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ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Summer is coming, and that means BBQ and grilling! Aw who am I kidding, I just wanted to start up another steak thread. I've cooked dozens of steaks and experimented with almost as many techniques to try to make the perfect piece of meat, and over the years I've learned a few things. I'll still need some advice though, but I'll get to this later.



Sliced steak with bordelaise risotto. In retrospect I should've let the risotto cool a little bit before plating the slices, because the residual heat cooked the perfect medium-rare a wee bit on the flat side.


When it comes to steak, you generally want three things for the perfect dish. One, you want your steak to be tender, and that means aging or other possible techniques. Two, you want it to be done medium rare, or rarer inside. Three, you want to get a nice, thoroughly brown crust on the outside. There's way more formal and scientifically detailed ways to go about these factors, but for now I just wanna share a few of my success stories and some of my major fuckups.


Tenderness, Aging, & Marinades:

When it comes to tenderness, a few days worth of wet-aging in your fridge can work wonders. Usually I rinse my meat with a little red wine, put it in a baggie, and just let it rest for no longer than a week. I've also worked with marinades before, as well as the salt-tenderizing method. When considering these alternate techniques there are a few danger spots you want to avoid.

For marinades, I used to try soaking the meat with a few splashes of balsamic vinegar. See, when it comes to aging, you're depending on the meat's natural enzymes to break down some of the proteins for you. These enzymes tend to work better in acidic environments, so I thought “Let's try increasing the acidity while I let it wet-age for a few days.”

Horrible loving idea. In this experiment I learned how effective acid was at cooking things through. That's the whole reasoning behind ceviche after all: instead of using heat to cook a dish, you use acid (such as lime juice) to denature the proteins instead. What I got in the end was meat that was chemically cooked through, well-done and brown almost from edge to center, despite the fact that the poke test indicated medium rare. If using an acidic marinade, don't leave it in for too long.

Now some of you may also have heard about the salt-tenderizing method. Basically, sprinkle a ton of salt over your steaks, wait a couple hours, rinse, then sear. I didn't like this method too much either: my steaks came out tasty flavorwise, but there was a textural change that I really didn't like. What happened was that my steaks hadn't simply become tenderized, they'd become a little bit cured, like ham. While ham is delicious, my steak had lost some of that natural raw quality that I liked so much.

I love tinkering, and part of my experimentation was also an attempt to sterilize the surface of the meat so I could age it a bit longer. But honestly, I really should've just followed the advice that everyone else gave me in GWS: when you've got a nice hunk of steak, you don't want to gently caress around with it too much.


Medium Rare:

When you're searing meat on the stove, seconds count. You just don't usually have the time to stick a probe thermometer in and check to see if it's the right depth. gently caress around too long on the stove and you've got steak going past into medium or medium-well territory.



A steak served with spicy cumin shrimp, red wine, pomegranate soda, and a little bowl of pan au jus. The au jus went unused because look att this loving beauty:




Edge-to-edge mid-rare! Delicious even with the deficient crust.



So learn how to poke! Get to know what a raw steak feels like and how much “give” it has when you prod it. Medium-rare should be just a bit firmer than that. Train yourself in the finger test. It's quick and easy!


Well-Developed Crust

A good crust means a thorough Maillard reaction, and that means flavor. A crust also adds a textural component, and a steak with a very well-done crust is to die for. Problem is that a good crust and a medium-rare interior are kind of at odds with each other. When you cook the steak long enough to get a deep crust, generally the well-done part intrudes a little too much into the interior of the steak. But if you wanna keep the interior nice and medium-rare, you kinda have to sacrifice the crust.

First thing to consider is how you want to get your steak medium-rare. Do you want to try sous vide and sear afterwards? It can definitely work, but don't sous vide too long since again this alters the texture a bit too much. Just enough to get the interior to the lower end of mid-rare (130* F), shouldn't take more than an hour.

In any case, you'll want to dry your steak before you sear it. This means less heat is being wasted evaporating water from the surface of your steak, and more heat is being invested creating a delicious crust.



Well-crusted steak, with a side of white wine risotto and a bordelaise sauce that broke because I put it in the fridge for the night. Unfortunately a little bit of the heat intruded on the interior of the steak because I was working to get a very well-developed crust.


After aging (and possibly cooking sous vide), put your steak on a cookie rack so air can circulate both over and under it. Salt both sides with a pinch of baking soda and fresh-ground black pepper. The Maillard reaction works best in an alkaline environment, see, but take care not to use too much because the fat may saponify and a slightly soapy taste may result. Leave the steak in the back of the fridge to dry for a good 24 hours or so. Put it on the middle rack: generally the top is too cold, and parts of your steak may freeze. Flip the steak once 12 hours in since the juices tend to pool at the bottom of the steak.

When ready to sear, I actually don't let the steak come up to room temp (like I said, I usually cook it sous vide already!) Instead I pull it fresh outta the fridge: the residual cold interior helps keep the well-done edge from intruding too deep into supple pink deliciousness. I keep the pan on high heat, pour in a generous amount of bacon grease, and gently lower the steak in. I use a lot of oil, and you gotta be very careful and use proper tongs. If that steak drops while you turn it oil WILL splash out and give you the worst loving grease burn.

Conventional wisdom would have you leave the steak untouched while it sears for about 1 minute 30 seconds or so before flipping. Heston Blumenthal likes to turn his steaks every 10 seconds so the hot side has a chance to cool down, preventing it from becoming overcooked. I've tried both methods, and I'm still not sure which one works best.

After cooking I put it into a warm oven with the heat turned off, to let the warm air circulate and get it up to a nice temp. 5 minutes.

Finally, don't forget to rest your steak. 10 minutes minimum: that's the difference between a juicy steak and one that bleeds out all its delicious meat juices over the plate when you cut into it.

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ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Okay now here's where I need help and advice: The school year is almost over and I wanted to celebrate by making some delicious steak. Went to the store, found a bigass 4-pound ribeye roast for cheap, and I plan on having a goon over for dinner.

I have two ideas so far. After aging, I'll let the roast come up to room temperature without searing it. Once that's done, I can do one of two things:

Protocol 1:
1 - Pop the roast in the oven on the lowest temp available (170* F) and use a probe thermometer to get it to 130* interior temp.
2 - Let the meat rest fully.
3 - Cut the roast it into 2 steaks, let them air-dry in the fridge, then sear both sides in the pan for the crust.

Protocol 2
1 – Cut the roast into two steaks first
2 – Cook each steak sous vide to 130* interior temp
3 – Air dry in the fridge, then sear both sides in the pan for the crust.


On the one hand roasting it low and slow in the pan seems to be the less intrusive way of dealing with it, but I'm just kind of worried about how well a low-temperature oven can homogenously cook a steak through to my target temperature.

I can sous vide the steak as two individual cuts (or maybe even sous vide it whole, I dunno if my baggies are big enough), but this would be way more time consuming and troublesome since I can only do a hobo manual sous vide setup, and I'm worried about the bones poking the bag.

Any ideas/suggestions?

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
poo poo, I already cut it in half as per marshalljim's recommendation. I'll definitely take those other recommendations into account next time though!

My thing is that I always want to get the perfect crust on the exterior, with a good inch and a half of pink meat between the edges. My concern about doing a whole roast is that I'd only have two crusted ends and pink in the center. I think next time I'll just treat it like a whole rack of lamb and use a very rich sauce with tons of brown stock to up the complex umami notes I wanna go for.

EDIT: Also thinking about it, that'd let me carve it and still leave plenty of meat on the bones for a delicious stock!

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Yeah Eye of Round steak is a fairly tough cut in my experience. I prefer to just have it sliced super thin to lay over my pho. :)



Chemmy posted:

Modernist Cuisine suggests putting a frozen steak in a low oven and searing after for presentation, I don't think there are a lot of hard and fast rules for steaks.

I like my steak closer to rare, so generally I'll sear a cold steak in a screaming hot cast iron pan for about 30s a side until it builds a nice crust, followed by a 5 minute rest under foil.



That is one goddamn sexy closeup. What cut is that? New York Strip?

ShadowCatboy fucked around with this message at 03:06 on May 13, 2013

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

Dr. Lenin posted:

I'm a stupid newbie cook who is really paranoid about getting sick from undercooked cuts of meat. What are the best cuts of beef that I don't have to worry about cooking to rare / medium-rare, and are there any stores I should just avoid getting meat from altogether or does it not really matter?

Honestly the only real meat you need to worry about undercooking is chicken, and even then bringing it up to an internal temperature of 150* F for about a minute should pasteurize it just fine. If you get it to a full 160* F it's pretty much instantly safe. Even pork is safe to eat cooked to medium since we eliminated trichnosis in the States.

Fresh beef you can eat raw, even without searing the outside. That's why people can eat steak tartare and carpaccio after all. Just remember that when it comes to beef, the majority of the bacteria, if there is any to worry about, is on the outside (unless of course it's ground meat). A quick sear in a hot pan kills that poo poo instantly, even if the interior is totally uncooked.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Okay I finally loving perfected my steak recipe. loving serious. Medium-rare almost from edge to edge (needed a wee bit less time in the pan), tender as hell, and not a single drop of juice leaked out onto the plate. NOT ONE:





Takes about a week's worth of prep though:

1 - Get a ribeye roast with decent marbling. Cut it in half, about 2-inch thick steaks each. Rinse with red wine and pat dry.
2 - Salt with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt on the top side of each steak. If needed, rub the salt in a little. Keep the steaks on cake racks in the fridge.
3 - Leave the steaks in the fridge for about 4 hours (or overnight). The salt will draw out the juices, form a brine, and become reabsorbed in that time. Too much salt at once will lead to dripping and loss of delicious juices.
4 - When the salted surface is dry flip the steak over and repeat steps 2-3.
5 - Salt again with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a generous coating of fresh-ground black pepper. Leave the steak to reabsorb the seasoning for 4 hours again (or overnight).
6 - Flip the steak and repeat for the other side.
7 - Wrap the steak loosely with cling film for up to 3 days or so (no more than 5 days in the fridge total, IMO).
8 - When ready to cook, seal in a bag and place in the puddle machine set to 132*F for 3 hours. See instructions below to do it hobo style.
9 - When the meat is done cooking sous vide, take the bagged steak out of the water and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
10 - Press the steak between two cold plates and pop the entire thing in the freezer for 30 minutes.
11 - Transfer the entire setup into the fridge. By keeping the steak gently pressed between two plates, the meat should conform and have very flat surfaces, great for searing! Don't squish it flat though.
12 - Take the meat outta the bag (it'll be very juicy) and do one last round of salting, but this time by rubbing 1/4 t of baking soda on one side, letting it dry, then flip and use baking soda on the other side.
13 - Leave to dry in the fridge: you may have to flip it once in that time.
14 - Heat a pan on high heat with 2 T of bacon fat. Sear the steak as normal, then put in an oven set to 170*F, turn off the heat, and let the steak warm through with the residual heat. Slice and serve.



If you don't have a machine and wanna do stovetop sous vide:

1 - Use a big ziplock bag and a straw to seal the meat in.
2 - Place small a plate or cake rack in the bottom of a pot to keep the steak from contacting the bottom of the pot directly. Keep a digital thermometer in the pot at all times.
3 - Preheat the oven to 170* F.
4 - Heat the water on the stove to 135*F, turn it off, then plunk in the steak. (at no point in this process should the water bath temp exceed 135*F)
5 - Agitate/stir the water gently as the temp equilibrates for about 10 minutes. The water temp should hover at about 132-133*F with the steakmeat cooling it down, though you may need to flick on the heat now and again for a minute or so. If the air in the bag expands due to the heat, feel free to open it up and suck out the extra air.
6 - Place the entire pot into the oven, and shut off the oven. The residual heat should keep it plenty warm.
7 - Any time the temperature of the water drops below 130*F, turn on the oven to 170*F for about 5 minutes, then shut it off again. The oven is actually pretty well insulated, so you'll only need to check back every half-hour or so. Again, never let the water exceed 135*F. IMO the meat is best at the low-30s.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Yeah I realize it's pretty fussy. Honestly most of those are just 2 minute steps and a lot of waiting. But yeah, I'm used to ridiculously detailed and complex protocols, largely because it's the stuff I'd write out when I was still doing labwork. :science:

EDIT: Oh God, sifting through some of my files I DO write all my recipes like lab protocols. :psyduck:

ShadowCatboy fucked around with this message at 18:00 on May 22, 2013

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
If the steak has been dry enough (say, a full 24 hours in the fridge) and you use enough oil, you won't need any nonstick surface.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

Doh004 posted:

To be fair, the Chive has great collections of pictures of butts.

To keep this steak related, I was quite happy with my medium rare sirloin that I seared up tonight and sliced thingly with some good horseradish on freshly baked bread:



That's definitely a great level of doneness and it looks like it's got a nice crust. But did it just not rest sufficiency? Because that looks like a lot of juice.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
If you guys really want some nice sciency steak porn...

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

Boris Galerkin posted:

This is going to sound dumb but how do I dry my steak in the fridge? I'm not talking about aging but just letting some moisture evaporate for a few hours. Do I wrap it up in a paper towel? Set it on a cooling rack? Or can I just put it on a plate and pop it in the fridge?

e: Also everybody says to use a cast iron skillet but this house doesn't have one and I'm moving soonish so I'm not going to buy one yet but we do have an enameled dutch oven. Can I just sear/cook my steak with the flipping like crazy method using that? It's definitely the heaviest thing in the kitchen. (On a side note, it's a Le Creuset that belonged to a housemate's grandmother, and holy poo poo the price when I looked it up.)

The dutch oven will be tough to handle since you can't get a spatula angled properly to lift it, but it can work if you're careful.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
What kind of cut is it and how thick?

My favorite cut is ribeye, about 1.5" thick. You really don't need anything but salt and pepper.

Though I am going to buy some and try marinading them in reduced milk before patting dry and cooking sous vide. I wanna see if I can possibly squeeze more cow in there somehow.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Experimentin', dude. It's the same process that led me to discover how to make shittons of brown butter and such.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:

I mean, experimenting is good, but usually you have a basis for it rather than making like a 6 year old and making potions out of dirt, water and clay in the sandbox. You're not going to get anything good or interesting out of a milk-marinated steak.

I'm a lab biologist so I have some idea of what I'm doing. :)

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Ca2+ is a pretty major component in activating a ton of enzymes, some of which are proteases that break down other proteins. The big question really is how much Ca2+ is actually soluble. I'm under the impression that the calcium ions are bound to binding proteins in the milk, but pasteurization may have denatured them sufficiently to be released.

In any case that's a bunch of blah word salad. Suffice it to say that I was simply curious and wanted to try something new since I discovered that even small amounts of vinegar have catastrophic effects on a steak and wanted to try something new.

Also my first major was molecular biology, so there's plenty that's close to ochem. :)

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Milk-marinaded steak on the right, comparison with normal steak on the left. Took on a VERY pale hue.





Well. Is this good? I'm not sure if this is good. :stare:

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
12 hour marinade in milk, sous vide for 1 hour at 135* F. Probably should've done it two degrees lower, TBH.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

GrAviTy84 posted:

That you thought this was a good idea, and then after numerous warnings that it was a bad one, you continued anyway. I don't even know what to say. You win internet, you win. :psyboom:

also how does one manage to overcook a steak in an immersion circulator :psyboom: :psyboom: :psyboom:

I currently use a stovetop setup with a digital thermometer and a ceramic pot full of water, so control is more fiddly. 135* is fine though, given that it's ribeye. I just prefer to err on the side of rare.

Also the milksteak is currently in the fridge drying out to prepare it for the sear today, so I can't really say whether it's become horrible or not. Will report back when I sear it for my post-workout dinner when I bulk up on protein and what is hopefully milksteak deliciousness.

One thing I will say though is that the texture of the steak seemed more tender than usual. However, given that I don't have a control steak to compare it to this is fairly speculative.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Welp, here we go!


As usual I sear my steaks in bacon fat. Since I didn't have any on hand, I had to render some down.





The milksteak. Step 1: Marinade for 12 hours in milk. Step 2: Pat dry, season with salt & pepper on both sides and air-dry in the fridge on a cake rack overnight. Step 3: Sous vide 135* for 1 hour. Step 4: Air dry overnight again.

Note the somewhat leathery appearance of the surface. While I had some concerns over the milk proteins burning in the pan, I also suspected that with the sous vide the proteins would just incorporate themselves into the meat. Hypothesis confirmed.





Step 5: Sear for a beautiful crust!





Wow! The meat turned out to be just fine. At the recommendation of goons who like Always Sunny in Philadelphia more than I do, it was paired with a side of gourmet Jelly Belly brand jellybeans.





Sorry about the washed-out appearance. Combination of fluorescent lighting and a poo poo cellphone camera led to a glare-ridden and washed-out photo. In reality the jellybean was much greener and more vibrant than this image suggests.

The lime flavor really helped elevate the flavor of the meat with its crisp, aromatic quality. Bubblegum did wonders to accentuate the fatty richness, and the smoky flavor of the crust took licorice jelly bellies to a whole new level. Pretty decadent, and the variety of flavors from the Jelly Bellies made the experience of eating the steak a real adventure with the dozens of new flavor combinations available!










...I'm just making GBS threads you guys, obviously.

The outer skirt of the ribeye was succulent and tender as usual. The inner "eye" of the ribeye had a slightly more acidic quality, probably from the lactic acid in the milk. However, it wasn't unpleasant at all, and actually gave the meat a more savory quality. Could've used another slight dusting of salt and a hint more pepper given the thickness of the meat, but overall it was good.

The meaty quality was still there, and in fact some of the fattier pieces took on a very mild milky/cheesy flavor that I kinda liked. Overall I'd experiment again, maybe with a longer marinade. For now though I think I'll do a more classic version with the second ribeye this weekend.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
I actually did try that once, and I didn't really like how it turned out. Hence the use of whole milk this time.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

Republicans posted:

Hey, a steak thread. Just the place to share my recent find:



I buy non-graded halal strip loin at my local restaurant depot for a long-running lunch special because it's almost always better marbled than even the choice grade stuff and is cheaper than the select. But holy loving poo poo did I strike gold yesterday. This was all had for $4.16/lb. I ended up going back, buying another for the special and keeping this for myself. I gave away most of them to fellow employees but I kept six.

Now I just need to wait for an afternoon with no rain so I can grill them. :)

You are an amazing amazing employer just giving that gorgeous meat out. If I were that nice I'd probably do a staff lunch with those beauties.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
How... how the gently caress is that possible? :psyduck:

EDIT: How long did grating all that steak take anyways? Like, an hour?

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Ghee is basically the liquid leftovers from when you make brown butter. I recommend using a whisk and stirring the simmering butter as it cooks and the solids brown, so the delicious brown stuff doesn't get stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Brown butter is fantastic for caramels and other dessert sauces, and it's also great paired with savory elements. Traditionally you use some sage with brown butter and serve it with butternut squash.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Personally I just keep whisking once the butter starts to foam. This also helps reincorporate the foamy milky components back into the oil and gets it to cook through as well. Whisking also helps keep the solids from sticking.

I generally take the pan off the heat once the solids start to turn a peanut-shell color. The residual heat from the pan will continue to cook the butter until it takes on a more rusty hue. You don't want it to get darker than that.

EDIT: Yeah looking at that video I would still prefer to whisk. Like I said, it reincorporates all the foam so by the end of the cooking process there's none, and the solids are loose and not stuck to the pan. Might not be as good for a pure solid-free ghee, but it's great for making brown butter solids for sauces.

ShadowCatboy fucked around with this message at 07:42 on Mar 9, 2014

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

Le0 posted:

I know it's not hard to make steak but gently caress me if I succeeded in making something good yet.
I recently bought a cast iron pan and the GF said "I don't want to be a downer but this is not as good as the regular steak we make in a lovely pan". Of course I'm on a quest to prove her wrong because STEAK. :argh:

I think my problem was that the cast iron was not warm enough. I cooked some potatoes before the steak so it was already kinda warm but I did not let it go for long enough. Also my second error was that I added canola oil directly at the beginning which resulted in a shitload of smoke and I kinda got scared.

Also I'm from Europe so we do not call stuff the same I think. I used entrecôte which I believe are ribeye steak but they were not that thick. Next time I'll get one from the butcher instead of the supermarket to get it slightly thicker (~ 2cm seems good? or even thicker?).
I will put oil directly on the steak as opposed to the pan and get it hotter.
And also I think I will flip more often instead of just once so that I can get a feel for the crust forming and probe the steak to learn where rare/medium rare is. Or maybe I should get one of these thermapen?

Is there anything else? gently caress me it's steak, why can't I get the great steak I see posted in here, I feel like only half a man :eng99:

Canola oil has a pretty low smoke point so I wouldn't use that for searing. Bacon fat's worked really well for me. Its smoke point is only a bit higher, but it also imparts a sliiight baconey richness to the steak.

Oiling the steak is perfectly fine, though I'd add just a splash of oil to the pan right before searing too, using a silicone spatula to spread it around a bit.

2 cm is way too thin. Definitely go for 3.5 cm minimum.

Flipping often is perfectly fine. Just remember to rest it after searing. If you wanna get a really good crust, dust the steak in a little baking soda a while before searing and pop it in the fridge on a cake rack to dry the exterior a bit.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

Le0 posted:

Thanks. What oil would you recommend then? This list shows that Canola oil with high Oleic content has quite a high smoke point (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point) I have no clue if I have high Oleic content tho...

EDIT: You just suggested bacon fat... Sorry I'm still asleep

Just looking at the chart, clarified butter seems to have a high smoke point. Plus you'd get delicious brown butter bits when you make it. Yum!

Just make the clarified butter and pour off the oil, and reserve the browned bits for something else. I said it before, but whisk the butter as you brown it to reincorporate the foam.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless



Akaushi Wagyu beef grass-fed ribeye. poo poo was 24$ a pound, but I'm gonna make it worth every cent. Salting it at 0.75% proportion of salt to steakmeat by mass, leaving it to dry a little overnight in the fridge on a rack. Plan to sous vide it at 130* F for 6-8 hours before chilling and then searing both sides until crusty in clarified butter.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Grass-fed meat naturally has much less marbling and a very different texture.

Edit for info: http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/resources/grass-fed-beef-grain-fed-beef

ShadowCatboy fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Sep 26, 2014

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
As I understand it, Akaushi wagyu just signifies the cattle breed. Grass VS corn is the determining factor in the marbling. However, grass-fed beef is said to be better for the cow as well as the environment, and is believed to produce a cut with a healthier balance of fats, which is why it's such a big thing now. Makes sense, since I bought this at Berkeley Bowl, which is all about organic, locally sourced hippie goodness.

I've only tried grass-fed steaks once before and thought it was kinda meh. This is so far just another experiment. Hope it's worth the price though.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

d3rt posted:

Wagyu is typically grass fed for the first part of its life then gradually fed a mix of grain, not just corn. $24/lb is cheap, hence that's not very marbled.

I think you'd be better off saving a few $$ per pound and getting regular organic 100% grass-fed instead of paying a premium for a breed.

For fun:
http://www.costco.com/Japanese-Wagyu-Boneless-Ribeye-Roast-A-5-Grade.product.100082950.html

:stare: I would love to get my hands on that entire slab.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

Grizzled Patriarch posted:

Yeah, the crust is totally black. Apparently some people love it but I have no earthly idea how, unless all of your taste buds are burned out or something. It was like eating a really, really good steak that someone had rolled in a charcoal pit. It was still good, but it would have been way better with just a traditional sear. The crispy texture was cool, but not at the expense of flavor. I just wasn't sure if it was one of those "you just aren't sophisticated enough to understand" things, like how most people have to slowly learn to appreciate good wines and cheeses.

Also jesus working in a steel mill sounds terrifying.

I always try my best to appreciate local customs, but that honestly sounds hideous. It's perfectly possible to get a solid crusty crust without turning the outer layer to ash like going through decon on The Andromeda Strain.

Just air-dry your 1.5+ inch thick steak overnight (I prefer to sous vide beforehand) in the fridge, then toss into a pan straight from the fridge with a generous amount of bacon fat. Flip every 30 seconds for a total of maybe 4 minutes. A very hard, dry crust will develop that is crunchy and delicious while leaving the interior wonderfully supple.

Some people recommend putting the steak in the freezer for 20 minutes also, to lower the internal temperature even further to prevent overcooking.

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

C-Euro posted:

Thanks for the steak advice, I thought about it some more and remembered that the one time I really got a smoke-free steak prep was using this entry off the GWS Wiki. I would imagine the actual cooking part (sear 40-50s stovetop on each side, cook at 450 for 2-3 min each side) generally translates across all steaks?

Well wait are you using just olive oil? I'm pretty sure that has a very low smoke point...

EDIT: Also that steak has a total lack of crust.

EDIT2: Yeah that's your problem right there. Olive oil starts smoking at about 325* F. Something like clarified butter starts smoking at 450* F. Switch to a fat with a higher smoke point and you'll reduce this problem dramatically. Dunno why that recipe calls for olive oil that sounds like a terrible idea.

ShadowCatboy fucked around with this message at 08:04 on Jan 5, 2015

ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

QuarkMartial posted:

What temp should I pull the steaks to have them coast up to medium rare?

Also, I've got leftover bacon fat I'd like to use in place of oil. Good idea or bad idea? What's the smoke point?

We are frozen in here, so I'm thinking of trying the reverse sear method to cut down on smoke since I can't air the house out.

Bacon fat is p much the only thing I'll sear my steaks in. It's fantastic poo poo.

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ShadowCatboy
Jan 22, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
I do the same, but I also add a couple pinches of baking soda to facilitate the maillard reaction.

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