Soldato
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- 13 May 2003
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Surely bringing it up to room temperature reduces the delta T from inside to outside so you get a lower temperature gradient and thus more evenly cooked steak?
Best way to cook a rib eye steak
- Thread starter neviditelny
- Start date
Soldato
Yeah room temperature, take it out in the morning well before you are going to cook it, cover it in salt, pepper and oil.
Pan searing hot, or better a proper charcoal bbq, again searing hot. Cook only once on each side few minutes, the hotter you can get your pan/bbq the better because you want to be really getting that seared almost burnt (but not burned) outside and still be rare inside. Its easy to overcook on a lower temperature without getting that sear.
With a steak, the real flavour comes from the varying amount its cooked in the one steak, eg almost burned on the outside to rare in the middle, means you are getting the widest range of flavours from that steak.
Also, what is this about putting it in an oven?????????????????????????
Pan searing hot, or better a proper charcoal bbq, again searing hot. Cook only once on each side few minutes, the hotter you can get your pan/bbq the better because you want to be really getting that seared almost burnt (but not burned) outside and still be rare inside. Its easy to overcook on a lower temperature without getting that sear.
With a steak, the real flavour comes from the varying amount its cooked in the one steak, eg almost burned on the outside to rare in the middle, means you are getting the widest range of flavours from that steak.
Also, what is this about putting it in an oven?????????????????????????
Cook it just as you would sirloin. Plenty of butter in the pan. Then 60 seconds each side and repeat 3-5 times depending upon the thickness of the steak and how you like your steak. Then put on a warm plate, cover, and leave in a warm oven to rest for 5 mins.
That's what you would expect, but check out the serious eats page and their experiments with it, it doesn't make any difference. I've tried both ways and there's really no noticeable benefit from taking it out early. Salting early is a whole different matter, that makes a big difference.
I've only found a difference when I have my fridge on really low and I have the steak stored right above the freezer compartment so the steak is near-frozen.
I've never understood the point of salting a steak early. It just draws out water and it's water that makes the steak so juicy.
Soldato
Interesting idea, never thought of using the chimney starter.
Soldato
The moisture gets drawn out, then gets sucked back in so the steak is seasoned inside. I do mine an hour beforehand at least.
As Papalazaru said, the moisture is drawn out, which dissolves the salt and the brine is then absorbed by the meat, seasoning it deeper than just salting the outside alone does.
Ah right. Now I remember. I'm under doctor's orders to cut down on salt so I haven't done that in over a decade.
Soldato
- Remove from fridge
- Open packet
- Salt and black pepper on both sides
- Leave for a bit (20 mins minimum)
- Get pan really really hot
- Chuck steak in pan and give it between a minute and 30s each side
- Continue cooking to preferance, depending on weight, 4 mins is probably going to be in the ballpark of medium ish (you'll get a feel for this the more times you do it)
- Nom Nom nom
Saves on charcoal and gets up to speed v fast. Also funnels the heat right up to the steak.
Other bits I tend to do:
Buy decent steak direct from the butcher. I use Eric Tennant in Newmarket
Unpackage steak in fridge onto a plate well beforehand i.e. morning of cooking.
Out of fridge an hour before. For me this does make a difference because I don't want the core to be cold when it goes on the BBQ.
Season well with salt & pepper. Sometimes I use a rub but less than I used to.
When I got a Sous Vide machine I did for a while sous vide my steaks first but I realised when using a serious heat to get a delicious crust, the middle was cooking more than I wanted it to. Room temp onto Chimney Starter is my ideal now I think.
Edit: Properly resting after cooking it is also a key factor.
I just get my iron pan as hot as it will go.
Lots of salt on the steaks a few hours before, little bit of beef dripping in the pan.
Get a nice char on all sides, wrap in foil to rest and continue cooking the middle. Always results in a nice blue/rare steak.
Lots of salt on the steaks a few hours before, little bit of beef dripping in the pan.
Get a nice char on all sides, wrap in foil to rest and continue cooking the middle. Always results in a nice blue/rare steak.
Soldato
Why not - it's not like there is any consensus on how to cook a steak. And as for all this alpha "I do mine on a chimney starter with fire" nonsense... yes, like that is convenient.
Soldato
Soldato
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Sear in pan, then place on a butter wrapper in an oven for however long that steak needs to be done as ordered.
That's how a lot of Michelin chefs do theirs apparently, though I've not tried it myself yet...
Te thing is, the steak from a fridge is maybe 4C. Leaving it in a room for 1hr the outside might be 10-12C, but the inside will still be 4-5C. You then put it in a smoking hot pan at 250C.
Even if you left it out of the fridge for 6 hours or so and the insides got to about 21C room temp, the difference to the pan temperature is massive.
Letting it rest after cooking is very different because the opposite happens, from being at a very high heat it is suddenly now exposed to only 20C.
To cook a steak and get that nice outer crust with the milliard reaction, the water first needs to come off. A very wet steak on a hot pan simply cause the water to start to boil and you end up boiling your steak and getting a tough rubbery outer. You want the steak to start searing immediately.
Not really. I pat the steak dry first, and butter helps the maillard reaction.
The science is a bit more complicated than that. Read the Serious Eats link I posted above. It does clarify the importance of salting at least for 40mins because in those first 40mins you do see the moisture drawn out. But what happens (in my layman's terms) is that goes back inside the steak and brines it. It also seasons it in a lovely way. Honestly, give it a whirl - you'll never go back. It's night and day.