Beef tenderloin vs. filet mignon (details)?

Question

Could someone please explain the difference to me. I always assumed that the tenderloin was one long piece, and the filet mignon were individual steaks cut from the tenderloin. The butcher at my local Kroger informed me that this isn't so. He said the part known as the "filet mignon" is actually the two end pieces (much smaller/more tapered than the center of the tenderloin). Is this true?

Answer 1

I've bought, and ate all kinds of tenderloin cuts including whole tenderloins.

There is the 'butt' end of the tenderloin and the tapered end.
The butt end has two main muscle groups and some connective tissue (gristle) in between. For beef Wellington or tenderloin roast you use the whole thing -- butt end first generally, because there is more meat.

Filet mignons should not have any connective tissue, so you can take the tapered end by itself (which has less connective tissue), or you can cut out only the inside muscle-group from the butt end and get really small steaks, but without any gristle whatsoever.

In my years of experience, I haven't found any difference in 'tenderness' from a tapered- end steak versus the center-portion of the butt-end steak.

Since I like more meat in a tenderloin steak, I just cut steaks off the butt end (whole). Tecnically those aren't filet mignons, but they are plenty tasty just-the-same.

You can also cut true filets that are twice as thick as you need, and butterfly them.

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Answer 2

Beef Tenderloin Vs Filet Mignon

Answer 3

Center Cut Filet Mignon

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Beef tenderloin vs. filet mignon (details)?
Could someone please explain the difference to me. I always assumed that the tenderloin was one long piece, and the filet mignon were individual steaks cut from the tenderloin. The butcher at my local Kroger informed me that this isn't so. He said the part known as the "filet...

Answer 5

here's a good explanation for you...

When left whole, the tenderloin is known as a fillet or a "Chateaubriand". When sliced, it forms various steaks. Those toward the loin end of the piece, when cut into slices one to two inches thick, are known as filets. Sometimes, the cuts are called filet mignon, while at other times filet mignon refers to a dish made with a beef tenderloin filet, not the cut itself. Other portions of the tenderloin, when cut into steaks, are typically called tenderloin steaks, not filets.

Answer 6

Here's a website with good info, plus a diagram on where the filet mignon is cut from the tenderloin:

http://www.filetmignons.info/filet-mignon-meat/

Answer 7

Not exactly. Individual cuts of the tenderloin are indeed the filet mignon; just from the tail end not both ends.

Answer 8

The last I heard was that the tenderloin is the the same as the filet mignon. When you get a porterhouse steak, that small, very tender, section is the tenderloin. The long portion by itself would be a New York Strip (or shell steak).

Answer 9

I've been told the same as you, that they are both the same.