The thing is that there are so many different kinds of cuts, which can make choosing the best steak for you a real challenge – especially if you don’t know much about steak.
To a lot of people, it all looks the same. It’s just meat right?
The truth is that a lot of steaks have a completely different taste and texture depending on their cut, so it’s important to pick out the right kind for you and your guests.
Two very popular cuts of steak are New York Strip and Ribeye – but what makes them so popular, and what makes them so different?
Here, we are going to compare New York Strip steak with Ribeye steak to see how they are similar and different. This way, you can choose between the two confidently and serve the right kind of steak up at your next meal.
What Is The New York Strip?
A New York strip steak is one of the most common types of steak in America. It originated in the city of New York, but is also known by many names elsewhere including Kansas City strip, Omaha strip, or ambassador steak.
However, most chefs associate this kind of steak with the steakhouses of New York City, meaning that it’s official name is New York strip.
They come from the short loin area of beef cattle, which is located behind the rib cage. These steaks are usually sold as whole muscle, boneless steaks. However, it is possible to purchase New York Strip with the bone attached.
New York strips are known for their intense flavor and for being very beefy in taste. It’s not very tender and takes a bit of biting and chewing to get through, but this makes it even more cherished in some people’s eyes.
Leaving the bone in this steak does allow it to retain moisture while cooking, making it even more juicy – but, as we said before, most New York strips are sold boneless.
New York strips are great for grilling (either indoors or outdoors) and are best cooked on a very hot grill in a short amount of time.
You will see plenty of marbling in your New York strips and this fat will then melt over the high heat, infusing your steak with lots of bold flavors.
What Is Ribeye?
Ribeye steaks are another kind of common steak that comes in both bone-in or boneless forms.
It comes from the rib primal cut of a cow, from the main muscle of longissimus dorsi, and is sometimes known by other names including beauty stakes – named aptly for their high amounts of flavor and juiciness.
This juiciness is due to a number of reasons, but one could be that Ribeye is usually sold bone-in.
It is a super tender kind of steak as the longissimus dorsi is a muscle that doesn’t get a lot of exercise, meaning that it does not build up in strength and is instead where a lot of fat tends to congregate.
This means that Ribeye also features lots of marbling which further enhances the juiciness of this tender steak. All of these features come together to make a smooth-textured steak that is full of flavors of beef.
It’s very rich and buttery, making it a solid favorite for a lot of Americans.
Ribeye can be cooked in many ways but one of the best methods is grilling. When grilled over a high heat, the ribeye steak forms a solid, crusty outer layer while the inside remains juicy and tender.
What Are The Similarities Between A New York Strip And A Ribeye Steak?
There are quite a few similarities between these two very popular and very important cuts of steak.
The first similarity is their origin. Both come from the same muscle – the longissimus dorsi which runs from the neck to the rear of the cow.
As we mentioned earlier, this muscle does not get a lot of exercise which means that both the New York strip and Ribeye both sit on the tender side of the steak scale.
This tenderness is also enhanced by the marbling of both New York strip and Ribeye.
Also, both have the option to be sold boneless or bone-in.
Because New York strip and Ribeye also come from the same muscle, they are also very similar when it comes to shape and size.
This makes them both great centerpieces for a dinner and they are sure to fill up your guests’ bellies with little portions.
They are both also very beefy when it comes to taste and flavor, hence why these steaks are so beloved.
When it comes to cooking, both steaks are best grilled over a high heat. However, there are some differences when it comes to the finer details of cooking these meats, so let’s dive into the differences between a New York strip and Ribeye steak!
What Are The Differences Between A New York Strip And A Ribeye?
Although they are very similar, these two steaks are also very different from one another.
Although they both come from the same tender muscle (the longissimus dorsi), they are taken from different areas.
Ribeye steak is cut from the area near the neck while the New York strip is taken further down, closer to the rear. This is why Ribeye is considered a rib steak while the New York strip is a type of loin steak.
However, while they are from the same muscle, they do differ in tenderness. Ribeye is considered to be the more tender of the two.
This could be because Ribeye is high in fat and can cause flare-ups while cooking, but it does make it very juicy and tender.
New York strip has far less marbling than Ribeye, making it the healthier choice of steak as it contains less fat but this also makes it the tougher steak between the two.
While both have the option to be sold bone-in or boneless, New York strip is most commonly found being sold boneless while Ribeye is sold bone-in.
This can also be a contributing factor to why Ribeye is so tender and juicy as cooking steak with the bone-in means that it infuses the steak with more juices for flavor and a softer texture.
Although both steaks cook well over a high heat, it is also recommended that Ribeye is cooked in a ‘two zone grilling’ method.
This means that you start off searing the meat on a high heat then switch it to a medium heat for finishing. The New York strip, however, should be grilled hot and very quickly.
Conclusion
So, although there may be a lot of similarities between the New York strip and the Ribeye that makes them almost identical to the untrained eye, they are actually very different.
These main differences in tenderness and fat content are hugely important and vital for you to keep in mind when choosing the right steak to serve up.
No one wants to make the blunder of serving a tough steak to someone who can’t chew or serving a high-fat steak like Ribeye to someone on a diet.
Save yourself the embarrassment, know your steaks and choose wisely next time you want to try one of these steaks out!
