

[@timdavies7596]

@@ritchierich2793 my personal experience with the local traditional butchers have not been great, asking for something not in the display cabinet seems to throw them into a panic. Or they just say “no, we can’t get that” or something like that.

[@anniecrawford5911]

You both do an excellent job at teaching. Your passion and respect shows. Wish you guys were located closer. We have great beef here in Minnesota. I am going to talk to my butcher about a flat steak. I appreciate the ‘art’ of butchering and also respect the animal. Love cooking and feeding people. Thanks for the quality information. I love it that you two our such silly knucklehead friends. You are invited over for beers and eats anytime. Stay healthy, happy and keep on laughing. 💐

[@BST1000SoccerStuff]

Thank you so much for your kind words! I've never been to Minnesota, but I've been to neighboring states and, yeah, you all have some really great beef around there. Hope you're well in Minnesota!

[@simes007us]

I sware you two are the beasty boys of the butchery world. Amazing!

[@thecatsarse]

The silverskin with a bit of meat on it can be added to a big pot to make a nice beef stock together with the bones :)

[@Sas_HeatherC]

throw the sinew in with the bones for bone broth. Profit. Butchering underappreciated art and skill set. thank you for educating us.

[@geraldgoldsby8533]

Took alotta work. Thanks Fellas!

[@s.woberts6576]

This is marketed at my local butcher shop in Clifton Park NY as "Fred's Favorite Steak". Also my fav.

[@TheTigaf2010]

I’m going to be 100% honesty I only watch Eater just for Prime Time. Love this series

[@macdorken]

As always great video! Informative and fun

[@TranBrianLee]

Yes!! One of my favorite cuts!

[@mdallas]

I've braised those sliced flat irons which they call top blade steaks at my local box supermarket. that center sinuet breaks down and makes and incredible braised beef.

[@miyoungmbenson]

#silverskin, growing up in a Korean household, we were use the silver skin attached to the meat to simmer in a soy sauce broth with aromatics until very tender and eat with a fresh bowl of rice🥳💞🥰korean comfort food

[@BST1000SoccerStuff]

Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. I'll have to look up some recipes! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@Bosfammm]

I like to use the sinews (silver skin) to make stocks, it’s collagen rich and helps thicken your soup when cooled. You can stuff the soup and other fillings in a dumpling skin and make soup dumplings.

[@jdniedner]

From the comments about using the silver skin, looks like these guys are going to start a broth, gravy, au jus and demi glace shop. Saucey!

[@raigaKF]

Really really interesting!!! Great video! More like that please 😁

[@gravitywolf3616]

I just recently stepped away from being a butcher, and I used to push chuck eyes and flatirons to everyone. Everyone wants the Ribeye, or Tenderloin, but don't wish to spend the price. When I first started butchery, Tenderloin was my favorite cut of beef, but later this turned into the flatiron. It's much beefier, and better for the wallet.

[@thelewis2898]

10:16 with any of those silverskin parts you can actually thicken up any fond or broth if you boil it long enough, the collagen breaks down and makes it richer. I always try to get as much of it when I keep any sort of bones.

[@gothsauceproductions5243]

I love buying flat iron steak at the market it’s literally so affordable but so tender & melt in your mouth which is why I use that cut for my steak sandwiches. Flat iron makes great steak sandwiches so easy to bite through & you can make a lot of them for the money.

[@markacyr]

I’ve been collecting the silver skin and throwing in my monthly freezer clean out broth - Turkey, chicken, beef bones, and all these connective bits.

[@soisitimpossible]

Silver skin from my wild game I clean the meat off fairly well then either twist it or leave it flat to dry and use it as dog treats. Same goes for large tendons. Dogs love it.

[@Solvang_circus]

Coming from southern Cali my fondest cut is the good old Tri-Tip.

[@jackielinde7568]

QUESTION: Could the silverskin and the meat attached to it be used in a stock pot to make beef stock and/or broth with other unused sections of the cow?

[@TauEnjoyer]

i was wondering the same thing

[@fragstore8761]

i heard that silverskin is pretty much useless and it wont break down to gelatin when cooked so no, u should unfortunaly just throw it out

[@fabiodanner7108]

10:29 in French cuisine you use this to make sauce demiglace for example

[@BeowWulf]

This has actually become my favorite steak to make at home. Relatively cheap, best flavor, and pretty difficult to screw up compared to just about any other cut. Don't know if I want this getting out, but if you got a Fresh Thyme by you, it's usually the best cut to buy if they have it. Better than any of the other, more traditional, better cuts.

[@CarloHizon]

I collect the silver skin and the thick gristle (?) in the middle and vac seal. I add it to some of my braises at times and love the mouthfeel after a low and slow braise. Thanks for the video. I don't do butchery and this is the only thing I know how to break down and always thought I just sucked. Nice to see it really is just difficult to do.

[@Eaterofeaterofpies]

You can use the silverskin dried up as dog chew toys

[@bishoysamy1988]

Yo butchers.... Yo science ... Love the way you presented this... Greetings from Egypt

[@yudadwiparamarta7619]

I'm salivating. Looks really good and tender.

[@h3ro11mcintyre]

I love cutting flat irons at the grocer I work for. They are beautiful cuts of meat. Problem is, customer have no idea what they are. Most of the meat markets cut them into chicken steaks which like you guys said, has that inedible tendon right in the middle.

[@michaelmackinnon2378]

As a butcher myself. I love yall just a new subscriber!!:)be safe keep up the hard work

[@frederickthompson8686]

These guys are total pros. And now I know why my local gourmet butcher charges $40 a pound for Flat Iron steaks. But they are well worth the price!

[@oliverdosh7210]

I love the flat iron my Walmart usually has a couple on clearance because everyone is sleeping on it, so I get a great steak for around 5 bucks.

[@fb079]

That's surprising in the UK I pay £5 for a pound fribeye

[@augustt8484]

@@fb079 you obviously don't buy good quality then

[@fb079]

@@augustt8484 nah I get it from my butcher all traceable back to the farm meat is just very cheap in the UK

[@evanouk3297]

Prime time fills the Bon Appetite shaped hole in my heart.

[@saucyfbaby]

the first flat iron steak i had was from walmart on clearance . sadly , i can no longer find it at my local store . i think they stopped selling it because people weren't buying it .

[@k3rc4]

Man, what a great title, I really wasn't sure if they're gonna butcher the whole process... or actually butcher aka cut up some meat. good one

[@nickbild3538]

I could watch you guys all day

[@kimberlyduncan8598]

you guys are amazing. Try teaching other butchers in stores to cut better pieces

[@Yeraus]

Awesome, those two guys are the best!

[@Nokenify]

Missed you guys!