Cut vs cut
Bavette vs Top Sirloin
The short answer
Both come from the sirloin, but from different halves, and they eat nothing alike. Bavette is the flap off the bottom sirloin: coarse, open-grained, better marbled, and best sliced thin after a hard sear. Top sirloin is a lean, tight-grained steak from the top half that you can serve whole.
Bavette
The sirloin flap, bavette d'aloyau in French butchery, cut from the bottom sirloin. Its fibers are long, coarse and open, which is why it tastes so strongly of beef and takes a marinade in about an hour. It is thick enough to take a hard crust and still be rare inside. Past medium those fibers tighten and it turns stringy, so there is no forgiving middle setting.
Top Sirloin
The steak a butcher means by sirloin: cut from the top sirloin butt at the hip end of the loin. Lean, firm and tight-grained, with light marbling, so it eats well as a whole steak and needs no marinade. The least expensive steak in the loin. Buy it at least an inch and a quarter thick, because there is no fat to cover for a thin one.
Side by side
| Bavette | Top Sirloin | |
|---|---|---|
| Primal | Loin, bottom sirloin | Loin, top sirloin butt |
| IMPS code | 185A | 184 |
| Shape | A long, flat flap | A thick, even steak |
| Grain | Coarse and open; can twist toward the ends | Fine and tight |
| Marbling | Moderate | Light |
| Marinade | Takes one in about an hour | Doesn't need one; salt ahead instead |
| Serve it | Sliced thin across the grain | Whole, or sliced |
| Past medium | Turns stringy | Dries out and firms up |
| Also sold as | Sirloin flap, flap meat, bavette d'aloyau, faux hanger | Sirloin steak, center-cut sirloin, baseball steak |
The verdict
Which one to buy
Bavette for tacos, steak frites, a marinade, or anything you slice onto a board: it has the deeper beef flavor and the looser chew. Top sirloin when you want a steak on the plate that people cut themselves, and when you don't want to think about which way the grain runs. If a label just says sirloin steak, ask which half. Top sirloin is the tender one. We carry both.
The sirloin splits into a top half and a bottom half. Top sirloin comes from the top sirloin butt, the lean muscle at the hip end of the loin, and is cut as a classic steak. Bavette is the flap that hangs off the bottom sirloin, and it looks and cooks more like skirt or flank than like any steak in the loin.
Grain decides how you serve it
Top sirloin has a fine, tight grain, so a whole steak on the plate eats well. Bavette's fibers are long and coarse. Cooked to medium-rare and sliced thin across the grain, they read as juicy and beefy. Cut with the grain, they chew like rope at any doneness.
Find bavette's grain before it goes on the heat. Look at the raw steak in good light and note the direction of the lines, because the flap can twist toward the ends and a browned crust hides it.
Bavette, skirt and flank
All three have coarse, visible grain and want fast, high heat, which is why they get swapped. They are three different muscles. Skirt is the diaphragm, about half an inch thick, and done the moment it browns. Flank is the abdominal wall and the leanest of the three. Bavette is the thickest and the best marbled, so it is the one that takes a real crust and still comes off rare. Flank Steak vs Skirt Steak compares the other two.
Same finish line
Pull either at 130 to 135°F and rest five minutes before slicing. Neither has fat to spare past that.
Common questions
Is bavette a sirloin steak?
It comes from the sirloin, the bottom half, but it isn't what a butcher means by sirloin steak. That is top sirloin, a lean steak from the top sirloin butt. Bavette is the flap, and you cook and slice it more like skirt.
Is bavette the same as skirt steak?
No. Skirt is the diaphragm, from the plate. Bavette is the sirloin flap, from the loin. Part of the mix-up is French, where bavette names more than one flat cut. Skirt is about half an inch thick and cooks through as it browns; bavette is thicker and can take a hard sear and stay rare.
Is bavette the same as flank steak?
No, though they are often used for the same dishes. Flank is the abdominal wall: leaner and flatter, with one long, even grain that makes it easy to carve. Bavette has more marbling and a looser grain, so it stays juicier and soaks up a marinade faster.
