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

Medium. Just go to you tube and look up Gordon Ramsay steak. Works great every time.

 

after the sear, do you shut the vents and allow the temp to float down, equivalent to putting a steak in the oven after searing on top of the stove?

 

re-upping this from an earlier thread on this topic. similar in technique to yours, although my finished temp is lower- what level of doneness are you going for? 5-7 minutes to sear a side is a long time, imo, and 145 finished temp will be on the medium side.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=8137915&postcount=37

[rquoter]Here's the technique I use most often:

Grapeseed oil (has a very high smoke point- crucial in a NYC apt.
softened butter
kosher or sea salt (NOT regular table salt!), pepper
a couple of cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed.
a branch or two of fresh rosemary
1.5" -2" thick ribeye.
cast iron pan

don't scrimp on the quality of the meat. in NYC, it's about $25/lbs, so if you're feeding a couple of people, it's gonna be $50-$75 worth of meat. it's worth it.

preheat oven to 375. have steak at room temperature. liberally salt and pepper both sides of the steak. place the cast iron pan over a medium pan until it's hot. add oil (not much) and increase heat to high. when the oil starts to shimmer, add the steak. let it sit & sear, do not move it around.

after about 2 minutes, lift one side to check browning. if it's nice and brown, flip it over, if it's not, cook for another 30-60 seconds, checking to see how it's browning. after you flip it over, turn off the heat.

put a pat of butter on the top of the steak, and smear it around. it will begin to melt, and run down the sides. this is fine. place the crushed garlic cloves and the rosemary on top of the steak. spoon some juices over the top, and put the pan in the oven.

depending on your oven, and the thickness of the steak, cook 5-7 minutes. test for doneness with your fingers, or a thermometer. err on the rare side.

remove the pan from the oven, and the steak from the pan. let it rest on a cutting board for 5-10 minutes, keep the rosemary and garlic on the steak while it rests. the internal temperature of the steak will continue to rise.

if you want a sauce, deglaze the pan with a half cup of red wine, and any juices that leaked from the steak as it rests.

cut the steaks in half, so you have about 1/2 per person. add the sauce if you like.[/rquoter]

 

You can reverse sear avoiding the oven as well for those worried about putting a steak in the over.

I just cook them over indirect heat on my grill until they hit 125 then i sear them for about a minute and a half each over the coals.

 

Medium rare, reverse sear is the only way I cook steak.

For a normal NY Strip:

• Lightly drench steak in olive oil (optional)
• Rub down with hefty amounts of kosher salt and cracked black pepper
• Place on oven-rack pan
• Cook for 40 minutes in the oven set at 250 degrees Fahrenheit
• Flash cook in frying pan and olive oil on high for 60-90 seconds per side, or on a hot grill
• Let rest for 8 minutes
• Perfectly cooked medium rare steak

You can reverse sear not using the oven, but keeping a grill at a set temperature is much harder than an oven. Even if I use the grill, I use the oven for the cooking and the grill for the flash on each side.

If you buy good steak, and cook it the right way - no "sides" or "sauces" are required. Salt and pepper is all that is needed to make a steak taste great, when cooked properly. With that said, a blob of garlic butter is delicious as well.

You MUST let the steak rest for 8 minutes, otherwise you'll lose the juices on the plate when slicing. Medium rare is 125-130 degrees Fahrenheit. I recommend for the first few times cooking in this manner to use a digital thermometer.

http://www.reddit.com/r/steak

 

I have before, but I prefer to let the sear do all the cooking. If I get a good sear too quickly, I will put in the ceramic divider and finish it off indirect.

Of course, this reverse sear steak at 275 degrees for an hour before searing looks a lot better than my steaks. I am going to try that method on my next steak, for sure.

I have fired up my Egg four straight days (chicken and vegetables every meal). I absolutely love it.

 

i have a kamado joe, so idea, and in season probably use it 4-5/week. tough to do a reverse sear on the joe tho.

i have done it in the oven, and finished on top of the stove, and agree that it's very good, and that it imparts a slight roast beef quality to the steak...which may be fine, depending on your preference.

 

now that i think about it, why not have the best of both worlds: reverse sear on the kamado/egg over low heat, then finish in cast iron on the stovetop?

might have to try that this weekend.

 

I use a cast iron stove top grill. Works tremendously well, just make sure you have decent ventilation.

 

yep, i have one of those as well, and i like it, although it's tough to manage it you're putting it in the over after, or transferring from the oven.

i think the advantage of doing the "reverse" portion on the grill is you'd get that classic grilled steak taste, w/o the "roast beef" flavor of the oven, and still get the even medium rare texture throughout.

and then cast iron of some sort on top to sear.

 

I was thinking it would be easy to do it all on the Egg. Use the digital controller and temperature probe to do the first part, then pull the steak off and let it rest for 15 minutes. During that time, I will pull out the ceramic divider and open up the vents to get the coals really hot.

That's how I am going to try it, at least.

 

I tried the reverse sear for the first time last night. It was probably the most perfect and evenly cooked steak I have ever made. Admittedly, I'm no top chef, but you don't have to be with that method.

 

I bought an Anova sous vide machine a few weeks ago and cooked some t-bones with it to medium rare. It's amazing how the method allows me to get a perfectly consistent doneness in a huge piece of meat.

 

medium rare is the only way to go.

 

did you brown/sear it after?

 

sous vide it to medium rare, then grill/torch the outside to get a crispy sear

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I've been doing it sous-vide for about 5 years. It's so full proof that its seldom do any other method. Sous-vide poultry is even better because you seldom get an opportunity to eat chicken or duck that is not well, well done.

 

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We need to do this over the summer either out at the ranch or at Dave's pool.

 

Yes, after I remove it from the sous vide process and pat it down, I quickly seared all sides in a hot cast iron skillet with butter.

Interestingly, I tried this method on chicken fried steak, too. Cooking the meat sous vide first allowed me to solely focus on getting a nice, crunchy breading in the pan instead of also trying to cook the meat through at the same time. Plus, the texture of the meat was very soft compared to the usual boot leather you get with pan frying tough cuts.