Do you cook a good steak?

[2LaneCruzer]

I posted this on another site, and decided to repost it here. One of my favorite subjects!

HOW I COOK MY STEAKS

If you have a reputation for cooking a good steak, let's hear it. I have several tell me I cooked the best steak they have ever eaten, and when we cook steaks at the Lodge, some want to make sure I cook their steak. Here's my story.

The first charcoaled steak I ever ate, I cooked it myself in 1959, when my folks bought their first charcoal grill. Over the years, my general method evolved as follows:

My favorite steak is a one inch thick bone in rib eye. I always buy the best grade of meat I can find; Prime, if I can afford it, but Choice will work. I will buy the marked down, out of date steaks if they have them; I try to let them age in the frige a week or so before I cook them anyway.

Take them out of the frige a couple of hours before cooking and let them come to room temp. I spray mine with olive oil, add a light sprinkling of dry mustard on one side and season moderately with Montreal Steak seasoning. I add about a tablespoon of Saute Butter on top (regular butter will work), and cover them with a paper towel until time to cook. Oh, you can omit the mustard and steak seasoning if you are a purist, which I was for most of my steak cooking days. I avoid meat tenderizer and garlic, acknowledging that the Montreal seasoning has some garlic added.

I use my Weber charcoal grill, and what ever charcoal I have; brick or chunk. After it is ready, I add my smoking wood..SEASONED Mesquite, Oak (blackjack) and either Hickory or Pecan. I use smaller chunks, so they will catch and burn quickly; about 3 or four small ones of each type. I do not soak them. I let it set a few minutes so the smoke will develop, and add my steaks, butter and seasoned side up. I like a medium hot grill; I don't want to burn them, but I do want them to cook quickly. A one inch thick steak, cooked about at least 5 or so minutes on one side will usually be plenty brown and ready to turn. Watch the fire that it's not too hot, sometimes I close t he top vent. I add another dollup of butter, and cook it a total of about 15 minutes for a medium steak.

It's best to let your steak sit for about 5 minutes at least before cutting into it, but it's hard to wait some times.

I think the key elements are: 1. Charcoal Grill. 2. The types and amount of smoking wood you use. 3. The type, grade and thickness of the steak; 4. Time and temperature; and to some extent the seasoning you use.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

There was a time when I enjoyed all that. The older I get, the more my preference turns to kale, collards, green beans, broccoli, a nice salad, and we can eat that all week for the price of two 1 inch ribeyes.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I think I do alright, and people seem to enjoy them...

What I cook on varies as to what is available, but the key in my mind is to ensure that the steak reaches room temperature, and that the cooking surface be allowed to reach a solid heat. If in a pan I'm coating it with butter, if on a grill it'll be a bit of oil. Salt. Sometimes a bit of Montreal, or maybe I play around with what's in the cupboard. I don't know the timing, but when it feels right I'll flip it once.

Interestingly enough, I can taste when I make a mistake in my process- but it doesn't seem like others pick up on it.

 

[jyoutz]

Wh

I posted this on another site, and decided to repost it here. One of my favorite subjects!

HOW I COOK MY STEAKS

If you have a reputation for cooking a good steak, let's hear it. I have several tell me I cooked the best steak they have ever eaten, and when we cook steaks at the Lodge, some want to make sure I cook their steak. Here's my story.

The first charcoaled steak I ever ate, I cooked it myself in 1959, when my folks bought their first charcoal grill. Over the years, my general method evolved as follows:

My favorite steak is a one inch thick bone in rib eye. I always buy the best grade of meat I can find; Prime, if I can afford it, but Choice will work. I will buy the marked down, out of date steaks if they have them; I try to let them age in the frige a week or so before I cook them anyway.

Take them out of the frige a couple of hours before cooking and let them come to room temp. I spray mine with olive oil, add a light sprinkling of dry mustard on one side and season moderately with Montreal Steak seasoning. I add about a tablespoon of Saute Butter on top (regular butter will work), and cover them with a paper towel until time to cook. Oh, you can omit the mustard and steak seasoning if you are a purist, which I was for most of my steak cooking days. I avoid meat tenderizer and garlic, acknowledging that the Montreal seasoning has some garlic added.

I use my Weber charcoal grill, and what ever charcoal I have; brick or chunk. After it is ready, I add my smoking wood..SEASONED Mesquite, Oak (blackjack) and either Hickory or Pecan. I use smaller chunks, so they will catch and burn quickly; about 3 or four small ones of each type. I do not soak them. I let it set a few minutes so the smoke will develop, and add my steaks, butter and seasoned side up. I like a medium hot grill; I don't want to burn them, but I do want them to cook quickly. A one inch thick steak, cooked about at least 5 or so minutes on one side will usually be plenty brown and ready to turn. Watch the fire that it's not too hot, sometimes I close t he top vent. I add another dollup of butter, and cook it a total of about 15 minutes for a medium steak.

It's best to let your steak sit for about 5 minutes at least before cutting into it, but it's hard to wait some times.

I think the key elements are: 1. Charcoal Grill. 2. The types and amount of smoking wood you use. 3. The type, grade and thickness of the steak; 4. Time and temperature; and to some extent the seasoning you use.

Where do you live and when is your next steak barbecue?

 

[tacticalturnip]

Wh

Where do you live and when is your next steak barbecue?

Just invite yourself over...

 

[jyoutz]

Just invite yourself over...

My compliments to the chef.

 

[workinonit]

The secret to cooking a good steak is starting with a good steak which is getting increasingly difficult to find.

 

[jyoutz]

The secret to cooking a good steak is starting with a good steak which is getting increasingly difficult to find.

That’s why we raise our own. Even more difficult to buy than a good steak is good burger. Our steer burgers beat the heck out of the old dry cow burger they sell in the grocery store.

 

[jaydee325]

We buy beef by the side and specify the best cuts. And thick.

We like a good steak, seared right on both sides, finish medium rare, and properly rested.

But, we prefer trying new things and exploring new flavors using various techniques and seasonings. This renders plain steak on the grill as kind of boring. Don't get me wrong, it has it's place on our menu, just not that often. As Emeril Lagasse was famous for saying, we kick it up a notch!! BAM!!

 

[scaredychicken]

I'll cook a good steak for me (med-rare), but I probably don't have bragging rights for cooking steaks for others. I can manage though ... everybody eats.

 

[nbking]

I always cook our steaks on the grill, have a traeger. They are always great. But the wife does the filet mignons on the stove top, sears them well, puts them in the oven to finish them off. So good, better than any steakhouse, she just told me they are from a recipe from Ina Garten a food TV lady. I usually always have sauteed mushrooms and onions with any steaks.

 

[ning]

IMO the best I won't buy steak anywhere but a true steak house if we go out, and we almost never go out for steak... because it's so good at home.
I used to fail miserably because I didn't understand the whole "rest up" business and I didn't manage the heat of the coals well either... plus we didn't have the best of meat.

Our local grocery store (not a chain) has really good meat; I'm not sure where they get it from.
My preference is about a 1" rib eye or new york.
Salt & fresh medium ground pepper, let it sit out on the counter an hour or two.
Cooked over wood coals (mostly scrub oak, if it matters) in the "barbecue" or in our fireplace, depending on where we want the fire.

 

[dlctcg]

So... I'm probably going to be the odd man (woman) out & you may all think I'm crazy, but I don't think I've ever disappointed in the cooking arena (steak included) except for disappointing myself... I've done the charcoal grill, I've smoked & then grilled, Cast Iron & then the oven... Seasoned & unseasoned. My steak of preference is a Ribeye cut inch & a quarter thick... Local beef is preference, however most of the time Prime cut if available (& affordable) but choice is fine. Be the first to admit French cooking is not my favorite, but since we started to use Sous Vide style of cooking, I have never had a better steak (or pulled pork, venison, scallops, etc.). There are certain things I wouldn't do again in the sous vide... but steak is not one of them.... You still finish it in the traditional style but for only minutes... & you still let it rest...

 

[ning]

use Sous Vide style of cooking

I try more and more to reduce plastic use in general, but especially touching food. I'm not fond of the idea of putting food in a plastic bag and have it sit in it for a while especially with heat.

I think it's only a matter of time before it comes out that plastics used to wrap and store foods have been leaching toxins into the food all along (especially plastic wrap; you can smell that stuff - yes I know you don't sous vide in plastic wrap!).

(Meanwhile, I'm going to continue to use my cast iron for much of my cooking, which is probably leaching other things into my food from the seasoning while I cook with it)

 

[grsthegreat]

The only steaks we usually eat are rib eyes or filets. I smoke them on my Yoder 640 using oak pellets. Prep them with light olive oil and a bit of Montana Bounty seasonings and Montreal Steak Seasonings. I smoke them at 180F until internal temp reaches 95°, then i install searing plated and sear them 2 min at 450°, rotate 2 min, flip 2 minutes then rotate 2 minutes. Always, i mean always comes out mouth watering amazing.

 

[gsganzer]

I always get nominated to cook steaks at deer camp. We're blessed with an endless supply of dry oak and mesquite and we have a really good stainless grill made by one of the members. A couple of tips that have made it work well for me:

There's no substitute for good quality meat, not just the cut (I prefer ribeyes), but the quality of the beef itself. I buy "Choice" beef, but it's surprisingly not all created equal. I usually get my steaks from a local butcher, but I've had good luck with choice beef from Kroger or HEB too. I avoid Walmart, even though it's choice beef and looks good, it always seems to be tough and Albertson's seems to be hit or miss.

We use various steak rubs. If you rub the meat too soon, it gets tough. I let the meat reach room temperature and then rub the meat just before I cook it.

I start the fire in a nearby firepit and then shovel the coals over to the grill as needed. It's easier to maintain the grill at just the right temp this way.

I only flip once. Although I might rotate a piece to get a thinner/thicker end closer/farther from the heat.

I cook until I think it's rare and then remove and put in foil to rest. The wrapping and resting is the key. It lets it continue cook to medium/rare without over cooking. If it does come out too rare, you can always throw it back on.

After resting, I slice the meat into strips perpendicular to the grain. Then pour back over any juices that collected in the foil and then give it all a toss. This gets some of the rub flavor onto all of the meat and allows some of the fat to coat all the pieces, adding more flavor.

By slicing it, folks are able to pick the pieces that suit them, rare, medium/rare, medium/well, lean, fatty etc.
You'd also be surprised how much less meat people eat if it's offered this way. If you cook an entire ribeye for each person, they'll try to eat the entire thing. At home, a decent sized ribeye will typically feed my family of 4, along with all the other fixin's of spuds, squash, green beans, salad etc. 3-5 slices is all most people will typically eat.

 

[Rockbadchild]

You are making me hungry!! I cook some pretty good steak, I love them right over a birch campfire, I wait for the fire to be just right and I will put some BBQ sauce and montreal steak spice on it while it cooks. If it's some mediocre steak, then I would marinate it in BBQ sauce, Balsamic or Italian salad dressing and some red wine ...

 

[ray66v]

You need lots of heat to cook a steak properly.

Most of today's discount store, consumer grade equipment doesn't cut it without modification.

Some have been offering a sear burner, which is a nice start.

If you can get a 800F or higher sear going, it only takes a few minutes per side to char it to the level you like, and then move to indirect heat of about 500F to finish cooking the inside to the desired level. With the outside seared, the juices are sealed in. No dry steaks, even when flirting with well done.

You can also help with making the inside more or less rare by keeping the steaks cold, or letting the warn to room temp before cooking.

The photo below shows one of my setups. It's a modified Sam's club grille that can reach an inside temp of 850F. On the right side, the cooking grate was moved to be right above the modified, U shaped burners. This area gives me over 1000F for searing, (the 1/4" diameter grates get so hot, they glow). The left side was not modified, to provide the indirect cooking area for finishing the inside of the seared steaks.

Another favorite is a modified 180,000 btu., cajun crab boil burner, which is fitted with a custom made, 18" square, 1/2" thick stainless griddle on top. The griddle can be heated until it glows.

You coat the steak in melted butter, and throw it on the griddle. The butter floats the steak just above the hot metal like magic. When requested to do so, I can get a char on the outside, while keeping the center cold and rare, which is about a big a challenge as you can get cooking a steak.

 

[RalphVa]

We do not eat steaks, and I do not remember when I last had one. Best we ever had was when my uncle slaughtered a bull and did some tri tips for us. Very delicious. Only thing close was some Kobe beef steaks in Japan. Everything else was garbage.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

I think the more appropriate word should be ....grill.... a good steak...
Answer.... Not so much.. I can do OK, buy my step son is a MOST excellent grill operator...