You Should Treat Cube Steak Like Chicken. Here's Why

Chicken is very temperamental to cook. As Eat This, Not That! explains, heat set too high will dry out the meat. On the other hand, there's the opposite possibility: "if the juices are red or pink, or if the chicken itself is pink, it needs more time to cook." According to the CDC, pink, or raw, chicken can be riddled with bacteria. And that bacteria can cause Salmonella and other food borne illnesses (i.e. food poisoning). 

In contrast, raw beef, while sometimes an issue for similar reasons, can be safe to eat if sourced right, according to My Chicago Steak. If you look at the Oola website, and many others, you'll find examples of that fact in practice, with recipes for dishes like steak tartare, which utilizes as its basis raw ground beef (or — and this might be a surprise — horse meat). Sauces, herbs, spices, and other flavors like onions and capers are added to "give it a rich and savory flavor." 

But when it comes to chicken and steak, there is one form of the beef you should be taking chicken prep tips from: cube steak.

As Food Network points out, cube steak is basically a minute steak from the area near the cow's bottom that's "inexpensive, flavorful ... [and] pre-tenderized," and is typically used in stews and soups and other dishes that are slow-cooked. But the focus word here is "pre-tenderized." As it's already been made thinner and smaller in volume, and therefore has less fat, it will cook quicker, meaning it will dry out if cooked the way you would an average steak.

Instead, you should cook it "quickly over high heat," much as you would chicken. In fact, they note that it is typically "pan-fried on the stove" after being breaded, similarly to how you would prepare chicken-fried steak. It's then often served with saucy toppings like "gravy, mushrooms and caramelized onions." So the next time you find yourself wanting to save a little money and still enjoy a flavorful, tender steak, try picking up a cube steak and giving FN's suggestion a try.