COOKIN STEAK!

I am just in the proces of tucking into a lurvely steak (sirloin).

Does anyone know how long one should cook for to get rare/med rare etc…

Or what should it feel like, firm/springy?

Help as i love it but mess it up. it is my once weekly treat and i keep ruining it!

Take it off, cut into it, and if its pink your good(medium rare). If its really red and cold its rare. Put it back on if you dont like it rare. Personally, I think the redder the better. I usually skip mine across the grill. Its all a matter of personal preference.

I always feel unprofessional when i do it that way. as it turned out it was fine.

Thanks for the tip anyway.

has anyone got any “TV Chef” ways of doing it or am i destined to have a messy bit of meat for eternity

[quote]miniross wrote:
I am just in the proces of tucking into a lurvely steak (sirloin).

Does anyone know how long one should cook for to get rare/med rare etc…

Or what should it feel like, firm/springy?

Help as i love it but mess it up. it is my once weekly treat and i keep ruining it![/quote]

You just need to practice. Find out what times work for you on your grill. There really isn’t a time, like 3.4 minutes.

It depends on how cold the steak is (friged, frozen), how hot your grill cooks, how thick the steak is, etc.

A thick steak should not be transferred from fridge to heat right away; the outside will cook and the inside still be cold. Give it 20-30 minutes (still wrapped) to reach room temp.

Then do the “cook and cut” method described above.

One method I learned which is a little difficult to apply is this:

  • rare: push your thumb into the palm of your hand, if the steak feels the same way when you push on it, then its rare

  • medium: same thing, push your thumb into the base of your hand (straight down from your pinky, right before your wrist) if the steak feels the same way when you push on it, then its medium

  • well-done: push on the meatiest part of your palm, right at the base of your thumb, if the steak feels the same way, its well-done.

If somebody is confused by that I can post a picture showing which parts to push on.

Like I said, its hard to do at first but once you get to hang of it, it works.

Many thanks

when cooked beef goes from red/blue to grey. rare is red, well done is grey.

try to let the meat get to room temp before you cook. also paper towel excess moisture. salt the exterior. try to use a grill make it as hot as can be if your using a pan make it as hot is it can be. heat the pan before you add any oil. so hot the meat jumps.
you need to seer the exterior and keep in all the juices. if it isn’t hot enough you’re really just boiling the meat in its own juice and losing juice to boot.

seer one side , seer the other, get some nice carmelization and even a bit of char.

when you’ve seeared each side remove to gently heat to finish cooking. on the grill put it up top. in the pan put in 450 oven.

thickness of the steak will vary your cooking time.

when meat is cooked it goes from red to grey. red and cold is rare . grey is well. pink is in the middle

rare is red in the center of the steak.
medium is pink in the center.
well is grey in the center.

medium rare is red center pink everywhere else.

medium well is pink center grey everywhere else.

if you’ve got a thick steak -2 inches-remove it before it’s doen. it will keep cooking this is called “caryover”

also let the meat rest before you eat it. when it comes off the heat source all the juices inside are agitated and circulating. if you cut it immediately it will bleed out . let it rest for a few minutes and calm down. it will stay nice and juicy.

[quote]cokeandtaco wrote:
seer one side , seer the other, get some nice carmelization and even a bit of char.
[/quote]

You should try to minimize the charring as much as possible. Burnt “charred” meat (anything actually) is carcinogenic.

Seering is fine. Just try not to burn it.

Black and Blue is the way to go:

Rub with sea salt and chipotle, and sear 2-3 minutes per side on a very hot grill or cast iron skillet.

Good stuff

[quote]michaelv wrote:
cokeandtaco wrote:
seer one side , seer the other, get some nice carmelization and even a bit of char.

You should try to minimize the charring as much as possible. Burnt “charred” meat (anything actually) is carcinogenic.

[/quote]
yes but it’s sooo tasty. :slight_smile:

and btw pay attention to mcalabro’s advice on the cast iron. you need a cooking surface that retains heat.
a cast iron grill pan is awesome and inexpensive. you can even use it on a fire.

when you brand a steer you use iron. you could get a coat hanger just as hot, but no way you’ll brand with it. if you’ve got a thin, lightweight pan or grill you’ve got no chance at cooking a good steak.

[quote]cbeefyt wrote:
Take it off, cut into it, and if its pink your good(medium rare). If its really red and cold its rare. Put it back on if you dont like it rare. Personally, I think the redder the better. I usually skip mine across the grill. Its all a matter of personal preference.[/quote]

If you’re anal about the quality of your food you want to minimize the amount of cutting, poking and prodding. Cutting into the meat before it’s had some rest will just let all the juices escape.

I’ve just found that with some experience, you get used to how long it takes to get a steak of such-and-such size in the ballpark, and using the feel method someone described below is helpful, if you get a feel for that it’s really easy to get the meat in the ballpark. I like my meat on the rare side, so I’m much more concerned about cooking it too much than enough, and as long as the outside has been exposed to > 160 degree temperatures it’s safe.

If you want both ease and accuracy, just get a digital instant-read thermometer, and when you think it’s done, take a reading in the thickest part of the meat. As I said before I prefer not to poke my meat, but this will eliminate any guesswork and it will also help you build an intuitive sense of what it takes to cook meat. I don’t have a chart of donness ranges on hand, but you should be able to find it online. Just be sure to grab one from a quality cookbook or reputable chef. Some of the guidelines you see on meat packaging or with thermometers are ridiculously out of whack - it’s like they start their rare at well done. I guess to make the legal department happy.

Nick

I worked my way through collge as a cook at Waffle House (please, no laughing), and we cooked 20 to 30 steaks a shift. Trick we used to gauge doneness is looking at the color of the juice coming out of the top of the steak.
Rare-juice is red
medium-juice is clear
well-done-juice is brown.

Takes some practise to gauge when you’re at medium rare or medium well, but its a good general rule of thumb.

True story…had a women come in one night while I was cooking, around 1:00 or 1:30 in the morning, (remember its a 24 hour place), she orders steak and eggs, and tells the waitress she wants us to put the steak on for two seconds, flip it over, two more seconds, and then bring it to her. I was freaked, manager was also working that night, he walked over and confirmed the order with the women, and so, he says, She wants it, we cook it. We threw it on the high side of the gril, 500 degrees, 2 seconds, flipped it, two more, flipped it and plated it. Damn thing was raw, I mean all it did was turn the outside a little grey, barely knocked the chill off. And she ate every damn bite.

She was hot , but damn, girl eats raw meat, I’m not going there.

Having worked in bars and restaurants for the past 6 years, I will go with Incubator on this and say a digital thermometer is the easiest way to tell. Every restaurant I’ve ever worked in has used this method. I’m sure if you search online you could find the temperature reccomendations. It’s very accurate, from my experience.

I’d also like to say that DanReeves, IMO, dropped the ball. A hot chick that eats raw meat?! I’dve humped her every which way from Sunday if I were you. And Id’ve requested that she had a raw 24 ounce porterhouse hanging out of her mouth the entire time. Sigh…

Kubo

I’d also like to say that DanReeves, IMO, dropped the ball. A hot chick that eats raw meat?! I’dve humped her every which way from Sunday if I were you. And Id’ve requested that she had a raw 24 ounce porterhouse hanging out of her mouth the entire time. Sigh…

Kubo

LMAO, thats wrong, just so fucking wrong. As i rememebr it, she was hot, but in retrospect, considering I was 17 at the time, probably wouldn’t have had much of a chance.

But I will agree, if she don’t eat meat, I don’t want her.

For thick juicy ones I like to split a standing rib roast in half(2 bones in each peice).Drop the pan far away from the broiler, Smear the steak in salt,pepper,garlic, and olive oil. Cook on each side for about 10 minutes. I know that sounds long but its a few inches from the broiler.
The outside gets crispy, the fat inside melts through and its done sooooo nicely,pink all the way through.

[quote]cokeandtaco wrote:
when you brand a steer you use iron. you could get a coat hanger just as hot, but no way you’ll brand with it. if you’ve got a thin, lightweight pan or grill you’ve got no chance at cooking a good steak. [/quote]

Actually, I’ve seen a few people that have been branded with coat hangers. It generally looks like shit, but it can be done.