Cooking A Good Steak
12-16-2016
, 09:23 AM
Quote:
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.)
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.)
i love when people barge into a thread with 25,000 posts to offer advice. doing it while we're sexing up some wagyu pr0n is like the icing on the cake.
^^these are some of my favorite posts btw
Last edited by +rep_lol; 12-16-2016 at 09:28 AM.
12-16-2016
, 09:26 AM
Quote:
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
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
this is a really solid first effort to build off of
12-16-2016
, 11:44 AM
12-16-2016
, 12:12 PM
12-16-2016
, 12:31 PM
12-16-2016
, 12:53 PM
12-16-2016
, 01:52 PM
12-16-2016
, 02:28 PM
12-16-2016
, 02:47 PM
12-16-2016
, 03:21 PM
Steak and salad two days in a row for lunch? Why not? One of my frozen Prime NY strips that I just thawed out. Simple pan reverse sear again--hopefully I can match yesterday's ribeye.
12-16-2016
, 04:20 PM
Mid cook pics:
(Hard to post w/one hand and steak with the other)
(Hard to post w/one hand and steak with the other)
12-16-2016
, 04:48 PM
Resting now:
12-16-2016
, 05:23 PM
Final results:
EMC:
While I've gotten to love SV for the convenience, I've come around to pan reverse sear (with a Thermapen assist) as producing the best crust and overall best results. The steak above had less than 1 min total searing per side, thanks in part to the nice browning start during the low cook. I need close to double that for a similar crust for SV. Both are great, but if I'm competitive steaking then pan reverse sear comes out on top.
EMC:
While I've gotten to love SV for the convenience, I've come around to pan reverse sear (with a Thermapen assist) as producing the best crust and overall best results. The steak above had less than 1 min total searing per side, thanks in part to the nice browning start during the low cook. I need close to double that for a similar crust for SV. Both are great, but if I'm competitive steaking then pan reverse sear comes out on top.
12-16-2016
, 06:55 PM
Bigdaddydvo,
Looks fantastic!
I've got a few steaks in the bath right now. Will post pics if I have the time, but it's hard to live up to the recent submissions in this thread.
Looks fantastic!
I've got a few steaks in the bath right now. Will post pics if I have the time, but it's hard to live up to the recent submissions in this thread.
Last edited by Randall Stevens; 12-16-2016 at 07:01 PM.
12-16-2016
, 08:18 PM
12-16-2016
, 08:47 PM
12-16-2016
, 09:57 PM
Quote:
More stake trolling.
Learned this while looking for mincemeat recipes
Do NOT salt the outside of your prime rib roast, as salt draws out moisture from the meat while cooking. You can use other seasonings, if desired, but I find it is not necessary. I know that some people do salt their prime rib roast before cooking, but trust me and do no salt – the result will be a juicy, delicious roast to serve your family and guests!
https://whatscookingamerica.net/Beef...icPrimeRib.htm
not sure I want to use them now.
Learned this while looking for mincemeat recipes
Do NOT salt the outside of your prime rib roast, as salt draws out moisture from the meat while cooking. You can use other seasonings, if desired, but I find it is not necessary. I know that some people do salt their prime rib roast before cooking, but trust me and do no salt – the result will be a juicy, delicious roast to serve your family and guests!
https://whatscookingamerica.net/Beef...icPrimeRib.htm
not sure I want to use them now.
