The Denver steak requires expert knife skills to separate the connective tissue surrounding it. The Denver is:
- cut from the chuck - located on the shoulder of the beast
- the most heavily-marbled muscle section of the beast
- the fourth most tender muscle section of the beast
This is an intensely-flavoured, well-marbled, tender steak that is a deserving alternative to the classics. Like many other muscular cuts, slice against the grain to ensure maximum taste and tenderness.
Simply season with sea salt and black pepper and cook using the fast-flip method in a heavy, cast-iron skillet on a high heat.
Bizarrely, the Denver steak has its origins in a project funded by the Cattleman’s Beef Board called the Beef Checkoff Program whose raison d'être is to promote American beef consumption both domestically and abroad. For example by identifying and promoting new and more affordable cuts of meat.
The Denver steak is amongst thousands of cuts identified during a 1990s research project by ‘meat-science professors’ at the Universities of Florida and Nebraska. It’s both an innovation and a slice of America’s beef industry marketing muscle.
Swaledale’s Denver steaks are expertly-butchered from traditional breeds of cattle slowly grown on lush pasture in the Yorkshire countryside. Left to mature on-the-bone to relax and tenderise, this traditional technique also dehydrates the muscle and, much like the reduction of a sauce, ensures intense flavour.
