Chicken fried steak- cube steaks

[Caslon]

Caslon, if you want to cook breaded meat in gravy that's ok .

I'm just trying to have my cheap cube steak come out semi-tender, no gravy involved. I'm not that good at cooking yet. I've gotten the OK to pound the cube steak thin. Afterwards, I should try cooking it up in other ways rather than my method of frying it in seasoned flour, then adding a little water and covering the pan with foil so the cube steak slowly cooks to tenderness (30 min). If I don't do that, my cube steaks cook up tough and chewy.

I probably should have asked how to cook up tough cube steaks, and not necessarily how to chicken fry a steak.

 

[Just Cooking]

Good video Casey, thanks for sharing! That's pretty much how I make it, but I scale the quantities down a bit unless I'm cooking for more than just me. Like you, I use either heavy cream or half and half for the gravy, but I would use evap if I were camping and had no access to fresh.

I do believe I'm going to have to add CFS to the menu in the next week or two...getting a craving for it after reading this thread.

In a, now defunct, food forum I used to belong to, we would pick a dish and a date and we would all cook at approx that time, posting pics along the way.. One such day I enjoyed was CFS day...
Here are a couple of the progression pics from that cook date...
Ross

 

[Kayelle]

Now that's some beautiful Chicken Fried Steak Ross! I see you're all set for the pan gravy.

In a, now defunct, food forum I used to belong to, we would pick a dish and a date and we would all cook at approx that time, posting pics along the way..

That sounds like a lot of fun. We should do something like that here...
We used to have group challenges but that was years ago.

 

[Just Cooking]

Now that's some beautiful Chicken Fried Steak Ross! I see you're all set for the pan gravy.


That sounds like a lot of fun. We should do something like that here...
We used to have group challenges but that was years ago.

Thank you..

I did have the pan gravy in that group of pics...
It was much fun but, difficult to get more than a couple of participants for each session..


Ross

 

[Andy M.]

We have a local diner that makes CFS with sausage gravy! When I make it at home that’s what I do now.

 

[Just Cooking]

We have a local diner that makes CFS with sausage gravy! When I make it at home that’s what I do now.

Sausage gravy is delicious.. I make mine with Italian sausage for biscuits and gravy...

Ross

 

[RPCookin]

I think that just may be a criminal offense here in Texas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSP_kIFj6lY

CD

Great video Casey. That guy seems like the real deal. I love chicken fried steak. Cream gravy with lots of pepper.

I only do the sausage gravy when I'm making biscuits and gravy for breakfast on camping trips. I limit it because I like it too much, so if I just do camping, I manage not to overdo it.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

I just knew there was a reason I should not read this thread. I peeked anyway. Doggone it. Now I want me some CFS!!!

 

[CraigC]

Whatever you use, don't forget the heavily peppered cream gravy!

(ugh...yes, I remember Steak 'Ums. My dad used to buy them years ago. Yuck. )

Our local Penn Dutch cuts very thin top sirloin. Unlike "Steak Ums" the sirloin is great for steak sandwiches, stir-fry and SOS.

Yes, you can pound them thinner. Just don't go to the point where they fall apart.

Yes, cook them until golden brown, but no more.

I tend to use a better cut of meat, like thin-cut sirloin steak (AKA: breakfast cut), and pound it out for CFS. Cubed steak just seems to be very unpredictable at the grocery store.

The cube steaks I get from Penn Dutch are done in house and are of great quality. They had them on special last week, so CFS is on the menu this week.

 

[Rocklobster]

Looks great..gotta have that this week..

 

[buckytom]

I almost had a heart attack just watching how my sil made sausage gravy the first time.

But I only have it once or twice a year, and it gets washed down with Damson plum infused corn liquor, so my liver gets first priority in triage.

 

[tinlizzie]

A variation -- Even though I no longer indulge in full-blown chicken fried steak with gravy I picked up a couple of medium-sized cube steaks on sale last week. I cut them into bite-sized pieces, shook them in a zip bag with a few tablespoons of flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, then fried them fast in hot peanut oil. They were tender and crispy while still hot, but even good cold. I've been enjoying them as protein snacks for several days now.

 

[Addie]

Casey, what is canned milk? Just whole milk in a can, or something else?

Canned milk is just another name for "Evaporated Milk." When substituted for whole milk, it makes sauces richer in thickness and flavor. I use it quite often. Definitely for white sauce!

 

[Kayelle]

Canned milk has half the water "evaporated" from whole milk.

 

[cowman]

I've been a fan of Kent Rollins for years, and really enjoyed him Beating Bobby Flay in the CFS cookoff. (I do like to watch Bobby Flay tho..he's good, not doubt about that.)
Kent Rollins offers some very good advice in that video, that most people don't bother with when getting ready to cook CFS.

DON'T buy the tenderized or cubed steak that has a lot of white in it. Too often people mistake it for marbling. Most of that, especially if it's a top round or top sirloin, is going to be connective tissue or silverskin and it's one of the primary reasons CFS comes out tough and chewy.