Cowboy ribeye

Did you know you can make a ribeye? We’re not talking about cooking a ribeye, we’re talking about buying a larger cut of beef, then creating the exact ribeye style and dimensions you cowboy ribeye for the exact way you want to cook.

Here’s how to make a ribeye on your own. Where Does Ribeye Steak Come From? Ribeye steaks start as part of an entire prime rib. When you buy an individual ribeye steak at the store, the butcher has already cut it from the prime rib. Instead of buying the steaks precut, you can buy an entire prime rib and do the cutting yourself. A prime rib is cut from ribs 6 to 12 of the animal. Ribs 6 through 9 are called the chuck end, and are larger, more tender, and have more fat.

Ribs 10 through 12 are the loin end. They are leaner cuts that tend to be a little tougher. Why Would You Buy an Entire Prime Rib vs. Saving money and having more control over what you’re cooking are two important reasons to buy a whole rib roast instead of individual steaks. Whether or not the cost is a factor for you, cooking the exact cuts you want probably is. Feeding a small group of dedicated carnivores?

Turn your roast into thick, meaty, massive cowboy cut steaks. Take the bones out to make ribs some other time, and divide ribeye into smaller, flavor-packed steaks. You can mix and match in a lot of different ways. What Are the Different Ways to Cut a Prime Rib for Ribeye Steak? The cuts you make from a prime rib can be neatly divided into two types: Bone-in cuts and boneless cuts.

Obviously, you’ll need to buy a bone-in rib roast to do the bone-in cuts. 3 inches wide, and can feed two people. Back ribs can also be cut from a prime rib, and then smoked or grilled. Cutting out the back ribs from a bone-in rib roast leaves you with a boneless rib roast from which you can create the cuts below. A thin-cut ribeye steak is the same cut simply sliced at less than 1-inch thickness.

Those who do not like any pink in their steak may prefer a thin-cut ribeye. A Philly cheesesteak cut is cut the same as a thin-cut ribeye, then chilled and prepared for flash cooking to make Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. You don’t want the meat slipping off the board as you’re cutting it. A knife, such as a chef’s knife, long enough to cut through the entire piece. You want to be able to cut through the roast in one motion.

If you have to saw back and forth, you’ll create unsightly ridges on the surface of the steak. This utensil is essential for separating fat and sinew, and for trimming. Pat the roast dry with paper towels, so excess moisture doesn’t cause the roast to slip while you’re cutting it. Using your hands, fingers, and paring knife as necessary, remove the thick fat cap from the back of the cut. Often you can pull and use your fingers to separate it from the meat, using the knife for tough pieces of fat. If the cut has a narrow end or tail, trim it to create a cut of relatively even width.

Decide how many steaks you want to cut based on how thick you want them to be. You can choose to cut all the steaks the same size, or cut a few thicker ones and some closer to 1 inch for lighter eaters. Using your long knife, cut slits in the meat where you plan to make your cuts — just like marking a piece of plywood with a pencil. Slice through the meat in one firm, downward stroke. Once you’ve cut all of the steaks, trim diagonally along the fat ends of the pieces to eliminate extra fat. There are also a few alternate ways of slicing a boneless rib roast. Instead of trimming the fat at the end of the process, you can cut it all off at once before slicing the rib eye.

You’ll be taking off a small amount of meat, too, which you can use to grill or smoke meat tips. You can also separate the tender cap or spinalis muscle, creating two steaks from a slice of the roast — the spinalis or cap, and the rib filet. Another option is to leave some portion of the chuck end whole as a roast you can cook similar to a whole prime rib, and cut the rest into steaks. A professional butcher can create bone-in ribeye steaks of any thickness by cutting them on a meat bandsaw.