Buying guide · Pillar vs sheet

Hanger steak vs skirt steak

Hanger steak and skirt steak both come from the diaphragm, but from different parts of it. The skirt is the thin, wide sheet of the diaphragm, 1–2 cm thick, one per side of the animal; the hanger is the thick pillar that anchors the diaphragm to the spine, a single piece of about 0.5–0.7 kg per animal, split by a central sinew into two lobes 3–5 cm thick.

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Also known as: Hanger steak vs entraña (skirt) · Hanger steak và diềm thăn (skirt) · Onglet vs hampe · サガリ vs ハラミLast reviewed 25 Oct 20268 sources

Where does each one come from?

The diaphragm is the dome of muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen. Its broad, thin rim attached to the inside of the ribs gives the skirt; the muscular pillars, the crura, that anchor it to the lumbar spine give the hanger.

The outside skirt is the costal part of the diaphragm, lying against the inside of the sixth to twelfth ribs on the plate, wrapped in a tough membrane; each side gives one of about 600–900 g (IMPS 121C). A second muscle sold as skirt, the inside skirt, is not diaphragm at all but the transversus abdominis of the belly wall (IMPS 121D); it is compared with the flank in Skirt steak vs flank steak.

The hanger, or hanging tender, hangs from the spine at the back of the diaphragm, where the plate meets the flank, near the last ribs and the kidneys (IMPS 140). Its two pillars meet in a V and are held together by a thick, inedible sinew; once that is removed, the hanger becomes two long lobes cooked as two steaks. There is only one per animal, which is why much of the supply goes to restaurants and it is rarely seen in supermarkets.

How do they compare side by side?

The hanger is a thick, single piece with a sinew down the middle; the skirt is a thin strip wrapped in a membrane. The table sets out the other differences.

Which name means which cut?

In French the hanger is onglet and the skirt hampe; in Japan they are sagari and harami; in Korea tosisal and anchangsal; in Argentina and Uruguay the outside skirt is the entraña and the hanger has no name of its own.

Two names cause most of the confusion. Australians call the hanger “thick skirt”, although it is not a skirt; their thin skirt is the outside skirt. And in Hokkaido sagari is often used for the whole diaphragm, not only the pillar. The table lists the usual names.

How is each one cooked?

Both are cooked hot and fast: the hanger to about 52–54 °C / 126–129 °F in the centre, the skirt to 52–55 °C / 126–131 °F, each rested for a few minutes. Past medium, both tighten and turn tough.

The skirt is thin enough to cook in 2–3 minutes a side on the hottest part of the grill or in a smoking pan. In the Río de la Plata it is salted and grilled membrane side first, so the membrane crisps; in Japan harami is cut into bite-sized pieces and grilled at the table over charcoal.

The hanger's 3–5 cm lobes allow something the skirt does not: a well-browned crust over an even rare centre. Each lobe is turned several times over high heat until the core reaches temperature, then rested for five minutes or so. Overcooked, its strong flavour turns metallic. In the French bistro method, onglet à l'échalote, it is seared in butter and the pan deglazed with wine and shallots. Some butchers sell it whole, sinew in, for roasting; the sinew does not soften and is cut out at the table.

Both take marinades quickly because of their open grain: 30 minutes to a few hours is enough. Doneness targets are in Steak temperatures.

How is each one sliced?

Both are sliced across the grain; what differs is where the grain runs.

In the skirt the fibres run across the width of the long strip, so it is first cut into pieces 10–15 cm long, and each piece is then turned and sliced thin across its fibres. In the hanger the grain runs at an angle along each lobe, so a few test slices show its direction before the rest of the lobe is cut. Sliced along the grain, either is chewy at any temperature.

Which one is easier to find?

The skirt, because each animal gives two outside skirts and two inside skirts, against a single hanger.

Both cuts were long handled as cheap butcher's or offal cuts. The hanger's English name, butcher's steak, is usually explained by the tradition that butchers kept it for themselves; its price rose as bistros and steakhouses put it on the menu. Outside skirt, with only two per carcass and much of it sold to restaurants and export, costs more than inside skirt. Both are often sold frozen and vacuum-packed, and the hanger frequently has to be ordered in advance. A hanger smelling of kidney has usually been stored too long. Steakpedia has not measured the yield of either cut in enough pieces to give a figure.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

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1. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications: Fresh Beef Series 100. Washington, DC, 2014. www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/IMPS_100_Fresh_Beef%5B1%5D.pdf
2. AUS-MEAT Limited. Handbook of Australian Meat, 7th ed. (International Red Meat Manual). Brisbane, 2005. www.ausmeat.com.au
3. Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (UK). Beef Meat Purchasing Guide. Kenilworth, 2016. ahdb.org.uk
4. Instituto de Promoción de la Carne Vacuna Argentina (IPCVA). Cortes de carne vacuna argentina — nomenclatura y usos. Buenos Aires. www.ipcva.com.ar
5. Larousse Gastronomique, rev. ed. London: Hamlyn, 2009.
6. Japan Meat Grading Association. Beef Carcass Grading Standard. Tokyo, 1988 (rev. 2014). www.jmga.or.jp
7. Korea Institute for Animal Products Quality Evaluation (KAPE). Beef cuts and grading. www.ekape.or.kr
8. McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 2004.