How to make a great steak

[abby normal]

In my house my girl does most of the cooking and she's great at it,,, except for steaks and burgers oh and BBQ. So I've taken command of the cattle drive.  A few years ago a family member gave us an iron skillet. It was like a foreign object sitting around for months until I decided to start using it. Ever since it's my go to cooking apparatus.  

I've learned over the years that the real secret to cooking a great piece of beef is that it's all in the searing. Burgers are great grilled and fried but charred tops and bottoms is what everyone goes nuts over. Steaks are no exception.

My main way of cooking beef is lightly coating the skillet with olive oil getting a good med-high heat going and searing each side for about 3-6 minutes depending on the thickness of the cut. Then I turn down the flame to a low heat and flip a couple times, done.
Before I cook them I usually put olive oil on the meat and rub with a salt and pepper combo but sometimes add a little oregano when serving with a pasta dish etc. excellent for a chop house style sirloin.

Last night I was to cook some filet mignon and thought my usual way just was not cutting it. Not as juicy as a classic restaurant would serve filet mignon and I came across this recipe online. It's the best I've ever cooked a steak and it all has to do with the (iron skillet) pan searing, lack of salt and letting the meat "rest" for 5 minutes (don't go ten) in aluminum foil. I added the salt and pepper with a little butter just prior to serving. Oh man was it good!!!!

Page down to the Pan-Searing section

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Beef/CookingPerfectSteak.htm

 

 

[livingnote]

Oohh thanks for that...over here mom just brought out these old Julia Child videos on
DVD 

You know, mom has a pretty killer recipe too...you get yourself one huge filet in one
piece (like for 4) and then marinate in soy sauce seasoned with ginger, garlic and honey
(and in my aberration, some peaty single malt or red wine) for about a day and then sear
as you do normally, but then - stick it in a 60°C oven, covered, with the marinade, for an
hour, basting with butter and marinade.

 

[riggler]

Get the cheapest chuck steak you can find.

Crank up toaster oven to broil.

Put steak in there for 20 minutes.
Flip, baste with BBQ sauce of your choice.

20 more minutes, yum.

 

[1954U1]

Cast-iron pans are amazing for steaks.
I use also a modern steel pan, but with a really thick "bottom" [mine is around 7-8 mm].
Not so expensive, but difficult to buy.
Steatite slabs are wonderful too.

No oil or butter at all, the fat of the steak is all you need.

You need some time for these to heat, but then the cooking will be great.

 

[Svart]

When I can, which is never, I get American Kobe.

I used a gas grill and a charcoal grill.

I get the charcoal going well, even heat, medium to low temp.

I use cracked pepper and sea salt and rub the meat down on all sides and let it sit for a while, usually while the charcoal gets ready.

I then turn on the gas grill very hot.

I sear the steak quickly on the gas grill, both sides, to seal in the juices that will come from the slow cooking.

I then move the steak over to the charcoal.

Flip it every 2 minutes.  Do not let it sit more than that on any side.

you want a purple-ish-pink center.

It's a lot of time but it's the best steak I've ever made.

 

[rodabod]

Le Creuset suggest oiling the meat and leaving the griddle dry.

Either way, make sure it's excruciatingly hot. Good for Tuna steaks too.

 

[Johan]

British Chef Heston Blumenthal has had a series called "Kitchen chemistry" on Discovery chanel  a few years ago. the idea of the show was to explain what happens inside food, from a scientific point of wiev, when you cook. like, what really happens inside meat when you cook it.  why you should cook some veggies in water and others in oil or butter

it was really interesting and really made my cooking jump up several notches...
you can probably find it on youtube. highly recomended..
j

 

[amorris@home]

a great steak happens at the butcher shop. you have to have an eye for it. salt and pepper and burn to taste.

 

[mushy]

There is quite an argument about the whole salting meat thing.  I come down on the other side of it.  Drawing moisture out of meat is good because it intensifies the flavor of the beef itself.  It also helps to denature the proteins on the surface giving you a better crust. The contrast of the crust and the juicy middle is the key to a great steak to me.

The salt really only draws moisture out of the surface of the steak The center shouldn't be affected unless it's a super thin "minute steak" or something or if the salt is left on too long (but even then some reverse osmosis kicks in and you can wind up with even juicier meat).  I also pat down my steak with a paper towel just before hitting the pan.

And yes.. Cast iron is key.  Try heating it in a 400˚ oven for ten minutes before moving it to the stove to get it rocket hot.  This also helps with the crust.  It pays to have good ventilation when attempting this though.

More info:

http://books.google.com/books?id=nc0OBABTHosC&pg=PA44&dq=reverse+osmosis+meat&ei=ZuluSrCcH6bUyQSsicjoDg#v=onepage&q=reverse%20osmosis%20meat&f=false

 

[Svart]

The contrast of the crust and the juicy middle is the key to a great steak to me.

Absolutely!  I like a juicy meat flavor coupled with a light salty crust.  Beautiful!  I had a big lunch but I'm hungry again just thinking about it!

Some folks I know will lightly brine their steaks, maybe with a little wine mixed in too.  Supposedly the chemicals in the wine help break down some of the meat proteins but I'm not so sure myself.

 

[theoverstayer]

Great topic Abby Normal!

I too have wrestled with the salt thing, and this is the first thing I look for when I check out a new cookbook (sorry I'm a geeek) from an accomplished chef. Without fail, every chef whose restaurants have blown me away, Thomas Keller, Susan Goine, Mario Batali salt before searing, and on thicker cuts Thomas Keller even salts ahead of time (taboo to some!). People seem to like his food. Agree with the cast iron hot as you can get it as well.

Peace, JEfff

 

[amorris@home]

SKILLET! I go a little crazy when dealing with my skillet. I never wash, but wipe with warm oil. I season throughout the year cooking spicy food for a while then soak up the flavours with some morning hashbrowns. I try to gradually build up the skillet then do burgers, my wife and I love it. I had to scream at her a few times when she tried to wash it. she thinks its disgusting not to wash it with soap and water, but I convinced her after the first round of burgers. she tries not to think about it.

 

[ColinS]

• Best steak you can find
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sprinkle with a little olive oil
• Pan hot enough to give you a tan from 15 feet
• Sear each side for a few seconds
• Cook through in a medium oven to taste (IMO if a decent vet can't bring it back to life it's overdone)*

* Bonus point for any Brits who can tell me where that quote came from

 

[[silent:arts]]

• Best steak you can find
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sprinkle with a little olive oil
• Pan hot enough to give you a tan from 15 feet
• Sear each side for a few seconds
• Cook through in a medium oven to taste (IMO if a decent vet can't bring it back to life it's overdone)*

while I do it like this, I disagree with your last point.

Sear each side for a few seconds

don't cook it, EAT it

 

[Svart]

and not just ANY salt will do..  I like the natural brown sea salt.  It has very interesting flavors besides just the salt itself.  The white iodized stuff just isn't the same.

 

[sodderboy]

- Worchestershire, the real one, marinade for 10-80 minutes
- a little ground fresh pepper on both sides
- on an old gas grill.  I am on my third burner/sparker in about 8 years
- time depends on the cut.  I am mostly filet mignon, less often, these days.  I hate fatty meat.

Burgers get done the same way.

The last time I cooked steaks in a pan I did a "blackened" recipe with inadequate ventilation and my face swelled-up like a balloon for hours!  Kinda like some people's "gin" stories, I won't touch meat to a pan unless it's for tacos n stuff.
Mike

 

[strangeandbouncy]

Hi,


  steak (preferably sirloin) should be cooked quickly and as hot as possible. Frying pan, skillet, or BBQ. Oven does not pass muster for me. Nor grill.  Best served Italian style(tagliata - medium rare, and sliced at an angle approx 1/8th - 1/4 inch thick, and served on a bed of rocket(proper rough, weedlike racquetta, not the tame, stringy dandelion like crap we get in the supermarket here in UK), with generous shavings of Parmeggiano cheese. That simple. It will blow your mind.


    Kindest regards,



        ANdyP

 

[Autophase]

The key to a good steak is letting it rest for a few minutes before serving.
This allows time for some of the blood to be reabsorbed and the excess to flow out, a well cooked steak should leak little or not blood even if its rare. (my personal preference!)
Its also worth mentioning that the less you cook steak the more work your body does digesting it, and if you eat rare fillet, your body uses more calories digesting it than is contained with in the steak its self (sorry for the useless diet tip, thats my girlfriends influence - then again its a good excuse to eat steak more often)
While fillet tends to be the more expensive cut I find rebeye more satisfying in bite and flavour.
The best steak I had was on holiday in Estonia (of all places) it was called devils secret, basically it was sliced lengthways across the middle and blue cheese was inserted somewhere in the cooking process, it was server with a very rich cherry sauce. The combo of the powerful cheese and the sweet cherry sauce was unbeleiveable (is your mouth watering?)

 

[mushy]

Mmmmmmmm.....

 

[sodderboy]

My best steak was horse at the Italian version of a US "roach coach" or "dirty-water dogs" stand and it was out of this world.  Even after I finished it and my bud told me it was horse!
Mike