@mephisto - how hot did you go on the pan?

wowwww that looks super good

A+

Wagyu fans,

Good news: steak arrived!
Bad news: a day late and totally defrosted
Good/bad news: at least one of three pieces seems totally fine





This one looks perfectly fine.


This one has some discoloration on the side, and just a little on top. Maybe ok?


This small piece was discolored all over.


I dunno how much to worry about it, I asked meat guy what he thinks, waiting to hear back.

Of course, even though I have dinner plans tonight, I couldn't resist cutting off a little chunk of the good piece and cooking it up Japanese style!



Holy cow was that good!

Big, meph:

Whoa, both the ribeye and the wagyu look amazing!

meph - what % of that piece were the four slices you cooked? Was that like the whole right side of that cap?

El D,

you can't convince yourself the other two pieces have been 'dry aged'?

El T,
Amazing!

BDV,
Amazing!

El D,
Amazing!

This thread is boring now.

It's all good, I'll have my sous vide machine soon, hard to **** up the interior with that but I'm sure I can make a mess of the crust for the amusement of the thread.

I'm not sure I've ever had steak that marbled. Does all the fat actually render properly? I kind of hate solid fat on my steak.

If cooked properly, it should not be "solid fat", especially since it's thinly spliced in. When correctly made, it should just be melted flavoured fat between the meat; resulting in an amazing combination of flavour and texture.

Does "wagyu" actually mean anything in the US btw? I had a wagyu steak in Melbourne back in like the early 2000s that was like three times the price of a normal steak and was amazing. After the word started to become well known, people caught on that it had no legal meaning and you could claim anything was wagyu. The whole thing reached its nadir when Subway introduced a wagyu sub.

man that's ****ing brutal el oh el, is he gonna replace that for you?

7-8 on the ****ty electric stove I have while I'm in this rental. I got the cast iron pan smoking hot, then added the Ghee and let it came up to temp.

Yes that's correct. I also cooked the thin left side for my son which he hate on a fresh baked roll.

And that's exactly how this came out. Melts in the mouth, there was non "solid fat" texture.

I hate to just barge in and I haven't really read much but if you want a quick synopsis on how to cook a steak without sous-vide and circulators and Ferran Adria's kitchen equipment here's a good general guide. Feel free to add if I've missed something or have questions about things I've missed. This is for medium-rare temperature. If you like it done more, turn on your oven to 375 before you start cooking.

What you need: steak, salt, black pepper, paper towels, thermometer (it can be a tongue thermometer if you don't have a meat thermometer), cast iron skillet (or a thick stainless steel pan; cannot be non-stick!), stove top.

1.) Know what cut of meat you like. If you don't know, use this site: http://www.thekitchn.com/shopping-fo...ld-know-207368

2.) Where you go to buy your steak matters. Spend the extra money. I could go into the socioeconomics of it but it's not worth it. You get what you pay for.

3.) Make sure the steak is thick. When I say thick, about twice the thickness of your knuckles, and of course for tenderloins this is different. If you like it thin, go get sushi or something.

4.) If you're cooking the steak the day you buy it, put it on a plate and put it in the fridge. No salt, no pepper, no oil. Just let it sit in the fridge uncovered. You want to create a dry surface so that it's easier to get a strong sear. Cover it and there's humidity. Salt it and it draws the liquid out of the steak. No salt until just before cooking.

5.) Pre-heat your pan and pull the steak out of the fridge. I like cast iron pans for the cooking of my steaks. If you're using a regular pan add a little canola/veg oil to the pan. It is very important that the pan is clearly bigger than the steak. You don't want to steam your beautiful steak. (If you grill and you feel comfortable getting a great sear on your grill, more power to you, use it. But it's been snowing here and I can get a better looking sear on the stove top. That means more flavor.)

6.) You want that pan hot. When you start to heat your pan on high heat, take a paper towel and make sure your whole steak is dry. This step is often forgotten by home cooks but is very important. Liquid on the surface of your steak = steam. You do not want to steam your steak at any level. That means less flavor. After you dry your steak, salt and pepper your steak. You want a fair amount of salt. Think about how thick that steak is-- it needs a fair amount of salt. Your steak is dry so you may have to press the salt into the steak if you're using kosher salt. With regards to black pepper, I put as much black pepper as salt.

7.) You should be watching your pan. When it starts to smoke (not smoking like the fire alarm is going to go off but a light smoke), your pan is ready to have the steak admitted. Put the steak in the pan, press it into the pan, and turn the heat to medium. Do not touch the steak, let that sexy beast get some color. The color you are looking for is called mahogany. This applies to all meats that are being seared but the color of mahogany is more easily seen and applied to steaks. Mahogany!

8.) After the first side gets to mahogany, flip it over and do it again. I turn the heat up just before I flip the steak. Every time you move the steak in the pan the temperature of your pan fluctuates. Try to trust your gut on this one. You're a better cook than you think, trust your instincts.

9.) When mahogany is getting close on the second side, test the temperature with your thermometer. Med-rare is 135 but you're pulling her off 10 degrees before you get there so you're looking for 125-128. 125-128 and she comes off. (For medium pull out at 135-138; medium well 145-148; well done 160.)

10.) Put the steak on a cutting board or on your plate and let her sit for 10-15 minutes. Be patient. If you cut into that steak immediately, all of the liquid escapes and you haven't allowed for the liquid to reset itself because it's literally still cooking. Even though it's out of the pan, the steak is still cooking!

11.) If you're really cool, add a knob of butter to the still hot pan. Have a handful of mushrooms and onions and toss them in. Get all the good stuff from the bottom of the pan on your mushrooms and onions. Put the mushrooms and onions to one side of the pan and put asparagus on the other side. Add garlic and have your oven at 400. When the asparagus is just cooked through, your steak will be well rested and ready for the accompaniments.

12.)

Looks fantastic. May want to get in on this wagyu thing next time.

that's some handsome meat

Hey guise. New to the thread and very inexperienced w/ steak cooking. +rep always rants about this thread so thought I'd check it out since I'm interested in learning the art of cooking a gr8 steak.. and cookin more red meat in general which I almost never do.

Here's a 14 oz NY strip steak. About 1 inch thickness. Cooked it on the cast iron under directions given by rep. Tried to follow as close as possible and below are the results. Looks like I coulda got more of the sear going but regardless it came out very tasty and def much much more so compared to how I've cooked the NY strip (one of my not so favorite cuts) before.





with flash

Not bad at all, looks delicious- perfectly cooked. Dry the steak next time completely. Then press steak into the pan. You'll get more color which means even more flavor.

We haven't had a grunch in some time. Welcome to the thread. Despite containing tidbits of sound advice (dry your steak before searing) the techniques perfected ITT will give you superior results. We do oven or pan reverse-sear around here or sous-vide finished in the pan.

Seriously, go through the modified FAQ established in the edited OP. You'll be glad you did. Come back to ask questions or to post steak pictures.

Lilu, great interior, keep working on the sear. If you go a few steaks up, I got one of my best sears today in just 45 seconds/side by using a bacon press and rotating it clockwise/counterclockwise to maintain pressurized, moving contact with hot oil and butter.

Definitely not a bad maiden effort for this thread.

Gobbo loves the 25,000 post grunchers.

I am officially a gruncher. Thanks for the kind welcome.

I was amused! Disappointed tho that there was no "seal in the juices" tip. Oh well.

Back to typical thread business: absolutely stunning steaks page after page after page. Congrats and a big thank you to all that have posted pics of their great meat.

I'm gonna lay someone up for their coveted post.

Why did steps 1-10 concern a pan and then the oven suddenly appears in 11?

***

Longshot question, but has anyone here made or even heard of mincemeat pie? The recipes all say "beef." What cut would you use for something that will be slow simmered then baked in pie with apples, spices, and brandy?