Back to basics: how to make a steak?

I usually heat a pan with some olive oil and close the fillet on all sides, then I put it in the oven (c.225 degrees) for a bit under 10 mins so that it is medium.

But a friend of mine was perplexed at why I put it in the oven instead of just frying it. So how do you really make a steak?

-O-

i'm perplexed as well. i assume we are talking beef? i also assume that 225 for a temp is in degress celsius? anyway, americans think they know steak and i guess i'm no exception.
basic preparation: the surface of the meet must be as dry as possible to aid browning. wrap the steak in paper towels for at least an hour before cooking - changing the towels if necessy. salt both surfaces near the end. rather than putting olive oil in the pan - wasteful and smokes a lot - place a small amount of oil on each steak surface and spread around evenly - there should be no excess. the steak should be think enough to brown well on both sides before the desired internal doneness is achieved. if this is not possible, one side can become the 'presentation side' - having a nice crusty brownness; and the other......
1. outdoor grilling - real charcoal - the lump kind burns at a much higher temp and is best. i use paper and twigs to start it, but.... get the fire very hot - not skimping on the amount of charcoal. brown to a crustiness on both sides over the coals. if not done to your liking, move more to the side to finish cooking without burning.
2. find an old cast iron skillet. heat moderatly hot. brown as above and turn heat down to finish cooking.
drain on paper towels for a minute - keeping warm. steak should be evenly brown and quite crusty. if it couldn't be used as sandpaper, it isn't crusty enough.
one problem that can occur is creating an air pocket on some part of the underside that will prevent that part from browning. tap the steak down and as importantly - it is best NOT to use a steak with a bone as it is hard to prevent those air pockets on at least one side next to the bone.
bon apetit

[Robin Garr]

Otto, this technique of searing on stovetop followed by a hot (400-450F) oven roast is classic restaurant steak technique, and I use it almost invariably at home.

The only variations I might add: Crust the steak heavily with freshly ground black pepper and a little sea salt first, perhaps letting it stand for a half-hour before cooking. Add a clove or two of peeled and smashed garlic to the oil. Perhaps a sprig of fresh rosemary also.

I tend to go a little longer with the initial sear - maybe two minutes no the first side, one minute on the second, then flip again and slam it into the oven. Then a little less oven time, but let it depend on thickness and the degree of doneness you wish. Maybe 7-8 minutes for a one-inch rib eye that's medium-rare, less for rare. Use the best cut of beef available.

Use a heavy (preferably black iron) skillet as David mentions.

I can't explain the physics of it, but I find that the oven finish does a better job of producing an interior that's a constant medium-rare throughout. Cooking the steak entirely on the stove top tends to yield a crusty exterior and cold, bloody middle. Of course, some people like that.

I'm with you, Robin. I love lots of freshly ground, coarse black pepper on both sides.

I can't explain the physics of it, but I find that the oven finish does a better job of producing an interior that's a constant medium-rare throughout. Cooking the steak entirely on the stove top tends to yield a crusty exterior and cold, bloody middle. Of course, some people like that.

The physics is that the oven is a lower and slower heat than the hot skillet, allowing time for heat to penetrate the steak.

I'm with you, Robin. I love lots of freshly ground, coarse black pepper on both sides.

Add me to that, with a particular variation that I picked up from a cookbook 30+ years ago and that has always gotten a very good reception (extending up to "best steaks I've ever had!")

(I don't use the oven method but it sounds good. Another important tip for good cooking inside is: never take the meat right from a refrigerator, bring it out an hour or so before cooking, to come up in temperature. This avoids much of the well-done-layer-with-raw-center syndrome. Also, chef friends, cooking individual steaks in a pan on stovetop, always feel for doneness by pressing with fingers -- it starts to firm up, you get a feel for this.)

I take coarsely (freshly) cracked black peppercorns (pounded between paper plates or the like, on a hard surface -- not wood or plastic, it will indent in little peppercorn shapes -- with a blunt instrument or hammer). Press a small handful (good teaspoon or so) of this onto each side of each steak -- don't cover completely -- let them sit for half an hour or an hour (such as while coming up to temp. as above). Pan-fry in a favorite frying pan, adding just a little salt in the process. Remove to plates, and:

Let the pan cool a few seconds and deglaze the pan with a little Bourbon or Rye whiskey, maybe 20ml or scant ounce per steak -- don't let it evaporate too much but cook it down a little, and scrape up the brown bits. Pour this over the steaks. The savory-woody flavor complements them very well.

Don't do as US restaurants often did in the 1970s (though they typically used brandy rather than whiskey) and add heavy cream. That leadens the sauce, makes it gratuitously rich and sweet. Beef is rich enough by itself, and the whiskey deglaze is a perfect counterpoint.

A chef friend taught me to test for level of temp as follows.

When you press on it with your finger tip:

if the steak feels like the really fleshy part of your palm at the base of your thumb, it's rare.

if it feels like the very center of your palm, it's medium.

if it feels like the side of your hand just beneath where the little finger connects to the hand, it's well done.

I like the pepper thing too; but i consider it a separate dish from plain steak. i thought it even had a name - steak au poivre. james beard had a variant that used ground beef and i now prefer that to the version with strip steak or whatever.

I could make this a long story, but I won't. The best steaks I ever cooked were rib eyes that were part of a package when we bought a side of beef from a local farmer. They were cooked very slowly, on a hibachi, over an apple wood fire that was almost out. I know it breaks all the rules, but it was fantastic.

I can't explain the physics of it, but I find that the oven finish does a better job of producing an interior that's a constant medium-rare throughout. Cooking the steak entirely on the stove top tends to yield a crusty exterior and cold, bloody middle. Of course, some people like that.

Although I like my steaks to be burned at the stake on the outside and still mooing in the inside, I still do them in the way you describe. I also like to do my center cut, boneless, tenderloin, double thick pork chops this way. No matter how bad the date was, they always came back for my pork chops and apple sauce.

No matter how bad the date was, they always came back for my pork chops and apple sauce.

You sly debonair devil, you.

And if they came back often enough for your porkchops and apple sauce, they would be immobilized and easy prey, eh?

No matter how bad the date was, they always came back for my pork chops and apple sauce.

You sly debonair devil, you. And if they came back often enough for your porkchops and apple sauce, they would be immobilized and easy prey, eh?

At my age, you need all the help you can get!

Year round we do our steaks on the grill outside. Simply done.....start with good meat, we like our steaks on the thick side, at least 1 1/2 inches. I love rib-eye and fillet. Gene prefers, sirloin and New York. I usually put salt and pepper on both sides. That is it!

Sometimes, I make a marinade....sometimes a dry rub. Sometimes a little lite soy sauce with pepper.

A chef friend taught me to test for level of temp as follows.

When you press on it with your finger tip:

if the steak feels like the really fleshy part of your palm at the base of your thumb, it's rare.

if it feels like the very center of your palm, it's medium.

if it feels like the side of your hand just beneath where the little finger connects to the hand, it's well done.

It works a little better if you just lightly touch your fingertips to your thumb.

0 fingers = rare
index finger = med. rare
middle finger = med.
ring finger = med. well
pinky = well

It is important to not press the fingers hard to the thumb. Touch very, very lightly.

rwj

Another vote for the sear on both sides, finish in the oven method.

I keep a stack of pie pans for that very purpose - when making multiple steaks, of varying degrees of doneness, I can do medium and wells first, get them in the oven on pie pans while I start the med rares and rares.

Works like a charm.

Is anyone familiar with steaks being sort of mealy textured where the meat just sort of falls apart in your mouth in an unnaturally tender way? It seems I usually experience it at mid-range steakhouses, and had always imagined that the steaks were treated with some kind of tenderizer, but I experienced it last night at home and I think it MIGHT be attributed to salting too early.

I started preparing dinner Sunday night, two gorgeous T-bones, that I sprinkled with kosher salt and black pepper (thinking they'd sit for about an hour before cooking to come to room temp and let the seasonings "soak in.") Then some friends called and asked if we'd like to run out for some Chinese food with them so we did that. The steaks sat in the fridge until last night when we had them and to me, they seemed to have that mealy texture.

Thoughts? Observations?

Oh, and our preparation method is always--Grill over the hottest heat (on gas grill) about five minutes a side so that they are very charred, medium rare. Let rest for about 5 minutes. Sometimes I use Montreal seasonings, but mostly just kosher salt and coarse black pepper.

Carrie, don't take this the wrong way but it sounds like poor quality meat. When I buy from a reputable butcher the meat never has that mealy quality. But in times when I have been in a pinch and grabbed a steak from some average grocery store (or had steak from people who just aren't as picky as me) then I come across that quality more often. Not always but more often than when I buy from a quality butcher.

rwj

[Jenise]

I experienced it last night at home and I think it MIGHT be attributed to salting too early.

Definitely. Have you ever used a kosher chicken? Same thing; salt breaks down the muscle.

Thanks everyone for the new ideas! The chunk of beef in question was the inner fillet of beef, about 200g (so maybe 1,5cm thick).

-O-

Carrie, don't take this the wrong way but it sounds like poor quality meat.

I actually think Jenise is right on this one. We only get meat from two places. Either Lobel's mail order (Prime) or Costco. These were "choice" from Costco, but truly gorgeous. Thick, well-marbeled. It's the first time I've ever experienced that mealiness at home, and it was the first time I seasoned them 24 hours before.