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How to buy a good steak?

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    #32
    robindch
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,417 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    kuro68k wrote: »
    I see the chefs you YouTube always add loads of salt, and I'm slightly allergic too it, but damn it does make all the difference...
    Salt is a flavour modifier which can be used to limit or hide the taste of a poorly-cooked steak - that's why people recommend to use it so much. Leave out the salt and you'll taste the steak without the smoke and mirrors - some diners prefer that, some cooks don't.

    Anyway, best idea perhaps is to try cook - using the instructions above, or whatever minor variations work for you - fillet steaks with and without salt. A regular fillet is dead easy and my own kid produced her first really good fillet steak when she was perhaps ten years old so anybody should be able to do it. Don't be afraid to experiment to find what you like.

    Other cowmeat like the marbelled cote-de-boeuf (ribeye), 'cowboy' (ribeye + bone) and the usually dismal sirloin aren't always delivered in standard thicknesses, so your cooking times - sear + stand - will differ. An internal meat thermometer helps and you can find on the internet tables which map cooking-level to temperature.

    Anyway, fillet's the easiest, so best try that one to start with.


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    #33
    Micky 32
    Registered Users Posts: 6,556 ✭✭✭Micky 32


    dudara wrote: »

    In general, you want to buy good quality, grass-fed steak. Irish steak is predominantly grass-fed, whereas US can be predominantly grain-fed.


    I'm in the USA a lot and i find US steaks are nicer than here overall.


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    #34
    bodice ripper
    Registered Users Posts: 4,681 ✭✭✭bodice ripper


    Rib-eye is your only man. In a hot pan. Butter, salt, pepper. 45 seconds each side. Pair with merlot in whatever receptacle happens to be clean. Allow steak and wine to chambre before you start.

    *sirloin is garbage.


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    #35
    RasTa
    Closed Accounts Posts: 15,116 ✭✭✭✭RasTa


    robindch wrote: »

    Not sure if you had time to read my post before rushing headlong to the keyboard to reply to it - salt is optional and you can cook a perfectly good steak without using it. And many people do and many people don't. It's a matter of taste. Personally, as above, I avoid salt as the steak tastes fine without it and I don't like including ingredients which are prominently bad for my guests' health, as I would like them to be able to return sometime in the future without congestive heart failure or other blood-pressure related diseases.

    If you've gone to the trouble of buying and maintaining professional-grade carbon-steel skillets, then by all means, ditch the nonstick suggestion above and use the skillet instead, but adjust the sear-time and stand-time to suit.

    Most people haven't gone to the considerable expense of carbon-steel skillets and get by just fine with a regular non-stick frying pan - for which the above, precise, instructions are perfectly adequate. And, I can't help but notice, which precise instructions are completely absent from everybody else's post.

    Health issues? Way to overreact. You will also ruin your non stick pan cooking steak on it.

    Stainless steel will do for steak once you season the pan regularly.

    Fillet is also the most boring of all steak cuts, not enough fat on it.


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    #36
    Feisar
    Registered Users Posts: 6,672 ✭✭✭Feisar


    Dizzyblonde wrote: »
    As far as I'm concerned you can't beat an Aldi ribeye, sold in twos in a black and gold pack. They're consistently good, full of flavour and really tender :)

    I'll agree for the most part however the standard pack ribeye isn't much different. I've had a few black packs be a bit tough. Also the standard pack is cheaper.

    First they came for the socialists...



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    #37
    Feisar
    Registered Users Posts: 6,672 ✭✭✭Feisar


    Anyone do the reverse sear method? I've tried it once so far and it was good.

    First they came for the socialists...



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    #38
    janmaree
    Registered Users Posts: 472 ✭✭janmaree


    Choosing and cooking steak is a matter of personal taste but when you're starting out, you don't know that yet. My Dad taught me to really sear a steak on both sides and as a result I like mine rare, really rare! I think the fat is crucial and always start my steaks on the fat side in a really hot dry pan and let it render. Then when you have a fair amount of liquid fat in the pan let the steaks down on their sides and cook until they're done to your liking. One of the most important things imo is the age, 28 days or longer is best and I'll always choose a steak that is a dark colour rather than bright red and with some marbling which looks a bit like a road map! If you don't like fat then don't eat it but DO cook with it on and cut it off at the table. The dog will love you for it ;)


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    #39
    robindch
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,417 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    bodice ripper wrote: »
    Rib-eye is your only man. In a hot pan. Butter, salt, pepper. 45 seconds each side.
    Butter smokes at around 150 degrees centigrade, while a searing pan will cook at over 200 degrees. You can increase the butter's smoke point by mixing with a high-temp oil like peanut oil, or by using clarified butter, but without doing something, you'll end up with a carbonized flavour to the steak.
    bodice ripper wrote: »
    *sirloin is garbage.
    Agreed.


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