The perfect steak?

Crock Rock

How do you make a perfect steak?
I like a rib eye, I always buy a piece from family butchers, it's much better quality meat.


I can never get the cooking time right or get it like they do in a restaurant dripping in juiciness. I love to eat it rare.


I take the piece out of the fridge, I melt a half teaspoon of lard and use a pastry brush to brush a small amount onto the meat (I don't put oil or lard in the pan). I season with a small bit of salt, and I heat the pan up piping hot.
I sear it on both sides then leave for a couple of minutes on both sides again.


Often I get it right and get a deliciously-cooked piece of meat, other times it is overcooked or rubbery or chewy or dry.


How do you cook a perfect steak? Any tenderising tips?

Corvo

Medium Rare

You are probably using the wrong cut here. I love my steak rare also, but rib eye needs to be cooked a little longer in order to render the fat that ripples through it. Maybe try a different cut firstly for rare.

With regards cooking, I don't think you are doing much wrong. Room temperature steak, searing hot pan, season the steak, use a fat of your choice on the pan. Only change I do different is a knob of butter in the pan with a squashed clove of garlic and a sprig of time and I baste the steak. Then let rest for about ten minutes.

Medium Well

My method:

Turn on bbq to preheat for 30 minutes.
Scrape away anything from previous cook.
Ensure rib eyes are at room temperature.
Salt & pepper.
Put steaks on bbq, close lid for 4 minutes.
Turn them, wait another 4 minutes.
Take them off the bbq and let them sit for 5 or so minutes.
Serve.

Dial Hard

Rare

Isn't there already a steak megathread in here somewhere?

drunkmonkey

Medium Well

Are you letting it get to room temperature before cooking?

Let it cook on one side for a few minutes then flip it, no need to sear on both sides then start cooking. Once cooked to your liking flip it once more for 30 seconds just to heat off any running protein.

When you think you've enough salt on lash on a load more.

If it's a big cut sear in the pan, then wrap in tinfoil and finish in the oven.

Lidl and Aldi do some decent stakes in fairness to them.

OldMrBrennan83

I do:

Ribeye, room temp.
Rub with oil, salt, and pepper.
Heat pan fully.
1½ minutes, turn.
1½ minutes with some butter thrown in.
Remove and wrap in foil for 10 minutes.

Odelay

Medium Rare

Do restaurants leave them at room temperature? Just sitting there hoping the right number of people orders steak?

Toots

Rare

I'd imagine they take one out of the fridge before preparing that person's starter? I dunno. Room temp really makes a difference, or at the very least not straight out of the fridge.

OldMrBrennan83

Odelay wrote: »

Do restaurants leave them at room temperature? Just sitting there hoping the right number of people orders steak?

I wouldn't think they do. They couldn't, not fully anyway.

PokeHerKing

Room temp, salt and pepper, drop of olive oil into a hot pan. 3 mins either side on mid to high heat. Perfect every time

Hoboo

Medium Well

Odelay wrote: »

Do restaurants leave them at room temperature? Just sitting there hoping the right number of people orders steak?

Takes 30 minutes to get a steak. Only 5 cooking, 5 resting. 10/15 adjusting to room temp. (All rough times) Kitchens are warm.

Dr Turk Turkelton

As long as a good vet couldn't get it back on its feet I'll eat a steak anyway it comes.

shootermacg

Medium Well

The only reliable way to cook steak is sous vide. Look it up. The strength of sous-vide is, it doesn't matter how long you leave it.
Finish it off in a red-hot pan, you know it makes sense.

https://stefangourmet.com/2017/03/18/steak-temperature-chart-for-sous-vide/

drunkmonkey

Medium Well

shootermacg wrote: »

The only reliable way to cook steak is sous vide. Look it up. The strength of sous-vide is, it doesn't matter how long you leave it.
Finish it off in a red-hot pan, you know it makes sense.

https://stefangourmet.com/2017/03/18/steak-temperature-chart-for-sous-vide/

Get yourself a ticket to meatopia and you'll see how to cook a steak.

dudara

Apparently room temp doesn’t make a massive difference.

For rib-eye, I always have it medium rare. It needs enough cooking time to get the fat throughout the meat melting. On the BBQ is the absolute best, but otherwise cook in a cast iron skillet. Make sure to rest well after cooking

Toto Wolfcastle

dudara wrote: »

Apparently room temp doesn’t make a massive difference.

Also the length of time people generally leave a steak out for isn’t close to long enough to get it to room temperature.

Dial Hard

Rare

dudara wrote:

Apparently room temp doesn’t make a massive difference.

It does to the internal temperature of the steak. I eat mine blue, literally give it 90 seconds each side. Nothing worse than a steak that's still fridge-cold in the centre.

Toto Wolfcastle wrote:

Also the length of time people generally leave a steak out for isn’t close to long enough to get it to room temperature.

I take mine out 2-3 hours before I cook them.

Toto Wolfcastle

Dial Hard wrote: »

I take mine out 2-3 hours before I cook them.

I'd imagine that's an awful lot longer than most people. Serious Eats did an excellent deep-dive into the subject. They went to 2 hours before giving up on it. I think there's a longer article about it somewhere but there's a decent piece about it here.

Captain Red Beard

Medium Rare

If it's a thick cut I'll do a reverse sear on the bbq.
For thinner cuts I'll cook them from room temp on a scalding hot pan.

McMurphy

My method is to take the steak from the fridge just as I'm leaving for work (06/0700) and leave at the side of the sink to reach room temp.

When I get back in, pan on, and I get it hot, like screaming hot. Lightly rub the steak with a bit of oil, and season it.

On to the pan, and let it sit for 3.5 - 4 mins, before lifting it (do not under any circumstances touch it before this) and turning it, and cooking for roughly 30secs to one minute less on the other side.

Wrap it in foil and let it sit for a further five minutes or so.

Seldom fails me.

Dial Hard

Rare

Toto Wolfcastle wrote:

I'd imagine that's an awful lot longer than most people. Serious Eats did an excellent deep-dive into the subject. They went to 2 hours before giving up on it. I think there's a longer article about it somewhere but there's a decent piece about it

They were working with a 15oz steak though. Even allowing for the weight of the bone, that's hella bigger than my 8oz.

There was a guy on here before (possibly in the steak megathread I referred to earlier) who used to carry his steak around in his shirt pocket to bring it up to room temp.

Andrew00

How do people eat raw steak Ffs

Frying it on each side for 3 minutes isn't enough. How do u not get poisoned from it

Faith

Andrew00 wrote: »

How do people eat raw steak Ffs

Frying it on each side for 3 minutes isn't enough. How do u not get poisoned from it

Any bacteria live on the exterior of the meat and are killed by searing.

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/burgers#why-a-burger-isna-t-like-a-steak

Harmful bacteria can be carried on the surface of whole cuts of meat. When a rare steak is seared these bacteria are killed, making the steak safe to eat.

(This is not food safety advice, it’s just science.)

rubadub

shootermacg wrote: »

The only reliable way to cook steak is sous vide.

You can also just cook at low temperatre by other means. I have done steaks for up to 2 hours in my airfryer at 80C (the steak does not reach 80C). Then finish on a roaring hot cast iron pan. They are still pink in the middle and the fat is really nice. I much prefer it over sous vide which leaves the steak wet and requiring patting.

Faith wrote: »

Any bacteria live on the exterior of the meat and are killed by searing.

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/burgers#why-a-burger-isna-t-like-a-steak

Harmful bacteria can be carried on the surface of whole cuts of meat.

Bacteria can also be in the centre of steaks, we have no laws on labelling here so you cannot tell. In other countries mechanically tenderised steak must be declared.

Markcheese

Lots of time coming up to room temp... (lot of salt on while it's coming up to roon temp .and a thick steak.. Really thick, (a well trimmed 16 oz sirloin/strip loin, cut in half to serve 2 people..)
Start on a really hot pan, sear both sides, then drop the heat and finish with a bit of butter, a clove of garlic and thyme, then rest it well... (if you want a sauce make it in the pan with meat juices and butter...


Conversely one of the nicest steaks I ever had was thin venison steaks cooked from frozen, it was still pink in the middle....

McMurphy

Andrew00 wrote: »

How do people eat raw steak Ffs

Frying it on each side for 3 minutes isn't enough. How do u not get poisoned from it

The steak will continue to cook for a while after being taken from the pan and wrapped in foil.

Tabnabs

Medium Well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXpb9pf5tB8

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Medium

Markcheese wrote: »

Lots of time coming up to room temp... (lot of salt on while it's coming up to roon temp .and a thick steak.. Really thick, (a well trimmed 16 oz sirloin/strip loin, cut in half to serve 2 people..)
Start on a really hot pan, sear both sides, then drop the heat and finish with a bit of butter, a clove of garlic and thyme, then rest it well... (if you want a sauce make it in the pan with meat juices and butter...


Conversely one of the nicest steaks I ever had was thin venison steaks cooked from frozen, it was still pink in the middle....

I really wish venison was sold more widely. And veal.

Dial Hard

Rare

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote:

I really wish venison was sold more widely. And veal.

I absolutely love venison. When it comes into the shops after the season opens we literally fill the freezer. Still have 6 fillets in there

dudara

I got venison mince yesterday at the Honest to Goodness market in Glasnevin. Going to BBQ some venison burgers tonight, and use the rest in a chili.

Other cuts available also.