Cooking the perfect steak: share your tips and myths (beer, grilling, broil)

[elnina]

To cook the absolute best steak you can, should you salt before, during, or after cooking?
Use butter or oil while searing, what about a ghee or clarified butter?
And what's the deal with poking the steak with a fork during cooking? What about cut-and-peek method?
What do you think of dry-aging for a day or two?
Is there an advantage to frying in oil rather than just searing the steak in a dry, red hot pan?
Should you cut against the grain and why?
Do you need to rest your steak after cooking it, or not and for how long?
What about cooking steak in a beer cooler?? you know, the Ziploc method??

[SATX56]

Well it's the meat you're cooking that matters most! Season first! Oil is fine ...butter has it's uses ! Your stomach won't know the direction of grain . Good steak will be tender enough if it was aged.. I'm no expert but the steak is what it is before you cook it generally!

[SATX56]

Skirt steak you'd cut against the grain for sure it does matter. Brisket too, but those aren't what I'd think of as steak! Fry quickly in a very hot pan with oil. A steak needs no rest in my opinion. I don't believe in that idea. Besides who wants to wait? LOL!

[Oerdin]

For the 4th of July about three years ago I bought a huge uncut slab of USDA prime ribeye (fat on) from Costco and did my own dry aging of the steaks. I just took it home, washed the whole thing well, then put it on a broiler pan (so the air could circulate and it wouldn't sit in the juices that dripped out), and then put it in my spare fridge in the garage. The fridge has one of those small fans in it to help the air circulate. I aged it for 18 days turning it over every few days just to make sure the it cured evenly and I patted it down with a damp paper towel when I turned it over. The fridge was set to 35 degrees so it was cold enough that nothing rotted but not cold enough that the meat froze because you want the enzymes to keep working so the meat becomes soft and tender.

At the end I did the butchering myself cutting off the fat on the outside which had changed colors during the dry aging (I also cut off a bit of the outside meat which had partially dried out) than made five steaks of equal size. It was glorious! I never thought I could do a steak as well as one of those high end steak houses but honestly it's hard to screw up meat of that caliber; I grilled it using real mesquite charcoal (never use lighter fluid!) first on the hot side to get those nice grill marks on it then finished it on the low side just to make sure I didn't over cook them. At the end I put a little salt and pepper on it but that's all a truly great steak needs because the meat will do the talking for you. Just make sure you keep it on the rare side because that's the way a high end steak is supposed to be done and be sure to let the meat rest for about 10 minutes after you've finished cooking it.

[SD4020]

To cook a good steak. Butter for pan searing. It is great start for any sauces you might want to use on the steak. A good application of salt before cooking add flavor and pulls some of the water out of the steak. It helps with alignment of the proteins.

Do not poke it with a fork or cut it. It will drain out the juices that keep it from drying up. When the meat is as tender as the skin between your thumb and pointer finger you are perfect.

if you are grilling a good canola oil on the grill is great thinking. Once its on the grill leave it alone for a bit. Only flip the steak once. If you want the grill marks get the grill good and hot, grill 2 minutes one direction. Then two minutes the other direction (90 degrees) then flip sides. Close the grill when you are not messing with the steak. That will keep heat in and help speed up cooking without drying out the meat.

once you pull the steak out of the heat... Give it a rest. Let is rest for about 5 to 10 minutes. The meat will continue to heat up and the juices will even out in the meat and not drain out when cut right away. I usually cover the steak with some foil once its off the heat and before serving.

Use a thermometer if you are not sure about doneness. Run it up to 140 for rare and on up for burnt to a crisp...

[Caligula1]

I dont think I'm a pro or anything but I do make a darned good steak.
I'm very set in my ways as far as cooking, I only grill, never use a pan inside.
My #1 choice for a good steak is a bone in Ribeye, boneless works as well as long as the fat is there.
I preheat my grill, all burners untill it's about 500 degrees.. Season with salt and pepper..
Slap that bad boy on and wait untill the sear builds up enough so the steak releases.
Give it a little turn for the fancy grill marks and when it's not quite burnt but getting there flip.

I like the Char taste and the result after resting is a beautifull medium-- Medium rare steak.

I use this method for testing doneness, I never cut it or poke a thermo into a steak.
Learning Doneness: The Hand Test Method

[Capt. Cave Man]

Originally Posted by elnina

To cook the absolute best steak you can, should you salt before, during, or after cooking? If someone has salt issues, let them salt the steak. Otherwise, I prefer to salt before and I only use kosher salt(could use sea salt) and never table salt.(I don't even think we have table salt anymore)

Use butter or oil while searing, what about a ghee or clarified butter? I lightly rub the steak with oil then season. After the steak is done we sometimes add a Tbs or 2 of garlic butter. Butter will brown/carmelize and add flavor, fwiw.

And what's the deal with poking the steak with a fork during cooking? Don't do it, learn the "feel" method or get an instant read thermometer. What about cut-and-peek method? Don't do it, just don't.
What do you think of dry-aging for a day or two? For a day or two, not worth it. Dry age sub primals with a good layer of fat.

Is there an advantage to frying in oil rather than just searing the steak in a dry, red hot pan? Lightly rub the steak with oil, then into a hot dry pan. After you've seared on ALL sides, throw in some butter and seasonings, melt the butter and baste the steak until done.(ie, spoon over melted butter on top of steak)

Should you cut against the grain and why? Yes, cut against the grain. Better mouth feel and easier to chew.
Do you need to rest your steak after cooking it, or not and for how long? Yes, let it rest so juices will not leak out as bad. You can put it on a plate or cutting board and "tent" it(ie put a piece of foil over top similar to a tent) or out in the open is fine, too. Let rest at least 5 min. General guide is for about half the time you cooked it. Say it took 15min to cook your steak, let it rest 7 or 8 min. ...give or take. What about cooking steak in a beer cooler?? you know, the Ziploc method?? The cooler is for beer, the grill is for the steak. Do not get these two confused!

There is also the reverse sear. Cook indirect first, then sear. Worth a try, imo.

Some say it has to be seared to lock in juices. Not so. Searing adds flavor, but it has been proven(by Alton Brown on Good Eats) that it is not true.

We tend to like our steaks smoked, on the smoker at a temp of about 300 and cook to med rare to med.(150*) Can take up to an hr, but the smoke flavor is really good.

Once you try charcoal or smoke, you won't want to use LP or gas again. More work, but a better product, imo.

The "perfect" steak is most often cooked at home, any way you can(even oven), with good friends and family. IMO, a "perfect" steak eaten alone is not as good as a "pretty good" steak eaten with family.(But NOT with in-laws joke)

[rainroosty]

I don't do anything but just take the steak and put it in my air-oven; a glass appliance that has hot air circulating in it. At the hottest temperature, I cook it until done, with a nice seared outside crust. I put pepper on it, plus garlic powder, beforehand.
I never use oil or salt. People love when I cook steak.
Oh - and like Satx said, I don't let a steak "rest".
I am cooking that tonight.
I will eat half of the steak and save half for tomorrow, to make wraps with. They are strip steaks.
They are known as "New York Strip" steaks - but what the HECK does New York have to do with them? They're "strip steaks"! (dammit!)

[gentlearts]

Originally Posted by Caligula1

I dont think I'm a pro or anything but I do make a darned good steak.
I'm very set in my ways as far as cooking, I only grill, never use a pan inside.
My #1 choice for a good steak is a bone in Ribeye, boneless works as well as long as the fat is there.
I preheat my grill, all burners untill it's about 500 degrees.. Season with salt and pepper..
Slap that bad boy on and wait untill the sear builds up enough so the steak releases.
Give it a little turn for the fancy grill marks and when it's not quite burnt but getting there flip.

I like the Char taste and the result after resting is a beautifull medium-- Medium rare steak.

I use this method for testing doneness, I never cut it or poke a thermo into a steak.
Learning Doneness: The Hand Test Method

What he said. I couldn't agree more. No stinkin sauces, super hot sear, rest it. Done, and done.

[Fontucky]

"Cutting or poking releases all the juices" is a myth. The meat juices are stored in cells, much like the juice in an orange or lemon. Cut or poke and you drain only the cells you, errr, cut or poke.