Steak Hacking

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: LS21
ps.... the big chunks of fat around your steak is not marbling. its nasty. you want to trim it off your steak before you grill for a few reasons:

1) its pretty much inedible anyway
2) itll look messier when you leave it on your plate
3) more importantly.. it may cause flare-ups during grilling, which can lead to uneven cooking

Too late

I douse my steak in olive oil and let it drip on the coals to create flames, that way I get a nice seared outside. Then I move it off to the side to cook through. Comes out great :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: LS21
be careful of getting duped on "angus" or "prime" label. angus is a type of cattle. "Certified Angus Beef" is a brand, with a label. (I guess that part is not so important, because angus is angus... but perhaps the CAB brand has more stringent quality standards.)

USDA classifies beef into Prime, Choice, Select, etc based on marbling (intra-fatness). Very very few steaks are certified Prime by the USDA... though many people will slap a "Prime" on their offering. So make sure its "USDA Prime" - if thats what youre after


You should always rest a steak, regardless of quality, so that it has even temperature throughout, for more even cooking. Pre-salting is a good idea - the moisture drawn from the steak will help during the searing - however, i dont want to draw TOO much from the steak thus i salt no more than 15 minutes before grilling (the time it takes to prep my coals)

So Prime is only Prime if it says "USDA" Prime, not just "Prime" ?

 

[tw1164]

How to buy meat

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: tw1164
How to buy meat

Excellent, bookmarked! :thumbsup:

 

[DivideBYZero]

Need online beef....in bulk...10lb...not...bulk...*jibber*

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: LS21
ps.... the big chunks of fat around your steak is not marbling. its nasty. you want to trim it off your steak before you grill for a few reasons:

1) its pretty much inedible anyway
2) itll look messier when you leave it on your plate
3) more importantly.. it may cause flare-ups during grilling, which can lead to uneven cooking

Trim the fat cap back to 1/4" or so but don't completely remove it, some of the melted
fat will wind up in the steak your gonna eat and will give it more flavor!

 

[LS21]

Originally posted by: Kaido


So Prime is only Prime if it says "USDA" Prime, not just "Prime" ?

yes. a few local markets here stamp their stuff "angus prime" when its really neither. my favorite market has a USDA Choice labeled "prime" at 12.99$/lb, and another at 18.99$. the price gives it away

(now the Choice is still very good per se, just not genuine)

 

[SirStev0]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Eeezee
repost x 1000

If it doesn't come up in Search, it doesn't exist

Rules for Cool #348 -- Reply with "Repost" in any thread you want... it will make you seem like you have been around for ever and are soooooooo worldly. Search is broken anyway so no one will actually call you on it, except for the OP who will just confirm that search is broken and it isn't his fault.

 

[biggestmuff]

bwahahah.

The salt would accelerate the drying of the meat. It'll pull moisture out of the meat. Something I wouldn't want.

 

[KK]

You think if I salted my schlong, then rinsed it off, that the wife would find it more appealling. I gotta give that a try, what do I have to lose

 

[AbsolutDealage]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
bwahahah.

The salt would accelerate the drying of the meat. It'll pull moisture out of the meat. Something I wouldn't want.

You do want it.... trust me.

Putting a salt based rub on meat ~15 minutes before grilling will pull protien rich fluid to the surface of the meat, and create a better sear when it hits the pan/grate.

 

[iRONic]

Originally posted by: KK
You think if I salted my schlong, then rinsed it off, that the wife would find it more appealling. I gotta give that a try, what do I have to lose

That small, tiny shred of self-respect and dignity you have left...?

 

[AbsolutDealage]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: LS21
ps.... the big chunks of fat around your steak is not marbling. its nasty. you want to trim it off your steak before you grill for a few reasons:

1) its pretty much inedible anyway
2) itll look messier when you leave it on your plate
3) more importantly.. it may cause flare-ups during grilling, which can lead to uneven cooking

Too late

I douse my steak in olive oil and let it drip on the coals to create flames, that way I get a nice seared outside. Then I move it off to the side to cook through. Comes out great :thumbsup:

You don't want flare ups. What you want is a really hot flame that is extremely close to the cooking surface.

Try using hardwood charcoal, light it up with a chimney starter, and pile the whole chimney's worth on to one spot on the grill (preferably to one side or the other). Try to make the pile as close to the grate level as possible. Sear your steak on both sides directly over the pile, and then move it to the side to finish cooking.

A few drops of oil rubbed across the steak is acceptable, but you should not be dousing your steaks in oil (certainly not enough for it to be dripping off and causing flare ups).

 

[Chryso]

Choice is not cheap meat.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: AbsolutDealage

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: LS21
ps.... the big chunks of fat around your steak is not marbling. its nasty. you want to trim it off your steak before you grill for a few reasons:

1) its pretty much inedible anyway
2) itll look messier when you leave it on your plate
3) more importantly.. it may cause flare-ups during grilling, which can lead to uneven cooking

Too late

I douse my steak in olive oil and let it drip on the coals to create flames, that way I get a nice seared outside. Then I move it off to the side to cook through. Comes out great :thumbsup:

You don't want flare ups. What you want is a really hot flame that is extremely close to the cooking surface.

Try using hardwood charcoal, light it up with a chimney starter, and pile the whole chimney's worth on to one spot on the grill (preferably to one side or the other). Try to make the pile as close to the grate level as possible. Sear your steak on both sides directly over the pile, and then move it to the side to finish cooking.

A few drops of oil rubbed across the steak is acceptable, but you should not be dousing your steaks in oil (certainly not enough for it to be dripping off and causing flare ups).

:thumbsup:

 

[Alienwho]

Anybody who does not use sea salt on their meat has no idea how to grill. BTW it tastes better if you don't rinse off the salt with water, just leave it on and squirt lemon juice on it to help it dissolve before you throw it on the grill.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Alienwho
Anybody who does not use sea salt on their meat has no idea how to grill. BTW it tastes better if you don't rinse off the salt with water, just leave it on and squirt lemon juice on it to help it dissolve before you throw it on the grill.

Does the steak take on a lemony taste after that?

 

[AbsolutDealage]

Originally posted by: Alienwho
Anybody who does not use sea salt on their meat has no idea how to grill.

Actually, I would argue that sea salt is (in general) a poor choice for grilling. Saying "sea salt" is also misleading, as there are hundreds of variations of sea salt. They can range from something that looks exactly like the structure of table salt all the way up to fleur de sel (and the like).

Kosher salt is a much better alternative. Its size and structure was designed specifically to pull moisture from the surface of meat.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

You're making corned beef, not prime rib.

 

[sygyzy]

It's amazing how little people on ATOT know about food.

 

[GasX]

I am posting from my crackberry so I am limited in what I can do (like search and link). If you search for my YABBQT from yesterday, you will find the recipe for the ultimate steak rub. It truly is the BOMB.

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
So can I turn this hunk of lead into gold with a salt rub as well?

lol

AbsolutDealage I buy fine and coarse sea salt. Wouldn't the fine grain work?

Also OP, it's hard to get real Prime in most markets. I usually have to go to specialty places to get Prime. I usually don't bother since the steak houses I go to age their prime beef as well for 30-60 days. I would never bother with that personally.

If you want to see some insane marbling check out high grade Kobe beef Japanese grade their beef on a scale of 1-5 with our best Prime coming in around 3, marbling scale of 1-12 with Prime around 5. I ate a small piece of Kobe that was supposed to be like grade 5. I actually was not crazy about it. It was so fatty (yet velvety) it was almost like a fois gras. Not what I expect when I want a steak or any beef really... Maybe just a culture thing but for the rediculous expense, I'll pass.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: dakels

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
So can I turn this hunk of lead into gold with a salt rub as well?

lol

AbsolutDealage I buy fine and coarse sea salt. Wouldn't the fine grain work?

Also OP, it's hard to get real Prime in most markets. I usually have to go to specialty places to get Prime. I usually don't bother since the steak houses I go to age their prime beef as well for 30-60 days. I would never bother with that personally.

If you want to see some insane marbling check out high grade Kobe beef Japanese grade their beef on a scale of 1-5 with our best Prime coming in around 3, marbling scale of 1-12 with Prime around 5. I ate a small piece of Kobe that was supposed to be like grade 5. I actually was not crazy about it. It was so fatty (yet velvety) it was almost like a fois gras. Not what I expect when I want a steak or any beef really... Maybe just a culture thing but for the rediculous expense, I'll pass.

I've actually talked to a few people and it's pretty unanimous that kobe beef isn't cut out for steak. Much better as sashimi, shabu, or kbbq/jbbq style

 

[CraKaJaX]

Dammit. Now I'm hungry.

 

[MrBond]

Originally posted by: dakels

If you want to see some insane marbling check out high grade Kobe beef Japanese grade their beef on a scale of 1-5 with our best Prime coming in around 3, marbling scale of 1-12 with Prime around 5. I ate a small piece of Kobe that was supposed to be like grade 5. I actually was not crazy about it. It was so fatty (yet velvety) it was almost like a fois gras. Not what I expect when I want a steak or any beef really... Maybe just a culture thing but for the rediculous expense, I'll pass.

I don't think you can get true Kobe beef here in the US. A lot of places sell Wagu beef, which is the type of cattle used in Kobe beef, but they raise it here.

I've seen Kobe beef on the menu of several restaurants - that's almost false advertising unless someone is smuggling it back in from Japan.