Beef Liver, Beef Steak, Thus same Flavor? [Moved from Not About Food board]

[JeetJet]

Liverwurst, Braunschweiger, chopped liver, and liver and onions – I have loved them all since childhood. It is the flavor that I like. Sometimes I like a good New York Strip, but only sometimes. When I do like a beef steak it is only when I sense a liver flavor. Now for my questions. Why would I sense the slight presence of beef liver flavor in a good, $$$, New York Strip? Also, does anyone else ever sense a slight liver flavor in steak? I know that liver is rich in iron but not sure whether steak has iron, or for that matter, whether iron has flavor. This has made me wonder whether a small amount of ground liver added to my ground beef would enhance the "beef" flavor of the burger.

[blue room]

Here's a related thread. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/343478
I love liver, but hate the taste of it in other beef.

[chefstu]

There are a couple of reasons that a steak may taste "livery".
1) Most Grass Fed Beef tends to have an unusual sort of liver flavor.
2) Wet Aged Beef over 30 days tends to be a little livery, but tender.
(the longer its been wet aged the stronger the flavor)
3)Oxidized beef can have a livery flavor. (when a chef cuts a steak the surface is exposed to oxygen and begins the oxidation process.
4) Hanger and Skirt in general have a stronger flavor, not because they are near any organs, but because that is the nature of the muscle and its use in the animal.
5) Real Dry Aged Beef has a strong, sometimes described as a livery flavor.
I hope this helps you.

[JeetJet]

My Thanks to chefstu, themis, JungMann, phofiend and you all. I feel like I know more about what I am eating, what I like most, and why. I tried some Flat Iron steak and found tha although the particular steak had way to much gristle, the flavor was — strong. I also bought some Hanger Steak but it is still frozen. I will grill it soon. This has been fun and informative.

I also found another article that helped put it together. Reading that article helped me understand more about the “REDness” of meat, including beef, buffalo and dear. Maybe the article did not really add more knowledge than you all provided but it’s hard hitting bluntness really hit home. I wonder about my genes (vampire tendencies?) now that I realize what causes the strong livery, metallic flavor I love so much. Yum?

“The reason some venison tastes like liver is because there is blood in it.”
http://yarchive.net/food/game_flavor....

[timkane156]

i've always thought that beef that was not hung long enough would retain blood in the tissue resulting in a livery taste. it seems you guys figured this out three years ago.

[javaandjazz]

I have ordered the Outback Special steak at Outback in the past and I have noticed the steak tastes a bit like liver too. I thought I was crazy but now I guess not. I don't mind the taste since I like liver also.

[themis]

All red meat has iron; it kind of accounts for the red color. Like hemoglobin, in your blood.

Maybe what you're tasting is aging? When beef is dry-aged it concentrates the flavor. I'm not a beef liver eater so I don't know if the result is 'liver-y'.

[JungMann]

The iron in hemoglobin/myoglobin can certainly contribute to the metallic "liver taste" in some cuts of beef. Cook's Illustrated actually had something on this very topic this month. Oxidized beef or overcooked beef can have a concentrated liver flavor because of the reaction of the iron.

[scubadoo97]

I sometimes get a liver flavor in some tenderloins.

[swsidejim]

Never has happened to me.

A steak tastes like a steak, and liver tastes like liver (yuck.)

[JeetJet]

But icky, ucky and yucky can describe some of the better things in life. Try it sometime. Maybe strat with a Braunschweiger, mustard, pickles and onion sandwich (sometimes called, "stinky").

[swsidejim]

I have had calves liver and onions when I was a kid, and really hated the taste, and the smell that would linger all night form its preperation. My bad saying yuck, I just dont care for it...

surpressed childhood memory I guess. ; )

[Candy]

I love foie gras it is the only liver I find palatable, I could just smear that stuff on my fingers and lick it off. Anyother liver I just cannot abide, I think it tastes worse than salmon. i went to a grade school in Albany, GA that served it over done and dried out and you had to clean your plate before leaving the cafeteria. I took to bringinf my own lunch. Once when I was pregnant for about a month (ectopic) I could eat it but never again. But bring on the foie gras any time.

[phofiend]

I love liver, too. I think hangar steak has a pronounced liver flavor, and it is my favorite. My SO, who detests liver, can only stomach hangar steak if it is well marinated.

[JeetJet]

I think we may be onto something. scubadoo97 posted below that tenderloin can have a liver flavor also. I went to Wikipedia and found, “The hanger is attached to the last rib and the kidney.... Chefs with experience preparing beef kidneys report that the hanger steak's aroma preserves a trace of kidney.” I do not think I have ever ate beef kidney and now I wonder whether it has a flavor anything like liver. Looks like I am going on a hunt for good Hanger Steak today.

Hanger, Strip, Skirt steak (asada), tenderloin – parts of these cuts may be more near the kidney, or liver, than other cuts of the same meat.. Maybe the Strip steaks that I have enjoyed most were more close to the kidney or liver. This really has me wanting to mix a little Braunschweiger into my burger meat.

Hanger steak – wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanger_steak

Strip Steak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Steak

Beef tenderloin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_ten...

[Candy]

I've had it happen in a restaurant but nor at home. I don't know if their grill needed cleaning or what. i found it inedible and sent it back.