Recommend me a grille pan for steaks

PeterNem said:
Ask a different chef and you'd get a different answer. Half of the stuff TV chef's come out with is just their personal preference - you'll notice they quite often contradict each other so they can't all always be right!

I manage to cook delicious steak using a cast iron griddle pan.
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Whereas I cook much better steaks using a flat pan. Personal preference, that's all there really is to it. However, I think you'd get a better malliad reaction using a flat pan.
 
Ahleckz said:
Whereas I cook much better steaks using a flat pan. Personal preference, that's all there really is to it. However, I think you'd get a better malliad reaction using a flat pan.
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Yeah..I think the last part of your post really highlights the issue I have with griddle pans for steak.

I'm not sure that it really is just down to personal preference. With steak you want to brown the outside (and more of it browned = better...that is fact rather than personal preference) and you also don't want to drain off the juices, which is something that griddle pans are particularly good for (another fact).

Aside from the steak looking pretty with it's swanky new tan lines I can't think of a single advantage that a griddle pan would have over a flat-bottom ban....whereas there are several disadvantages.
 
I bought a very good one from Amazon for about £11 delivered, pure cast iron and nice and thick/heavy. Some reviews said you might need to sand it a little first due to it not being the smoothest, but I just season it a bit more first. Heats very evenly and very pleased with it.

You can avoid rust by heating them up to dry on the hob after you have washed them (but cleaning off water as much as possible first so it doesn't rust during this process).
 
Looks like i wont need a pan for steaks, as the new skillet "24cm Viners one" i got from tk maxx did a nice job of a rump steak the other day well i overcooked it slightly but thats my fault with times lol.



Plus the rust thing and high maintainence of cast iron has put me right off them as im extremely lazy and sometimes delay in doing the dishes so if its easy to rust and ruin then not for me lol.
 
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Just in case anyone is getting the wrong idea, cast iron skillets are low maintenance and will not rust unless you go out your way to mistreat it or leave it in water.

Once your cast iron skillet is seasoned you will have a much better cooking surface than a non-stick pan, seasoned and used cast iron ware is non-stick with the advantage of being able to use metal utilities. I even cut things in the pan with a knife scraping the bottom without any chance of damage.

I use mine for steak, bacon & eggs, stir fry and others. To clean I use a little warm water, if it's really dirty i.e. I have cooked a steak with the oil smoking and have tossed in chilli sauce, tomatoes or whatever I clean it with a paper towel, bring it up to just up to smoking point then pour boiling water in it and it lifts everything off.
 
I have both the grille style and flat cask iron skillets, OK the grille makes good steaks but the flat bottom is without any doubt better.

Check out the thread on 2+2 Cooking A Good Steak. It might take some time to read as theres nearly 5k posts.
 
jimmy321 said:
Just in case anyone is getting the wrong idea, cast iron skillets are low maintenance and will not rust unless you go out your way to mistreat it or leave it in water.

Once your cast iron skillet is seasoned you will have a much better cooking surface than a non-stick pan, seasoned and used cast iron ware is non-stick with the advantage of being able to use metal utilities. I even cut things in the pan with a knife scraping the bottom without any chance of damage.

I use mine for steak, bacon & eggs, stir fry and others. To clean I use a little warm water, if it's really dirty i.e. I have cooked a steak with the oil smoking and have tossed in chilli sauce, tomatoes or whatever I clean it with a paper towel, bring it up to just up to smoking point then pour boiling water in it and it lifts everything off.
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So once seasoned (which seems straightforward) it's just a case of leave tool and wipe with a damp towel, then dry on the stove/with a towel ?

Great, will pick one of those Tesco pans up :)
 
Yes, once it's seasoned it's a case of wiping it or using a little hot water and a sponge with the green abrasive side if required.

You will do no wrong by seasoning a number of times using an oil with a high smoke point, I use rice bran oil but i find ground nut oil to be good as well. If it's not completely seasoned to the point you can cook eggs (another reason for the flat bottom) it will be after a few steaks have been cooked.
 
PeterNem said:
Ask a different chef and you'd get a different answer.
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This. I prefer a griddle pan over a flat-bottomed, so I guess it's just personal preference. Cast iron is definitely best, because you can put it on the heat until it starts smoking, leave it on the heat until it stops smoking again :p and then it's ready!

As for juices running out of steaks in the pan: I would say the pan isn't hot enough or, more likely, it's supermarket beef which isn't aged enough and is overly watery. Heston gave a good tip the other week; leave the steak exposed to air for at least 24 hours to dry it out. Supermarket beef really is soggy and doesn't make a good fried steak imo. The best you can get from the supermarket is the stuff that's reduced to clear on the butcher counter. It has sat out for a day or two drying out and you get a much better steak as a result :)
 
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