[Cooking Opinion] Grilling Steaks, What Level of Done-ness Do You Like and Why???

Medium rare+

One thing I have found that makes a difference is a grill that can get super hot works best for trying to replicate what the nice steak places do.

 

What's the difference between a $10 steak and a $50 steak? Nothing, if you cook it well done.

The answer to OP is medium rare, of course. I'm not personally a very experienced griller though, so when I grill they're closer to medium.

I have a related question but will start a new thread for it.

 

Just tried this on a couple of ribeyes. Came out nice. Even with the thermometer, I was worried it would be overcooked in the oven. Then put it on the grill for a minute or two and seared up quickly. Doing this makes it a much more controlled process.

 

DonnyMost knows what's up. I discovered the reverse sear about a year ago and I haven't cooked a steak at home any other way since.

 

Anytime a steak hits the oven even if for a couple of minutes it takes on a slight roast beef taste. Roast beef is roast beef, steak is steak.

 

Well done with ketchup.

 

For those saying rare is wrong. Can we all agree that a great Prime Rib Roast should be rare!

for grilling, assuming prime

Filet Mignon = rare (I order "as rare as the chef will allow")
Ribeye = rare (although I'll accept medium rare by Texas' definition)

the rest = medium rare

 

medium if I'm cooking

medium well if eating out

 

...ground garlic and a little bit of soy...

[INTENSE STARING]

 

Most high end steak places do not grill steaks. They sear on a pan then broil on high temp. in the oven.

Since most home kitchens do not have ovens that get as hot as commercial kitchens, it is hard to replicate the "crispy" char on the outside with the juiciness on the inside.

The easiest way to replicate is to sear on med/high heat on a hot cast iron skillet for 30 seconds each side. Then broil as close to the broiler as possible at 500 degrees for 2 minutes each side.

To prep the meat, lightly coat in steak in canola oil and use quite a bit of salt and pepper.

As far as cooking well done to not get sick: this is a carry over from hamburger. Hamburger meat is often not the best meat of the cow and in preparation can be exposed to ecoli and other pathogens due to the processing. Additionally, it is very difficult to clean grinders, so the meat can be exposed to contagions that way as well.

Most steaks are cut from the cow in a way that they are never exposed to anything that can have contagions. Additionally, the interior of the steak has never touched anything, so any contagions it may have gotten will be cooked off the exterior of the steak. In hamburger, the exterior and interior of the meat has been exposed to everything since it was ground up.

So cook your burgers a little more through...but those steaks can be cooked to mid-rare with little if any risk of food born illness if the meat has come from professional/sanitized butcher shops or processing plants.

 

I have no idea what this is. Is this sarcasm?

 

The reason they do this is for consistency throughout their staff. It is easiest for consistent quality. And they do it for the de-glazing, also.

This does not mean it's better, just easier to replicate.

It's like saying restaurant don't use outdoor smokers. They smoke pork and fish in an indoor smoke box or repurposed 6" metal hotel pan with lid. Well yes, they do. That doesn't make it better than doing it outside.

 

I think you missed the part about a "whole sirloin."



Smoke
Slice to thickness
Then finish each slice on the grill

Not that hard to grasp the value of that when serving a large lawn party/wedding reception, etc.

 

I was at a deer lease and there was bourbon involved, so I'm sure I was off a bit on the time in the smoker, probably was more like 5 hours but I was going by temp. Beautiful purple color on the inside with a nice smokey black crust on the edges when we sliced it up. It was freaking delicious.

 

^ bucket list now for me. Never heard of doing that, but sounds awesome.

 

Fist bumps all around for my fellow reversers. REP

 

I'm going to the meat market this week, buying a pimp ribeye, and trying this.

 

I have not tried the reverse sear that DonnyMost posts. But I do agree with hooroo.

The reverse sear is not really anything new. It is borrowing from methods to make the best Prime Rib Roast...as explained by Alton Brown.

So, beware as hooroo points out. Your steak might be beautiful like a Prime Rib Roast, but it might have a roast flavor vs the beautiful grilled flavor.

So, question to everyone who tries it, are you after the look of Rib Roast or the taste of grilled. I'm skeptical

look forward to everyone's feedback. I won't be trying that until more feedback on taste. But I will be trying the full sirloin, smoked "reverse sear" suggestion for big parties that Buck offered up.

 

further, I've never seen the "bullseye" effect on a Filet Mignon served rare by a top restaurant. So not sure why the video claims the bullseye effect always happens.

Maybe it is a medium rare problem only. You poor guys.

Excuse me for being a contrarian...rather just skeptical. DonnyMost's Video is using Alton Brown's method to make Priime Rib Roast. I learned to be skeptical by thinking Cook's Illustrated was the ****, until I realized many of their lab experiments chose a method that was already in Joy of Cooking