you let the pan start smoking and then you put the steak in.
but 4 minutes is prolly too long for the temperature you had it on. The sear is important, but when i started cooking steaks the trick isnt actually worrying about the sear.
Agree, 4 minutes of searing per side is way too much. 2-minutes per side is all that is needed. I do them one of two ways:
1. Sous Vide at 125 to 130 for 45 minutes to an hour, then sear in a hot skillet 2-min per side
2. Sear 2-minutes each side, then place over indirect heat on a closed grill for 14 minutes.
Either way they generally come out a perfect color.
Ha! I don't blame the Pilgrim, I blame the instructions.
Who said too many variables? That's exactly right. The temperature of the steak to start, most importantly, the mass of the pan vs the mass of the steak(s). The heavier the pan the less time needed, vs the more total mass of the steaks.
The fact is a steak in a massive heavyweight cast iron pan heated to rapid seating heat might take 3 minutes or even less on each side. You need to watch and use the touch test, and remove from the pan a bit still undercooked and allow recirculation finish the job.
Sounds like the bitcher likes his steak 'Pittsburg'.
Because when you cook steak in a cast iron skillet I imagine you're not leaving it there and walking away from the stove right? At most it's a couple minutes.
So were you watching it burn to a crisp?
I really don't believe almost anything about what anyone claims about their steak adventures, it is literally the one food I don't mind paying a premium for to have cooked at a restaurant. The materials they cook with, the equipment they cook on, and the experience is just not comparable to the average home cooker.
just my opinion. I've tried a ton of different methods and people say how much they like it and sure it's edible, and then I go to Delmonico's or Sparks, or Peter Lugar's and I say - not close to restaurant quality.
So, don't be so hard on yourself. Especially if it was medium in the middle, think of it as you just put a nice bark on it.
You need one of these expensive instant read thermometers. But the process is pretty easy. I seer for at least two minutes per side but it’s something that you eye ball more than time. So, as an example, when cooking inside, I preheat the over to 350 with the cast iron skillet in the oven (this is key as cast iron heats unevenly) them I set a high heat setting on my stove top, but not the highest, put the preheated cast iron skillet on the burner. My cast iron skillet is seasoned so I don’t oil it before putting the steak in it but some people recommend a high temp smoking oil. I set the steak in the skillet for two minutes, at which point I look to see if I have the seer I want and then flip it for the seer on the other side. Check that, it’s good, I flip again and put in to the 350 oven to finish to medium rare temp. I check the temp with my Thermapen.
but it sounds like you burned the steak because you are not very good at cooking steaks. Practice makes perfect. Maybe you should perfect your technique before buying more expensive steaks.
Because when you cook steak in a cast iron skillet I imagine you're not leaving it there and walking away from the stove right? At most it's a couple minutes.
So were you watching it burn to a crisp?
I really don't believe almost anything about what anyone claims about their steak adventures, it is literally the one food I don't mind paying a premium for to have cooked at a restaurant. The materials they cook with, the equipment they cook on, and the experience is just not comparable to the average home cooker.
just my opinion. I've tried a ton of different methods and people say how much they like it and sure it's edible, and then I go to Delmonico's or Sparks, or Peter Lugar's and I say - not close to restaurant quality.
So, don't be so hard on yourself. Especially if it was medium in the middle, think of it as you just put a nice bark on it.
That has very little to do with the materials they cook with or the equipment they cook on or even their experience. It has to do with the highest grade quality of beef they get. They get way better meat than they sell in most markets.
You have to know how your cast-iron and your stove cook, Â
Sear doesn’t mean all the way high red hot. And some people stoves it may not be powerful enough to get to a medium hot with sustained temperature in the pan once you start adding your food, so increasing to medium high or even high maybe necessary depending on how hot your range gets.
However I never have to go beyond seven out of 10 for anything on my burners to get a nice sear. Next time if you went to nine or 10, try backing it off to six or seven and dry a dry cast iron pan where you season the steak, dip in oil - and flip in 3-4 minutes. That should give you a nice crust, finish in the oven to just before desired doneness and let rest for 5 minutes.
Don't be afraid to turn the meat over to check the sear after a minute of so. Once you have a sear, you can put it in the oven or grill with indirect heat and depending on the thickness, continue to cook until it the meat is done.
Don't be afraid to turn the meat over to check the sear after a minute of so. Once you have a sear, you can put it in the oven or grill with indirect heat and depending on the thickness, continue to cook until it the meat is done.
Unless you sear at the start of the process, there should be no need for indirect heat because you should already have reached your internal temperature before searing. If you sear at the start, the entire rest of the cooking should be done with indirect heat.
2. Sear 2-minutes each side, then place over indirect heat on a closed grill for 14 minutes.
I've always used the direct / indirect heat approach but I use touch or temp (not time). Direct high heat until the outside is to your liking, then indirect heat until the inside is to your liking. This works whether you are using pan (direct) and oven (indirect) or if grilling (pile charcoal for direct then move food to non-charcoal area and cover for indirect).
A friend told me abt a trick (I'm sure its online) where various parts of your hand have the same feel as a cooked steak. I think it was the area of your hand between the thumb knuckle and the wrist feels like a rare steak, the palm is well done, etc.
2. Sear 2-minutes each side, then place over indirect heat on a closed grill for 14 minutes.
I've always used the direct / indirect heat approach but I use touch or temp (not time). Direct high heat until the outside is to your liking, then indirect heat until the inside is to your liking. This works whether you are using pan (direct) and oven (indirect) or if grilling (pile charcoal for direct then move food to non-charcoal area and cover for indirect).
A friend told me abt a trick (I'm sure its online) where various parts of your hand have the same feel as a cooked steak. I think it was the area of your hand between the thumb knuckle and the wrist feels like a rare steak, the palm is well done, etc.
Use the touch test all the time. Here is an image
Well done should just have a single finger sticking up Â
on each side with a super hot cast iron skillet is bigtime overkill from my experience. I've had the best luck doing reverse sear method, with super hot cast iron skillet for about 90-120 seconds per side.
who spends all his time in the office? Do you have a little girlie handshake? Do you do manual labor? Do you practice martial arts? Do you often choke the chicken? Very few people have the same degree of texture in their hands. Buy a thermometer
Using cast iron is great but you should turn it over every 30 seconds as to not burn the steak and have the least amount of grey, overcooked area on the steak. Also, no need to be on highest temp. That's a bummer.
absolutely burned the crap out of it. I ended up cutting off the really charred pieces and had a grey brick left over. I then shredded what was left on a cheese grater, sauteed some onions and turned it into cheese steaks. It doesn't sound great but it was so finely shaved it melted in your mouth.
I'm thinking 2 min on each side and then over indirect heat.
Do not use time to judge if a steak is done!! Cooking a steak is an art, not a science.
Place the steak on indirect heat until both sides are charred to the way you like it (you can tell just by looking at it). Transfer it to indirect heat and using a thermometer, continue cooking on indirect heat until the internal temp reaches desired doneness. Remember that a steak cooks a bit after you remove it from heat, so for Rare stop cooking when it is 130 to 135°F; Medium Rare 140°F; Medium 155°F; Well Done 165°F.
Remember there are variables involved, how hot the heat source is, how accurate your thermometer is, is it an instant read thermometer, the outside temp (if you're grilling in the winter), etc. So don't get disappointed if you ruin a few more steaks along the way, its part of the learning process.
The first few times you do this, take the temp a lot. Once you cook a few steaks you'll start getting a feel for it and likely will be much less reliant on the thermometer.
Haper has a typo- he meant to say char over direct heat, then switch to indirect. As far as carryover cooking, after you take the meat off the grill, I believe the larger the piece of meat, the more it will continue to cook
you let the pan start smoking and then you put the steak in.
but 4 minutes is prolly too long for the temperature you had it on. The sear is important, but when i started cooking steaks the trick isnt actually worrying about the sear.
1. Sous Vide at 125 to 130 for 45 minutes to an hour, then sear in a hot skillet 2-min per side
2. Sear 2-minutes each side, then place over indirect heat on a closed grill for 14 minutes.
Either way they generally come out a perfect color.
Oven can be any temp, I usually do around 300 for 5-10 minutes, but my wife likes them closer to medium so you can probably do 5.
You followed the advice of your butcher. You should have followed the advice of your favorite Chef.
Your butcher doesn't cook the cow. He carves it ....
As a butcher, thank you.
Quote:
He will not think highly of you!
Ha! I don't blame the Pilgrim, I blame the instructions.
Who said too many variables? That's exactly right. The temperature of the steak to start, most importantly, the mass of the pan vs the mass of the steak(s). The heavier the pan the less time needed, vs the more total mass of the steaks.
The fact is a steak in a massive heavyweight cast iron pan heated to rapid seating heat might take 3 minutes or even less on each side. You need to watch and use the touch test, and remove from the pan a bit still undercooked and allow recirculation finish the job.
Sounds like the bitcher likes his steak 'Pittsburg'.
Temp is the only true steak cooking measure.
I think you’re fine otherwise.
Steak to room temp. Pat dry
Salt pepper. Generous amount
Regular sear(pan as hot as possible)
Oven at 425
Cook to 135
Sit for 10/15 min
A fun sauce. Use the pan you cooked the steak. Add butter, parsley, sweet bourbon like basil Hayden. Cook on stove top.
Because when you cook steak in a cast iron skillet I imagine you're not leaving it there and walking away from the stove right? At most it's a couple minutes.
So were you watching it burn to a crisp?
I really don't believe almost anything about what anyone claims about their steak adventures, it is literally the one food I don't mind paying a premium for to have cooked at a restaurant. The materials they cook with, the equipment they cook on, and the experience is just not comparable to the average home cooker.
just my opinion. I've tried a ton of different methods and people say how much they like it and sure it's edible, and then I go to Delmonico's or Sparks, or Peter Lugar's and I say - not close to restaurant quality.
So, don't be so hard on yourself. Especially if it was medium in the middle, think of it as you just put a nice bark on it.
Tasty!
BlueLou is like the Gordon Ramsey of BBI.
Quote:
He will not think highly of you!
BlueLou is like the Gordon Ramsey of BBI.
Please keep the recs coming.
TIA
LOL, it's supposed to be burnt on the outside. That's what "sear" means.
Quote:
It burned on the outside. The inside was rare - the way I like it.
Please keep the recs coming.
TIA
LOL, it's supposed to be burnt on the outside. That's what "sear" means.
Not when it's burnt to a crisp. The burnt flavor overtakes the rest of the meat.
Because when you cook steak in a cast iron skillet I imagine you're not leaving it there and walking away from the stove right? At most it's a couple minutes.
So were you watching it burn to a crisp?
I really don't believe almost anything about what anyone claims about their steak adventures, it is literally the one food I don't mind paying a premium for to have cooked at a restaurant. The materials they cook with, the equipment they cook on, and the experience is just not comparable to the average home cooker.
just my opinion. I've tried a ton of different methods and people say how much they like it and sure it's edible, and then I go to Delmonico's or Sparks, or Peter Lugar's and I say - not close to restaurant quality.
So, don't be so hard on yourself. Especially if it was medium in the middle, think of it as you just put a nice bark on it.
That has very little to do with the materials they cook with or the equipment they cook on or even their experience. It has to do with the highest grade quality of beef they get. They get way better meat than they sell in most markets.
However I never have to go beyond seven out of 10 for anything on my burners to get a nice sear. Next time if you went to nine or 10, try backing it off to six or seven and dry a dry cast iron pan where you season the steak, dip in oil - and flip in 3-4 minutes. That should give you a nice crust, finish in the oven to just before desired doneness and let rest for 5 minutes.
I think he meant something more like this:
Unless you sear at the start of the process, there should be no need for indirect heat because you should already have reached your internal temperature before searing. If you sear at the start, the entire rest of the cooking should be done with indirect heat.
I've always used the direct / indirect heat approach but I use touch or temp (not time). Direct high heat until the outside is to your liking, then indirect heat until the inside is to your liking. This works whether you are using pan (direct) and oven (indirect) or if grilling (pile charcoal for direct then move food to non-charcoal area and cover for indirect).
A friend told me abt a trick (I'm sure its online) where various parts of your hand have the same feel as a cooked steak. I think it was the area of your hand between the thumb knuckle and the wrist feels like a rare steak, the palm is well done, etc.
Quote:
2. Sear 2-minutes each side, then place over indirect heat on a closed grill for 14 minutes.
I've always used the direct / indirect heat approach but I use touch or temp (not time). Direct high heat until the outside is to your liking, then indirect heat until the inside is to your liking. This works whether you are using pan (direct) and oven (indirect) or if grilling (pile charcoal for direct then move food to non-charcoal area and cover for indirect).
A friend told me abt a trick (I'm sure its online) where various parts of your hand have the same feel as a cooked steak. I think it was the area of your hand between the thumb knuckle and the wrist feels like a rare steak, the palm is well done, etc.
Those people should be banned by law form eating steak. Or any kind of beef for that matter.
Quote:
Get a thermapen and never worry about this again.
thermometers are certainly more accurate. However, you are piercing the meat and allowing juices to escape.
Unless you’re using a drill from an oil rig, I’m pretty sure that’s a myth.
Quote:
Get a thermapen and never worry about this again.
thermometers are certainly more accurate. However, you are piercing the meat and allowing juices to escape.
Nope.
Link - ( New Window )
I'm going to try to cook a porterhouse steak tonight!
I'm leaning towards cooking it on the BBQ.
TIA
What does BBI think?
Seems reasonable.
TIA
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/how-to-grill-t-bone-or-porterhouse/ - ( New Window )
I'm thinking 2 min on each side and then over indirect heat.
What do you think?
What temp for rare?
TIA
Do not use time to judge if a steak is done!! Cooking a steak is an art, not a science.
Place the steak on indirect heat until both sides are charred to the way you like it (you can tell just by looking at it). Transfer it to indirect heat and using a thermometer, continue cooking on indirect heat until the internal temp reaches desired doneness. Remember that a steak cooks a bit after you remove it from heat, so for Rare stop cooking when it is 130 to 135°F; Medium Rare 140°F; Medium 155°F; Well Done 165°F.
Remember there are variables involved, how hot the heat source is, how accurate your thermometer is, is it an instant read thermometer, the outside temp (if you're grilling in the winter), etc. So don't get disappointed if you ruin a few more steaks along the way, its part of the learning process.
The first few times you do this, take the temp a lot. Once you cook a few steaks you'll start getting a feel for it and likely will be much less reliant on the thermometer.
I'm firing up the grill as I type this.
TIA
I'm firing up the grill as I type this.
TIA
Haper has a typo- he meant to say char over direct heat, then switch to indirect. As far as carryover cooking, after you take the meat off the grill, I believe the larger the piece of meat, the more it will continue to cook
Then on indirect heat for another min or so.
Cooked perfectly for super rare which is the way I like it.
The steak cost me $70 and it was good, but I'm not sure if it was worth $70.
I'll probably get a reg non aged steak next time. It's about half the price.
Thanks again everyone for your advice.
Then on indirect heat for another min or so.
Cooked perfectly for super rare which is the way I like it.
The steak cost me $70 and it was good, but I'm not sure if it was worth $70.
I'll probably get a reg non aged steak next time. It's about half the price.
Thanks again everyone for your advice.
You're supposed to experiment on cheap crap, lol.