Cooking in cast iron

[col klink]

Last night I cooked grass-fed tenderloin using this method:

Salt beef

Preheat oven and cast-iron frying pan to 500 degrees

Cook beef six minutes on a side

Pepper beef

Slice and serve

It was delicious.

Bruce

I know what I posted above, but I've now switched my method for steaks. I now throw the cast iron on the range and get it as hot as I can instead of throwing it in the oven. I find I get much better crusts on the steaks and more fond in the pan for the finishing sauce.

[tommy]

question for those who have done both: i find that the range gets the pan hotter than a 550 oven (at least the bottom of the pan). any thought on this?

[Suzanne F]

Probably depends on the BTUs of the burner/hob. But also, what is the temperature at which gas or propane (if that's what one has) burns?

[Dave the Cook]

question for those who have done both: i find that the range gets the pan hotter than a 550 oven (at least the bottom of the pan). any thought on this?

I suspect that you're right, tommy.

I'm hoping that Santa leaves me one of these under the tree. Then I'll know for sure. And then I'll tell you.

[Chad]

question for those who have done both:  i find that the range gets the pan hotter than a 550 oven (at least the bottom of the pan).  any thought on this?

Tommy, I do both. I put the pan in a 500 degree oven to preheat while I prep everything else. Then I crank my biggest burner as high as it will go and let the pan get NASA hot on the burner.

I've developed this method after some trial and error. Here's my reasoning:

1) I found that having a 20lb chunk of glowing iron within range of my prep area just scared the bejeezus out of me. Too many visions of branding irons dancing in my head.

2) If you leave the pan on the burner the whole time you can actually burn off the cure, even a deep one. Pulling the pan from the oven and letting it get even hotter on the burner gives me a little more control over the process. The pan heats without burning in the oven while I do all my prep work. Then when I'm ready to put the steaks on I can watch it on the burner.

3) Sometimes the steaks need a little more even heating after the lovely sear. If the oven is already on, I can just pop them in to finish up rather than risk burning them on the stove. That happened last week. Rather than my usual three 8-oz KC strips, I seared off an amazingly thick 2-1/2lb sirloin steak -- it was a big sucker. I got a great crust but the interior was still 120 or so. Into the oven it went, preserving the crust and evenly heating the interior to medium rare (135-140).

I probably could do all of this with the burner alone, but I find the oven to be a great security blanket.

Chad

edit: clarity

[fifi]

I am more of a "slow cooking" kind of gal but this thread had me intrigued.

1) I found that having a 20lb chunk of glowing iron within range of my prep area just scared the bejeezus out of me. Too many visions of branding irons dancing in my head.

This one cracked me up.

Dave, that toy is awesome. And you know how I love toys. I think I will ask my furnace monitoring expert types about a good infrared monitoring tool. I will let you know what I find out. What temperature are we looking for on the pan? Also, how much smoke is involved? If I have a really good vent hood (capable of 1000 cfm) will that take care of it?

[tommy]

I'm hoping that Santa leaves me one of these under the tree. Then I'll know for sure. And then I'll tell you.

better you than me. i expect, and will appreciate, a full report.

[Dave the Cook]

Dave, that toy is awesome. And you know how I love toys. I think I will ask my furnace monitoring expert types about a good infrared monitoring tool. I will let you know what I find out. What temperature are we looking for on the pan? Also, how much smoke is involved? If I have a really good vent hood (capable of 1000 cfm) will that take care of it?

I'm not really sure what temp we're looking for, only that it's probably over 550 F. This is based on my oven, which goes to 550 F, and my cooktop, which seems to be able to get a pan hotter than the oven.

The instrument ranges seem to top out at 500, 750 or 950 F (I'm guessing that accuracy and precision suffer as the range increases; that might or might not be significant). The 750 would probably be good enough for most domestic stoves, but if there's not a huge premium, why not go all the way? I'd be very interested in what your furnace folks say.

It's a lot of smoke, especially if you like to sear the edge fat on steaks and chops (especially lamb loin chops, in my experience). But whether or not your vent will handle it is more complicated than just the rating on your hood. Please read this and report back. (tsk, tsk, tsk. fifi, fifi, fifi.)

[Schneier]

I know what I posted above, but I've now switched my method for steaks. I now throw the cast iron on the range and get it as hot as I can instead of throwing it in the oven. I find I get much better crusts on the steaks and more fond in the pan for the finishing sauce.

Okay. I'll try that next time.

[jat]

col clink, how do you do your finishing sauce? Thanks.

[col klink]

It's very easy. After pulling the steaks off of the pan, I turn off the heat and then deglaze with about a 1/2 cup of whatever red wine I'm drinking (I've also been known to use 1/2 dry and 1/2 sweet vermouth) and let that reduce by at least half, preferably more. Then I add about a half-stick (4 tbsp) of butter. As soon as the butter is melted and incorporated, I pull the sauce. If it gets too hot, the butter seperates out and it's an ugly but tasty mess.

You can jazz up the sauce by adding minced shallots and/or garlic and/or herbs of perference.

[Schneier]

I'm bringing this thread to the top, because cooking steak at 500 degrees in cast iron at five minutes per side is just about the best thing you can do to a good piece of meat.

(I served it with asparagus and beets.)

Bruce

[maui420]

is this method better than throwing the steaks on a hot grilled surface?

i like my steak to have a little char on the outside, is it possible on cast iron?

I'm bringing this thread to the top, because cooking steak at 500 degrees in cast iron at five minutes per side is just about the best thing you can do to a good piece of meat.

(I served it with asparagus and beets.)

Bruce

←

[jayt90]

is this method better than throwing the steaks on a hot grilled surface?

i like my steak to have a little char on the outside, is it possible on cast iron?

←

A cast iron pan heated to a smoking hot level should grill better than most open flame gas grills. The only open grill that would have the same high intensity would be charcoal.

You won't get grill marks with the pan, but there will be a nicely burnished surface, if the steaks are lightly coated with oil or clarified butter.

Alton did a show on a steak seared on cast iron, and finished it by putting the pan in a very hot oven for a few minutes. It looked like perfecion!

[Sthitch]

is this method better than throwing the steaks on a hot grilled surface?

i like my steak to have a little char on the outside, is it possible on cast iron?

←

A cast iron pan heated to a smoking hot level should grill better than most open flame gas grills. The only open grill that would have the same high intensity would be charcoal.

You won't get grill marks with the pan, but there will be a nicely burnished surface, if the steaks are lightly coated with oil or clarified butter.

Alton did a show on a steak seared on cast iron, and finished it by putting the pan in a very hot oven for a few minutes. It looked like perfecion!

←

My favorite way to cook steaks is to start them sous vide (par cook them in a vacuum sealed bag in 125 degree water for about an hour). This ensures that they are cooked perfectly through, when they are almost ready, I turn on the gas grill, and place a cast iron pan right on the drip rails (having removed the grates). When I do this at night, you can see the outside bottom of the pan start to glow. I unseal the meat, quickly dry the surface, smear with grape seed oil, salt, and then throw them in the pan. It takes less than a minute a side to get an amazing crust. Not alot of oil is needed, but some needs to be present to get the best crust. I usually use this method for strips, or a filet roast.

I also use a similar method when cooking Waygu, but I do not par cook it. Simply seer, then chill, and slice very fine pieces. It is one of the best versions of carpacio I have ever had.

[Octaveman]

OMG....what type of pan is used? Well, obviously a cast iron pan but specifically...round frying pan? Flat griddle? With or without ridges? WHAT WHAT WHAT???

I've been using my bbq with a 40,000 btu burner my entire life and never let it get hot enough. I just bought a cast iron griddle for fish to use in my bbq and now I want a dedicated steak pan. I'm hoping my bbq can get hot enough because I like to be able to throw in some smoking chips every now and then.

Please let me know ASAP as friends are coming over and my wife and I are having fish and they are having steak so I need to get a steak pan TODAY!!!

Thanks

[Sthitch]

I use either an old faijta pan or round cast iron pan, they I keep them in grill most of the time, adds to the heat mass when I am grilling using the grates. The key is to get it as close to the flame as possible, it will never get hot enough if you put it on the grates. I do not use the pan with ridges since I care more about flavor than the pretty marks, plus there is far less contact between the meat and the pan, so you minimize the area that gets the sear.

[Octaveman]

Thanks Sthitch...since I've never done this before is there any issues to be aware of? Get the pan hot, slap the salted lightly covered grape seed oiled steak down on the grill for about 5 minutes per side and yer done? Is there a need to finish in the oven? Is it prefered?

Appreciate the pointers.

[Sthitch]

If you cook the steaks sous vide first you do not need to finish them since they are already cooked through. If you do not do this, you will need to finish them in the oven.

I like my steaks to be cut fairly thick (I split them with my wife), and find that the salt is best applied with a heavy hand.

[mharpo]

Good thing I'm in Tuscany at the moment, on the beach, end of summer, lovely.

A heft Fiorentina for dinner tonight for sure at the Enoteca Marcucci, which needs to be written about, and will be soon, seeing as no one on the Italian board seems to know anything about Forte Dei Marmi in Tuscany... 

Ciao for now... 

←

Add the oil or fat just before adding your meat... Hot pan, cold oil.

Edit: Sorry, replied to the wrong post...

Edited April 1, 2005 by mharpo (log)

[Octaveman]

Add the oil or fat just before adding your meat...  Hot pan, cold oil.

Edit:  Sorry, replied to the wrong post...

←

I read somewhere on eGullet that the meat should be room temp. Any thoughts to that?

[mnebergall]

Actually, I use the medium/low heat method using butter. I generaly use a strip steak (very thick 2 1/2"), I trim the fat of and cook 5 minutes on eah of the resulting 4 sides and finish in oven until 120 in the center. Rest for 5 minutes under foil and then sliced on the end so that you get this nice squares of meat. No need for ultra high heat. I do use either cast iron or carbon steel.

[Mild Bill]

This thread, combined with the "who needs steak houses" thread, makes me want to drive over to the St. Paul Farmer's Market this weekend, buy a pile of grass-fed steaks, dig out my cast iron skillet and one of my older Bordeaux, and cook dinner for eight.

Ditto... I'd like to get in on that dinner for eight, but let's only have four of us to make it disappear!

[rjwong]

I have the cast iron skillet. I got the steaks to be cooked on top of the stove. I turn the burner on high. I turn on my oscillating fan full blast (I live in an old building).

The skillet is smokin'. I put the steak into the skillet. Ssszzzz.

Okay, what next? Do I let it cook covered/uncovered? Do I turn down the fire at some point? Do I leave it alone for 2 minutes before turning? 5 minutes? 7 minutes? I usually like my steak medium. My concern is that if I want my steak medium, the outside of the steak will be totally burnt.

Help, please?

[rooftop1000]

just as an aside if you try this in an old house with a window over the stove instead of a hood....

and ya stick a fan into said window....

you end up with a grease stain on the screen in the form of a basketball, stich lines and all

tracey

gonna just use the bbq....hmmm is that why grandma used to fry chicken in a pan on the bbq?