Your Tips For Cooking The Perfect Steak?

[JakeStratham]

If you love steak and eat it often, you can probably handle yourself in the kitchen. That being the case, I'd love to hear how you cook a perfect steak.

What's your favorite cut? How do you prep it? Do you marinate? If so, with what? If you cook it on the stove, what do you put in the pan? Do you eat it with any condiments, sauces, etc.?

Here's my process (it's a simple one):

Step 1: Buy a ribeye or top sirloin. Those are my two favorite cuts for steak.

Step 2: Trim it.

Step 3: Salt it with kosher salt. A lot of it (more than pictured below).

Step 4: Let it sit for an hour. The salt dissolves on the steak.

Step 5: After an hour has passed, I get the cast iron skillet hot on the stove. While it's heating up, I rinse the steak and pat dry.

Step 6: Put some olive oil in the skillet. I use California Olive Ranch. (Great taste, low cost.)

Step 7: Once the oil begins to smoke, the steak goes into the skillet.

Step 8: Each side gets 2 minutes. (I like medium rare.) I put a liberal amount of pepper on each side while the opposite side is cooking.

Step 9: When the steak is nearly done, a large pat of butter goes into the skillet. I use KerryGold because it tastes awesome and it's from grass-fed animals.

Step 10: Baste the steak with the butter.

Step 11: Turn the steak on its side to cook the fat in the butter.

Step 12: Remove the steak from the skillet. Pour the butter and remaining oil on top. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Step 13: Cut and eat. No condiments. No A1 (shudder). Just great-tasting steak.

As I mentioned, a simple process. No tricks and very reliable.

I'd love to hear how you cook a perfect steak. Share your tips.

 

[contract]

1. Season
2. Salt the heck out of it.
3. Put in fridge to marinate.
4. Throw on grill.
5. Turn twice as needed.

Done.

 

[Chupin]

Exact same process that you described above is how I do mine. The cut has to be Ribeye.

If I'm feeling like a sauce, I don't pour the remaining butter oil onto the finished steak, instead I deglaze with a medium quality balsamic and with a wood spoon scrape all the tasty cancer causing stuff from the pan and let it reduce for a few minutes until its silky smooth.

No A1, or Heinz, or god forbid Tomato Ketchup (yes, I've seen people eat their steak with Ketchup). 95% of the time it's Salt, Pepper, Medium Rare and enjoy the taste of a well prepared steak.

 

[Grindstone]

London Broil or Prime Rib. Marinate overnight in some Jameson based recipe the wife has. Pat dry, put a rub of choice (espresso + salt + pepper + brown sugar makes an amazing crust) over the entire thing.

Cook it on a gas grill on high heat for 5 minutes each side, move it to the cool side of the grill and cook until medium rare. Let sit 10 minutes, cut across grain, eat it.

 

[davidne]

lol skillet

Basically do the same as you, but I use salt + pepper + garlic powder + onion powder. Let it sit for awhile then turn the grill on high to sear the outsides. Cook at 400 for 8-10 min, I like mine a little more on the medium side.

 

[Kiopa_Matt]

Yours is the proper way, but I usually marinate overnight. No idea why, but how I was raised I guess.

Marinade = salt (little bit), pepper, Montreal Steak Spice, olive oil, water, beer, soy sauce, tiny bit of white vinegar, and tiny bit or worchestershire (sp) sauce. When I put the steak in the marinade, I poke the hell out of it with a fork on both sides, and put it in the fridge overnight with air tight lid.

Then for cooking, I have a little charcoal BBQ that looks like this sitting here:

 

[r3p1v]

 

[intent]

2. Salt the heck out of it.

this.

 

[notwayne]

smoking olive oil is pretty much burning olive oil. at that point your oil has turned into carcinogens.

 

[insectlife]

Well done and with lots of Tommy K just to annoy people.

 

[intent]

last step -- melt some crumbled bleu cheese on it.

 

[Rage9]

Ribeye generally.

Fire up my Anova immersion circulator and bring a water bath to 135 F.

Add steak to ziplock freezer bag. Add enough stock or marinade of choice to surround the steak. I then seal the bag using the a standard water displacement method as I don't have a vacuum sealer.

Place bag in water for ~2 hours, depends on the overall thickness of the steak.

Remove stack from bag, pat dry, season. Sear on ultra hot pan for 1-2 min a side until a nice crust develops.

Consume.

 

[fixie]

smoking olive oil is pretty much burning olive oil. at that point your oil has turned into carcinogens.

What is happening to the burning olive oil that makes it carcinogenic?

I would never fry anything with olive oil because it ruins the taste and the odor becomes foul (to me, some people like it). I just pour regular cooking oil over the meat before I put salt and pepper on it, then I brush it slightly with the olive oil if I feel like it after I'm done with frying.

Combine that with marinated bell pepper salad and you'll have a great time

Well done and with lots of Tommy K just to annoy people.

IT NEEDS TO MELT IN YOUR MOUTH!

 

[-joe-]

Frying with extra virgin olive oil?

EVOO has too low a smoke point for that, if it's smoking, the oil is getting fucked up. Decent virgin olive oil or non-virgin olive oil have higher smoke points and are fine to fry with.

 

[Goodcat]

Ribeye generally.

Fire up my Anova immersion circulator and bring a water bath to 135 F.

Add steak to ziplock freezer bag. Add enough stock or marinade of choice to surround the steak. I then seal the bag using the a standard water displacement method as I don't have a vacuum sealer.

Place bag in water for ~2 hours, depends on the overall thickness of the steak.

Remove stack from bag, pat dry, season. Sear on ultra hot pan for 1-2 min a side until a nice crust develops.

Consume.

Similar here. I have the Sous Vide Supreme ([ame="http://www.amazon.com/Sous-Vide-Supreme-Water-SVK-00001/dp/B003AYZIB4"]Amazon.com: Sous Vide Supreme Water Oven, SVK-00001: Commercial Cooking Immersion Circulators: Kitchen & Dining[/ame]) and the vacuum sealer.

I seal and dump in 54C/120F pre-heated water and let it sit for around an hour (you can go longer, but if we're talking finer cuts like fillet, you run the risk of demolishing the texture of the meat) - I like Ribeye as well - lots of taste.

After an hour~1½ hr, I take it out of the bag, pat dry and either a) use a torch

or b) sear in piping hot pan with a mix of butter, oil and fresh thyme. Turning the pan slightly and pouring the juice over the steak continuously gives a nice effect and taste.

With the sous vide (water bath) you are able to keep a very constant and low temperature throughout, which is great for tougher cuts that usually have a lot of taste like the flank steak.

I'll vacuum and double seal it and throw it in for up to 30 hrs at 54C/120F, and sear on piping hot grill pan. Makes a tougher cut (full of taste) have the same tender texture you'd expect with a fillet or tenderloin.

 

[Smeems]

Just wipe it's arse and put it on a plate for me.

 

[nickster]

Don't cook with smoking oil

 

[Vadym]

that is one great how-to for a steak - doing it.

I used to:
1. open the george foreman grill
2. clean it.
3. put the steak on it from the package
4. cook it
5. eat it sadly because it tastes bad

 

[Fatbat]

When I put the steak in the marinade, I poke the hell out of it with a fork on both sides...

You shouldn't poke so many holes in a quality piece of meat. It lets a lot of the juices out when you're cooking it. Your overnight marinade should flavor the steak just fine without making swiss cheese out of it. If you want to add a little more flavor get to making your own chimichurri sauce. It's a nice home made sauce you find it in Argentinian steak houses. They serve it with empanadas and grilled meats. Everyone has a different recipe and it can be quite spicy if you like hot stuff. Alternatively I like a little hot sauce on the side. Chimichurri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As for the grilling part, this guy writes a decent article, with lots of good tips and dispelling many myths of grilling. The Food Lab: How to Grill a Steak, a Complete Guide | Serious Eats

 

[-God-]

Always Fillet.

My method (well, a method my friend, who's a chef, taught me years ago) is to get it out the fridge 30 mins or so before and let it get to room temp, rub steak with vegetable oil (oil the meat not the pan), leave to sit.

Get pan very hot (important), season steak with salt and pepper and place into dry pan (it'll smoke like a fucker).

Give it a couple of minutes each side and then leave to rest for 10 mins or so. Add sauce if required. Perfection.