Filet Mignon and Beef Tenderloin

Filet mignon with it's rich marbling of fat is the most tender cut of beef. Steak aficionados will argue if it's the best cut of steak. Some people think that rib eye steaks or strip steaks offer more flavor and the additional flavor makes it better than the more tender filet mignon. My personal preference for beef is filet.

Updated December 2011

Filet Mignon steak is a cut of beef from the tenderloin. The tenderloin runs down the back of a beef cow and is part of a muscle that gets little exercise. The lack of movement of the muscle keeps it tender as the cow matures to the ideal age of 18 months to two years old. A beef tenderloin is large at around 4 lbs to 6 lbs and has two parts to it. The true filet mignon is supposed to come from the small circular strip that is attached to the entire tenderloin. However, in American butcher shops, a filet mignon steak is cut in about two inch cut steaks from the entire tenderloin. If you see filet mignon medallions on a menu, they typically are cut from the extra tender small round strip. It's the small round strip that the french word, filet mignon, is referring to.

Beef tenderloin vs filet mignon can be a little confusing if you're not used to selecting cuts of beef. I once asked my sister in law to pick up a beef tenderloin from Costco and she came home with pork loin.

Beef tenderloin is a large cut of beef before it is sliced into steak, and known by it's french name Filet Mignon. I've seen beef tenderloin steaks in the market and these are the same thing as filet mignon steaks. However, you'll never see an entire beef tenderloin labeled as filet mignon. There are two types of beef tenderloin. The trimmed version of the beef tenderloin and the untrimmed version. The trimmed version has the fat off the sides largely removed and is smoothly cut with the side medallion removed. It is more expensive since it has less fat and waist than untrimmed. The trimmed version is my favorite since it doesn't require any preparation.

The untrimmed version is a great way to go to get super high quality beef at prices similar to new york steaks and rib eye steaks. The untrimmed version requires more preparation since you have to trim it yourself. The process of trimming a beef tenderloin is also known as peeling. The medallion is removed fist by following the seem the length of the tenderloin with a sharp knife. Then the fat is peeled and sliced off. Long strips of fat film can be pulled off with your hands. Some people like to leave the fat on and to cook it off on the grill. I don't. Filet Mignon (Beef Tenderloin) has plenty of fat in the meat. Trimming it off is the way to go.

To turn a beef tenderloin into filet mignon, all you have to do is take a very sharp butcher's knife and slice the beef tenderloin into 2 inch steaks across the grain of the beef tenderloin. Once it's is sliced, you have filet mignon.

Grass fed filet mignon is considered a more premium beef product than grain or corn fed beef. Here is why:

• Grass fed beef is more expensive to produce and costs $5 to $10 more per pound
• It is promoted as more humane way of raising beef and more sustainable way to farm
• Grass fed beef has 1/3 to 1/2 has much fat as grain fed beef
• Grass fed beef has a higher percentage of beta carotene that converts to vitamin A (10% of daily allowance in 3.5 ounces)
• Grass fed beef has 3 times the amount of Vitamin E as grain fed
• Grass fed beef has 60% higher composition of omega 3 fats than grain fed
• Grass fed beef has higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which contributes to health benefits of beef

With all the benefits of grass fed beef how does it taste. Well, my experience with grass fed filet mignon beef is it has more flavor, but is chewier and tougher than corn fed filet mignon. It's probably tougher because beef that is finished at a feeding lot for sixty to one hundred days has a lot more fat content which creates a more marbled filet mignon. I also suppose that beef cattle that are grazing in pastures get more exercise and keeps them leaner which also contributes to chewier beef. I believe most people prefer grain or corn fed beef tenderloin (filet mignon) because that is what we are used to eating. I definitely prefer corn fed to grass.

While the USDA offers a range of beef quality ratings, when it comes to filet mignon, I would only consider the top two. Here is the full list of cut of meat grades.

• Prime Cut - About 3% of all beef is graded prime. Prime is the highest and best rating for beef and contains the most marbling. It's also the most expensive in the market and is usually only available in high end grocery stores and butchers or at high end restaurants.
  
• Choice Cut - A little over all beef is considered choice. This is what Costco sells. It's very high quality and the cut of beef I recommend.
  
• Select
• Standard
• Commercial
• Utility
• Cutter
• Canner

The higher the marbling of the beef, which is the fat white strips you see running vertically through the beef, the higher the rating. When it comes to filet mignon, I find that the choice cut of beef tenderloin is an excellent selection. While Prime cuts are technically better, I find little extra value in spending the additional money to get a Prime Filet Mignon steak.

For the full recipe of how to grill filet mignon see this page with step by step photos.

Filet mignon is such a wonderful cut of beef, the more simple preparations are best. My filet mignon recipe is simple. Start by taking the filet mignon out of the fridgerator so the internal temperature of the meat comes to room temperature. Filet Mignon grilled at room temperature will cook more evenly. I usually take it our 30 minutes to an hour before I grill a steak.

• Garlic Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Pad of butter on each steak (optional)
• Wrap each filet with one piece of bacon and insert toothpick to hold bacon in place (optional for bacon wrapped filet mignon)

The secret to cooking the best filet mignon recipe ever is removing the filet mignon from the grill at exactly the right temperature. The USDA temperature for medium rare is 140 degrees, but if you wait to pull your filet from the grill when the meat hits 140, it will continue to cook and be way over done. To get medium rare filet mignon, use an instant read meat thermometer and pull the meat from the grill at 120 degrees and let it stand tented in tinfoil for ten minutes before serving. This will be perfectly medium rare.

To serve filet mignon at a medium temperature of 160 degrees as recommended by the USDA, you need to pull the filet mignon from the grill at 130 degrees. If you want it a little more pink, pull it at 125 degrees and let it stand for ten minutes. I hate to repeat myself too much, but perfectly cooked filet mignon is all about getting the temperature right. You can always add more salt and pepper to taste, but if you over cook it, you can't fix it. It's worth investing in an instant read thermometer for barbecuing premium meats like filet mignons.

I also grill the entire beef tenderloin and slice it into filet mignon steaks after I pull it from the grill. I usually start with a whole beef tenderloin from Costco, I liberally garlic salt and pepper the entire beef tenderloin and then lightly spray it with PAM to hold the seasoning on and to prevent the beef from sticking to my grill. I heat my barbecue to 500 plus degrees and sear the meet for about three minutes a side. I then take my digital remote meat thermometer and set it to 120 degrees. I place the the entire beef tenderloin to the side of the grill to cook the meat with indirect heat. Then I place the meat thermometer into the thickest part of the beef. I insert the tip of the thermometer very slowly watching the temperature rise as I insert it. I continue to insert the thermometer until the temperature starts to decrease again. This way I know I have the thermometer in the right spot of the beef tenderloin so it will give me an accurate reading of how well the meat is cooked. I shut the lid to the grill and bring the temperature down to about 300 degrees. To cook an entire beef tenderloin it take about thirty minutes. Then ten minutes to rest. Finally, I slice it into filet mignon steaks with a serrated electric carving knife.

I haven't found a better deal for buying beef tenderloin and then slicing it into filet mignon steaks than from Costco. The only downside is you end up with several pounds of filet mignon and I prefer to eat it right away than to stick the extra steaks into the freezer.  Buying a beef tenderloin and slicing it into filet mignon steaks will save you at least three dollars per pound for choice cut meat.

I personally get a lot of joy from going and purchasing meat from the butcher. I've even found that many butchers will give you a discount if you ask for it. Not everyone will do this, but you can say, "Hey, can you give me a special on Filet Mignon steaks today!" Often, they will slice you off some great steaks and mark it down quite a bit, but you have to ask.

I generally stay away from buying filet mignon from places like Omaha Steaks that ship frozen filets mignons to your house. While many of them offer price discounts for Prime cuts of beef and have special containers that keep the meat frozen for long periods of time - just in case it gets delivered while you are away from your house, I often find it inconvenient to eat since it requires planning to dethaw and a few times I've lost some in the freezer for long periods of time just to find them too old to eat. So I recommend you purchase the day of or the the day before you intend to eat them and to just buy enough filet mignon to feed the number of people you want to at about 8 ounces per person. This is a healthy sized serving per person and may leave some leftovers for the next day.

For Christmas eve dinner we wanted a tasty but easy meal to prepare.  So, I decided to barbecue a filet mignon roast (beef tenderloin). 

The Filet Mignon Recipe

• Lightly drizzle the meat with vegetable oil
• Sprinkle with Truffle Salt a medium amount
• Sear the meat on all sides for about two minutes at as hot of temperature as your grill will do
• Insert the meat thermometer into the filet mignon and cook until 125 degrees
• Let rest for ten minutes, slice and serve
• Optionally, serve horseradish on the side

This recipe is unbelievably easy to do and the truffle salt gives it an exceptional and different flavor.