Bah. I’m a human being. I live in a house, I wear clothes, and I cook my food. I do not live in a cave, do not wrap myself in skins, and do not eat anything that could still be saved by a skilled vet.
If you think “well done” is jerky, you’re cooking it wrong. Well done can be juicy and flavorful. And, you don’t have to put up with that godawful mooing while you eat.
Oh yeah, how I cook steak: start at room temp or close to it. Cover steaks with a fine layer of butter or oil. Apply seasoning nice and heavy, because the grill likes to keep a lot of it for itself, and pat it on to help it stick; right now I’m using Great American Land & Cattle Co. steak seasoning. Sear at 550-600 degrees on each side, then back off the heat and bring 'er up to well done. Let the meat rest while you clean the grill, then consume and enjoy.
To my tastes, anything over medium rare is a waste of meat, but I suppose people thought Jackson Pollack was wasting paint, too, so I try hard to stay open minded. I’d almost rather have it well done than medium, though; to me, a medium steak just tastes like a tragically overcooked attempt at medium rare.
1/2 cup Jack
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/4 or 1/2 cup garlic powder, depending on taste
1/2 cup chopped green or vidali onions, depending on taste
One dash black pepper
One dash Worcestershire sauce
Mix really well.
Makes enough marinade for, roughly, 2-3 pounds of steak. Leave the steak to marinade for at least 12 hours, preferably 24. When you cook it (on the grill!) the steak will be crispy and a bit sweetish on the outside and still wonderfully tender and juicy on the inside. It is the king of steaks.
I strongly recommend the start low and slow and finish hot and fast method. My wife is a well done person, and I am a cold in the center person. It always outraged me to have to cook a thick steak to charcoal to get it done enough in the center to suit her. I started butterflying them, then read here about a method to cook them in two stages. Start in a low oven, around 250 deg F until the internal temperature reaches the proper doneness, then 60 seconds on each side on a hot grill or cast iron skillet to sear.
Mine skip the oven stage, and hers are actually edible for a change. Give it a try and see. Seasoning is up to the eater, although the idea of using a pint of Southern Comfort on a steak tends to make me shudder. If you spent the money wasted on SoCo on a better cut of beef, you wouldn’t need to marinate it.
I was shown this trick 20 some odd years ago, and it is marvelous.
Thaw, tenderize and marinate in plain white vinegar for about 15-20 minutes. Toss it on the grill or in the big iron skillet, cook until medium-rare to medium or so.
I (as I mentioned) will be trying both versions of this shortly.
I just bought 6 more steaks today Too late in the evening to bring it up to temp and cook properly, so I will be trying this tomorrow. I will try slow cooking and then searing.
I don’t drink a lot of hard liquor, so “wasting” what I have in the house and am not drinking is of no consequence to me. It’s worth a shot (har har).
This sounds like an awfully watery marinate if I leave it on the steak before cooking. I’d assume patting it dry and then seasoning it would be the best option, or not seasoning it, cooking it and then seasoning to taste. I’d be afraid the water on the exterior would tend to steam instead of cooking the steak. How do you do it?
Do you season it at all, or just let the vinegar impart it’s taste? Do you tenderize it at all, or leave it as is? I’m all for learning and trying new ideas, and I have plenty of steak to practice with
I don’t know about this salt business. Haven’t heard of it, haven’t tried it, highly skeptical that it does anything but make meat taste salty. Will see if I can research this a little bit.
Meantime, marinating steaks can add flavor, but the marinade is not absorbed into the meat any more than maybe 1/8" at most. And there’s not much point in marinating for more than a few hours. Acids in a marinade break down the area they contact; many chefs describe as “cooking” the meat chemically. But it won’t make a tough cut tender.
Generally the best way to make meat tender is long cooking at low temperature.
I will see if I can return with some cites on this.
I’ve posted this before, but the thread is too old to search.
conventional wisdom is that a steak should be seared to start, and then cooked at a lower temp until the required degree of doneness is achieved.
Also of note, meat will only absorb smoke while the surface of the meat is relatively cool (under about 150F)
So I decided to do some 'sparements and came up with this: Rick’s Bassackward Steak
This can be done with pretty much any steak, but I would not recommend a flank steak. I usually use a NY or ribeye. Top sirloin is also good.
The thicker the steak the better. Leave the steak in the fridge until ready to season and cook.
Season with whatever you want, Greek, Montreal, whatever.
Set up your grill for indirect heat @ about 200F No more than 250F
Add wood chunks (Oak, or mesquite is what I like)
Place the meat on with a thermometer inserted.
Cook until the proper temp is reached inside
115= Very rare
120= Rare
125= Medium rare
You are on your own beyond that, nothing goes past MR in this house.
With a 2" thick steak It will take between 30-45 minutes to get from 40F to 125F During this time that meat has been absorbing that yummy smoke. Turn the steak after about 20 minutes.
When the steak hits the desired temp remove it to a plate. It will probably look very unappetizing at this point, kind of gray all over. Don’t worry we will fix that in a moment.
Rest your fire, and go to full atomic power. 600F is OK 750F is better 1000F rocks
Toss the steak back on and cook about 45 seconds, turn the steak 90 degrees and cook another 45 seconds. Turn the steak over and repeat.
Remove from the fire and let rest for at least 5 minutes before you serve.
Enjoy!
Drain Bead I didn’t know you had an egg. A large? I’m lusting after an XL but I am out of space on my patio right now.
I love the black and blue (Pittsburgh) steak. The only problem is that a lot of restaurants have no clue what you are taking about when you order it that way.
Do you make your own Montreal Steak seasoning. I do and it is tons better fresh than anything storebought?
I’ve also had great results with a white hot iron skillet, Italian Style. Just get the pan as hot as possible- rub the steak with your favorite seasoning, slather the steak with a tablespoon of oil, and slap it into the red hot skillet over high heat. Sear on one side for about 4 minutes, flip it and go another 4 minutes. About 7-8 minutes of total cooking time with a one inch steak and you have a nice medium rare to medium NY Strip steak.
I figure this might work really well for top round because of it’s quickness and control factor at an extremely high heat, probably much hotter and even than a grill flame.
6 minutes on a 1 1/2 lb steak each side and it’s medium rare on my grill.
FYI - for those who don’t already know - top round / london broil is the same cut of meat they generally use for hamburg. So, if you grind it up, you end up with 97% lean hamburg. I bought some more steaks yesterday (suprise) and had one of the guys in the meat department grind it for me - voila, hamburg @ 1.97/lb that’s virtually fat free.
I don’t make my own, but I do use something a bit different than the Montreal brand–have you ever tried any Dizzy Pig rubs? Their Raising the Steaks rub is a Montreal-style blend and it’s even better.
Rick , your method interests me. When I make a rib roast, I use this method (courtesy of Alton Brown), and always wondered if it would work on a steak. I’ll try it and let you know how it works out.
Seasoning-wise, pretty much just salt, black pepper, garlic and Worcestershire sauce before grilling. Once in a while, I use either Tony Chachere’s or Zatarain’s creole seasoning. BTW, both are pretty much the same as Emeril’s Essence, but available at your local 99c store.
From King of the Hill :
Khan: I use mesquite. Makes burgers taste like wood. Hank: I use propane. Makes burgers taste like burgers!
We tried the salting method and hated it. I was so excited by the idea too.
Granted, I see one place we went wrong right off, not using thick enough steaks, but our 3/4 inch ones we tried it on just tasted salty, not tender at all.
Lots of good ideas in here, though.
FourPaws if you’re still looking for new ways, here’s a different take.
Tenderize the steaks with a fork and bring them to room temp.
Heat a cast iron skillet up with a tablespoon or two of oil, preheat oven to around 175 degrees.
Slap the steaks in the hot pan and sear the outside, quick cooking them just about rare, med-rare. Remove to rest in the warm oven on a cookie sheet.
Deglaze the pan with a cup or so white wine, add a tablespoon or so fennel seeds and turn off the heat, finishing the sauce with a couple of ounces of tomato paste. Stir the slurry well, dredge the warm steaks thru it and eat.
We don’t grill during the winter months since we’ve got no overhang or any shelter, this is a favorite requested recipe when someone’s hankering for steak in February.
Too late in the evening to bring it up to temp and cook properly, so I will be trying this tomorrow. I will try slow cooking and then searing.
