You can cook a steak perfectly and still serve something chewy, and the usual culprit is the last thirty seconds of work rather than anything that happened in the pan. Slicing a steak in the wrong direction can make a tender cut feel tough and a tough cut feel inedible.
The grain is the direction the muscle fibres run. Those fibres are long, tough strands, and when you slice parallel to them every piece on the plate is a full-length bundle of them that your teeth have to break down. Slice across them and you have done that work with the knife instead.
It matters most on the cuts where the fibres are thickest and most obvious: flank, skirt, hanger, brisket, and flat iron. This guide covers finding the grain, the cuts where it changes direction partway through, and the bias angle that makes flank steak behave.
What You'll Need
- A long, sharp slicing knife: You want to cross the whole steak in one smooth pull rather than sawing. A dull knife tears the fibres instead of cutting them, which undoes the point of the exercise.
- A board with a juice groove: Rested steak still releases liquid when cut, and a flat board sends it onto the counter. A groove keeps it contained, and you can pour it back over the sliced meat.
- A prep surface you can sanitise: If you are trimming the raw steak before cooking, that is a raw-meat job. A ROO Mat is non-porous silicone that rinses clean or goes in the dishwasher, it grips the counter so the board does not travel while you slice, and its pouch takes the trimmed fat and silverskin.
How to Cut Steak Against the Grain, Step by Step
Find the grain before you cook it
Raw steak shows its grain far more clearly than cooked steak does, especially once a crust is on it. Look at the surface for the direction of the fine parallel lines running through the muscle. On flank and skirt they are obvious. On a ribeye you may need to look closely.
Rest the steak before slicing
Five to ten minutes for a steak, longer for a large roast. Cutting into it straight off the heat sends the juices onto the board rather than keeping them in the meat. Resting is not about the grain, but it is the difference between juicy and dry regardless of how you slice.
Turn the steak so the grain runs left to right
Orient it on the board so the fibre lines run horizontally in front of you. Now your knife, moving straight down through the steak, is automatically crossing them at ninety degrees. Setting the steak up correctly is easier than trying to angle every cut.
Slice across the fibres, about a quarter-inch thick
Long, smooth pulls rather than sawing. Quarter-inch is a good default. Go thinner on tougher cuts like skirt and flank, where the goal is to make each fibre bundle as short as possible.
Add a bias angle on flank and skirt
Hold the knife at roughly 45 degrees to the board rather than straight down. The angled cut passes through more of the steak, so each slice is wider and thinner at once, which makes an inherently tough cut noticeably more tender. This is what restaurants do with flank steak for fajitas.
Watch for the grain changing direction
This is the part most guides miss. On a whole brisket, a tri-tip, or a flat iron, the grain does not run one way through the whole piece. Tri-tip in particular has two grain directions meeting at an angle. Cut the piece in half where the direction changes, then slice each half separately against its own grain.
Photo by Zakhar Vozhdaienko on Pexels
Upgrade Your Prep: Get the ROO Bundle
ROO is a silicone mat that sits under your cutting board. It grips smooth countertops so the board never slides, and its built-in 7-cup pouch catches peels and trimmings as you cut. The Bundle includes the mat, a rubberwood board, and a reusable storage bag. $54.99.
Shop the ROO Bundle →Common Mistakes to Avoid
Flank is long and rectangular, so the natural instinct is to cut it into long strips down its length, which is exactly parallel to the grain. It is the single most common version of this mistake and it makes an affordable cut feel like leather.
A dark crust hides the fibre lines. Identify the direction while the steak is raw and remember it, or mark the board with the orientation before it goes in the pan.
You lose the juice to the board and the meat tightens. Even five minutes of rest changes the result, and it costs nothing but patience.
Tri-tip has two, meeting at roughly a right angle. Slice it in one direction all the way through and half of it will be perfect while the other half is chewy. Separate the two sections first.
Upgrade Your Prep Workflow: The ROO Bundle
Slicing a rested steak means a long blade travelling through meat on a board that has juice on it, and a wet board on a smooth counter is a board that moves. Trimming the raw steak beforehand adds fat and silverskin that need somewhere to go. The ROO Mat grips the counter so the board stays anchored through long slicing pulls, it is non-porous silicone that rinses clean after raw beef, and its built-in 7-cup pouch takes the trim. The Bundle pairs it with a 13.75" x 9.75" rubberwood board and a reusable storage bag.
Upgrade Your Prep Workflow: Get the ROO Bundle
Anchors the board for long slicing pulls, and wipes clean after raw beef.
Check out the ROO Bundle →Related Reading
- How to Slice Brisket Against the Grain
- How to Clean a Wooden Cutting Board
- The Best Kitchen Knives for Home Cooks
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you know which way the grain runs in a steak?
Look for fine parallel lines running through the surface of the raw meat, like the grain in a plank of wood. On flank, skirt, and brisket they are unmistakable. On tender cuts like filet they are subtle, which is also why direction matters less on those.
What does cutting against the grain actually mean?
Slicing at ninety degrees to the direction the muscle fibres run, so your knife cuts each long fibre into short segments. It shortens the fibres before they reach your teeth, which is what makes the meat feel tender.
Which cuts of steak matter most for this?
The ones with thick, obvious fibres: flank, skirt, hanger, flat iron, brisket, and tri-tip. Tender cuts like filet mignon and ribeye have finer fibres, so slicing direction changes the result less, though it still helps.
How thick should you slice steak?
About a quarter-inch as a default. Go thinner on tough cuts like skirt and flank, where shorter fibres make a bigger difference, and slightly thicker on tender cuts where texture is not the problem.
Should you cut steak on a bias?
On flank and skirt, yes. Holding the knife at around 45 degrees gives you wider, thinner slices that eat more tenderly. On a thick tender steak it is unnecessary.
Find the fibre lines while the steak is raw, rest it, turn it so the grain runs left to right, and slice straight across at a quarter-inch. Add a 45 degree bias on flank and skirt, and check whether the grain turns partway along before you commit to a direction.