How to "Swiss" Steak or Make Cube Steak

Soaking Cube Steak in buttermilk helps to tenderize it.
This is a store-bought cube steak that has been passed through a machine.

To make a cube steak, the butcher generally takes an ordinary, flavorful but tough round steak cut from the top or bottom round, and runs it through a butcher's tenderizer once or twice, turning it almost into hamburger meat. This machine is sometimes called a cube steak machine, it was invented in 1941, and leaves cube-shaped imprints on the surface of the meat, thus the name "cube steak". The machines are usually stainless-steel cases with innards fashioned from rollers covered in dozens of teeth sharp enough to pierce flesh cleanly.

There is good reason for making your own cube steak. I have bought cube steaks that were tough and full of stringy tendons. According to The North American Meat Processors Association, item #1100, a.k.a "cube steak", can be prepared from any portion of the carcass excluding the shank and heel meat. However, item #1101, a.k.a. "beef cube steak, special", is to be prepared exclusively from the round, loin, rib, or chuck sections. Additionally, the knitting together of two or more pieces of meat, or the folding of the meat during the cubing process is permissible only in the cut sold as "cube steak", not as "cube steak, special".

Cube steaks are pretty much nothing more than tenderized round steak that you pay a little extra money for in order to have somebody else to do the work. Now granted, the butchers have a nice machine that does a fantastic job of super-tenderizing the meat, but you can also do a fair job of duplicating this at home, save a little money and ensure you have quality meat.

Alton Brown prefers a needler to a meat tenderizer. A meat tenderizer is similar to a hammer with and basically smashes the meat and makes it thinner. It tenderizes the meat by breaking down the fibers of the meat. A needler, on the other hand, makes perforations in the meat. The goal is to break down as many fibers of connective tissue as possible. Make four or five passes across the meat in one direction and then turn the device 90 degrees, and make four more passes. Flip and repeat on the other side.

I would buy a thicker steak and further use a mallet type meat tenderizer to pound the meat out a little flatter to break down the fibers. Some people use this techique only, but I think a combination is better. Place between layers of plastic wrap to avoid splatters.

I even found a cooking site on the Internet where the lady pounded on the steak using a knife. She writes: “Just use the cutting edge and pound, pound, pound. You want to whack the meat hard enough to leave indentions about 1/8" deep. Be careful to not cut it all the way through. Flip the meat over and repeat on the other side.” She also flours and seasons her meat before pounding it.

Once tenderized, proceed with your recipe. If cooking cube steaks quickly, never overcook cube steak because it will dry out and get tough. Other recipes cook cube steak in a gravy, low and slow, until it gets very tender. Also, due to the lean nature of the beef used, some form of seasoning, coating or sauce/gravy os often served with the steaks.

Recipes:

Chicken Fried Steak - cubed steak is dredged with beaten eggs and flour and pan fried in a manner similar to fried chicken. A milk or cream gravy is made with the drippings.

Country Style Steak - cubed steak is lightly floured and pan fried, then braised in the oven in a brown sauce until fork tender.

Swiss Steak - after the cube steak is floured and quickly pan fried to brown it, it is baked in the oven with onion, garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf and thyme until fork tender steak.

Braised Cube Steak - cubed steak is floured and pan fried, then braised in an onion and chicken broth gravy.

Cube Steaks Dijon - steaks are pan fried and served with a sauce made from pan drippings, shallots, cream and Dijon mustard.

Cube Steak on Toast - cube steak is fried and served on buttered toast as a sandwich.