The Absolute Best Way To Cook A Denver Cut Steak

Despite its name, Denver cut steak has very little to do with the capital of Colorado. Rumor has it that the name is simply a marketing tactic to promote more budget-friendly cuts of steak. What, exactly, budget-friendly steaks have to do with the Mile High City is still up for debate. We connected with chef K.C. Gulbro, owner of both FoxFire and Copper Fox and chef ambassador for Certified Angus Beef, to learn more about this modern cut of steak and how to cook it best.

According to Gulbro, Denver cut steak is found just under the shoulder blade of a cow. Recently discovered by researchers at the University of Nebraska and Florida — which makes the Denver moniker even stranger — Denver cut steak is "a relatively cheap, tender cut of meat," says Gulbro. For preparation, Gulbro recommends, "This cut can be cooked on high heat, either on the grill or in a saute pan, by basting it." Cook until you get a nice medium-rare grill on the beef. And as always, chef Gulbro reminds us, "Cut against the grain before serving."

In order to understand how Denver cut steak came to be, you must first know that the Cattleman's Beef Board funds a marketing and research initiative called the Beef Checkoff Program. Funded by the project in the 1990s, meat-science professors at the University of Florida and the University of Nebraska set out to identify more affordable cuts of meat. They discovered the portion found in the under-blade portion of the chuck roll. The new, affordable cut didn't gain traction until 2009, when the Beef Checkoff Program introduced and marketed it as the "Denver cut."

Even though the Denver cut steak has been around for the past fifteen years, a lot of people have never heard of it. In the grand scheme of steak, a fifteen-year-old cut is brand new to the butchering world considering what we recognize today as steakhouses began cropping up in the 1800s. Bistro, chuck, sirloin, oh my! These days, there are so many different cuts of steak that a trip to the butcher's can be overwhelming. Before you head to the store to drop some money on a cut of beef, we recommend you peruse our piece ranking popular cuts of steak to make sure you get the best cut for all of your steak cooking goals.