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The Best Way to Cook a Thick Steak


Fat Guy

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4 hours ago, rotuts said:

so thew steak was sealed in the frig ?   pasteurized ?

 

As explained above:  55 deg C. for 4.5 hours, per Baldwin.  I could be a smartass and say, no, the steak was left out on the kitchen counter.

 

 

Edit:  I do wish I had taken a picture for comparison.

 

Edited by JoNorvelleWalker (log)
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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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My wife likes tenderloin (bless her heart) and she likes it medium-to-medium-well (bless her heart). It can be a challenge cooking a thick filet through to her desired doneness in the center without turning the exterior to leather. But I can get easy, repeatable results using either sous vide or a very low oven. For both techniques, I sear the meat off hard in ripping hot cast iron or carbon steel pan... oil the meat, not the pan, to prevent fires and excess smoke. Then I'll either chill and bag it (for SV) or move it to a cooling rack set over a sheet tray lined with foil (for easy cleanup). In the latter case, I'll then move it to a 225F oven with a probe in the center for as long as it takes to come up to temp. The gentle heat generates a very little temperature/doneness gradient inside the filet.

I've also gotten great results using the Heston method of using medium-high heat in a pan and flipping the steak every 15-20 seconds, but that takes forever with a thick cut and requires a ton of babysitting. The SV and oven methods are easy, hands off techniques (and both allow for sme wiggle room toward the end of cooking while you prepare other items).

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3 hours ago, btbyrd said:

[...]  I can get easy, repeatable results using either sous vide or a very low oven. For both techniques, I sear the meat off hard in ripping hot cast iron or carbon steel pan... oil the meat, not the pan, to prevent fires and excess smoke.

 

I like your idea of oiling the meat and not the pan.  I think you've mentioned that technique before, and the idea has stayed with me all the while.  We don't cook steak often - 2 or 3 times a year - so it may be a while before I try it. 

 

Will this technique work, or work as well, using a heavy aluminum and stainless-lined pan?

 

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 ... Shel


 

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4 hours ago, btbyrd said:

My wife likes tenderloin (bless her heart) and she likes it medium-to-medium-well (bless her heart). It can be a challenge cooking a thick filet through to her desired doneness in the center without turning the exterior to leather.

 

Hey, give me my wife back man :D

Edited by Yiannos
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4 hours ago, Shel_B said:

 

I like your idea of oiling the meat and not the pan.  I think you've mentioned that technique before, and the idea has stayed with me all the while.  We don't cook steak often - 2 or 3 times a year - so it may be a while before I try it. 

 

Will this technique work, or work as well, using a heavy aluminum and stainless-lined pan?

 

 

There's no reason it shouldn't work in a heavy clad pan. I've done it with my All Clads before, but the reason I prefer cast iron or carbon steel is for simple thermal mass, which is a great asset when searing. (Seasoned cast iron/carbon steel also have some non-stick properties that help with release when searing, but if you don't try to move steak around before it's properly seared, that shouldn't be an issue.) If your burner can get hot enough for the pan to recover quickly, there's no reason not to go with the stainless/aluminum sandwich.

 

4 hours ago, Yiannos said:

 

Hey, give me my wife back man :D

 

 

Ha!

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If your technique is flawless, you can put a monster sear on a steak with no sticking... like on this righteous pre-SV sear on my wife's tenderloin. Solid crust... totally raw inside.

You may smoke out your house for a day or so, though... so ensure you have proper ventilation. I recently moved and this steak lead me to the discovery that... no, I don't have proper ventilation.

The delicious smell of beef smoke has mostly subsided in the week that passed. Mostly.

 

filet_sear.jpg

 

 

 

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I just figure that where there's food, there's smoke ...

 

If you can't sear at high temperatures (or if you're dealing with something thin and especially vulnerable to cooking through) you can get some help from chemistry. I keep a blend onhand that's about 1 part baking soda to 5 parts dextrose. sprinkle it onto the food right after drying it. Shazam. Nearly instant maillard reactions. This could help get a good sear if you're forced to use a nonstick pan.

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Notes from the underbelly

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  • 2 years later...

@JoNorvelleWalker, that steak really does look delightful. How thick was it? How did you cook it?

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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4 hours ago, Smithy said:

@JoNorvelleWalker, that steak really does look delightful. How thick was it? How did you cook it?

 

As much as I'd love to say the steak was two inch thick, it was an inch and a quarter, maybe a little more.  I chose my largest copper pan, which I heated to 350F.  No oil.  After adding the steak I reduced the burner to minimum.  The first ten minutes I spent browning the edges.  Thankfully the meat was thick enough to stay mostly balanced.

 

After ten minutes I turned the steak on its side, flipping every minute, monitoring the internal temperature towards the end of cooking.  I pulled the steak after about 8 minutes per side and shoved it in the CSO at 150F to rest while I prepared the broccolini.

 

Sorry, forgot to mention the butter and the garlic.  I spooned the pan fats over my baked potato.  And the pan was easy to clean up.  Can't ask for much more.  Though I like grilled steak too.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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This thread coming up made me think of @Fat Guy.  Way back in 2009,  I had a monster rib eye steak and asked somewhere (not this thread) for advice.  He told me to sear it hard and then basically roast it at 400F until it reached the temp I wanted.  Until I got my Anova, that is how I've cooked every thick steak for the past 10 years.

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