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Myths about cooking steak that need to go away (2013)

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Re: Myths about cooking steak that need to go away (2013)

#241

Post by na85 »

shagie wrote: post #238
tptacek wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100%. I've done just about everything you can do to a steak, and for the past year or so my bulletproof standard method has simply been "set toaster oven to 250, cook steak for 20 minutes until it's 110-115, then take it out and sear it". It's better than the circulator steaks.

Lets see what Cook My Meat says about it http://up.csail.mit.edu/science-of-cooking/ 3cm Steak starts at 72°F 250°F and 250°F for 20:00 72°F and 300°F for 4:00 300°F and 72°F for 4:00 72°F and 72°F for 5:00 Prior to searing, 250F at a 3cm thick steak takes 17 minutes to get to an internal temperature of 200°F. The transition from medium to well at the innermost part takes place at just over 10m when cooking at 250°F…

Only chumps eschew an in-oven thermometer.

Why rely on calculated estimates when you can just measure the internal temp?

Re: Myths about cooking steak that need to go away (2013)

#242

Post by tayo42 »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #66
andrewbarba wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kenji is an absolute legend in the culinary world. I highly suggest you checkout his youtube channel, his wealth of knowledge (backed by his own experiments) is simply unmatched.

In the home cook world I guess? In professional circles he's respected within his niche (making advanced technique accessible to home cooks) but not particularly influential beyond that.

IDK if he made techniques accessible. I found his content interesting but pretty over the top. His stuff feels more like myth busters for cooking. Entertaining possibly educational but idk how its always practical. He has some thing about tonkotsu ramen, that it needs to be this big two day boil event. Emphasis on need. I threw some pork bones in a pressure cooker and it was just as good.

Re: Myths about cooking steak that need to go away (2013)

#243

Post by stickfigure »

csdvrx wrote: post #48
tptacek wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try it both ways, yours and the reverse sear. Don't just do a subjective taste test, but rather take a cross section of both steaks. You should find that your pan-grilled steaks have a much bigger band of grey meat --- a much more fluid gradation from gray/seared to pink/rare --- than the reverse-seared steak. That's the point of the reverse sear (which is the opposite of what you're doing); "cook" the steak (bringin…

> You should find that your pan-grilled steaks have a much bigger band of grey meat --- a much more fluid gradation from gray/seared to pink/rare --- than the reverse-seared steak I like meat rare, so the grey band has been one of my concerns. But if the oil reaches a high enough temperature while the steak comes directly from the fridge, the coldness of the meat is often enough to prevent the grey band. My method de…

It sounds like you're going for black-and-blue, char on the outside but still mooing in the center. It works for lean cuts like filet but if you try it with fatty cuts like ribeye (my particular favorite) then the fat doesn't render and the overall effect is less juicy and flavorful.

Re: Myths about cooking steak that need to go away (2013)

#246

Post by calf »

cthalupa wrote: post #191
squeaky-clean wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Filets absolutely can be and are dry aged. They're again just even more expensive than a dry aged strip steak. A filet is almost always more expensive than a strip, in the supermarket, at the butcher, or in the steakhouse.

>Filets absolutely can be and are dry aged. They're again just even more expensive than a dry aged strip steak. Even as someone that has a dedicated dry aging unit, I don't know that I would recommend dry aging filet. I don't count the pellicle as waste, since I make use of all of it, but you do have to cut off a decent chunk - it's too tough to eat on the steak itself. The end result is that you just don't have a wh…

I didn't know people could reuse the pellicle. I thought it has bacteria and sometimes molds on it? Because of the fermentation.

Re: Myths about cooking steak that need to go away (2013)

#248

Post by GravitasFailure »

testfoobar wrote: post #126

Kenji's sous vide steak guide is where he puts all his theory into action. It is my go to guide: https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-...

All of the Serious Eats sous vide guides are absolute gold mines.

Re: Myths about cooking steak that need to go away (2013)

#249

Post by calf »

tptacek wrote: post #39
csdvrx wrote: post #27

My favorite method (and no guy tasting my steaks has ever said anything but "hmmmmm"): use salt on both sides the day before (to remove moisture), keep the steak in the fridge until the last moment (to keep its temperature low and limit the risk of overcooking the inside), meanwhile put a decent amount of vegetable oil in a pan, wait until its viscosity is reduce to that of water (this indicate high temp, that will r…

Try it both ways, yours and the reverse sear. Don't just do a subjective taste test, but rather take a cross section of both steaks. You should find that your pan-grilled steaks have a much bigger band of grey meat --- a much more fluid gradation from gray/seared to pink/rare --- than the reverse-seared steak. That's the point of the reverse sear (which is the opposite of what you're doing); "cook" the steak (bringin…

Like the above comment I also usually get cheap supermarket cuts which tend to be quite thin.

The couple times I tried reverse searing a 1/2" supermarket steak, I ended up overcooking. But I might try it again with a lower oven temperature, or refrigerating before searing.

Meanwhile, traditionally pansearing a thin steak works, I just flip and scoot it around until there's some crust, then let it rest. I think that's what they were talking about, simple method that works.

Re: Myths about cooking steak that need to go away (2013)

#250

Post by rrssh »

Lazare wrote: post #141
ckastner wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also it's not entirely insane to believe bones impart flavour Brown stock is made from roasted bones, among other things, so I too feel somewhat skeptical about the claim that bones cannot import at least some sort of flavor.

With brown stock, you're eating bits of the bone. With a bone in steak, you're eating bits of meat that have been near the bone. It's not impossible that it would have an impact, but there's no obvious mechanism either. (And as the author points out, there's no particular reason why, even if flavour transfer was happening, it'd go the direction you want either.)

Yeah, both directions at the same time, the flavors mix up, trading some meat for bone, that seems clear enough.
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