Are center cut tenderloin filets better than filet mignons?
Steaks are a dinner time staple in many households and restaurants. It is great to know more about specific cuts before buying or ordering a certain cut. You can prepare a steak in a way that helps the flavor shine when you understand the different types of cuts. There are many popular cuts of beef. Each cut has their own unique textures, thickness, marbling, and flavor profiles. These differences in each cut of steak determine the best way to prepare the steak to get the most flavor out of it. So there isn’t a “best” cut of steak because it all boils down to the consumer's preference.
What is a center cut tenderloin filet?
The tenderloin is the full, long muscle ranging from eighteen to twenty-four inches. You find this cut from between the sirloin and the top loin at the side of the beef. This cut of beef is well known for being tender. The muscle fibers are small and tender. This creates a lean piece of meat with very little connective tissue or fat. Sirloin is lean like the filet mignon, but it has a sturdier chew than filet mignon.
What is filet mignon?
Filet mignon is a part of the tenderloin that resides in the tail end of the filet. It is the conical end of the long tenderloin muscle. This cut of beef is also usually pretty pricey. Mignon” means “small” in French—often this cut of meat is around one and a half to two and a half inches in diameter. Since filet mignon doesn’t have a lot of fat, the filet mignon cut isn’t especially full of beef flavor. A proper cooked filet mignon almost melts in your mouth.
Grading and Cuts
Tenderloins and filets actually come from the same cut that is found in the loin of the cow. The tenderloin and the filet mignon are lean cuts of meat with no bone. They have an element of marbled fat but are not fatty. Both of these cuts of meat are tender, but not as full of flavor as other cuts because they have no bone or real fat.
Both cuts have different grades as well. The USDA grading system breaks down the quality grades of beef. These quality grades are: Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner. Prime is more expensive and comes from younger animals and has a little more marbling. Choice grade is still a great quality of meat, has a little less marbling, is a little bit cheaper.
In conclusion, steaks of all cuts can be delicious in their own way. But whether one is better than the other is up to the consumer. Center cut tenderloin filets and filet mignons have several similarities and differences. Whether one is better than the other is up to you and your preferences. Both cuts of meat can make mouthwatering recipes that will impress your guests.
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