What Steak makes the best Steak Sandwich? 

Ethan Chlegoatski

Is it just me or does anyone else also find it impressing how well Ethan can navigate while being blindfolded. I'd just straight up put my hands into the food by accident

Have you considered making one about real vs fake wasabi?

I appreciate every minute of the insane amount of work that goes into these videos

Ethan, you make great content. Can we get some pork chop / cutlet pro tips? Too many chefs won't touch pig, but I know my local grocery store goes through a lot of it.

One of the best food channels on YT, by far. But more importantly, I don’t feel guilty anymore for taking huge bites (and double bites) of my sandwiches after seeing Ethan attack them unapologetically!

As a chemist, i thoroughly enjoy your approach to cooking 😺 Kudos! Very cool!

Marbled short rib is my go to for sandwiches. Trim the excess fat dry rub for flavor & moisture. Slice thin & shallow fry in it's own fat & grape seed oil.

Actually surprised you thought flat iron was that much better than ribeye. I love a good flat iron steak, but I've never thought to myself that it is definitively beefier than a ribeye

Thank you for doing these in depth videos. They are so entertaining and educational!

I don't even cook a lot, but honestly Ethan, you're teaching me leaps and bounds about cooking.

Just moved to uni and this is getting me through my first night, thank you. You've always been such a comfort to me and I really needed this :]

Great job Ethan. I usually use a thinner cut NY strip for a steak sandwich. Flat iron is going to be the next sandwich for sure.

One of the rare times when someone on the internet claims to make a 'Philly' Cheesesteak and ACTUALLY nails it.

I’ve never been more excited to watch a video. You inspire me to be passionate about food.

Really excited to see the flat iron as an option here. Probably my favorite to use in thin sliced settings.

To break up the mundane look of a cheesesteak and to add another level of flavor, I love to add a fresh diced jalapeño when assembling. ❤

This video format is so effective and you do a great job in the presentation 🤘

Labor Day weekend I made cheesesteaks for a house full of guests (I live at a beach resort) & invited everyone with an understanding they'd most likely be sleeping on the floor like back when we were in our 20s. Anyway I ran frozen London Broils (LB) through my meat slicer as thin as I could before the meat would fall apart. I fried up 8 HUGE softball sized onions & browned the steak meat in the same two dutch ovens (used dutch ovens so their thick iron would hold the heat between batches). ...had 30+ adults, the steaks were served with corn on the cob, baked potatoes, baked beans (with Jameson Irish whiskey added) & with Herr's barbeque potato chips, & fresh water melon. NO ONE, not one single person believed I made the best cheesesteak in their life using LB. The way to make the best cheesesteak is to brown the meat, something I've only seen done ONCE while living in Philadelphia. Most places are using a squirt bottle to squirt on the meat, it is nothing more than water since they steam their steak, I guess it cooks faster? But ZERO browning, WHY? Smash burgers are amazing for a reason, kids w/in a family fight over the end pieces of the Sunday roast for a reason, & it isn't because it was soaked with water from a squeeze bottle, more than other pieces of the beef. It is the browning of the beef. Picture a steak sandwich where every piece of it is like the first slice of a properly browned Sunday roast beef. Now picture it browned on both sides, cut super thin & there being 20 slices of steak on a roll with way to much American cheese & perfectly fried onions. Rolls are cheaper, so most of the guys I handed two steaks right off the bat, the girls I gave one, & I plated up more simply cut in half on the counter. Most of the girls that do not like to be seen eating, why I do not know why ... grabbed at least one extra half, & only a few of the guys had the balls to grab another half after finishing two, I think I ate 3 & a half & 3 ears of corn, and no, I've never been fat in my life. Since I had the oven on I even made a few pizza steaks, (I made them for those that worked with me in the kitchen) they are a plan steak on a roll with fried onions open face with pizza sauce & shredded mozzarella on top, like french bread pizza, but replace the french bread with a steak sandwich, & put under the broiler, & once the cheese is browned & melted you serve, & you close it & eat like a sandwich. IMO it is the best version of a cheesesteak, but you can only get a good one from a place that makes both good pizza & cheesesteaks. We used up 6 quart jars of hot peppers, it just blew my mind. We went out to the bar afterwards dancing, drinking, & we walked to & from, the next morning the few cheesesteaks halves that didn't get eaten were put in the fridge, they were all gone the next morning. The next day we made pizza from scratch since I didn't want to go to the beach, I like AFTER Labor Day when the beaches are EMPTY!! So with everyone from the resort town that was one of my guests (they also know not to go to the beach on holidays), & those that do not tan but burn. And we just made pizza after pizza after pizza with the sauce & dough I made earlier in that week, while enjoying black russians, first time I ever had one, amazingly delicious, but the only milk I had in the fridge was Half & Half and heavy whipping cream. So 11 of us were full of pizza & HWC, Kalilah, & Vodka, everybody was fighting off the food comas, & yes everyone putting the pizzas in or out got burnt at least once. Kids, do not drink & bake with an oven maxed out to 550 degrees, you're just asking for it. Pizza made right at home only takes 7 minutes to bake, trick is crank up the temp on the oven, & as soon as you put in the raw pizza crank up the broiler. And preheat, preheat, preheat your oven, & add mass to hold heat if you can, I do not have the right kind of mass, I am guessing fireplace bricks would be what is needed. But you might want to make sure to drive out the moisture slowly & at a lower temp before cranking it up so you do not get a steam explosion, or to keep them from cracking. Anyway, all 11 of us would make a pizza, meaning I made 11 pizzas, & put them in once one was done, one after another, to many people to make one at a time, home made pizzas you do not get 11 slices out of one, this way we're all getting a lot of pizza at once ... after girls were filled they ran outside to get out of the heat & the guys kept going for another 3 or 4 sets of making pies. We had store bought pepperoni & homemade italian pork sausage that I made, had also let this age three days in the refrigerator. IMO Pizza we buy is made for the palette of children, what I make is made for an adult's palette, just means a hell of a lots of garlic, & onion, & some additional spices. I get yelled at for feeding my friends because they say I ruin everything I feed them from them ever wanting the normal version again. BTW, CURE! for SUNBURN! black tea plain cold or room temp, soak a towel & put on affected area, instantly removes all pain, does nothing, or next to nothing for oven burns. Hope you liked my Book Report on "What I did Over My Labor Day Holiday Weekend", yeah I got carried away.

Love this deep dive! Always been curious what steak was best. Can't wait for the egg special!

I wonder if frying the onions in beef tallow might have muddied the end taste test if you were specifically trying to test the beef part of the sandwich as opposed to frying the onions in a neutral oil. Love the channel and love how you share your experiences and even mess ups so we dont have too!

Finally, someone doing a cheesesteak who shows Jim's from South St. So many RU-vidrs making cheesesteak ignore this place and its one of my favorite in Philly. Also, you know how to order "Wiz with". Makes me believe your opinion more.

Best cook on youtube. No nonsense. No "papibless" nonsense. Just real, great, high production value, informative content

Cooks Illustrated has a recipe for Carbonnade Flamande (Flemish beef stew) that uses thick flat iron or top blade steaks, or a top blade roast if you can get one. Made it once and now I always seek it out for stews and chili. It is amazing!

Excellent work again. You have these analysis videos down to, well, science!

Got my first delivery from Porter Road this week. It was amazing - the best steak I've ever had. Highly recommended!

After eating hot pot, I feel like thin sliced Short plate would be dope in a steak sandwich, luckily I live near many Asian markets and will be trying this soon

Every time I watch your videos it makes me want to go in the kitchen! Love it 🖤

I regularly make sandwiches similar to #2 in the video, but always use Flank. I think the big thing is that flank isnt designed to be eaten that thick: I always cut mine thinner (

Right out of charlie andersons series on cheese steaks.. Also sodium citrate isn't needed with the velveeta and american since it already has it.. Second sandwich seems like the best is the flat iron because of cost!

Love the way you do these challenges.

I'm an engineer and even I am impressed by your ability to categorize, analyze, and break problems down into manageable chunks. Very impressive, and I'm honestly surprised to see people liking it!!

I used to make the flat iron chimichurri sandwich on ciabatta with arugula nearly exactly the same way back when I had access to a grill. Flat iron is an underappreciated cut!

Great point on adding the cheese to the meat as its cooking. Im a Provelone man but the principle is the same. But the real secret weapon is the roll. You definitely need the right kind of roll with the precise texture and flavors. Kinda hard to find them outside of the east coast

For the cheese steak I always use chuck. Chuck is always well marbled its cheap and any toughness is mitigated by your thin slices

I would love to see a similar experimental deep dive into meatloaf. I use about 2 lbs ground chuck and about 1/2 lb ground lamb. The lamb adds to the meaty flavor. Ragusea recently did a video showing I'm not putting enough ɓread crumbs in, which is why I get the fat pool I don't want. My questions are whether Angus would be better than chuck, would it be better to let the meat rest for a time before cooking, and how to get a good èxterior browning without making the outer portions semi tough and over-cooked. Ì love your scientific approach!

Great video! Having grown up in an Argentinian house hold, I'd say skirt steak cut across the grain is undoubtedly the best cut for a chimichurri steak sandwich.

I hope u do more recipe vids in the future Ive been missing them 🥲

I'm glad that you do these sort of experiments, because I'd never do this at home.

I can tell a lot of though went into this THANK you

Congratulations on your 2K 🎉

I found myself wondering how a tri-tip might fare in your 2nd sandwich, though I wouldn't suggest it for a cheesesteak competition. I also wonder, if someone were really on a budget, how would a round steak do? Remarkably beefy flavor, but needs such thin slices for any tenderness.

Your videos are such good brain food. I love the format.

A sandwich shop I used to go to had a steak sando like the chimichurri one you made but with peppercorn mayo and shrimp. Thing was fire

This is why....Ethan's channel is My Favorite YT food show. Ethan, you're the Real Deal!!🥰

For many years, I would find that I get very ill/tire/sick feeling after eating some cheese steak sandwiches. Subway, Steakums etc. I never could figure it out until I heard about the histamine problem with some meats. It made sense after that. It for real feels like I took a mega dose of Benedryl. I wonder if cutting it up fresh like that would allow me to enjoy them. They looked great!

Great content! I was thinking about steak sandwiches this week. Funny that you and "Hot Dog is a Sandwich" have steak episodes this week. I'm all about that chimichurri sandwich. I'm in the SF Bay Area and with the large Mexican population arracherra cuts (basically thin cut skirt) is available at the Latin markets. That's what i use for my steak sandwiches at home 🤘🤠🥃

RU-vidr of the year man, you are one of the most insightful home chefs out here

It’s crazy how I had the same question thank u for doing the testing

This is a great video, thanks man

The chimichurri sandwich is definitely my type of steak sandwich. Every cheese steak I have ever had has felt bland and underwhelming, this type of sandwich is always delicious.

Since finding out about flat iron steaks from your videos they’ve become my favorite cut

Great videos you make. Thank you for them

I live in an area of 775,000 people and the only butcher that sold flat irons stopped about 18 months ago. New owners jacked the prices WAY up, then stopped selling them because no one would buy at the high price.

YES! PLEASE GIVE US MORE OF THESE DEEP DIVES!

Absolutely top notch video as always. I was a little bit disappointed not to see skirt steak in the comparison though. When I think thin cut sandwich steaks, my mind always goes to flank and skirt. I know it's traditionally used more in Mexican cuisine, but I think it's just a superior cut to the flank for any kind of thin sliced steak sandwich dish. I have to wonder how it would stack up against the flat iron.

I love that shelf behind you! Please share a link !

Sandwitch 2 reminds me of that Wagyu Donburi I had in Osaka..... it was so good!

I need peppers (jalapeños even) and provolone in my cheesesteak. I don't GAF if it's not "authentic," it is straight up better. I use petite sirloin as a cheaper cut and it works marvelously. Also flat iron is much harder to get and more expensive than it used to be. The food scene has evangelized it like brisket.

Notice the jar of Duke's mayo on the counter. Way to go!

I had a filet mignon Poboy in New Orleans a long time ago from a now shuttered restaurant called Crazy Johnnys in Fat City. It was awesome on French bread and i cant seem to recall the flavors but it was one of the best sandwiches I ever ate.

Hey Ethan, have you considered doing a world-wide sandwich or hamburger showdown type thing? I've been super into making Lebanese style hamburgers and it got me thinking about how different countries approach sandwiches and burgers. The flavour and texture is so drastically different, it would be super interesting to check out, I'd say.

Props on the flat iron 🤘🤘🤘

Great video as usual ! The how and why flavours do what they do really improves our home cooking game What Cleaver are you using?

Great video, but also not the video I needed to watch when I haven't eaten lunch yet for the day. ... now I really want a steak sandwich.

FTR, in Australia, flat iron steaks are called Oyster Blade steak, you can get them in the supermarket

Thanks for sharing. May i know if you can share how to do the pickle carrot?

Porter Road Butcher rules. I used to live in Nashville in 16-18’ and would go to their storefront in East Nash.

Watching how you chopped that parsley, I think you might enjoy working with a Nigiri knife. It's really designed to cut veggies that way -- and I think the chef's knife isn't ideal for it. You should check it out sometime. It's basically a vegetable cleaver, and I love *love* mine.

I almost always have my cheesesteaks in Philly with provolone and in addition to the onions sometimes sweet(mildly hot) peppers.

As someone who is trying to understand red meat better and specifically wanted to make a cheesesteak/ steak sandwich at home this is very helpful , I like sandwiches but don’t do deli meat so this is helpful 🙂

I love thy I have that exact cooktop. It makes me feel “chef-ey.”

I really do love the deep dives and lifestyle videos, they're really where Ethan shines as a creator. I won't lie, though, it's been awhile since we had a straight up simple recipe video, like the Karahi or Easter Pie videos from back in the day (just two examples off the top of my head). A simple, quick "Here's a cool recipe I found / been liking recently" might be a nice change of pace

Love Porter Road Butchers. I grew up in Nashville and remember before they went online. Highly recommend.

Love these style of videos. I’m super curious why you added sodium citrate to your cheese sauce, when velveeta and American cheese contain it? I often use American cheese as a substitute instead of sodium citrate, as they both accomplish the same thing.

For Philly style: beef knuckle. For thicker sliced sands: teris major

I was always curious about this

My favorite sandwich is Mendocino Farms chimichurri steak. Expensive but man i crave it like hell.

So happy I now know which cut to CHEWse!

putting the whiz on the flat top with the meat isn't done in steak shops in philly but they do put white american or prov on the top to melt.

Finally! A fellow Philly native cook who’s opinion I can actually trust on which steak to use for cheesesteaks! Can’t wait to recreate my hometown fave! Thanks!

I see you used the same wooden-handled cleaver that I have. It takes an excellent edge, but the handle on mine loosened after a couple of months. Using it became dangerous as I feared the blade coming off and flying somewhere it shouldn't be. I fixed it using JB Weld, and it's nice and tight now. Now it's off to Publix to get some flat iron steak. Hangar steak is also great for sandwiches, too.

Omg all of this looks amazing

Culinary Experiments are yhis guys bread and butter. Always entertaining and informative. Great to just turn on while your working on other things.

You are living the dream! I still make your baguettes all the time.

I like Ethan's approach on comparative cooking by blindfold. Finally subscribed as a lurker for a year. I do wonder how economics of scale handle there. I find mandolin slicers way more cheaper than a butcher knife in the Philippines.

Didnt know you were a fellow pennsylvania native. Loving the videos!

love these videos so much

Damn dude you're killing it with these videos! Nice job

Wow, good work. The chimichurri would obscure anything for me. I would use a light mayo with just a hint of horseradish, salt and pepper, a butter lettuce, same bread.

Love the Moxie cap!

I think it would be interesting to do a focus on nuts, like cashews, and different things you can make with it etc

I'd probably have gone with shoulder for a cheese steak, like london broil. Slice it thin, enjoy the flavor.

If my cooking videos ever get this good I'm going on Oprah and personally thanking Ethan. Another fantastic video sir

It’s always a good day when Ethan posts

Yum, no idea what that velveeta stuff was but still yum

I'm a NEPA native and a cheese steak connoisseur and I never thought to use a flat iron... I guess I need to try this now

AWESOME TOPIC 🤩

This is great content and very necessary cuz its its more texture for me than flavor

You should do one of these style videos with chicken stock. Homemade vs several store bought brands