Cooking steaks - What are your best methods?
- Thread starter Draeger
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That is only if you do not salt it early enough, if you do it early then it is beneficial.
I would also add that you should pepper it after cooking, Heston did a load of experiments that showed the spice got scorched at the temperatures present used to cook steaks in a pan or on a BBQ.
Frying pan non stick vinners one. Stuck it on high for about 5 mins then put some Chinese stir fry oil in the pan just a teaspoon worth as ran out of sesame oil then let it heat up for a futher minute. Next i put the steak in just slapped it down in the centre and timed it using my mobile with a kitchen timer app on for 3 mins, turn 3 mins, rest for 4-5 mins then on plate and server. Edit - oh yeah after the flip at 3min mark i did add a tiny knob of butter on the top of the steak and with the knife i used i rolled the butter over the top of the steak best i could. Wasn't a lot as didnt wana do loads and make it oily too much.
I went with a medium rare and i think this is what medium rare looks like. Was very soft and the fat just pealed off the edge. Was quite a nice one tho maybe i might not leave it resting as long next time as it wasnt piping hot tho i did not really get stuck in to it for another min or two as got ready to watching somit when having my tea tonight.
Steak was a nice 1incher from asda, the butchers cut not the ones usually on the shelves tho it was prepacked. Not bad for £3 ish which they were on offer at asda lately for sirloins and rumps. This is a sirloin of course which is a fav.
Oh and i put a dab of black pepper on, just the saxa tub stuff on one side, and a bit of Rosemary. Didnt add salt and tbh i think its one of my better steaks ive done with keeping it minimal.
I went with a medium rare and i think this is what medium rare looks like. Was very soft and the fat just pealed off the edge. Was quite a nice one tho maybe i might not leave it resting as long next time as it wasnt piping hot tho i did not really get stuck in to it for another min or two as got ready to watching somit when having my tea tonight.
Steak was a nice 1incher from asda, the butchers cut not the ones usually on the shelves tho it was prepacked. Not bad for £3 ish which they were on offer at asda lately for sirloins and rumps. This is a sirloin of course which is a fav.
Oh and i put a dab of black pepper on, just the saxa tub stuff on one side, and a bit of Rosemary. Didnt add salt and tbh i think its one of my better steaks ive done with keeping it minimal.
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Your probably right about the medium, tho thats fine as i like it around med-rare to around medium. Tasted delish so im not gona complain it was slightly over for a med-rare.
Rosemary, yeah i recently started liking it after buying some last month and add it to loads of things and i tried it on some steaks before and was nice so did it again on this, not a lot mind just a slight sprinkle on the top side like the pepper when in the pan, when i flipped it i didnt apply more on the other side. Turned out ok i thought.
Rosemary, yeah i recently started liking it after buying some last month and add it to loads of things and i tried it on some steaks before and was nice so did it again on this, not a lot mind just a slight sprinkle on the top side like the pepper when in the pan, when i flipped it i didnt apply more on the other side. Turned out ok i thought.
Soldato
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Yep, and this is why I get a bit frustrated in these threads, this has been demonstrated, the science is sound, I don't know why people keep claiming otherwise!
Probably not, but I dunno - I think I just get frustrated as I don't have the time to debate these things that I used to!
Frying pan non stick vinners one. Stuck it on high for about 5 mins then put some Chinese stir fry oil in the pan just a teaspoon worth as ran out of sesame oil then let it heat up for a futher minute. Next i put the steak in just slapped it down in the centre and timed it using my mobile with a kitchen timer app on for 3 mins, turn 3 mins, rest for 4-5 mins then on plate and server. Edit - oh yeah after the flip at 3min mark i did add a tiny knob of butter on the top of the steak and with the knife i used i rolled the butter over the top of the steak best i could. Wasn't a lot as didnt wana do loads and make it oily too much.
I went with a medium rare and i think this is what medium rare looks like. Was very soft and the fat just pealed off the edge. Was quite a nice one tho maybe i might not leave it resting as long next time as it wasnt piping hot tho i did not really get stuck in to it for another min or two as got ready to watching somit when having my tea tonight.
Steak was a nice 1incher from asda, the butchers cut not the ones usually on the shelves tho it was prepacked. Not bad for £3 ish which they were on offer at asda lately for sirloins and rumps. This is a sirloin of course which is a fav.
Oh and i put a dab of black pepper on, just the saxa tub stuff on one side, and a bit of Rosemary. Didnt add salt and tbh i think its one of my better steaks ive done with keeping it minimal.
That looks like medium/medium-well - looks like a small amount of pink in the middle. For medium rare you would have more of a reddish-pink throughout the steak.
If you don't flip regularly, you'll always end up with inconsistent colouring like this (unless of course you're using sous-vide/oven methods) - if you like it that way then fair enough but I can't see how anyone can claim it produces a more even cooking - it might make it easier to keep track of it though.
Frying pan non stick vinners one. Stuck it on high for about 5 mins then put some Chinese stir fry oil in the pan just a teaspoon worth as ran out of sesame oil then let it heat up for a futher minute. Next i put the steak in just slapped it down in the centre and timed it using my mobile with a kitchen timer app on for 3 mins, turn 3 mins, rest for 4-5 mins then on plate and server. Edit - oh yeah after the flip at 3min mark i did add a tiny knob of butter on the top of the steak and with the knife i used i rolled the butter over the top of the steak best i could. Wasn't a lot as didnt wana do loads and make it oily too much.
I went with a medium rare and i think this is what medium rare looks like. Was very soft and the fat just pealed off the edge. Was quite a nice one tho maybe i might not leave it resting as long next time as it wasnt piping hot tho i did not really get stuck in to it for another min or two as got ready to watching somit when having my tea tonight.
Steak was a nice 1incher from asda, the butchers cut not the ones usually on the shelves tho it was prepacked. Not bad for £3 ish which they were on offer at asda lately for sirloins and rumps. This is a sirloin of course which is a fav.
Oh and i put a dab of black pepper on, just the saxa tub stuff on one side, and a bit of Rosemary. Didnt add salt and tbh i think its one of my better steaks ive done with keeping it minimal.
That looks closer to a medium well-done to me, but looks tasty anyway.
A medium-rare should have more blood and be less cooked and more tender in the center, but a nice crust around the outside.
This is a good image:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ra7k_TLP-WA/S8_iOTJTYjI/AAAAAAAAAGY/MVz1v0rE-QY/s1600/degrees.jpg
Rare means the outside is quickly seared, killing any bacteria that might exist on the outside of the steak, while the inside is essentially raw but warmed up.
I'm totally fine with people disagreeing it's the best method for cooking a steak as, to be fair, that's highly subjective and really down to the individual. Horses for courses to a certain degree, but I know where I stand on the manner.
As for people claiming it's pointless, like you say, the science is sound, the method has been proven and I think it's something people ought to try out if they are seeking to improve their steak-cooking skills.
Your absence has been noted. But while you post less, you still seem to only post when you have something worthwhile to say.
It's very difficult to tell from a photo, and really only the cook knows for sure, but going on the texture of the meat, the colour and the cooking times mentioned, I'd suggest it was more medium-well/well.
Six minutes in total seems an awful long time on a steak that thin, but it sounds like he got the results he was looking for!
I don't care about any claims of even cooking, and for something I will always flip regularly, but for steaks it always tastes better for me with a single flip. I eat steaks a lot, especially now I live in the US, sometimes I will eat several in a week. For years i have been researching and testing different methods - flipping once has consistently produced better steaks.
It is conceivable it is about even cooking, I use a timer and will do each side identically. I have never noticed any uneven cooking. When you flip once you are basically cooking half, then flipping. For a medium rare steak it is basically the same as cutting the steak in half laterally and searing only one side, both pieces at the same time. Take it off the heat and you have 2 thinner steaks, with one side seared and the other raw (but preferably warmed), put the 2 halves raw-sides together you basically have a single steak that was flipped once.
Perhaps for well done steaks flipping works much better otherwise you wouldn't cook the insides., for a medium rare you don't need to.
But of ocurse, everyone probably has different tastes and their own experiences may be different.
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Soldato
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Yeah didn't word that post v well - but cool if you want to do it single sided - I think a lot of steak places do it that way, but yeah, each to their own!
hah cheers - 2012 has been nuts, I never got round to writing up my Chicago trip where I had the best meal ever, or any of the crazy BBQ/Smoking sessions we had at my mate's place. I've just bought a place so all the catching up I was going to do on Christmas has been spent furniture shopping, hopefully when things settle down towards the summer I'll be able to do a big catchup! </end of going wayyy off topic>
Caporegime
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Anyone that gets bored by a thread debating the best way to cook steak doesn't really like steak. Someone that's passionate about a certain topic will debate it until the cows comes home (waay). It's all part of the fun and interest; pretend they're one big thread if it helps you.
Soldato
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No, I just get bored of multiple threads, where we all end up reposting what we put in the other ones!
As for this libelous accusation, I may well have to be in touch with Carter **** to look at legal action
Man of Honour
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So oli... you like to flip then eh?
Soldato
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I cook steak. Then eat it.
I like steak a lot and like to think I do good beef. I would chuck in my 2p but you know...
I like steak a lot and like to think I do good beef. I would chuck in my 2p but you know...
Ah the perfect thread for my question, I've just bought this http://www.donaldrussell.com/meat/beef/beef-ribeye/carnivores-rib-steak.html and it arrives on Saturday, how would you guys cook this big a cut?
As analogies go it's far from perfect, but it will illustrate the issues at hand just fine.
To use your example, when you 'single flip' you aren't cutting the steak in half and searing only one side of both pieces at the same time - that's actually more like what happens when you flip multiple times.
With a single flip what you are effectively doing is cutting the steak in half, searing one side of one half, putting that aside, searing the other half, joining them together and then leaving that to rest. End result - one side gets cold whilst waiting for the other side to sear and you'll get a more uneven cook as a result.
Not quite sure of your point here, but if anything the opposite is true about turning the steak multiple times.
As it means you only introduce heat to each side of the steak for a small amount of time, this allows the direct heat to act upon the surface of the steak, creating the crust, and the residual heat to work on the insides of the steak, cooking it to our liking.
I suppose, in a way, it's the same principle as a rotisserie. That keeps the meat moving constantly over a single source of heat, ensuring that the insides are cooked evenly and the outside crisps up nicely.
I will be getting a nice piece of steak though im not sure on the cut until i get there, i may try the flip method. I'm always open to trying to improve my steak and you have to give it a try at least once i suppose.
Caporegime
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The funny thing about steak cooking is that it invokes detailed thinking in people like nothing else. Most would not be able to tell the difference, ceteris paribus, between a regularly flipped one and a once-flipped one. Yet, to the steak-cooker, it's the most important thing in the universe at that time.