Not sure if this has been asked before.
It has been mentioned one must always cut across the meat fibers instead of along the grains do as to avoid “rubbery chewiness”. But apart from mentally taking note of how the meat fibers and grains run wrt the shape of the 1" slice, how does one determine which is the correct angle to cut after searing, cos it is too indistinguishable amongst the grill burnt marks? Thanks.
Before you cook the steak, cut a corner off that runs across the grain from the thin end. Use this as a reference for the later cuts.
It depends on what particular type of steak you have. A lot of steak has been sliced from a larger muscle and has already been cut across the grain. So, the only way you could actually cut such steak across the grain once it is cooked is by carving large, surface slices. The best ‘against the grain’ cut that can be achieved is a diagonal slice that exposes a larger face.
Cutting across the grain becomes more important with larger pieces of muscle, like those used for roasting.
With a bone in leg of lamb, for instance, served here (Australia) as the traditional Sunday roast. The leg would usually be presented to the man of the house to carve. He’d grab the carving knife and fork and take slices from the surface of the roast running in the direction of the bone and continue until the bone was exposed. He’d then flop the leg over and do the same from the other side.
The grain of the muscle, in this instance, tends to run parallel to the bone. So the better way to carve a leg of lamb would be to take slices perpendicular to the bone. Not an easy thing to do. So for simplicity, cut a slab of muscle from the bone, place it on a plate and take vertical cuts.
Perhaps before cooking I can score a line across using the knife , but not as deep as to sever the meat?
That would probably work too.
Cut it diagonally.\ \ \ \ \
In most cuts of meat, the grain is perpendicular to the way the butcher slices it (remember butchers?)
The notable and delicious exception is a flank steak, where the grain runs along the meat. Again, cut it diagonally.
For our Australian friend with his leg of lamb, the butcher probably calls it a skirt steak which is quite a different thing in US. (And please learn how to carve the lamb cutting diagonally towards the bone).