Costco’s meat department is the perfect place to stock up on steaks for burgeoning grill masters, families looking to stretch their dollar, and even people who want to consume red meat in moderation. When perusing the rows and rows of meat cuts, it’s easy to assume that you have to bring home a massive package of steaks, cook them all at once, and end up with the meat sweats like John Candy downing the Old ’96er in “The Great Outdoors,” but you can actually use these thick cuts of steak to your advantage and stretch them out over a long period of time. The obvious answer is the wisest way to get more out of your Costco steaks without sacrificing the quality of your chosen cut: Halve the steaks.
It really is that simple. To stretch your already good deal of affordable premium meats from the Costco meat and seafood department, all you need is a sharp knife, a cutting board, and preferably, a shrink wrapper. Halving your steaks lengthwise can reduce the fairly typical 12-16 ounce cuts to a more manageable size for kids, or for people who have a hankering for steak now and again, but either don’t like the chew of a thick cut or like their steak on the more well-done side. By only using half the steak, the other half can be packaged back up and thrown in your freezer to cook later.
The benefits of a thin cut of steak
Halving your steaks into thinner cuts has plenty of benefits beyond saving some cash. It’s worth bringing up that people who eat red meat are at a higher risk for a variety of health issues, including heart disease and diabetes. So instead of taking down that 16-ounce cut, halve your steak and enjoy eight ounces of your favorite protein. Save the rest for another time.
Depending on personal preferences, thinner cuts of steak can deliver a quick and easy well-done cook for the person who doesn’t like to see red. Cooking a thick steak well-done could easily lead to overcooking and charring, and not in a good way. Plus, since you’re cutting your new steaks lengthwise, if you time your cook correctly, you still get that great sear that brings out the flavor steak eaters love.
If you peruse the Costco meat and seafood department with this simple hack in mind, you’ll see almost every steak cut in a new light, from the New York strips to even filet mignon, though you should still pay attention to some cuts of meat such as ribeye there. Just keep in mind that not every steak can be halved, at least not easily. Flat iron, skirt, and flank steaks are already relatively thin compared to the 1 or 1½-inch cuts of a New York strip at Costco, so avoid halving those lengthwise. Still, you can always cut it in half horizontally if you won’t use it all or you don’t want to reheat it into well-done oblivion.
