The steak thread

[⇛Marnetmar⇛]

Talk about steak in this thread

 

 

How do you like your steak? Do you have any secrets you'd like to share? 

 

I've been considering trying Sous Vide but I don't want to actually pay for all the equipment. Are there any workarounds with regular kitchen utensils?

[Chopkinsca]

I like mine completely well done. Char adds flavour. I don't even eat steak enough times in a year to say I actually eat it.

[AndrewB]

Start with a good cut, 1.25" to 1.5" depending on the width to get a nice 16 to 18 ounces, new york striploin being a good midrange option. Massage both sides with peanut oil, then add seasoning salt, pepper or unsalted steak spice, and some pink rock salt. Massage it a bit more to allow the flavors to enter the meat, and let it sit at room temperature 30-60 minutes.

 

I pre-heat the cast iron grilling pan (the kind with the grooves on the bottom) on an electric burner using heat setting 5.5 (maximum being 9) until it's smoking for 2-3 minutes. Put 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil in the pan, then put in the steak. After about 30 seconds, rotate 135 degrees. After another 30 seconds, flip the steak. At this point I add about 30 grams of butter to the pan, and as it quickly melts, use a spoon to completely douse the steak. About 45 seconds after flipping the steak, I turn it 135 degrees again, and douse some more. 45 seconds after rotating, I use the tongs to sear all the edges of the steak, then I transfer the steak to a warming pan and pour the buttery pan liquid on top of the steak. At this point I put the pan in a pre-heated oven (about 150f), or on the burner that is directly above the oven vent.

 

Ten minutes later, my sauteed zucchini and mushrooms are ready, and I put it all on a plate that was pre-heating in the oven the entire time. The steak should be a perfect rare to medium rare, and completely warm throughout.

[Barry Burton]

2 hours ago, Chopkinsca said:

I like mine completely well done. Char adds flavour. I don't even eat steak enough times in a year to say I actually eat it.

 

^{avoid at all costs}

 

I typically sear in a cast iron, with butter thyme and garlic. Rarely grill, unless we have family/friends over.

[Doomkid]

Can’t beat a flavoursome porterhouse, rare. Mmmmm...

 

Well done steaks tend to be tough or even rubbery at the worst of times, I need it tender and juicy - still half alive!

[Chezza]

What a good day for this thread.  Currently in Australia there is a stupid protest from Vegans blocking streets and harassing some businesses and farmers. Choose not to eat meat, I respect that, protest all you like and I won't stop you but don't cause trouble for other people.

 

Today I'm eating extra meat in response.

 

Also I like my steak medium rare, possibly a bit more rare. I like a messy cheese steak sandwich with blood dripping. Not trying to be edgy, it's just really nice albiet messy.

 

 

[CyberDreams]

Unlike most people who eat it somewhat "rare" i prefer it medium-well or well-done. I too also rarely eat steak but when i do it's usually in the summer when i can cook out. I've been meaning to try some different types of steaks as i don't really know that many. I do enjoy a good porterhouse or a ribeye now and than.

 

When i was younger all i really got were well-done steaks as that's how my parents cooked 'em for me (as my dad loves steak) so i'm quite used to 'em being done like that but i've been meaning to eat some a little less done, i guess you could say. So i tend to like 'em Medium-well now and maybe i'll try a medium done steak this summer.

[Doom_Dude]

Tenderloin, T-Bone, Top Sirloin or Ribeye! I like mine anywhere from medium-rare to well done. I do mine on the BBQ with a bit of BBQ sauce and some steak spice and in the winter I'll use a George Foreman style grill that cooks both sides at once, which I find works really well. Sliced mushrooms, bell peppers and onions and all sauteed together in a pan. Baked potato or sliced / chunked potatoes tossed with salt, olive oil, a mixture of spices and done in the oven... or those big steak-cut fries done in the oven and some ketchup. Big glass of beer to go with that...

[ReaperAA]

Sorry but I couldn't resist

 

[MFG38]

I don't eat steak very often, but when I do, I like my steak medium well.

[Nevander]

That steak in OP looks sooo good. Give me some A1 with that and we'll be in business.

[Immorpher]

Since I got a new job, I have been eating steak once a week. It has to be ribeye at medium-rare. Warm pink center as they say at texas roadhouse. I'll eat prime rib too (which is basically ribeye from what I understand). Other cuts don't have enough fat for me.

[insertwackynamehere]

I also love cast iron searing for steak, I usually make a non-dairy steak au poivre that involves pepper and red wine reduction (usually in restaurants a white sauce is the result but the recipe I use and prefer is herbs and wine sauce, no creaminess or tartness just savory ness).

 

However I hate the ordeal that cooking steak actually is in my apartment. All NYC apartments have fake stove vents that pull the stove air through metal and optionally charcoal filter before spouting it back out at eye level from the vent grills usually under the hanging microwave or otherwise just the cabinetry. This basically means you have a fan, not a vent. I swear I get eye acne from this ridiculous set up. And the smoke alarm will go off, because when searing you are going to have a lot of kitchen smoke. And kitchens are all open plan so even besides the smoke detector, you finish up and your apartment is now in a haze of aerosolized fat and smoke and it makes it hard to enjoy the meal because now you’re just stressed about airing out your apartment which is probably no longer technically habitable by indoor air pollution standards.

 

But besides all that I like steak rare or medium rare. Also, once I tried “blue” in the middle (sort of an accident but I powered through) and that was also pretty good although I then was anxious like “I just ate raw steak, am I going to die now? I don’t have the credentials to prepare something that risky”.

[Barry Burton]

5 hours ago, insertwackynamehere said:

Also, once I tried “blue” in the middle (sort of an accident but I powered through) and that was also pretty good although I then was anxious like “I just ate raw steak, am I going to die now? I don’t have the credentials to prepare something that risky”.

 

Ah, the philly style "black & blue"? ;)

[[McD] James]

Medium rare, always. Steak is even better with fried mushrooms, garlic shrimp and fried onions. Goes great with either steak sauce, Lee & Perrins, peppercorn sauce, or buttery seafood sauces. I love steak. 

[insertwackynamehere]

4 hours ago, R4L said:

 

Ah, the philly style "black & blue"? ;)

Haha ironically I’m from philly and I didn’t even know that was a thing associated with us 

[Barry Burton]

13 hours ago, insertwackynamehere said:

Haha ironically I’m from philly and I didn’t even know that was a thing associated with us 

 

I doubt it is... I heard the term used in the kitchen at my old job a few times by my friend and chef that trained me and liked it haha.

[Reisal]

Medium is preferred, but will take rare if offered. Give me some BBQ sauce and some cooked onions and we're good to go.

[insertwackynamehere]

6 hours ago, R4L said:

 

I doubt it is... I heard the term used in the kitchen at my old job a few times by my friend and chef that trained me and liked it haha.

Oh yeah no worries I didn’t mean it as a dismissal, I honestly have no clue about too much of that stuff and I left at 18, but I thought it was cool in a coincidental way that the response to my post was actually about my hometown lol, what are the odds?

[Remilia Scarlet]

Very well done, topped with salt, pepper, and a bit of basil, then eaten with a bit of A1 sauce or Heinz 57.

 

I rarely eat steak, though.

[Doom_Dude]

After already posting, I remembered something. I used to buy a big piece of what was called round steak and then brown it up in a pan, then make gravy with shrooms and onions. Put that all in a baking dish and do it in the oven. Hard to remember the time and temp but probably 1 1/2 hours at 350. I don't see that cut of steak now so they probably produce it into stew meat or something. It was a cheaper grade of meat, hence doing it in the oven like that. Good times.

[BigBoy91]

I love a blue rare NY strip barely seared in an iron skillet with butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder and minced onion. Any steak without a bone is good enough for me though. It's never cold in the middle if you leave it sit out for a few hours with a paper towel over it before cooking.

[Capellan]

On 4/8/2019 at 3:04 AM, Marn said:

I've been considering trying Sous Vide but I don't want to actually pay for all the equipment. Are there any workarounds with regular kitchen utensils?

 

The two things you need for sous vide are:

1. to keep the steaks completely and tightly sealed - this will be tough without a vacuum sealer

2. a way to keep the water level and temperature consistent - you could maybe do this with a good slow cooker (or even a big pot) and a kitchen thermometer, but it would likely require quite a bit of attention

 

I just bought the sous vide kit, myself :)

 

Note that sous vide is primarily useful  if you are using a cheaper cut of steak, or if you otherwise have difficulty consistently hitting your desired 'doneness'.  If you use decent steak and know how long and hot how it should be, it's not really needed.

 

Edit: oh, one other use case is where you're juggling cooking multiple things and want to time them to be ready at the same time.  Sous vide makes that a lot easier, since it's very forgiving in terms of how long you have the steak in for

[AndrewB]

I just picked up a cold smoked NY strip steak for tonight. 1.75 inches thick, about 18 ounces.

[Skeletonpatch]

I personally prefer my steak cooked at medium. Not medium-well or medium-rare. Just, medium.

 

Most of the steak I've had in my life was cooked by my mom, and it beats the shit out of any steak that you'd order in a restaurant. I haven't been able to have much steak for the past several months but now that summer is starting and university is ending for a while I'll be home again for a few months to enjoy it again.

 

I'm from a farm that raises beef cattle so there is a very, very slim chance that you may have had beef from our farm if your steak is Alberta Beef!

[Fonze]

Idk if all this is off-topic since it's kinda the before part to what's going on here so I'll just spoiler it and the convo can move on without ;p

 

Cutting steaks is probably my favorite part of my job. Unfortunately the business has changed so we don't cut as much as we used to, but it's still nice to take a little bit of time each day to cut some beautiful steaks of what we do still cut. Presentation is 50% of how food will be received so it's important for me to take some extra time on top of everything to make sure that my cuts are not only straight, but even across all steaks in each pack and that I position them in the trays to look the most appetizing. Good vs bad traying alone can make a big difference in the way steaks look and are received. For example, good traying can hide inconsistencies between steaks, such as if two steaks are close to the same but one is slightly thinner, put it so the fat side of it is touching the meat side of what it's with; fat doesn't scrunch like meat does. (as bad of a way as that is of putting it; when it's wrapped the meat can compress, but since fat won't it'll act as a support to the surrounding meat, even that of an adjacent steak, and it'll make them look to be the same if the adjacent meat is the same or slightly thicker) On the flip side, bad traying can make otherwise perfect steaks look bad and uneven or even wedged. Meat is never square so most steaks will have some overhang on the sides. Or like if I trimmed the fat off a steak with my knife going away from the meat as it cuts down, it would give that side of steak like a pyramid-ish slope going up, which when trayed would make the steak look like a wedge, but flip that same steak over, even after the bad cut, and it'll look square. (within reason) Cutting steaks is kinda fun to do and it's even somehow interesting to tray them up if you take pride in what you do, stupid as that sounds lol.

Doomworld ate the rest of my response but I don't have any tips on cooking them; already some good posts here for that tho. I may drop in from time to time to share some pics of pretty steaks I cut if people want to see my every day ^^ While I don't usually take pics of steaks I cut because I don't have time for that and it's such a regular thing, I did take this pic of some ultra thin ribeyes I cut a little bit ago, they were somewhere under 1/4 inch and over 1/8" if my guess of the tray's thickness being 1/8" is correct. Idk why I took a pic of these but they were big and look really nice lol.



Who wouldn't want a ribeye for that breakfast sandwich ;D