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How do you cut steak against the grain?

Find the grain, the lines of parallel muscle fibers you can see on the meat, and turn the steak so they run away from you. Then slice straight across them. That cuts the fibers short, so each bite is easier to chew. It matters most for coarse cuts like flank and skirt; slice flank as thin as you can.

By Gene · Updated November 12, 2026

Illustration of a seared flank steak on a cutting board, partly sliced into thin strips across the grain, with a chef's knife

What is the grain of a steak?

The grain is the lines of parallel muscle fibers you can see on the meat. Each line is a bundle of muscle fibers, and they all run in the same direction.

Why should you cut against the grain?

Slicing across the grain cuts the muscle fibers into short pieces, so each bite separates short segments instead of pulling apart in long, stringy bundles. Slices cut that way are measurably easier to bite. In America's Test Kitchen's tests, slices cut with the grain took far more force to bite and tasted chewier.

Which steaks does it matter most for?

It matters most for coarse cuts like flank, skirt and hanger, where the fibers are long and easy to see.

How do you find the grain on a cooked steak?

Look for the lines of muscle fibers on the surface. Turn the steak on the board so the lines run away from you, then slice perpendicular to them, left to right.

How thin should you slice flank steak?

Slice flank as thin as you can, against the grain. Thin slices keep each piece of fiber short.

Common questions

Does slicing against the grain really make a difference?

Yes. In America's Test Kitchen's texture-analyzer test, flank sliced with the grain took far more force to bite than flank sliced against it, and its tasters found the with-grain slices chewier.

Which steaks does cutting against the grain matter most for?

Coarse cuts like flank, skirt and hanger, where the muscle fibers are long and easy to see.

Keep reading

Sources

Every fact on this page is checked against at least two independent sources. How we check facts.

Show all 15 sources
  1. America's Test Kitchen, Cutting Across the Grain Explained
  2. America's Test Kitchen, Slicing Against the Grain: What It Means and How to Do It
  3. America's Test Kitchen, Best Grilled Flank Steak / Grilled Mojo-Marinated Skirt Steak (recipes)
  4. America's Test Kitchen, Charcoal-Grilled Flank Steak
  5. America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Country), Cutting Across the Grain, Explained
  6. America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated), Science: How to Slice Steak
  7. America's Test Kitchen / Cook's Illustrated, Science: How to Slice Steak
  8. Iowa State University Extension (AnswerLine), Tender vs less tender cuts of meat
  9. Kansas State University (Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station), Evaluations of beef tenderness by Warner-Bratzler shear force, a descriptive-texture profile sensory panel, and a descriptive attribute sensory panel (Otremba et al., Cattlemen's Day 1999)
  10. Kansas State University, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports (Otremba, Chambers, Dikeman, Milliken, Stroda, Unruh, 1999), Evaluations of beef tenderness by Warner-Bratzler shear force, a descriptive-texture profile sensory panel, and a descriptive attribute sensory panel
  11. Serious Eats, How to Slice Meat Against the Grain (June 8, 2026)
  12. Shackelford et al., Journal of Animal Science (USDA ARS), Evaluation of slice shear force as an objective method of assessing beef longissimus tenderness
  13. ThermoWorks, Grilled Chipotle Flank Steak
  14. University of Minnesota Extension, Thinner cuts of beef
  15. University of Minnesota Extension, Thinner cuts of beef