Perfect Steak

Communities Food & Drink
1

I'm going to share my recipe/method for perfect steak.

Step 1:

Buy some steak. Preferably filet. Anything without a bone, as I've never tried this method with a bone-in steak.

Step 2:

Take the steak out of its package, and cover each side liberally with coarse, fresh ground pepper, and course sea salt (NOT iodized). You can add some onion powder and garlic powder, I know I do.

Step 3:

Place the steak(s) on a drying rack, and place them in the refrigerator over night. The outside of the steaks will turn a deep red, and dry out a bit. This will enable them to sear much quicker than if you had kept them in a marinade or simply seasoned them fresh.

You can get drying/cooling racks on Amazon pretty cheap.

Step 4:

Take the rack with the steaks on it, out of the refrigerator, and place it somewhere where they can come to room temperature, over an hour or two. This will further help them sear, as well as speeding up the overall cook time (not that steaks take a long time to cook, but remember that they will cook faster if you do this, so adjust so you don't overcook them)

Step 5:

Take a pan, preferably cast iron (there is a legitimate advantage to them. They have great "heat emissivity" http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html), and pre-heat it for at least 10 minutes, with some oil in it (I prefer olive oil) but not too much oil. Although you likely won't need any with a

Once heated, lower them into the pan and listen to that wonderful sizzle. Two, to three minutes a side (depending on the material of the pan, thickness of the steak, and type of range you are using), Once done, rest uncovered for 5 to 10 then chow down.

The main important thing here is the overnight dry aging. While it's not "true" dry aging like they do in fancy NYC restaurants where a steak costs over $100, it does greatly improve the sear you get on them. While some websites like Food Labs, will disagree, I still find this makes my steaks sear much better than fresh, "wet" steaks. This is because the browning reaction in meat, occurs MUCH higher than the boiling point of water. Their own guide to perfect beef filet (whole filet) points this out

Whereas their guide to the perfect pan seared steak, disagrees with my method, stating that true dry aging is almost impossible at home. http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/12/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-pan-seared-steaks.html

Overall, I find that letting the surface of the steaks dry out, which is helped by the heavy salt and peppering (really get it on there. Don't be shy, especially if the steak is thick.) really makes for a great, fast sear, which means if you like your steaks hot but still mooing, you can get the best of both worlds.

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2

What type of steaks do you buy and from where, not too specific mind you. I buy my meat at my local coop which I think is cheaper and the meat and ground beef is so good to blow your mind. Some of it is Organic, some Grass fed all that. All I have to say is I love it. I hate the ordering process, though it isn't that bad, though I have to order 3 weeks in advance. Other then that it's damn good food.

3

We normally get our meat from Food Lion. It's not too bad, or too good. The Filet is usually decent enough. A damned sight better than food lion.

We get our cuts of filet at just under half an inch thick. If we need something special cut, we go to a Wegmans grocery store. Although we've only been once, to get a whole filet which turned out delicious. I only wish I had known about the reverse sear method used by the Food Labs.

On a side note: The food labs recommends steaming for making hard boiled eggs, instead of actually boiling them. I completely agree.

4

My favourite steak ever was similar to OP.

  1. Decent steak of choice
  2. Coat with fresh cracked black pepper and Herbes Salées (French-Canadian salted herbs, pretty much tastes like magic)
  3. Let sit for at least 8 hours in the fridge, then on the counter for another hour or so.
  4. Melt unsalted butter in a cast iron (or carbon steel) pan.
  5. Sear me up Scotty! Then let sit for a few before cutting and eating.
1 Like
5

I've never had Hebes Salees. How does that taste compared to Herbs De Provence? I put a bunch of that on a standing rib roast I cooked for my dad's birthday. Absolutely delicious.

6

Nice Recipe,

Have you seen this method ?

I have used it is pretty good.

7

It's the salt doing all the work. One of the things that the Food Labs recommends is salting your steak when letting it sit out overnight in the fridge. I'd recommend using brine instead of fish sauce because.....fish, eww.

I haven't tried it but still, I HATE the smell and taste of fish, so I probably never would lol.

Judging by the surface color of the steaks, this is doing the same thing as my process, but slower. Also worth noting, when cooking expensive hunks of beef, NEVER use a keep-in thermometer. The metal part of the thermometer that's exposed will transfer heat to the inside of the cut, and mess up your doneness. It's okay to insert one for a few moments to check the doneness, but never leave it in. Chicken and pork don't matter as much because you don't ever have "rare" steak or pork.

Also, that's not by any means, a "perfect" medium rare (in the video)

#steaksnobbery lol

I take my steak seriously. We eat it so rarely that I basically have to. My dad can only eat Filet because of a throat issue, and my mom and sister are being all health nut lately. Meanwhile, I'm still in my 20's and wanting steak with a side of steak for dinner

8

Sounds good, but my Perfect steak is kissed by the flames of a hardwood charcoal.

RibSteak.jpg1024x614 76.9 KB

4 Likes
9

Grill cooking has it's advantages, as does pan cooking. I haven't decided between the two because I can't seem to get grilling steak right. I want a nice, burnt, crusty exterior, and rare in the middle. I can get that with the pan, but when I try it with the grill, I end up with burnt on the outside, medium-rare or just plain medium in the middle.

My dad can grill them perfectly, but every time I've tried they've come out over cooked.

also, you don't get pan sauce from the grill :P

10

2-3 minutes per side sounds mad overcooked

11

In a cast iron pan, maybe. Unfortunately I'm using a stainless steel pan, on an electric stove top with shitty coils.

I'll update the OP

This is where I got my aging and seasoning technique from

12

I like them chard and rare too. The key is the fire, like I said kissed by flame and at least 1.5 inches thick.
I worked at a Steak house for 10 years and that "perfect Med Rare" is Medium in my book I would send it back.
If its done right the sauce is still in the meat lol

1 Like
13

@anon43920604 @anon59440203

Yall need to find yourself a local butcher.

A drying rack is actually not doing you guys any good. Its a very ghetto approach to almost dry aging the meat. If the meat is already prepackaged and wet, then it has been wet aged, and all you are really doing is letting the meat oxidize and marinate in its own juices again.

If you are doing this to your meat, its because the meat you are getting is shit.

If you want good steaks, then you need to find someone who sells big slabs of fresh meat so that you can properly dry age them yourself. Or at very least find high quality steak and cook them fresh.

Also.... ONLY use better as a method to deglaze the pan. Think about it. Fat is flavor. All that grass and grain the cow has been eating has turned into concentrated flavor in the fat. Any other fat is diluting that flavor and is a clear sign that the meat you are using has poor marbling or is of poor quality in general.

Also, do not use sea salt. Only use Kosher or rock salt. Sea salt has other bits of shit in it. It has a much sharper flavor than kosher salt and supposedly drys out the meat quicker. With steak and many other foods, the salt is NOT flavoring the meat. The salt should only be contributing to make a slight crust on the outside of the meat.

Lastly, if you refrigerate the meat, leave it out an hour before cooking. Get it up to room temperature. If I am cooking fresh steak I usually get it from the butcher and leave it in the paper and put it in the trunk of the car. By the time I get home it goes straight into the pan. Its super super super important you use a steak that is not cold or stiff.

The goal for cooking the steak is basically to just get a beautiful color on the outside and then let the steak rest. What ever heat is left in the steak should cook it just enough to kill what ever is in the meat and you should be eating that steak as rare as you can possibly eat it. If you want it to be a little bit more well done, then just let it rest with tin foil or a lid over the top.

14

I suppose that's true.

So, for my webber, I need enough coals and wood to get the flames to reach the steak itself? Noted.

15

That is the only god damn truth there is in this world.

The sauce is always in the ingredients.

16

Use a brick or some lava rock to build a a hot spot if you need to.

17

I did say "leave it out for an hour or two before cooking".

Also, there is science behind the drying rack. Salting it, and allowing air to circulate around it, drys out the surface of the meat, meaning you get that browning effect much faster than a "wet" steak. This reaction is known as

Notice how the reaction takes place well above the boiling point of water. So, if you want a nice sear, you want a dry crust. The point of my method isn't to "dry age" the internal part of the meat, but rather to dry age the surface, and deliver a wonderful crust, without the possibility of overcooking the meat.

Also, I said to use coarse sea salt and coarse pepper because I find they form a nice crust.

1 Like
18

sea salt is already corse (at least it should be), but it wasn't my point. Unless you are using very quality sea salt, it usually has some weird after taste.

That is kind of the appeal of sea salt. It has some sort of funk that adds to some food.

The only time I have had sea salt that tastes like regular salt with no after taste was salt that I actually made. I washed it so many times with fresh water that what I ended up with was very very close to kosher salt.

And you are correct. You did say to leave it out for an hour or two. IDK why but I thought I read that you left it out for 15 minutes.

And yes, that is a much better description of what you are doing with the dry rack. However that method is only used with wet aged meat.

What I am saying is you need to get yourself 100% fresh steak. No wet aged grocery crap.

With fresh steak, the rack is unnecessary because now you are not trying to pull moisture out. Fresh steak on a super hot cast iron pan with a little bit of neutral oil just instantly sears and gets a nice crust.

The nice thing about avoiding the rack method is you do not have a weird flavor and texture difference between the meat close to the crust and the inside. Its just a nice crispy crust and then really succulent meat all the way through.

OR you could go the total opposite direction and you could dry age the meat right.

19

To me it's a little more like vegetables and slightly less "green" tasting. Where Herbs de Provence is often made of savory, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and marjoram, Herbes Salées is along the lines of savory, rosemary, thyme, parsley, chives, carrots, celery, green onion, and salt. Having said that, Herbes Salées is traditionally from Eastern Canada (think Quebec and Nova Scotia), so there's no real "correct" variant that's set in stone. I think the stuff I used had leek and white onion rather than carrots and green onion or something like that.

It's a slightly French taste while still being closer to home I guess.

@Tjj226_Angel Yeah, I live out in the woods, so I don't really get a choice when it comes to meat. I can get some amazing vegetables with no issue, but I have precisely two choices when it comes to meat: grocery stores or butchers that source from the same places as the grocery stores. Unless I literally want to buy $25+ per pound grass-fed free-range organic chuck from a place 45 minutes way out of the way. But I'm pretty much poor so that ain't happening.

20

I've never noticed any weird texture between the meat and the crust, in doing it this way. Nice crust, and pure, warm, buttery textured redness all the way through. Never noticed any difference in Sea Salt, or regular salt other than what they do to a brined piece of chicken.

BUT, I've never had "fresh" beef either. (I HAVE had fresh wild boar BBQ. I didn't know the taste buds could literally orgasm before that)

The best Steak I've ever had was at a nice little restaurant in South Boston Virginia, called Molasses. Had their Kobe Beef Filet Mignon. Abso-fucking-lutely delicious. Nice, rich, somewhat smokey flavor with a melt-in-your mouth texture (even the fat, that parts of the fat you would expect to be chewy, were delicious) and some kind of red wine pan sauce that I have yet to emulate, despite years of trying and several bottles of red wine. It was an 45 minute long orgasm for the tastebuds (I took my time eating it lol).

@anon59440203 I'll have to try that. Herbs De Provence here in the US includes Lavender for some reason. A flavor I find off-putting for savory meats (need to try it with chicken). But next time I head to World Market, I'm definitely looking for Herb Salees.