Steak Master Class - Buyer Beware!!!

[NutsAboutGolf]

17 hours ago, FlyingCruiser2 said:

Pretty much what we learned.  They said the most important part was to let it come to room temp (said it was safe to leave out up to 4 hours), and rest longer than you think.

 

This is so wrong and pointless, it does nothing, I'm surprised they're saying this.  Like social media or not, we have backyard grillers to professional chefs performing blind taste tests on youtube.  However, I will mention that letting it increase to temp won't make the steak any worse.  Anyone who claims to let it come up to temp has not taste tested it come to a steak cooked cold

 

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

5 hours ago, Arubamoose said:

You missed a step before 1)

Leave the pre-salted steak out in your refrigerator a few days to age.

 

 

They've done taste tests, the general rule of thumb is they say at least one hour and it becomes pointless after 24 hours.  If you sous vide it, you don't even need to salt it in advance

[NutsAboutGolf]

19 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I'll tell you here for free.

1) Buy a nice ribeye steak

2) have on hand a cast iron skillet or grill pan 

3) preheat pan at high heat

4) season steak with sea salt, fresh coarse black pepper, garlic powder 

5) grill 4 minutes on each side 

6)remove from pan, let rest 5 minutes

7) eat your perfect steak

 

I agree with this except you need to salt it at least an hour before which allows it season the entire steak.  Pro-tip, you put your pan on an outdoor grill if your kitchen's ventilation is the best

[kwokpot]

5 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I agree with this except you need to salt it at least an hour before which allows it season the entire steak.  Pro-tip, you put your pan on an outdoor grill if your kitchen's ventilation is the best

We have a high powered exhaust fan and still have had the smoke alarm setoff and the security company called. Now I make sure our kitchen back door is open,lol. Not a fan of self outdoor barbequing.

[NutsAboutGolf]

19 hours ago, mn1111 said:

Afterwards, de-glaze the pan with beef stock and cognac, when halfway reduced add some heavy cream (Ronnybrook farms non-homogenized if available) and let reduce a bit more at a lower heat setting.  When sauce thickens, fortify with European style butter and spoon over the steak. 

 

You can also reverse sear by cooking steak to 125 degrees in the oven at about 275 for 40mins or so and then searing for one minute to a minute and a half on each side in the hot pan to finish.  Either way it comes out perfectly if you control your temperature properly.

 

Spot on.  Taste tests have determined that basting a steak doesn't add anything to the flavor that deglazing with butter doesn't.  The latest craze is the "cold sear" method which eliminates the gray band.  You put a cold steak in a cold pan, turn the heat to high, cook for 2mins, flip, reduce heat to medium, continue flipping every two mins

[DaKahuna]

20 hours ago, jwlane said:

After you board, everything is a money grab.

Lately it's before you board as well. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

We have a high powered exhaust fan and still have had the smoke alarm setoff and the security company called. Now I make sure our kitchen back door is open,lol. Not a fan of self outdoor barbequing.

 

Yup!  You nailed it again, when you cooking with high heat and have strong venting fans, you need still need to open a window or door for the fan to work properly

[NutsAboutGolf]

We nearly exclusively sous vide our steaks at home but occasionally at friends or family gatherings I'm tasked to grill so I'll just share some other tips

 

1)  Buy a steak at least 1.5" thick, 2" is better 3" is best

2)  Buy your steaks from Costco/Sams, if you buy prime or American wagyu, you'll have a "99 steak" or a steak that's better than 99% of the steaks you've ever had

3)  Use at least salt, pepper, garlic powder, and msg (no, it's not bad for you, google it;  restaurants use it all the time) or a rub.  The steak will be delicious as is without a rub, but we typically use Guga's rub, it just adds more flavor

[jwlane]

5 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

before you board as well. 

And all us shareholders say "Thank you very much!"

[billc23]

6 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

We nearly exclusively sous vide our steaks at home but occasionally at friends or family gatherings I'm tasked to grill so I'll just share some other tips

 

1)  Buy a steak at least 1.5" thick, 2" is better 3" is best

2)  Buy your steaks from Costco/Sams, if you buy prime or American wagyu, you'll have a "99 steak" or a steak that's better than 99% of the steaks you've ever had

3)  Use at least salt, pepper, garlic powder, and msg (no, it's not bad for you, google it;  restaurants use it all the time) or a rub.  The steak will be delicious as is without a rub, but we typically use Guga's rub, it just adds more flavor

Serious Eats is a great resource for cooking but check out Helen Rennie. I have used the reverse sear method with sous vide for years and have recently changed to using a 225 degree F oven pre sear with great results. A little more work because you need to keep an eye on the internal temperature, but with a 2 to 3 inch thick rib eye it is pretty forgiving and after a few times is second nature. Costco prime beef is really good and my local butcher has great beef at pretty low cost - used to be 9.99/lb pre covid and now almost $13/lb!!!

 

 

 

 

 

[Ommadawn]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is "sous vide"?

[kwokpot]

20 minutes ago, Ommadawn said:

Pardon my ignorance, but what is "sous vide"?

A cooking method using a warm/hot water 'bath' so to slowly cook food in a plastic bag. A fancy way of saying 'boil-in-bag' cooking. 

[billc23]

3 hours ago, Ommadawn said:

Pardon my ignorance, but what is "sous vide"?

Sous vide is a cooking technique that involves vacuum-sealing food in a bag and cooking it in a precisely regulated water bath. This low-temperature, long-time cooking method produces results that are impossible to achieve through any other cooking method. It kinda takes the fun out of cooking but can achieve great results. The key is having a water bath at a precise temperature. Great results with chicken, pork, etc. Worth reading about if you enjoy cooking                                                                                                

 

 

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

6 hours ago, Ommadawn said:

Pardon my ignorance, but what is "sous vide"?

 

Sous vide keeps the interior of the steak medium rare as you don't have that well-done gray outer band.  It's also foolproof cooking as you pretty much set it and forget it

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

5 hours ago, kwokpot said:

A cooking method using a warm/hot water 'bath' so to slowly cook food in a plastic bag. A fancy way of saying 'boil-in-bag' cooking. 

 

Yup!  I just wanted to point this out as sometimes people freak out over cooking plastic despite having no problem microwaving food in/on plastic.  Most Sous Vide machines cannot even reach 200f which is when some plastics start to release their toxins.  You can also use reusable dishwasher-safe silicone bags

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

On 4/23/2024 at 8:08 PM, kwokpot said:

I'll tell you here for free.

1) Buy a nice ribeye steak

...

 

I picked these up at Walmart (yes, you read that correctly) a couple of weeks ago, and broke in our new grill. These steaks (brought to room temp, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper) were as good as they looked - and that doesn't always happen. 10 out of 10 !! -- oh, and a generous portion of horseradish !!

 

 

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

10 hours ago, billc23 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a steak similar to that at Prime (Bellagio), and honestly found it toooo marbled (fatty) to enjoy. I never thought I'd say that, but !!!

 

Tom

[NutsAboutGolf]

20 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I picked these up at Walmart (yes, you read that correctly) a couple of weeks ago, and broke in our new grill. These steaks (brought to room temp, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper) were as good as they looked - and that doesn't always happen. 10 out of 10 !! -- oh, and a generous portion of horseradish !!

 

 

 

Tom

 

Next time you should give grilling your steak cold a shot to see if you notice a difference.  I totally understand some are just set in their ways, including people who perpetuate the myth that you NEED to pour oil into your boiling water for pasta.  The claimed purpose of the oil is to prevent pasta from sticking together, but we've learned that's not true and therefore wasteful.  Heck, even for steak the myth of, "sell the sizzle, not the steak", was coined in the 30s, we now know it's better to let the steak rest which means it won't be served sizzling unless some additional steps are taken and are rarely done (think ruth chris).  You're Vegas steak most likely wasn't served sizzling, correct?  Isn't science great?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

34 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Next time you should give grilling your steak cold a shot to see if you notice a difference.  I totally understand some are just set in their ways, including people who perpetuate the myth that you NEED to pour oil into your boiling water for pasta.  The claimed purpose of the oil is to prevent pasta from sticking together, but we've learned that's not true and therefore wasteful.  Heck, even for steak the myth of, "sell the sizzle, not the steak", was coined in the 30s, we now know it's better to let the steak rest which means it won't be served sizzling unless some additional steps are taken and are rarely done (think ruth chris).  You're Vegas steak most likely wasn't served sizzling, correct?  Isn't science great?

 

I can't recall how that steak was served, other than it was ordered rare (probably an issue given the fat - should have allowed more to melt away)! But, the casino was paying for it, so it was "free"... LMAO...

 

EDIT - oh, regarding cooking the steak cold, my first job was at a mall steakhouse (York Steakhouse) as a broiler chef. I easily had 10,000 steaks under my belt before I was 18 - all cooked cold. My favorite was a #4 - a hamburger (rare), and I'd trek over to the salad bar and grab thousand island dressing. Granted, that was mass market steak to be sure.

 

 

Tom

[Kteacher]

Just saw the pizza making class on today’s schedule. It’s listed at 72.00 pp same cost for adults and children) and is sold out. 

[DaKahuna]

13 hours ago, jwlane said:

And all us shareholders say "Thank you very much!"

 

 I am guilty of that as well. 

 

[Tyler414]

On 4/23/2024 at 7:08 PM, kwokpot said:

I'll tell you here for free.

1) Buy a nice ribeye steak

2) have on hand a cast iron skillet or grill pan 

3) preheat pan at high heat

4) season steak with sea salt, fresh coarse black pepper, garlic powder 

5) grill 4 minutes on each side 

6)remove from pan, let rest 5 minutes

7) eat your perfect steak

No coarse black pepper, all your doing is burning the pepper.  Pepper after cooked.

Four minutes is way too long.

[Mike981]

Well isn't this a fun thread, thank you all!

 

You got me excited to try to use our Sous Vide again. My wife and I didn't have very good luck our first few times, I think one of the issues was our steaks were not thick enough. I have to get over making mistakes as I learn, but that is a tough one as it was ingrained in me as a child, "we do not waste food."

 

I'm sure we will figure it out as we both love to cook.

Has anyone tried fish using your Sous Vide?

[billc23]

19 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

Has anyone tried fish using your Sous Vide?

Yes. Not my favorite way to cook fish. Fish is often too delicate and will fall apart too easily but a whole hardy fish should be fine. Check out the Helen Rennie link I posted above for great advice.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

27 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

Well isn't this a fun thread, thank you all!

 

You got me excited to try to use our Sous Vide again. My wife and I didn't have very good luck our first few times, I think one of the issues was our steaks were not thick enough. I have to get over making mistakes as I learn, but that is a tough one as it was ingrained in me as a child, "we do not waste food."

 

I'm sure we will figure it out as we both love to cook.

Has anyone tried fish using your Sous Vide?

 

I don't think I've used mine in perhaps a year. They do work great for roasts, and a rib recipe I tried. The last one I tried was a major fail. As it turned out, the recommended temp for the beef roast recipe I went with was right at the low cut-off point (long/slow cook), and instead of a tender and succulent roast (hey, it may have been, but)... we managed to brew up a potent batch of lactobacillus - it had a very pungent odor when I opened up the bag. I suppose if this had happened during the year or so after I had COVID, I would have been unaware!

 

Tom