The Best Way to Cook a Thick Steak

[basquecook]

When I cook a steak, something I enjoy is it being cooked with wood. Something about the smoke I appreciate. Not saying it's the best or only way but, I prefer. If it's that really unctuous almost fermented piece of meat, I like it cooked in butter and a light crisp surface browning.

I cooked a 3 lb ribeye this week. I cooked it about a thousand degrees over fire. They call it Pittsburg style when you char the outside and keep the inside around 128. I cooked it at the super hot temp for 3 minutes a side and finished in an oven with a thermometer.

The more I know about cooking, the less I like to do it to my own food.

Edited September 27, 2013 by basquecook (log)

[teapot]

I tried the "reverse sear" for the first time tonight.    I dry-aged a ribeye for 4 days. Brought it to an internal temp of 95 in a 275 oven. Then I salt and peppered it and seared it in a superhot cast iron pan.  Did not rest it (this methods negates the need for a rest period. 

 

This was the best steak I've had in years.  I've tried the Ducasse method and far preferred this. I didn't need butter, or shallots or anything but a fork and knife.

 

[MSRadell]

I tried the "reverse sear" for the first time tonight.    I dry-aged a ribeye for 4 days. Brought it to an internal temp of 95 in a 275 oven. Then I salt and peppered it and seared it in a superhot cast iron pan.  Did not rest it (this methods negates the need for a rest period. 

 

This was the best steak I've had in years.  I've tried the Ducasse method and far preferred this. I didn't need butter, or shallots or anything but a fork and knife.

 

  It sure looks great and I'm sure it tasted as good as it looks!

[Shel_B]

Now it's time to cook the steak on its flat faces, 10 minutes on a side. The way I prefer to do this, which is not exactly the same as how Ducasse recommends in the Times but is something I've seen done in restaurant kitchens, is to dump out enough of the beef fat so that there's a thin coating of it left in the pan, plop the steak on its flat face, and add a couple of tablespoons of butter.

A lot of people recoil at the notion of using butter as a cooking fat with steak, but I've found that butter has two excellent properties: 1- butter, more than most any other fat I know of, is a huge aid to the Maillard reaction, and 2- the combination of butter and beef fat makes a tastier cooking medium for steak than oil.

 

Having recently been gifted with a few nice, thick, grass fed rib eye steaks, I thought I'd review some ideas about cooking them, and found this thread.  The issue of butter is interesting, in that I think it does add some nice flavor, but it also has a tendency to burn.  With that in mind, how might ghee or clarified butter work in place of plain butter?  It seems like a good idea, but might I be missing any downside?  Thanks!

Edited March 20, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[paulraphael]

Having recently been gifted with a few nice, thick, grass fed rib eye steaks, I thought I'd review some ideas about cooking them, and found this thread.  The issue of butter is interesting, in that I think it does add some nice flavor, but it also has a tendency to burn.  With that in mind, how might ghee or clarified butter work in place of plain butter?  It seems like a good idea, but might I be missing any downside?  Thanks!

 

Clarified butter unfortunately lacks a lot of flavor of whole (obfuscated?) butter. There are a couple of tricks. One is the long, medium-low Ducasse method. Which seems to work, although I'm not convinced it offers enough advantages to justify the added time. The other is to do a high temperature sear, and to finish at low temperature. When you do this, you can sear in a refined oil like canola or safflower, and then after you've turned the heat down, add butter to the pan and continuously baste the meat. The butter will brown and foam, and get more delicious, but if you manage the heat reasonably well it won't burn.

 

Regardless of the method you use, it's beneficial to flip the meat often. Ideally once every 15 to 30 seconds. I've experimented with this since reading the science behind it, and find that it does indeed improve the crust and reduce the thickness of overcooked layer below it. It basically lets you cook the surface in short bursts, with evaporative cooling between them. It mimics the kind of intermittent high heat experienced by meat turning on a spit in front of a fire.

[Chris Hennes]

Even with the Ducasse method I go through several changes of butter: I think your idea of doing a higher heat sear with a refined oil and only switching to butter later on is a good one. Do you find that you get the same kind of amazing crust you can achieve with the normal Ducasse technique?

[paulraphael]

Even with the Ducasse method I go through several changes of butter: I think your idea of doing a higher heat sear with a refined oil and only switching to butter later on is a good one. Do you find that you get the same kind of amazing crust you can achieve with the normal Ducasse technique?

 

Maybe not quite as crusty. If a really thick, buttery crust is a priority, there may be other ways to encourage it. Maybe some butter with a bit of glucose syrup and a hint of baking soda. Personally I don't want the crust to steal the show; I just want those browned flavors and a bit of crispness as a foil to the rest of the meat.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I use a dry pan and only butter at the end.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Since I got my anaova I'd been ignoring this topic...not to mention that thick steaks are few and far between.

 

However:

 

 

 

USDA prime, wet aged a week in the refrigerator, 14.4 ounces, 50 mm thick.  North of the twenty dollar mark but not as much as sixty.  Note that Ducasse's boneless rib eye was 24 ounces and 1.5 inches thick -- in other words thinner and yet much heavier than my boneless rib eye.  I'd love to know how that worked.

 

Since I am only one, and somewhat scientifically minded, the first thing I did was cut the steak in two:

 

 

 

Half was bagged and went into a 55 deg C bath for 4.5 hours, per Baldwin, along with two eggs for another purpose.  The other half was prepared on the stove top by the method of Ducasse:

 

 

 

Note butter and garlic.  In order to maintain a pan temperature between 300 and 350 deg F I needed a burner setting between warm and low.  I do not understand the use of the higher burner settings called for.

 

 

 

For this shot I burned my hand.  If anyone doubts thick copperware conducts heat up the sides.

 

Note sprigs of thyme as called out by Ducasse.  Makes a perfectly lovely picture but I cannot believe the thyme sprigs add anything to the flavor of the meat.

 

The temperature got away from me in my desire to document.  Final resting temperature was 59 deg C.

 

 

 

Sliced, still nice and pink, then plated:

 

 

 

Dinner ended when the hollandaise ran out.

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2016 by Smithy
Added image per member request (log)

[chefmd]

"Dinner ended when the hollandaise ran out."

 

hate when it happens!  Hollandaise or bernaise ALWAYS runs out before I am ready to part our ways.  

[paul o' vendange]

5 hours ago, chefmd said:

"Dinner ended when the hollandaise ran out."

 

hate when it happens!  Hollandaise or bernaise ALWAYS runs out before I am ready to part our ways.  

 

"Butter, more butter, always butter!"

[pufin3]

Thanks for your advice.

 I cook steak somewhat similar to your method.

Heston Blumenthal has a good Youtube video on how he cooks steak. 

I follow his advice on turning the steak frequently to cook the steak evenly.

One thing I think is good to point out is by using clarified butter you aren't adding the milk solids into the steak flavor profile and it's the milk solids which are in fact scorching. Clarified butter has a much higher heat range than table butter.

[paulraphael]

If you're cooking it a long time over lower heat (like Ducasse) whole butter won't be a problem. If you're searing at high temperature and then finishing on low heat, the old trick is to sear with a neutral high-heat oil, then spoon butter on after you turn the heat down. Keep letting it brown, and keep basting it over the top with a spoon.

 

The steak isn't going to "soak up" the butter flavor no matter how you do it; you're just giving it a coating of butterfat that's been flavored by all the browned butter solids.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, paulraphael said:

The steak isn't going to "soak up" the butter flavor no matter how you do it; you're just giving it a coating of butterfat that's been flavored by all the browned butter solids.

 

The steak, probably not.  However, after taking the final photograph above, I poured the garlicky buttered beef fat from the pan over the potato.

 

[pufin3]

On 3/20/2014 at 5:52 AM, Shel_B said:

 

Having recently been gifted with a few nice, thick, grass fed rib eye steaks, I thought I'd review some ideas about cooking them, and found this thread.  The issue of butter is interesting, in that I think it does add some nice flavor, but it also has a tendency to burn.  With that in mind, how might ghee or clarified butter work in place of plain butter?  It seems like a good idea, but might I be missing any downside?  Thanks!

 

Ghee/clarified butter has no milk solids. It's the milk solids that cause the scorching. Think putting some cheese into a screaming hot pan with a steak in it. 

[rotuts]

""  thick copperware conducts heat up the sides. ""

 

especially 'pots'  

 

takes forever to heat up water to a simmer.   and heats your kitchen nicely on a hot summer day.

 

PS  what append to the SV 1/2 ?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

7 hours ago, rotuts said:

PS  what append to the SV 1/2 ?

 

It's living in the refrigerator amongst the other unlabeled SV bags.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 7:32 AM, rotuts said:

PS  what append to the SV 1/2 ?

 

I ate it tonight.  All of it.

 

[rotuts]

Test Kitchen # 1623  did a 1 3/4 " steak in an interesting way.

 

Alton Brown did one a long time ago on  and under a chimney starter

 

the TK used a very low oven  then two skewers through the steaks  ( so it did not come in contact with a grate ) on a chimney starter

 

roaring hot to get the crust on the top and bottom,.

 

If I could just find a decent 1 3/4 " flavorful  strip steaks

 

here is the print version, they let you get a free peek at the pic :

 

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/8418-ultimate-charcoal-grilled-steaks

 

I can't find a vid on the show where they do this    # 1623

 

I do bet its close to perfect.   as there are many other ways for close to perfect.

 

more herere :

 

https://www.kcet.org/food/recipe-ultimate-charcoal-grilled-steaks

 

https://myyearwithchris.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/ultimate-charcoal-grilled-steaks/

Edited August 23, 2016 by rotuts (log)

[Martin Fisher]

5 minutes ago, rotuts said:

I can't find a vid on the show where they do this

 

Click on "Watch Every Step" at the bottom of the photo for the video.

[rotuts]

@DiggingDogFarm

 

thanks !

[Anna N]

9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I ate it tonight.  All of it.

 

And lived to tell the tale? So a steak you cooked on June 17 and put in your fridge you ate on Aug 24?  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 hours ago, Anna N said:

And lived to tell the tale? So a steak you cooked on June 17 and put in your fridge you ate on Aug 24?  

 

Yes, exactly.  Most seriously, I do this all the time and have for a couple years since I got my Anova circulator and Polyscience chamber vacuum sealer.

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Yes, exactly.  Most seriously, I do this all the time and have for a couple years since I got my Anova circulator and Polyscience chamber vacuum sealer.

 

All righty then. Highly unlikely I will follow in your footsteps. 

[rotuts]

so thew steak was sealed in the frig ?   pasteurized ?