cooking steak help

[brainhulk]

Even though my procedure is the same every time, sometimes the steak is sometimes less juicy.

Cast iron pan with safflower oil
Costco choice ribeye.
Season with salt and pepper. Allow to get to room temp
Heat pan to about 550. Preheat oven to 500. I use a harbor freight laser temp reader...lol
Sear both sides for about a minute.
In the oven for 1:40 each side

Sometimes it comes out spectacular, sometimes not. I will adjust a little longer if the cut is really thick. But just eyeball it. Is it meat variability? Or a flaw in my method?

 

[stormkroe]

Meat differences. There's much to be said for developing a good eye for cooking steak and many other foods, for that matter.

 

[BUTCH1]

Even though my procedure is the same every time, sometimes the steak is sometimes less juicy.

Cast iron pan with safflower oil
Costco choice ribeye.
Season with salt and pepper. Allow to get to room temp
Heat pan to about 550. Preheat oven to 500. I use a harbor freight laser temp reader...lol
Sear both sides for about a minute.
In the oven for 1:40 each side

Sometimes it comes out spectacular, sometimes not. I will adjust a little longer if the cut is really thick. But just eyeball it. Is it meat variability? Or a flaw in my method?

Are you getting the result you want as far as doneness goes?, are they consistently coming out medium-rare?. Sometimes (as already mentioned) it's just luck as to tenderness, just because it's choice isn't going to guarantee that it will be tender, maybe try a marinade if if continues to be an issue..

 

[brainhulk]

Are you getting the result you want as far as doneness goes?, are they consistently coming out medium-rare?. Sometimes (as already mentioned) it's just luck as to tenderness, just because it's choice isn't going to guarantee that it will be tender, maybe try a marinade if if continues to be an issue..

Doneness is fairly Consistent. Sometimes it comes out a little too rare. I have a harder time getting it right with the thicker cuts. I just try not to overcook

 

[BUTCH1]

Doneness is fairly Consistent. Sometimes it comes out a little too rare. I have a harder time getting it right with the thicker cuts. I just try not to overcook

That's a good thing IMO, no one is perfect when it comes to cooking steak, of course the more you do it the easier you can tell how done it is by touch, I'd much rather have a steak that's a tad on the rare side than one that's overcooked and you need the jowl muscles of a Hyena to chew it LOL..

 

[jaedaliu]

Sometimes it comes out spectacular, sometimes not. I will adjust a little longer if the cut is really thick. But just eyeball it. Is it meat variability? Or a flaw in my method?

This is due to meat variability.

AND

A flaw in your method.

You know that different steak thickness will result in different cooking time. So you compensate for it by guessing and it's not working out quite right. Get one of those fancy thermometer thingies. You can stick it in before you sear (watch the cord) or after the sear before going in the oven. Set your alarm to your desired temp, and your steak will be done when the alarm goes off.

I have: http://amzn.com/B00004XSC5

 

[Kaido]

1. Are you letting the meat come to room temperature? Some people leave them out for like an hour before cooking.

2. Are you salting (& rinsing) the meat?

http://www.steamykitchen.com/163-how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks.html

 

[disappoint]

Take your left hand palm side up and touch the thumb and pinky tips together.

Now take you right hand index finger and lightly press the meaty part just below your left hand's thumb in your left palm. Feel how stiff that is? That's well done. Repeat with the other finger tips touching your thumb one by one.

Pinky: well done
ring finger: medium
middle finger: medium rare
index finger: rare

Let the steak rest 5 to 10 minutes after cooking to let the juices redistribute. They will just leak out if you cut into it too soon.

 

[BD231]

Leave it on high heat unattended and hope for the best mang.

 

[highland145]

1. Are you letting the meat come to room temperature? Some people leave them out for like an hour before cooking.

2. Are you salting (& rinsing) the meat?

http://www.steamykitchen.com/163-how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks.html

Good article.

 

[Tiamat]

USDA prime dry aged. Problem solved. Choice allows for more variation in meat quality. Prime assures you a certain amount of marbling throughout the meat. Also make sure the steaks are uniform in thickness. Big difference in cooking between even 1/4" difference in thickness.

Also letting steak rest for minimum 5 minutes after cooking before cutting into it is very important.

 

[Aharami]

1. Are you letting the meat come to room temperature? Some people leave them out for like an hour before cooking.

2. Are you salting (& rinsing) the meat?

http://www.steamykitchen.com/163-how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks.html

:thumbsup:

 

[Bird222]

It's funny you bring this up now because I have been thinking about this also. The last two steaks I cooked weren't that flavorful. I basically use the same method as you. I think it could be related to the thickness of the steaks. They have been pretty thick lately. I am wondering if I need to marinate them. What marinade do you guys recommend? Maybe I need to season them the day before. I don't know.

 

[Aharami]

It's funny you bring this up now because I have been thinking about this also. The last two steaks I cooked weren't that flavorful. I basically use the same method as you. I think it could be related to the thickness of the steaks. They have been pretty thick lately. I am wondering if I need to marinate them. What marinade do you guys recommend? Maybe I need to season them the day before. I don't know.

try the salting method mentioned in the article posted by Kaido. I also rub some garlic paste or better yet garlic butter on my steaks. Never had to marinade or add other spices (except salt and pepper).

 

[jaedaliu]

It's funny you bring this up now because I have been thinking about this also. The last two steaks I cooked weren't that flavorful. I basically use the same method as you. I think it could be related to the thickness of the steaks. They have been pretty thick lately. I am wondering if I need to marinate them. What marinade do you guys recommend? Maybe I need to season them the day before. I don't know.

What cut of meat are you using, and what flavor are you looking for?

I really enjoy the super beefy flavor of a hanger steak.

 

[Ophir]

I use a slightly different technique, but I will say that getting it consistent has a lot to do with accounting for different cut thickness and meat temp as it goes on the pan. Usually I don't have time to let it come to room temp before cooking so I have to leave it in a little longer.

My rules:

Standard steak thickness = 1.5"
Temp = Right out of fridge or straight from butcher
Thicker cut, lower oven temp, longer cook
Lower initial meat temp, lower oven temp, longer cook

I shoot for rare-plus, i.e. warm RED center, and experience has gotten me to a point that I can nail it at least 9 of 10 times.

My method:

- Pre-heat oven to 400-500 F (depending on above factors)
- 10 min before cooking pre-heat cast-iron pan on med-low
- 5 min BC season meat w/ salt and pepper, turn heat to as high as it will go
- t=0: Add a very light coat of peanut oil, wait till a good smoke, add steak
- Sear for 1 min, flip steak over, immediately transfer to oven
- Cook 4-5 min in oven
- Remove and rest for 5-10 min on pre-heated plates in the microwave (turned off, of course)
- Enjoy!

YMMV

 

[Bird222]

What cut of meat are you using, and what flavor are you looking for?

I really enjoy the super beefy flavor of a hanger steak.

They have been thick ribeyes. I want them to taste seasoned. They just kinda tasted bland.

 

[DrPizza]

A ton of variability in the steaks. If you can buy individual steaks, experiment. Buy two of the same type that don't look the same as far as marbling. Get as much difference as you can between the two steaks. (I'll assume you're cooking for two.) After cooking and letting the steaks rest, serve half of each steak to yourself and the other halves to your spouse. See if you can detect a difference in tenderness, etc. If you eat enough steaks, you'll get better at picking out the best ones on the shelf, which don't always "look" the best (in the eyes of some people). One of my acquaintances has a spouse who used to sell steaks. He was one of those back of the pickup truck coolers types of guys. I asked her if he had a source for steaks in bulk - that are rated prime. She assured me his steaks were close to prime, I pointed out that I had gotten some, and they were no where near prime. So, on her computer, I pulled up an image of a select, choice, and prime, side by side. She insisted the better steaks were the select, and the primes were the worst. (At which point, I decided not to pursue wasting money via that possible avenue for good steaks.) Maybe this video will help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnxa4gS36b8 More marbling is better.

 

[notposting]

Get an instant read thermometer.

Get steak out, salt, let come up to temp.
Pat dry, season for cooking.
Cook as you've been doing, use thermometer to help.
Let rest, tent with foil for a bit.

Use a thermometer is pretty much the key difference.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Doneness is fairly Consistent. Sometimes it comes out a little too rare. I have a harder time getting it right with the thicker cuts. I just try not to overcook

That's how it's done by pros

 

[PingviN]

Let it rest! If it's not 55 degrees celcius (whatever that is in F), it's not ready to be eaten yet.

 

[spidey07]

If it's coming out the same doneness then that's just the cut. When selecting your ribeye look for a good sized, very well marbled eye. Also good marbling on the meat around it. The juiciness comes from the fat, the more fat, the more juice and flavor.

Try some prime.

 

[DrPizza]

There are also some tips in here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZxQ_jWEHeE

Worth knowing: the age (of the animal at slaughter) can affect the tenderness as well. Very difficult to tell looking at the meat only, but they give something that serves as a loose hint.

 

[brainhulk]

I think I may have to buy the baller thermometer. The reason I don't really want to buy prime is I've had some truly outstanding results from choice. Other times not. This last time I found a pack with some epic looking marbling but the juices were afk. I'm gonna try finding a thinner cut next time and actually rinse off the spice. I've been just dusting the excess off by hand. If it doesn't work I'm going thermometer, then prime.

 

[Bird222]

I tried the method mentioned above and it was good, but it wasn't as thick as before. I'll keep testing.