Cooking steak

[George K]

The adventure continues.

I had a Costco strip steak last night.

I've been pretty happy with using the cold pan sear technique, but I've learned a few things.

1. Pre-seasoning not required but nice. I got very aggressive with freshly ground pepper last night and I liked the taste. I sliced it up and salted a bit after cooking.

2. You MUST have a thermometer. Pick up the steak, with tongs and insert the thermometer in from the edge so you get the actual center of the steak.

3. Cooking the edges is a no-go. I did that yesterday, and I got a nice band of well-done steak along the edges, with a nice medium-rare center. Damn.

4. Next time, I'm going to marinate it for a few hours (olive oil and rosemary, garlic?).

[Mik]

I like to sear the side if it has a band of fat, but only a bit.

Never found that marinating a steak imparted much flavor.

[George K]

@Mik said in Cooking steak:

Never found that marinating a steak imparted much flavor.

Noted!

[LuFins Dad]

With a strip I usually go with salt, pepper, and 1-2 other spices.

With a ribeye I just go with salt & pepper.

With a filet, I load up the spices in the rub.

[Horace]

Agree with Mik that it's probably not ok to marinate a steak. I mean not a good cut. Marination or brining is for poultry, at least in my experience.

[Horace]

Traeger makes good rubs. My favorite of theirs is Black Saskatchewan. I think Garlic is the major ingredient, but there are a few.

[LuFins Dad]

@Horace said in Cooking steak:

Agree with Mik that it's probably not ok to marinate a steak. I mean not a good cut. Marination or brining is for poultry, at least in my experience.

Flank steak requires a marinade…

[Renauda]

@LuFins-Dad

I would say so as well.

[Mik]

The prime flank I get at The Fresh Market needs no tenderizing. Not terribly expensive, either.

[taiwan_girl]

https://www.chowhound.com/1560060/myth-searing-steak-juices/?zsource=msnsyndicated

It's important to sear your steak on high heat because that's how you lock in the juices, right? Wrong: The idea that a sizzling-hot sear creates some kind of seal that holds in a meat's moisture is considered a myth by those in the know. (This doesn't mean searing is bad, but its advantages lie elsewhere — and we'll touch on that later.)

(Note: I am posting this because I know we have a lot of good cookers on this forum and they may have some opinion. I dont know very much about cooking steaks.)

[Mik]

I've never found that a sear adds anything to a steak other than perhaps appearance. You can get a good crust without slaughtering the cow again.

[taiwan_girl]

https://www.tastingtable.com/1617400/dirty-steak-cooking-method-president-eisenhower/

..this former president's preparation preference was starkly different than most. He'd impress (or sometimes worry) guests by cooking meat right atop coal embers that smoldered on the White House lawn. It's an unusual, but still practiced cooking style called dirty steak, which yields surprisingly spectacular results.

While the method requires some skilled grilling to perfect, when done well, the meat turns out delicious. The blackened external char is not only edible, but tasty, and seals in a beautifully juicy interior that's often on the rarer side. With such an abundance of surface area contact, the charcoal selection is important, but it also imparts a delectable flavor.