Tenderloin vs Filet Mignon?

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Skittle68

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Just started working at a new restaurant (unfortunately I'm still working at red lobster too), and 7 different cuts of steak, but one is a "tenderloin" and the other is "Filet Mignon". Aren't those the same thing?? One is a 6oz and one is an 8oz, so maybe they just wanted to have a slightly less expensive version of the same thing, but if thats the case, why not just say 6oz, and 8oz to make it less confusing? I could just ask them when I go back tomorrow, but I'm curious now, and I thought a little steak discussion might be fun :)

Just to make it more fun, some of the other choices are a 12 oz New York Strip, 12 oz Ribeye, and the big boy, a 22 oz porterhouse. Disregarding price, which one would you choose, and why?

I would choose the big porterhouse! I like that the fat is mostly on the outside, so it can be easily cut off, and doesn't get in my mouth, and I love getting the big loin piece, and also the surrounding meat to add a little different texture and variety. Yum!! Anyone know what the meat surrounding the loin piece is, technically?
 
A porterhouse is loin (NY Strip) on one side and tenderloin (Filet Mignon) on the other.

They may use tenderloin and Filet Mignon as a marketing thing. Like when a can of tomatoes is 2/$4 when they really are just $2 each.
 
FrankZ said:
A porterhouse is loin (NY Strip) on one side and tenderloin (Filet Mignon) on the other.

They may use tenderloin and Filet Mignon as a marketing thing. Like when a can of tomatoes is 2/$4 when they really are just $2 each.

What's the difference between loin and tenderloin?
 
Technically speaking, filets mignon are cut from the smaller end of the tenderloin and tenderloin steaks are cut from further up the tenderloin where the meat is thicker. So it makes sense that the tendrloin steaks are bigger than the filets mignon. Most places call all tenderloin steak cuts filet mignon.
 
If you look at a porterhouse steak, the tenderloin is one side of the bone and the (sir)loin is on the other. The tenderloin is a whole separate piece of meat that's on the inside of the ribs while the sirloin is on the outside.
 
They are two different cuts of meat. The filet comes from the"back strap", on the outter side of the spine (along each side of the back bone) and the tenderloin comes from lower inside of the spine and is much smaller. Also on each side of the lower backbone.
 
not exactly, s&p. andy had it right.

a filet mignon is a cut from the tenderloin, the tenderloin being the whole backstrap.

on a porterhouse, the small piece of meat is tenderloin, the larger piece is either a ny strip of rib eye.

i prefer either a ny strip or rib eye (or prime rib steak).
 
not exactly, s&p. andy had it right.

a filet mignon is a cut from the tenderloin, the tenderloin being the whole backstrap.

on a porterhouse, the small piece of meat is tenderloin, the larger piece is either a ny strip of rib eye.

i prefer either a ny strip or rib eye (or prime rib steak).

Bone in rib-eye, the best cut of meat on the carcass, IMHO, especially, the 2nd rib-eye back from the chuck, well marbled, and cooked over blistering hot charcoal, with the lid on, medium rare. But tenderloin is pretty good too.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Backstrap usually refers to loin not tenderloin, though the actual backstrap is a nerve and one would not want to eat that.
 
i right there with you, brother.

serve it with little salty au jus from the roast, and a little side of grated horseradish, and don't talk to me for the next 20 minutes or so or you might get bit.
:yum:
 
I can't tell you how many times I have seen "Porterhouses" with the tenderloin gone or almost gone. I get mad!

I also like chateaubriand which I have prepered from the large end of the tenderloin after you cut the steaks .(standing up and pounded flatter) I have also had it from the sirloin which is more classic.Both are great.

I agree the filet mignon is cut from the smaller end portion of the tenderloin.
 
Backstrap usually refers to loin not tenderloin, though the actual backstrap is a nerve and one would not want to eat that.

well yeah, on smaller animals the term backstrap is used, and the muscles smaller, more combined.
 
Porterhouse is my favorite steak too! I like strip steaks because there isn't so much work to separate the fat, and who doesn't love that big chunk of filet on the other side.

If your steak doesn't have a good sized piece of fillet on one side then it isn't a porterhouse, it is just a T-bone. Porterhouse are cut first and as they go down the piece then they turn into just T-bone steaks, when the filet gets small.
 
Son #1 every so often will stop at The Hilltop House and pick me up a really thick Porterhouse Steak when it is on sale. I can never eat the whole thing. Although I do give it the old college try. So once again, Teddy gets to eat better than the two of us. He gets the leftovers. Plus the bone to gnaw on. I suppose I could try to share it with my son. To heck with him. Let him get his own. :pig:
 
Sometimes the difference in names of cuts from the tenderloin is nothing more than marketing. I've seen Filet Mignon, Wellington, and Chateaubriand side by side in the meat counter, all at different prices.
 
So do I but Costco, at least, seems to have found a market for the differing cuts.

They may be labelled "Beef for", I don't buy them, so I don't remember. It occurs around Christmas and News Years.
 
I think of Chateaubriand more as a specific way of serving two with a filet mignon recipe, but evidently Wikipedia disagrees: Chateaubriand steak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wellington however is a tenderloin type of recipe served en croute (in a crust) and is most certainly a way or means of cooking a specific recipe. You may need a specific cut for Wellington but there is IMO no Wellington cut that will allow you to buy that and cook it and end up with Beef Wellington.

I know for sure. Wellington is one of my long term cooking projects. I've cooked it but so far nothing worthy of publishing.
 
greg, gordon ramsay considers beef wellington one of the most technically difficult things to cook. i've seen him say as much on several cooking shows.

i've never even attempted it because i'm pretty sure it would suck if i tried, and it's a pricey mistake.
 
TYVM BT. I've cooked some fairly good Wellingtons but so far I have not cooked any that were IMO worthy of my publishing on my own. I'll agree it is a challenge on several levels.

I have some unique ideas that I'd rather work on than jump the gun at this time, but maybe you don't need the most pricey cuts. Maybe you could have even some other form of filling, maybe even some ground meat. Oops I said too much. :)

I have cooked it several times with a filet mignon basis, results very good but so far none worth publishing. You can Google at least as good as I've cooked, and if you're willing to take all the laborious steps.
 
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