cookingbasics Blog and Journals

I suppose this was unavoidable. Grill or stove, searing and cooking a steak is exactly the same. Same temperature range, cooking style, rest period, and seasoning.

This tutorial neglects the finer points of braising, slow roasting, stewing, and a lot of other techniques. We're working on a grilled steak, these tips are only valid for that style.

*Selecting a steak

Key. Overall, the first thing you want to see is marbling. Streaks of white through the fiber of the meat. Lots of them, well distributed. The fat will render as the meat cooks, and leave an amazing flavor. There is debate about the health aspects, but we're mainly concerned with taste.

The meat should be vibrantly red, with no grey on it AT ALL. Firm to the touch. Not slimy. It should smell slightly sweet. For fatty cuts like a porterhouse, you want to look for a good chunk of fat on the outer wall of the steak. Cook it with the fat, then cut off the fat if it bothers you.

Bone in steaks should have marrow, and fat deposits outside of the main matrix of the meat. Glob of fat on the outside of a t-bone is good. Near the bone is good. In the middle of the cut? Less good. Marrow is flavor, so the center of the bone should have some room to it and a good bit of marrow.

*Seasoning

Simple is good. Use an herb or 2 to bring out the flavor, rosemary and garlic are neat, as are roasted red peppers and sweet onions. Let the meat shine, however. Don't overseason. Throw the spice mixes out of your window.

Pepper the steak, as a rule, but salt? I'll cover that in a bit.

*Cooking

So that salt? Leave it out of the initial rub. This is why we avoid the pre-packaged seasonings.Salt on a steak, before cooking, retards the sealing process of the meat. Salt water boils at a different temperature than normal water, and we want the searing process to be a slow one. Salt water boils a bit faster, and burns hotter. So will your steak. That extra heat transfer will make the steak tough, with a tender core. We want a tender steak with a firm shell. Every drop of salt you add  pre-sear leads to a nastier steak.

Rule 1: Don't touch the freaking steak.

Seriously. Put the tongs down. Flip the steak twice. Once, when the cook line (look at the side of the beef. See the color creeping up? That is your friend. There is a line. Watch it.) Reaches just past halfway up the steak. Salt the steak after the flip. Again, when the cook line disappears and the steak is a uniform color. A third time, after 2 minutes, flip it onto a plate. This is a perfect medium steak, seasoned side up.

I refuse to teach a rare steak. Med. rare is a minute less. Well done? add 2 more minutes to the final flip. *Always* cut open a steak before you eat it until you learn to touch it and feel when it's done.

Rule 2: It's more cooked than you think.

The steak may feel a bit too rare when you take it off the fire, but if you're cooking for a group or waiting to serve it the cooking process continues. What was rare, 4 minutes ago, is now racing toward medium. Meat fibers continue to expand long after they've been removed from heat, and they are sensitive. Hence: don't touch the freaking meat until it needs to be flipped.

Let the meat sit for 3 minutes after leaving the grill before you serve it. The heat cooks off and the fibers of the meat can breathe a bit, making it more tender.

Rule 3: Turn the heat down.

You're not godzilla, and you're not trying to burn down Tokyo with your radiation breath. The fire? Doesn't need to be so high. With coals you want a bit of ash, and a good ember. With a gas grill or stove? medium heat. Meat fibers, again, are sensitive creatures. You want a sizzle to your steak, if it doesn't hiss when it hits the fire take it off and make the fire bigger, but after the meat is sealed the rest of the cooking doesn't need to be so intense. Many chefs advocate a quick sear, removal from the fire, then cooking at a lower heat to bring out the juices, since they can't escape the outer wall of the steak. I fully agree.