The Perfect Steak

This. Since seeing that episode of Good Eats, I’ve made steak at home at least a dozen times. Fast, easy, delicious.

That’s lovely but as I stated, I don’t want a medium rare steak, I want a blue steak. That’s a different beast.

Blue. Okay. And yet you want it warm when you eat it. Thing is, doneness is a function of temperature. If you want it blue, it’s not going to be hot inside. If you want it hot, it’s going to be more done. There’s no way around that.

-xtien

I realize that as well and as I said, I merely want it warm and not hot. Also as I said in my first post, I’ve had just such a steak one time so it is possible to cook a steak to this ideal I have. It’s become my personal holy grail of steak.

Of course being a lover of blue steaks I don’t have a problem with one being cold inside as that’s how the generally are with the exception of that one magical steak I was served at the Citizen Diner.

Cool. I think I just misunderstood what you were going for. Apologies.

Still, I’d suggest using the technique I describe above (Alton Brown’s method) and experiment with walking back the in-oven time, tenting with foil after cooking, until you get to the steak that’s perfect for you. You mentioned that when you put the steak in the oven it ends up overdone. I think you can conquer that.

Good luck with the Holy Grail! :)

-xtien

No worries. And you are right about the technique. Alton is awesome with the basics. I make my popcorn in my wok because of him.

I never bother to tent my steaks which is pure laziness on my part and that could be making all of the difference.

Damn! I keep meaning to try this and keep wimping out. Looks like you’ve shamed me into it.

Good on ya.

-xtien

Damn this thread. I really want a steak now. Luckily, there’s a new gourmet butcher in the area, so I’m going to drive over there this morning and get a 16 oz dry aged Delmonico and have it for lunch. I should probably go ahead and call my doctor now. Mmmm, blue.

I love you, too!!!

Xtien, thanks for the video link. Alton’s doing pretty much what I did thanks to my link.

Bleu/blue is the way to eat steak. “Skin it and slap it on the plate” as the saying goes.

That’s pretty much how I would do steak. Hot grill or pan, oil it up, 30 seconds a side (or so!), plate up. Eat. I had a gorgeous bleu piece of ribeye not long ago that absolutely melted in the mouth. I don’t think I’ll ever have a steak that good again. It was in a pub in the Ribble Valley run by a chef-patron. I suspect he was the one that cooked it, but I’m not sure.

I think you’re right- it’s difficult to get a good steak bleu. I suppose because it’s so easy to over-do and give simply a great rare steak.

Picking the meat is key. I worked in a meat dept. for 5 years, so I have no problem there. Once home, I sometimes go the light approach (just salt and pepper), but usually my recipe consists of onion powder, garlic powder, seasoning salt, and crack pepper, with some Dale’s Sauce added. It’s pretty salty, but my wife loves salt. Hers gets charred all to hell. Mine is medium rare (sometimes rarer). The tricky part is timing those two preferences out. We haven’t had a grill for about 3 years (need to get one this year, actually), so I’ve been doing it in a skillet. Still comes out well, but a grill is obviously better.

We make popcorn in a stainless steel mixing bowl using his method, and it works great. Our wok isn’t suitable, unfortunately. It’s cast iron, and holds too much heat (which is why we got it, incidentally–it’s the only wok we’ve found that works well on an electric cooktop). But a simple stainless mixing bowl is actually quite effective for popcorn.

I just ate a prime 18oz ribeye Delmonico. I think I had my skillet well above 500 degrees, as I ended up with great gouts of smoke and burned most of the seasoning off of the cast iron. The steak, however, turned out beautifully after 60 seconds on each side and a 5 minute rest. I’m so full of steaky goodness that I can’t even see straight.

The last time I tried that Alton Brown method there was so much smoke it pretty much ruined dinner because the apartment was filled with smoke. Not sure what I did wrong but whatever it was, damn.

I’ve only run into excessive smoke problems when doing more than one steak. I long to have a kitchen with a range hood.

Another major thing to remember is that Dry steaks get nice and brown. Wet steaks get gray. Make sure to pat your steaks dry before seasoning and cooking. I usually let my steaks come to room temp for about 45 minutes with paper towels above and below before seasoning them.

I used to use all kinds of seasonings, but now just use kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Also, a trick I learned in Cook’s Illustrated that has never steered me wrong is to put your seasoned steak in a preheated 270 oven for about 20 minutes. (Steak should be over 1 inch thick. You don’t need to do this for thinner steaks. For several steaks raise heat to 275 and put in for about 25 minutes.)

While you are doing that, heat up your grill or cast Iron skillet on High.

When time is up, remove the steak from the oven, and put directly on grill or in skillet for around 3 minutes a side at full heat. Time may vary depending on heat and thickness of steak so use a thermometer check for the center to reach 115 to 120, then remove to a dish and cover lightly with foil for about 10 minutes minimum. Expect that the temperature in the center will rise up to 145 while temperature of the steak equalizes. After that, enjoy a perfectly cooked medium rare steak.

While this may sound like a lot of trouble, I tend to prep my side dishes while the steak is in the oven, then cook the steaks, and finish prepping while the steaks rest. I recommend salt and pepper as the seasoning because I find all the other stuff burns. This has never steered me wrong, and I have received lots of compliments on my steaks.

Note that you should do this with a cast iron pan.

I wouldn’t recommend super-heating any other kind of pan like this, especially if they are not commercial-grade.

Getting a blue steak that’s warm but not cooked through is going to be a function of:

  1. Temperature of your cooking element
  2. Internal Temperature of the steak before cooking
  3. Thickness of the steak

My best suggestion would be to make sure the steak is room temperature before cooking it (this may take a couple hours). Make sure you use a cooking element at least 500 degrees if not more, and that it will provide constant heat (a cast-iron pan or a grill can do this). I’d do 60 seconds on each side and experiment with varying the thickness of the steaks until you hit the perfect combination for you (be sure the rest the steaks for 5 minutes before cutting into them, let the residual heat spread throughout the meat and the juices settle). I’d guess that a little less than 1" thick will probably be about right.

For a blue steak, they’re likely using the (french words for “in liquid”) method, basically boil-in-a-bag but at lower temperature. Just put the steak in a ziplock, get a bowl of water to 120 or so, and let it sit for as long as you like. When you’re ready to serve, hit it with the highest heat you can find on both sides until you get the state you want, and serve.

I’ve heard that some high-end steakhouses use this method, just keeping a bunch of steaks at Rare then searing them off as needed.

H.

Why do people eat super rare steaks? I find it kind of gross. Medium-rare, dripping, hot, please. Otherwise you’re chewing through the raw meat like you’ve just cut into your soccer buddy’s leg in the mountains, a week after the plane crash.