Steak - how to cook and what to have with it {Mega Merge!}

duploelabs

vibe666 wrote: »

touché!

you crazy guys and your science! i just cook mine till it looks done and then eat it. :pac:

Isn't cooking all about science at some stage or other? Check out this book if you're into molecular gastronomy or just want to know what goes on when you cook stuff

S.R.F.C.

duploelabs wrote: »

vibe666 wrote: »

touché!

you crazy guys and your science! i just cook mine till it looks done and then eat it. :pac:

Isn't cooking all about science at some stage or other? Check out this book if you're into molecular gastronomy or just want to know what goes on when you cook stuff

Thanks to all that contributed, very interesting, I certainly learnt quite a bit from the last page or two.

vibe666

duploelabs wrote: »

Isn't cooking all about science at some stage or other? Check out this book if you're into molecular gastronomy or just want to know what goes on when you cook stuff

to be fair, when it comes to steak, i'd be just as happy if it wasn't cooked at all.

although my wife put a stop to me ordering my steaks blue as she couldn't eat her own if i was "sitting opposite her gnawing on roadkill" as she so eloquently put it once.

Mellor

JohnSmith17 wrote: »

Do you have to ask in a butchers for porterhouse steak? because I can never seen it in my local butcher shop's. I've seen T-bone.

It may not be specificly labeled that, its still a T-bone, jsut ask for one with a big fillet side.
Lots of steaks cut have specific names like that that might not always be used.

It's worth pointing out, the names also vary place to palce. I live in australia, and its slightly different here.
Porterhouse refers to the Striploin steak.
Rib eye is called Scotch fillet
Round steak is called rump

vibe666

i think between europe, the US and the rest of the world there's always going to be different names for different cuts, we just have learn them all and order all the tasty ones.

i was in a restaurant in portugal last year and ordered a porterhouse from the menu and they didn't appear to have any so when it turned up they had just given me a t-bone and a striploin next to each other on a plate.

JohnSmith17

Mellor wrote: »

It may not be specificly labeled that, its still a T-bone, jsut ask for one with a big fillet side.
Lots of steaks cut have specific names like that that might not always be used.

It's worth pointing out, the names also vary place to palce. I live in australia, and its slightly different here.
Porterhouse refers to the Striploin steak.
Rib eye is called Scotch fillet
Round steak is called rump

why is that?
seem's a bit strange....

Sparks

Mellor wrote: »

It may not be specificly labeled that, its still a T-bone, jsut ask for one with a big fillet side.
Lots of steaks cut have specific names like that that might not always be used.
It's worth pointing out, the names also vary place to palce.

Oddly, it seems that the names don't just vary, but are actually regulated in some places like the US (while being different names altogether in other places):

Good Eats quoting FDA regulations wrote:

The T-bone may be prepared from any short loin item. The maximum width of the tenderloin shall be at least one-half inch when measured parallel to the length of the backbone.
In the porterhouse, the minimum width of the tenderloin shall be at least 1.25 inches when measured parallel to the length of the backbone.

Mellor

JohnSmith17 wrote: »

why is that?
seem's a bit strange....

Well for the Porterhouse its just a name that was applied to a big T-Bone. The Striploin alone is called a New York steak/strip.
Here in Oz, the NY name would be silly, and the porterhouse is the striploin alone.

I have no idea how a rib eye became scotch fillet, its similar to the Fillet itself but far more marbling. For the money is costs its far far better value.

Rump/Round is easy, its a large round-ish cut from the rump of the animal

Sparks wrote: »

Oddly, it seems that the names don't just vary, but are actually regulated in some places like the US (while being different names altogether in other places):

I'm not surprised the US has regulations like that. T-Bone lawsuit anyone?

There as good as any recomendations for when the t-bone becomes a porterhouse, and how much fillet is need to be called a t-bone

Brian?

Mellor wrote: »

I'm not surprised the US has regulations like that. T-Bone lawsuit anyone?

There as good as any recomendations for when the t-bone becomes a porterhouse, and how much fillet is need to be called a t-bone

I'm stubborn, a t-Bone is a t-bone.

I'll never understand the New York Strip thing either. Surely people had been eating striploin steaks for donkeys before NY existed.

Mellor

briankeating wrote: »

I'll never understand the New York Strip thing either. Surely people had been eating striploin steaks for donkeys before NY existed.

Delmonico's restaurant, the first luxury restaurant in New York, was famous for its strip steak. So famous that the steak became known as new york steak

Brian?

Mellor wrote: »

briankeating wrote: »

I'll never understand the New York Strip thing either. Surely people had been eating striploin steaks for donkeys before NY existed.

Delmonico's restaurant, the first luxury restaurant in New York, was famous for its strip steak. So famous that the steak became known as new york steak

I'm sure that's correct, but it's weird.

Sitec

Can I fry a steak with butter instead of oil? Sorry if it's a stupid question I'm a student and new to all this cooking malarkey!

the beer revolu

You can but you'll have to keep the heat lower so the butter doesn't burn.
Not ideal as it's best to cook steak at a high heat but it will work.

Bannasidhe

You can but I really wouldn't recommend it as the salts in butter burn very quickly.

Unless you have a lot of experience the likely outcome (unless it is minute steak) would be burnt on the outside and raw in middle.

You could 'seal' (brown) the steak in butter and then finish cooking it in the oven - just don't stick a fork in the steak before it's finished cooking as this will allow the juices to escape and you'll end up with shoe leather!

Sitec

Cheers for the replies, you saved me ruining a good steak.

I'l take another trip down to the shops and get some oil.

Thanks again.

jpb1974

Take a quick look.. pretty much everything you need to know -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtIiR7DBAqY

Let your steak rest at room temperature for about 20 mins before cooking.

Make sure and season your steak with salt & pepper before cooking.

If you don't have groundnut oil then olive oil will suffice.

Little Alex

Normally you wouldn't use butter as it burns, but in some circumstances the resultant burning or blackening might be actually desirable.

dyer

when frying with butter you can add some oil to it as well to prevent the butter from burning, if youre really stuck.. just throw it under the grill

Mellor

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Unless you have a lot of experience the likely outcome (unless it is minute steak) would be burnt on the outside and raw in middle.

What??? Raw in the middle is desirable

If he was lookign for a rare to mid-rare steak then there is no reason why he can't cook it in butter as the cookign time is so short.

Or is be was cookign a rib eye, he might want to cook at a longer temp for longer, there the butter won't burn.

You could 'seal' (brown) the steak in butter and then finish cooking it in the oven - just don't stick a fork in the steak before it's finished cooking as this will allow the juices to escape and you'll end up with shoe leather!

This is wrong and is one of the most comon misconceptinos about steak.

It'd called searing not sealing. The reason for it to to cook the outside at a high temp so it caramelise the meat, before finishing in the oven. It is not to seal in the juices as people often suggest, juice still escapes from seared meat just as much. Pricking with a fork won't turn the whole thing into shoe leather. Steak is from a large cut that has already been cut or pierced lots of times

vibe666

generally i use a griddle pan for steak (a wise investment) and then just oil the steak, not the pan and then just put the oiled steak into the dry pan. no reason not to add a knob of butter at the end though if you're being indulgent and you're already eating a steak, so indulge away.

billybudd

Blue: slowly warmed in the oven, takes the longest to prepare
Rare: 52 °C very red, cool centre
Medium rare: 55 °C very red, warm centre
Medium: 60 °C middle of the steak red, pink surrounding the centre
Medium well: 65 °C pink in the centre of the meat, brown towards exterior
Well done: 71 °C cooked through tends to be without moisture

rare= 2 mins on each side

medium rare - 3.5 mins one side 2 mins other side

medium 4 mins each side

medium well 6 mins one side 7 mins other

well 12 mins one side eight the other

these are based on 120z steaks

i would invest in a griddle or good cast iron paN, use vegetable oil and just before it begins to smoke season the pan with salt ( not the steak) i would not put black pepper on till the end as this burns and stops you from adding butter, a better way to add butter would be to drain the liquid thats left through a sieve and then whisk in the butter and some nice chopped flat leaf parsley.


i would leave for ten minutes before cooking to come to room temp, and then leave for 5 to 7 mins before serving to relax before serving, the warm butter sauce will heat it enough.

Mellor

billybudd wrote: »

Blue: slowly warmed in the oven, takes the longest to prepare

Sometimes its done that way, slowly warmed in an oven at low temp. But I'd imagine that blue more often refers to a steak seared quickly outside with the inside raw and cold. ie very rare steak


Also, the time really depends on thickness rather than weight/size. Just in case anybody mistakes them for absolute cooking times

vibe666

Mellor wrote: »

Sometimes its done that way, slowly warmed in an oven at low temp. But I'd imagine that blue more often refers to a steak seared quickly outside with the inside raw and cold. ie very rare steak


Also, the time really depends on thickness rather than weight/size. Just in case anybody mistakes them for absolute cooking times

either way, just bring it on.

or as they used to say, "just wipe it's arse and herd it on through and i'll take care of the rest".

billybudd

Mellor wrote: »

Sometimes its done that way, slowly warmed in an oven at low temp. But I'd imagine that blue more often refers to a steak seared quickly outside with the inside raw and cold. ie very rare steak


Also, the time really depends on thickness rather than weight/size. Just in case anybody mistakes them for absolute cooking times

Partly true, classically that is how blue would be cooked, you could sear it on either side but this really turns out one of two ways, black & blue or rare.

It was based on 12 oz steaks which usually would be a standard 1.5 inches in thickness as most ribeyes, stripoins, filets etc are slaughtered at the same age and would be in most standards be the same size.

anway its just a chart, most people would have their own way of doing these things.

the keen edge

Recently I've started enjoying a weekly beef steak. I didn't bother buying it too much over the past few years, but I have a taste for them again.

Anyway, what really annoys me is about some steaks is when they have a large seem of inedible connective tissue?, running through them.
As opposed to fat marbling, which I appreciate for flavor.

Should this connective be running through Striploin and Sirloin; or have I been getting poor cuts.
Should I actually point out to the butcher which specific steak I want; or is this present in all of those cuts.

Volovo

Just make sure you are buying Irish produced and outdoor reared beef. I buy of a local farmer who supplies local butcher. Its as close to organic meat as you can get but they aren't in fact organically registered. I will always buy the striploin unless I am treating myself to a fillet steak on the odd Sunday I never by ribeye or t bone

dudara

Ribeye all the way for me. Loads of fat for flavour and moistness.

Fillet is something I don't understand. There's very little fat in it, so it's very dense and doesn't take flavour from the pan in the same way as a fattier steak would.

Dinkie

Ribeye for me also. I love the marbling and the carmelisation of the fat. To me the ribeye is melt in the mouth compared to other steaks.

I would however use fillet if I wanted to make a really quick stirfry, enchilada, hot beef salad or something similar.

the keen edge

the keen edge wrote: »

Should this connective be running through Striploin and Sirloin

I can't speak for sirloin, but striploin should just have fat marbling. Even Lidl striploin cuts are deliciously tender if grilled properly (medium-rare to medium for me).

BarackPyjama

Ribeye for me for flavour but the marbling has to be fine. I don't like any kind of gristle.