Best Way to Cook a Steak?

[Darren.]

Ok everyone. I know there are some great cooks here on

the forum (there has to be with over 50,000 members).

 

One of the best steaks I ever had was at Ruth's Cris on

our wedding anniversary. Since then, we've looked up how

to cook them and my wife made some incredible ribeyes

using salt, pepper, butter and some TLC Ruth's Cris style

over a low heat on the grill.

 

Was reading this AM about boiling a steak and the sous vide

method came up. Holy cow that looks awesome. Would love

to try it.

 

So I throw this out to y'all. Do you have a great way to cook

a steak? And if so, care to share the deets? I'm partial to 

medium rare, fwiw.

[slonezp]

Reverse sear.    And we can't have a food thread without mentioning scrapple...Scrapple

[Darren.]

4 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Reverse sear.    And we can't have a food thread without mentioning scrapple...Scrapple

 

Gonna have to look up reverse sear. I assume that means

you slow cook the steak then do a high heat sear to seal 

it up? (yeah, I didn't look it up yet...)

[Darren.]

Here's a pic of a sous vide'd steak on the left,

and an iron skillet steak on the right.

 

[Dorado]

Darren- I prefer cooking steaks on a charcoal grill. I use a chimney to light up my coals and stack one side of the grill in a pyramid formation. I patiently wait until the heat registers 550-600 degrees.

 

In the meantime, about an hour prior to cooking, I'll keep the seasoning super simple. If you get a filet, NY, T-Bone why try to mask the flavors? Besides a good quality steak should have plenty of marbling, which IMO, is butter LOL! I use Himalayan Pink Salt (easy to find, impossible to over-salt like common table salt), Grounded Peppercorn (grinders are essential as common pepper is not potent or spicy), and splashes of Worcestershire sauce for smokiness and helps with the crust. I let it set for an hour to bring the steak to room temp. I never throw on a cold steak because I have the timing down to a tee with room temp. It's too difficult to time it with a steak defrosted or out of the fridge.

 

Now that you are at those intense heat settings, apply the steaks over the top of the pyramid and close the lid to that the seer trap those juices in immediately! Depending on the thickness and cut, this could be ~2-3 minutes on ONE side. The goal is to let it develop that caramelized crust, without it getting burned. Flip it over the other side for ~2-3 minutes to trap the bottom side. Note: these times only work for me and for my type of grill. There are a lot of variables to consider and I shouldn't be blamed for either an under-cooked or over-cooked steak if you follow my times to a tee! Warning!

 

Ok, move the steak over to the other side of the grill, opposite of the pyramid, where it is cooler. I HATE cutting steaks to check the doneness, so I cheat and use a thermometer. I take it off, when the middle of the steak, registers at 150 degrees (prefer mine medium - less iron-tasting, still succulent, great beef flavor IMO). Let it rest for 2-3 minutes, grab a beer or set the table and resist going to town right away haha! Resting is super important, especially with roasts, because you want the juices to distribute evenly throughout the meat. When it cools, the juices work starting at the core and work outward.

 

I know this is long, and assumes you grill, but I've tried the sautéing and various indoor methods to cast iron pans, etc. There's nothing like the grill tastes and being outside that brings out this primitive satisfaction that tops it all off. Then, throw in various woods, like mesquite, forget about it!!!

 

I'm definitely no expert, just a typical dude who likes to cook on the weekends for the fam. Good luck!   

 

[Darren.]

2 minutes ago, Dorado said:

Darren- I prefer cooking steaks on a charcoal grill. I use a chimney to light up my coals and stack one side of the grill in a pyramid formation. I patiently wait until the heat registers 550-600 degrees.

 

In the meantime, about an hour prior to cooking, I'll keep the seasoning super simple. If you get a filet, NY, T-Bone why try to mask the flavors? Besides a good quality steak should have plenty of marbling, which IMO, is butter LOL! I use Himalayan Pink Salt (easy to find, impossible to over-salt like common table salt), Grounded Peppercorn (grinders are essential as common pepper is not potent or spicy), and splashes of Worcestershire sauce for smokiness and helps with the crust. I let it set for an hour to bring the steak to room temp. I never throw on a cold steak because I have the timing down to a tee with room temp. It's too difficult to time it with a steak defrosted or out of the fridge.

 

Now that you are at those intense heat settings, apply the steaks over the top of the pyramid and close the lid to that the seer trap those juices in immediately! Depending on the thickness and cut, this could be ~2-3 minutes on ONE side. The goal is to let it develop that caramelized crust, without it getting burned. Flip it over the other side for ~2-3 minutes to trap the bottom side. Note: these times only work for me and for my type of grill. There are a lot of variables to consider and I shouldn't be blamed for either an under-cooked or over-cooked steak if you follow my times to a tee! Warning!

 

Ok, move the steak over to the other side of the grill, opposite of the pyramid, where it is cooler. I HATE cutting steaks to check the doneness, so I cheat and use a thermometer. I take it off, when the middle of the steak, registers at 150 degrees (prefer mine medium - less iron-tasting, still succulent, great beef flavor IMO). Let it rest for 2-3 minutes, grab a beer or set the table and resist going to town right away haha! Resting is super important, especially with roasts, because you want the juices to distribute evenly throughout the meat. When it cools, the juices work starting at the core and work outward.

 

I know this is long, and assumes you grill, but I've tried the sautéing and various indoor methods to cast iron pans, etc. There's nothing like the grill tastes and being outside that brings out this primitive satisfaction that tops it all off. Then, throw in various woods, like mesquite, forget about it!!!

 

I'm definitely no expert, just a typical dude who likes to cook on the weekends for the fam. Good luck!   

 

 

Sounds absolutely delish. Unfortunately, my wife

hates the charcoal grill taste. (I know, what's wrong

with her!?) But she's a heck of a cook on a gas grill!!

[slonezp]

34 minutes ago, Darren. said:

 

Gonna have to look up reverse sear. I assume that means

you slow cook the steak then do a high heat sear to seal 

it up? (yeah, I didn't look it up yet...)

Yep. Must be a thick cut of meat. Tenderize it with the type of tenderizer that pokes holes in the meat, brush it with red wine vinegar and olive oil. The vinegar opens the pores and the oil helps prevent it from sticking. Season it with sea salt and montreal steak seasoning. I cook the steak over indirect heat with the vents closed on the grill for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, pull it off and let it sit for 10 minutes and either sear it on the stove in a cast iron pan or if I'm lucky I can get the coals hot enough in the 10 minutes it sits to just sear it over the charcoal.

 

I tried something similar on an infra red cooker/smoker I bought myself for Christmas using hickory chips to give it a little different flavor. It gave it an interesting flavor and I will do it again but maybe with alder or apple chips for a less intense smokey flavor.

 

tenderizer

 

[Darren.]

6 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Yep. Must be a thick cut of meat. Tenderize it with the type of tenderizer that pokes holes in the meat, brush it with red wine vinegar and olive oil. The vinegar opens the pores and the oil helps prevent it from sticking. Season it with sea salt and montreal steak seasoning. I cook the steak over indirect heat with the vents closed on the grill for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, pull it off and let it sit for 10 minutes and either sear it on the stove in a cast iron pan or if I'm lucky I can get the coals hot enough in the 10 minutes it sits to just sear it over the charcoal.

 

I tried something similar on an infra red cooker/smoker I bought myself for Christmas using hickory chips to give it a little different flavor. It gave it an interesting flavor and I will do it again but maybe with alder or apple chips for a less intense smokey flavor.

 

tenderizer

 

 

Iiiinteresting. I thought you weren't supposed to cut or poke

holes in the steak, to preserve the juices?

[.ghoti.]

Just like Dorado does it, except no worchestershire, and I use hardwood charcoal, not briquettes.

[Dorado]

9 minutes ago, .ghoti. said:

Just like Dorado does it, except no worchestershire, and I use hardwood charcoal, not briquettes.

 

Smart..........I'm going to try hardwood charcoal next time. Briquettes are so convenient and I just pick up a two-pack at Home Depot. I'm sure it makes a big difference!

[slonezp]

17 minutes ago, Darren. said:

 

Iiiinteresting. I thought you weren't supposed to cut or poke

holes in the steak, to preserve the juices?

Not sure that theory matters if the meat is raw. I've never had an issue.

[Darren.]

29 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Not sure that theory matters if the meat is raw. I've never had an issue.

 

I shoulda known that...

[A-Jay]

I am a red meat eater - not overly but as a part of a hopefully balanced diet. 

While  the favorite method will always include some type of direct natural wood, charcoal or at the very least open air gas flame, during the cold weather months I use a cast iron pan cooking method on the gas stove top for indoor preparation.

 

After lightly pre-seasoning a choice cut, and with the overhead stove hood fan on 'high", the Steak pan is pre-heated until very hot. 

Meat is placed into said pan & then cooked for only 1 minute and then turned and cooked for only 1 minute.

This process is continued until just before the desired doneness is reached, at which point the savory goodness is removed from the pan and set aside for 5 minutes to 'rest'.

 

There's a brief learning curve required as far as number of turns required to find the best red, pink or shoe-leather like level of doneness you prefer. 

It may not be quite as good as putting meat over fire but it's pretty darn close.

Try it - you'll like it.

A-Jay

 

[bassguytom]

 Good tip when grilling is to leave the lid open otherwise you are baking. 

[Darren.]

2 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I am a red meat eater - not overly but as a part of a hopefully balanced diet. 

While  the favorite method will always include some type of direct natural wood, charcoal or at the very least open air gas flame, during the cold weather months I use a cast iron pan cooking method on the gas stove top for indoor preparation.

 

After lightly pre-seasoning a choice cut, and with the overhead stove hood fan on 'high", the Steak pan is pre-heated until very hot. 

Meat is placed into said pan & then cooked for only 1 minute and then turned and cooked for only 1 minute.

This process is continued until just before the desired doneness is reached, at which point the savory goodness is removed from the pan and set aside for 5 minutes to 'rest'.

 

There's a brief learning curve required as far as number of turns to find what is best to reach what you like.

It may not be quite as good as putting meat over fire but it's pretty darn close.

Try it - you'll like it.

A-Jay

 

 

Since our winters down here haven't been so extreme,

we've used our grill on the porch a number of times  

[A-Jay]

Never been a fan of "tenderizing' red meat.

My personal consumption of red meat is infrequent enough that if I need to repeatedly inflict multiple punctures or somehow otherwise pulverize my steak, I probably should have selected a different cut.  

So when this is not an option I'll wait until it is.

A-Jay

 

9 minutes ago, Darren. said:

 

Since our winters down here haven't been so extreme,

we've used our grill on the porch a number of times  

 

And I bet you're a happier man for it.

I've been able to do it here once every few winters or so -

And it's always a very special deal in more ways than one.

A-Jay

[Darren.]

26 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Never been a fan of "tenderizing' red meat.

My personal consumption of red meat is infrequent enough that if I need to repeatedly inflict multiple punctures or somehow otherwise pulverize my steak, I probably should have selected a different cut.  

So when this is not an option I'll wait until it is.

A-Jay

 

 

And I bet you're a happier man for it. Yes, Yes I am!!  

I've been able to do it here once every few winters or so -

And it's always a very special deal in more ways than one.

A-Jay

 

We've been experimenting with letting steaks "marinate"

in salt and pepper (rubbed in) out on the countertop. Far

enough back that our lab can't get to it. Yeah, there's a 

reason for that.

 

I watched a show on best steak eats in America a number

of years back and one place in Florida stores their steaks

for days at room temp in a room filled with ancient blocks

of salt. We're talking aaaaancient - millions of years ancient.

So the idea above from @Dorado to use Himalayan Pink

Salt is quite intriguing. 

Anyhoo, the S&P thing is what Ruth's Cris does, then the 

post-marinating in melted butter.

 

Gosh this whole thing is making me hungry...

[Bass Turd]

Darren... this is for you...

 

 

[Darren.]

1 minute ago, Bass Turd said:

Darren... this is for you...

 

 

 

I'm watching it now, but funny, I read this guy's article 

on sous vide steaks at seriouseats.com this morning!!

[Darren.]

56 minutes ago, Bass Turd said:

Darren... this is for you...

 

 

 

That was very cool. Definitely need to try the sous vide

thing. And that would be reverse searing @slonezp was

talking about.

[slonezp]

1 hour ago, Darren. said:

 

We've been experimenting with letting steaks "marinate"

in salt and pepper (rubbed in) out on the countertop. Far

enough back that our lab can't get to it. Yeah, there's a 

reason for that.

 

I watched a show on best steak eats in America a number

of years back and one place in Florida stores their steaks

for days at room temp in a room filled with ancient blocks

of salt. We're talking aaaaancient - millions of years ancient.

So the idea above from @Dorado to use Himalayan Pink

Salt is quite intriguing. 

Anyhoo, the S&P thing is what Ruth's Cris does, then the 

post-marinating in melted butter.

 

Gosh this whole thing is making me hungry...

The Primehouse in Chicago ages their steaks in an aging room built underground. The walls are lined with salt

[Darren.]

Just now, slonezp said:

The Primehouse in Chicago ages their steaks in an aging room built underground. The walls are lined with salt

 

Maybe that was the place...I thought it was Florida.

Heck, I googled it and there are a few places that

do the whole store with salt blocks thing now.

[NYWayfarer]

3 hours ago, Dorado said:

I'll keep the seasoning super simple. If you get a filet, NY, T-Bone why try to mask the flavors? Besides a good quality steak should have plenty of marbling, which IMO, is butter LOL!

 

I agree wholeheartedly with this. Cooked medium rare is my way.

[roadwarrior]

Gas grill = outdoor oven. They are illegal south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

 

"You ain't from around here, boy."

 

[Darren.]

34 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Gas grill = outdoor oven. They are illegal south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

 

"You ain't from around here, boy."

 

 

But ... but ... everyone around here has one, and

I'm south of the MD line!! Now my wife was born

in Delaware and she doesn't like charcoal grills..