Steak at home

[JayPeeBee]

I love steak.  In the constant quest for the best steak at home (short of living next door to Peter Lugers) I have tried many butchers, cuts of meat and cooking methods.  I'd love to hear what this crowd thinks is the best of these.  So far, my winner is aged rib eyes cut about 2" thick on the bone, slathered in olive oil and coated with a five pepper and course salt blend (sits in this for 3-4 hours before cooking).  These are then cooked on an extremely hot charcoal fire to medium rare.  The heat seems to fry the oil making a blackened pepper crust that seals in all the moisture.  The meat tastes fantastic and chewing the bone is heaven.  An indoor alternative cooking method is a thirty year old "Quartz Broiler" preheated for about 20 minutes.  Let's hear some other winners.

[Fat Guy]

At the consumer level, bone-in rib or rib-eye steaks are the best steaks to buy, all other things being equal. There is less demand for these steaks at the steakhouses; therefore, more good ones available to the consumer. You can go ultra-premium, such as Lobel's, in which case all cuts will be of equal quality, but in general the rib is the safest bet.

In terms of cooking, it all depends on how you want the finished product to come out. I say let the steaks come up from refrigerator temperature on the counter for an hour or two, coat with coarse salt and black pepper and sear quickly in a cast-iron skillet or uncovered cast-iron dutch oven (less splatter on account of higher sides) with a little bit of neutrally flavored vegetable oil (or grapeseed works well here). Then place the skillet, steak and all, in a 400-degree preheated oven (preheated for a really long time) to roast until the interior reaches just a little bit less than the desired doneness. A little butter added towards the end of cooking helps. Let rest before serving.

Incidentally, from a scientific perspective, there is no validity to the commonly stated claim that searing to create a caramelized crust "seals in the juices" or anything of the sort. See McGee for a thorough analysis of this.

[Jinmyo]

Fat Guy's method is more or less what I use when I'm making a steak to be served as a whole slab.

Usually however, I carve it into thin slices and serve it with a dipping sauce. (Retaining a good proportion of fat, discarding anything too unseemly, hiding the bone to gnaw on later.)

In this case I use a grilling pan. Rib steak has been marinating in olive oil, salt, pepper. When the grilling pan starts to smoke I lay the steak on its first side for about 45 seconds, the second side the same. Holding it with tongs, sear the fat, as much of the boneside as I can. Now another 45 seconds the first side, second side. Done. Let it rest for an hour in a bowl. Carve. Collect juices. Add sambal oelak or wasabi, fish sauce or shoyu.

EDIT: Thought I'd add that I'm not concerned with a presentation side but rather with equally caramelized edges for the slices.

(Edited by Jinmyo at 12:19 pm on Jan. 6, 2002)

[Steve Plotnicki]

Okay I cheat when it comes to steak. I have a salamander in my apartment. These days you can't put one in because it's against code but mine was put in before the code changed. So I can make steaks just like any of the top steak houses in NYC. Over the years, I have served many a dinner guest an absolutely charred on the outside and rare on the inside steak to their absolute amazement.

As a result I have bought NY strips, rib steaks, rib lamb chops at almost every good butcher in the city. By far Lobel's has the best strip steaks. Nobody else comes close. Occassionaly they get a highly marbled loin that is in the vein of Kobe beef and if you are lucky enough for them to cut it for you it is the single best NY Strip you will ever have.

Rib steaks are another matter and I found the best rib steaks in NYC at any of the places that get the best quality from Debraga & Spittler. Les Halles is a good source, The French butcher is another. Lobel's can have the best ones but it's not as consistantly better like the strip steaks are. And just to transcend beyond beef, rib lamb chops at Citarella are the best that I have found.

[JayPeeBee]

I have been buying aged rib eye bone-in steaks at the Food Emporium (Yorktown Heights mainly).  They have installed an aged beef department at so far, I have no complaints.  Balducci's on 66th also has served up some very good rib eyes at ผ.99 lb. Lobel's may have good meat but I find them so overpriced for most meats that I can't justify buying there.  

[Steve Plotnicki]

JPB - Agree with you about Lobel pricing. But  the Strip steaks are worth the uptick. In fact, I made strips from The French Butcher for my wife and myself tonight and they don't come close. Balducci's has pretty good meat. But I think it used to be better.

[Fat Guy]

Plotnicki, isn't there a difference between a salamander and the broilers used at most steakhouses? I thought a salamander didn't reach the same temperatures. Or is it just that a salamander is smaller so real restaurants only use it for melting cheese and such, but in fact it reaches broiler temperatures? Do you know the BTU output of your unit? Regardless, I imagine you can do a pretty nice job with one, if that's how you want your steak to come out. I prefer a medium sear (I don't like a thick, charred, heavily caramelized crust -- it's a waste of perfectly good meat as far as I'm concerned) so even with access to a commercial broiler (I don't have one, but I have a pretty powerful unit, an 1800-degree infrafed, in my DCS range) I'd go with the skillet-and-oven-roasting method.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Steve - No what passes for a Salamander in this country is just a commercial broiler. I think my unit gets up to 25,000 BTUs. It's the same unit they would use in The Palm. I just have the smallest model.  I can only get 6 Strips in at a time but really 4 for optimum cooking. Mark Straussman at Campagna once told me that you can take an entire rib chop, and put it in the oven at 450f and it will come out all seared on the outside.  As for style of steak, we are diehard burnt crust, rare inside people.

The best steak I know of outside of my home :), is at Loulou in Cagnes-Sur-Mer. Eric Campo (Loulou retired) gets these huge Cote de Boeuf from Boucherie Marbeuf in Paris. He has this old fashioned bronze grill and he is able to slow grill the meat. If you order a steak for more than two people, it's so thick that he grills it on all 4 sides. And as long as I'm giving him a plug, he makes the best Soupe de Poissons I know of. Masterful.

[Holly Moore]

Yes there is a difference between a salamander and the broiler used at most steak houses.  However there is also a difference between a salamander and a cheese melter.  Smaller restaurants that include steak on their menu often use their salamander for broiling it.  I've got one at home too, atop my Garland, and I use it as much as the stove top for anything from a toaster to broiling 2" thick rib eyes - I agree with all, a bone-in rib eye is my favorite steak at home.

However I also have a cast iron grill that set on the range top and use for grilling steaks.  It does a mighty nice steak too.

Best retail steaks in Philadelphia and about the only dry aged (avg 20-24 days) steaks come from Sonny D'Angelo's shop in the Italian Market.

The one thing that troubles me about the original post is the pepper and salt rub.  I'm of the opinion that a fine slab of steak needs no adornment.

[Fat Guy]

Holly, not even salt?

Also, can you give us more on the differences among the various broiling devices used in restaurants?

[Chris Amirault]

Bumping this up with two questions.

(1) I have a Patio Wok, which is a propane-fueled outdoor cooker that gets to about 50K BTUs, and have my black cast iron skillet at the ready. I've heard tell that one should get the skillet red hot, but is this simply a metaphor? Hot hot should it be? How does one know when it's that hot?

(2) In Anthony Bourdain's article in the current (Oct 05) issue of Gourmet, while praising Bouchon's steak, he writes, "[T]he steak is perfect -- pan-seared with a little shallot, basted constantly, finished in the oven...." I get the first and last step, but what does "basted constantly" mean? Basted with what?

[Malawry]

Basting meat while it's in the pan on top of the stove is a neat trick. Especially good with something like clarified butter. Next time, try this:

Sear the steak on one side using plenty o'fat. Flip it and put a piece of fresh herb--thyme, rosemary, etc, something not too delicate--on top. Tilt the pan so the fat pools towards the bottom of the pan and push the steak towards the end of the pan in the air. Using a spoon, constantly pick up the hot fat and pour it over the steak. This is best done in rapid-fire motion--spoon/pour, spoon/pour, spoon/pour. The hot fat will get infused with the fresh herb and help to flavor and moisten the steak. When Side 2 is seared, you can throw the whole pan in the hot oven until the steak is done to your liking. Pull it out, let it rest, toss the fresh herb, and then cut it. I like to put a pat of additional butter on top and then sprinkle with crunchy salt like Maldon. Ooh.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Bumping this up with two questions.

I've heard tell that one should get the skillet red hot, but is this simply a metaphor? Hot hot should it be? How does one know when it's that hot?

←

I remember that when your pan is hot enough, you will see the bare beginnings of smoke. When you tilt the pan, the oil will look kind of ripply.

[Chris Amirault]

Rochelle, that's utterly clear -- thanks! A question follows:

Basting meat while it's in the pan on top of the stove is a neat trick. Especially good with something like clarified butter.

←

So, you need quite a bit of fat, yes? Counter to El Gordo's comment above?

I remember that when your pan is hot enough, you will see the bare beginnings of smoke. When you tilt the pan, the oil will look kind of ripply.

←

Mel, I'm assuming that the fat goes in when the pan is ready, yes?

Finally: I've got ghee and freshly rendered lard in the fridge. Either of those? Something else?

[Malawry]

Chris, it needs to be enough fat that you can easily pick it up with your spoon. Not swimming in fat or anything. BTW I don't use a smoking hot pan for this technique--nothing red-hot, or IMO the fat will get that charred flavor and then you'll just spread it all over your steak. Just medium-hot on a standard stove--hot enough to make a sizzle noise and sear and create maillard reactions, not so hot the fat gets acrid.

[Msk]

Has anyone ever tried dry aging steaks at home? Most of what I have read says "Don't try this at home!" but I have my own motivations to do it regardless. Given the potential health risks I never gave it a try until I saw this recipe.

Its AB's dry aged Rib Roast recipe. After looking at the recipe I wondered if you could do the same with 2 inch thick cut Ribeye steaks.

I have actually done this now several times with pictures to prove it. I have had every intention of doing a big writeup and posting my findings, but time is very scarce at the moment.

Round 1 was Ribeye roast following the recipe exactly

Round 2 was 2 inch thick Boneless Ribeye 48 hrs Dry aging in the fridge

Round 3 was 2 inch thick Boneless Ribeye 72 Hours Dry aging in the fridge

Both steaks were seared on cast iron and finished in the oven as per above. I found if you have the time and forethought, it is well worth it.

I will ry to put this together soon.

Msk

[M.X.Hassett]

Jeffrey Steingarten(spl) has an interesting chapter in his book "It Must Have Beenb Something I Ate" where he dry ages a 1/4 side of beef(I think) in his fridge with exellent results.

[markk]

I'd like to add my two-cents to the steak cooking ideas, although they offer only very subtle variations on what's been said above - still, this is the steak for me...

A bone-in rib steak, indeed. And a very very thick one, for sure a minimum of two inches, at that. I also ask the butcher for some extra of the nice, firm, white suet that they usually trim off of it.

I take one skillet per steak (I don't have cast iron, as I have an electric, albeit Kitchen-Aid stovetop, and I use Cuisinarts pans) and I get them close to screeching, and I render a lot of the fat in them.

At the same time, I take cake-cooling racks and heat them up to 350 in my oven, but the racks have to be small enough to fit inside the skillets (or you need large skillets).

When the fat's melted and blistering, I put the steaks in, one per pan. There's really not a lot of point to seasoning the meat before this, as anything will burn.

I let the steak go quite a long time, until I get a nice crust - and then some - it's not to "sear" the steak, but because I like the taste of the crust, and with the fat itself, it's not going to burn, just char tastily. When it's good and charred, I flip the steak with tongs, allowing the rendered fat to settle first for a minute and heat up, and usually I tilt the pan and sear all the edges of the steak for a minute as well.

Then I set the other side down and char the heck out of it. Doing this for many years, I've learned how to 'feel' when the meat is extrememly rare (and both sides have a great crust) and indeed I do tilt the pan and spoon the blistering fat over the top side while the bottom side is cooking.

Then, I turn off the heat. Using the tongs, I take the hot cake-cooling racks out of the oven, lift the steaks, pour out the fat, and place the racks in so that they'll lift the steaks a little bit above the hot pan, and I put the steaks back down for a good fifteen, twenty minutes or so. The initial residual heat finishes cooking them, and then they go through their rest.

Before I serve them, I heat plates and lace them with French butter, which I also place on top of the steak, with salt and a little pepper. And sometimes I beat black truffle oil into the butter early on and chill it, and put that on top of the warm steak.

[Carlovski]

I always used to use my cast iron griddle pan and just sparingly oiling the meat. Pan red hot and optionally finish in a hot oven for thicker steaks.

Recently I have been experimenting with the lower temperature frying in butter then finish for longer in the oven - can't remember where I read that method - think it was eGullet somewhere.

I'm still not decided on my favourite yet, I'd say the butter method suits the more tender delicate fillets and the griddle is better for rib-eye and similar, but that might just be a load of rubbish.

[Patrick S]

Recently I have been experimenting with the lower temperature frying in butter then finish for longer in the oven - can't remember where I read that method - think it was eGullet somewhere.

I'm still not decided on my favourite yet, I'd say the butter method suits the more tender delicate fillets and the griddle is better for rib-eye and similar, but that might just be a load of rubbish.

←

The Ducasse method for cooking ribeye, which was discussed here at some point, was basically to cook it in butter over medium heat, for like 10 minutes a side (this was assuming the steak was 2" thick, I think), adding some garlic towards the end. I only tried this once, but I have to say it made a fantastic ribeye!

[deltadoc]

I follow the advice from America's Test Kitchen. Heavy cast iron skillet set on the gas cooktop at High. Heat it for 20-25 minutes. Oil the 3" thick filet mignon, salt & pepper. Put it in the hot skillet exactly 3 minutes on each side. You know its about ready when you can grab the skillet by its handle and the steak will break free on its own. Nicely carmelized on both sides and the skillet and steak go directly into a pre-heated electric oven set at 450 F. About 6-8 minutes for medium rare.

Then I place the steak on a plate, tent it with alum. foil, and deglaze the pan with some red wine, add some butter, diced red onion, demi-glace, a dash of Dry Sherry, S&P, and some Maytag Iowa blue cheese. Smother the steak with that sauce and I'm in steak heaven!

doc

[CharityCase]

I used Alton Brown's method for seared Rib Eye the other night: Put a cast iron skillet in an oven and turn to 500. Once the oven reaches temperature put skillet on stovetop on high, sear 30 seconds per side then 2 minutes per side in the oven for medium-rare.

The finished product was great but you've got to be mindful of the following:

1. Use a fricking glove pulling the 500-degree skillet out of the oven, and keep it there to remind yourself that it's blisteringly hot

2. Adding some finishing butter to the skillet will cause it to burn quickly, and may sour the steak's flavour. As an alternative drop some room temperature compound butter on the steak just before resting.

Edited September 27, 2005 by CharityCase (log)

[gperls]

Has anyone ever tried dry aging steaks at home? 

←

I've followed Alton's instructions with a whole beef tenderloin that I get from Costco, packed in cryovac. It's usually wet and mushy when first purchased, but if I let it dry out in a refrigerator for 5 days before I cook it, the flavor and texture has improved significantly. It makes a difference that it is untrimmed, because there's alot of surface area that has to be cut off after the drying. I wouldn't do this with a steak or other small, trimmed cut of meat, there'd be too much waste.

[Jaymes]

For my money (and I've been preparing this and serving it to guests for decades) you cannot beat Julia Child's recipe for classic Steak au Poivre. In Mastering the Art of French Cooking, she lists several cuts, but like others in this thread, I prefer the rib eyes that seem to be the tastiest cut available to the home cook:

Steak au Poivre

[Chris Amirault]

I made a strip sirloin au poivre in the cast iron skillet last night, using some freshly rendered lard (tx Fifi!). Steak rested at room temp, heavily peppered and salted, for a bit; left the burner on high for ten minutes with the skillet heating; then popped the steak in for 2 min on each side while basting (tx Rochelle!); then the whole thing into the 450 oven for 5 min.

Best steak I've ever made at home, hands down. Thanks y'all!