/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.17457786]

How do i up my steak game?
What i'm doing currently:
>steak out of fridge
>rub with salt
>preheat pan (cast iron)
>ghee, black pepper corns, halved clove of garlic
>steak in and turn every like 90 to 120 seconds
Could i do brining maybe, does that work with beef? Maybe put it in wine instead of water? Just looking for input here

[Anonymous No.17458169]

well what is your issue? steak is like the easiest fucking thing to cook

[Anonymous No.17458209]

>>17457786
Flipping ever 15 seconds will make the sear more consistent. It's a bit of a pain, but if you're trying to impress, well worth it.

[Anonymous No.17458295]

>>17458169
no issue i just want to try some new things out. steak is the only thing where i really put effort into cooking
>>17458209
ok will try, thank you

[Anonymous No.17458298]

>>17457786
Do not brine your steak, like at all. You will ruin your steak.

Pulling your steak out of the fridge makes literally no difference.
Basting your steak with aromatics makes less difference than you'd think and it's one of those retarded things that home cooks do because it thinks it gives them more agency over the final product. It does help but it's less crucial than you'd think.

Here are a few quick and dirty techniques for steak that I use as a professional chef:

>Sous Vide
>pre-sear steak
>seal in bag with oil and aromatics
>cook for 2-3 hours at 135
>pull out and immediately sear

>Reverse Sear
>throw steak in oven on rack at 225-250
>when steak hits desired temp, pull out of oven and immediately sear
>wah lah

>Alain Ducasse
>fuck those idiots who say you need a ripping hot pan
>use medium to medium low heat and never go above it
>start steak on fat cap and render for ten minutes
>then sear for ten minutes on each side
>baste if you're feeling fancy, use a whole head of garlic cut in half
>rest for half of cooking time (so, 30-40 minutes of cooking, 15 minutes resting

>Grillin' (my personal favorite)
>use an infrared grill, fuck traditional gas
>cook it full heat as hard as you can
>do not rest your steak ever

Generally, I never rest my steak unless I'm doing the Alain Ducasse technique. Resting ruins your goddamned steak.

[Anonymous No.17458309]

>>17458298
>I use as a professional chef
>sous vide
>30-40 minutes of cooking
>infrared grill
why are you spouting dogshit?

[Anonymous No.17458318]

>>17458309
shhhh, you're half as smart as you think you are and twice as slow to realize it as you ought to be.

[Anonymous No.17458330]

>>17458318
shut the fuck up you turbofaggot you need to lurk more before trying to troll

[Anonymous No.17458343]

>>17458330
I've been here on /ck/ for like 15 years? Eat my dick, I bet you don't even know what the /ck/ advent calendar was.

[Anonymous No.17458359]

>>17458343
>I've been here on /ck/ for like 15 years?
LOL shut the fuck up cheese dick

[Anonymous No.17458404]

>>17458298
Fool. Dry brining is god tier.

[Anonymous No.17458531]

>>17458298
https://youtu.be/BafxVRwTwUw

you need this

[Anonymous No.17458540]

>>17457786
Butter baste it. Unironically that easy.

[Anonymous No.17458545]

>>17457786
compound butter while resting aka the non-retarded 'seasoning my chopping board'

[Anonymous No.17458549]

>>17457786
If you want it juicier: sear, lower heat and cook it longer on each side with less flipping. Every flip dries the steak out more.
If you want more flavor try making a seasoned oil to sear it in. Basically heat oil to 350, add your spices/garlic and let the heat cook the flavor into the oil. Then strain the oil and sear your steak in the oil.

[Anonymous No.17458583]

>>17457786
You either salt hours or a day ahead of time or just before it goes on the heat. Never before you preheat the pan. Bad timing on that. Sometimes I salt and let sit uncovered in the fridge for a day. That's dry brining and also removing moisture for a quicker sear. Of course it depends on the cut you are cooking. Some steaks I sous vide for a few hours, some I cook cold straight from the fridge.
Also try fish sauce instead of salt or put smushed anchovies on top after the final flip.

[Anonymous No.17458629]

>>17458531
resting steaks is for midwits.

[Anonymous No.17458650]

https://youtu.be/02tRxM_1VsE

[Anonymous No.17458665]

>>17458629
says the lackwit who can't figure out how to do it properly

[Anonymous No.17458671]

>>17458298
What do you do if customers want a blue rare steak? I'm assuming that your restaurant sous vides a very large amount of steaks/enough for a shift ahead of time. Do you just pull a random one out of the refrigerator instead? I know this is a dumb question but pulling out a random one seems like it would be a lot less flavorful than your method and might upset the customer if they were expecting a steak like you described with the oil and aromatic marinade.

[Anonymous No.17458856]

>>17458665
Retard, I've rested steaks in every manner imaginable, from a 175 degree oven to a sous vide butter bath to foil tent on your goddamn cutting board.

It's a meme, and you're an idiot.

You get marginally better juice distribution but ruin your fucking crust and end up with a lukewarm steak. Pass.

[Anonymous No.17458866]

>>17458856
>I did it wrong, therefore its a meme!

[Anonymous No.17458869]

>>17457786
Montreal steak seasoning, nonstick pan, butter

[Anonymous No.17458872]

>>17458671
Yeah, blue rare would just be cooked in a traditional sear.

The oil marinade has less impact than you'd think, and as someone else accurately noted in this thread, a compound butter will do a better job than a baste or marinade.

[Anonymous No.17458880]

>>17458866
Sure, I did it wrong, says the fucktard sending me grill manufacturer videos lol

[Anonymous No.17458929]

>>17458880
>gr-grill manufacturers don't know how grilling works!
I'm starting to see why you can't figure out how to rest properly

[Anonymous No.17459070]

>>17457786
Sear then bake

[Anonymous No.17459079]

>>17458856
I kind of agree about resting. A medium rare steak is not that hot compared to most foods anyway, sometimes when it's rested it feels really cold. I still rest my thicker steaks for 5 minutes but I am not sure it helps.
I also think that water distribution isn't what makes a steal feel juicy, it's more about fat and how far the proteins have denatured.

[Anonymous No.17459080]

Don't turn it so much other than that you probably are good for pan fried steak

[Anonymous No.17459089]

>>17459070
Oh yeah, you do want to bake, that was a little trick I learned from a steak cooking friend

You could also add some rosemary and thyme for seasoning? It's really hard to fuck up steak though

[Anonymous No.17459102]

>>17457786
Stop flipping it so much, let it build up a proper crust on the side. Everything else is just experimentation to your liking, but if you keep flipping the steak like a madman you're just gonna dry it out. High heat, sear for like 2-3 minutes on each side, do not poke the steak, do not jiggle the steak, let the steak cook. Cooking steak is not some sort of arcane skill.

[Anonymous No.17459169]

>>17459079
Exactly, and your own saliva contributes significantly to the perceived juiciness of food. A hot, crusty steak will make you salivate more than a lukewarm, soggy steak.

[Anonymous No.17459173]

>>17458929
If I want to learn how to build a pellet grill, I'll talk to someone who builds grills.

If I want to learn how to cook a steak, I'll talk to a chef or a food scientist.

If I want to learn how retards think, I'll talk to you.

[Anonymous No.17459233]

>>17459102
I always seem to get a better crust if I flip a lot. If I let it sit too long on one side it curls and the edges brown while the center pulls up and goes grey. Scoring the fat doesn't stop this from happening, but flipping does for some reason.

>>17457786
>putting a garlic clove into a pan before steak
I have no idea how that could possibly work out, the garlic would be carbon by the end.

[Anonymous No.17459442]

>>17457786
theres only so much you can do to a steak

maybe get higher end meats, perhaps look into smoking other meats

[Anonymous No.17459490]

>>17457786
rubbing it with salt just adds salt. rub it down with a vegetable bullion cube to add both salt and flavor.
also you should only flip once, repeatedly flipping interrupts the maillard reactions by allowing moisture to flow back to the surface so the next time it's on the bottom you have to cook that water out again. if you genuinely believe flipping is helping then you need to experiment with your heat management, because it should not be necessary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s5G1lr61VQ

[Anonymous No.17460302]

>>17459490
bruh that's not even the right mpw video

[Anonymous No.17460565]

>>17458298
>Basting your steak with aromatics makes less difference than you'd think and it's one of those retarded things that home cooks do because it thinks it gives them more agency over the final product. It does help but it's less crucial than you'd think
I'm aware. Just something i played around with that ended up working for me
>Sous Vide
I'm very suspicious of "just boil it in a plastic bag bro"
>Reverse Sear
>Alain Ducasse
will try
>Grillin'
not an option currently
>>17458540
like making something out of butter and herbs to go by the steak, or like spooning butter over it while searing?
>>17458545
>compound butter
what do you put in?
>>17458549
>lower heat and cook it longer on each side with less flipping. Every flip dries the steak out more
Interesting, but how does that work? What does flipping have to do with dryness?
>>17458583
>You either salt hours or a day ahead of time or just before it goes on the heat. Never before you preheat the pan
Whats the problem with doing it this way? How would it improve if i do it your way?
>>17459490
i see thank yu

[Anonymous No.17460966]

>>17460302
it's a video where he talks about the importance of thinking about what you're doing in the context of heat management. the mogging on some youtube celebrity who has resorted to stupid antics to cope with the fact that his heat is too high, instead of just turning the heat down, is a bonus.

[Anonymous No.17461456]

>>17457786
reverse searing in the microwave is the biggest secret in steak cooking

[Anonymous No.17461518]

>>17457786
>pan nice and hot
>tallow in
>steak salted
>steak in
>2-3 minutes a side for rare depending on actual cut of beef and thickness
>flip only once
>last 30 seconds throw butter, rosemary, garlic and fresh cracked pepper in pan
>baste steak
>take steak out
>top with more black pepper and the fried garlic from the pan, maybe another spoonful of the drippings as well

Done

[Anonymous No.17461605]

>>17460966
Oh, so you're just trying to pawn off the stock cube as your own idea and not something you stole from MPW?

[Anonymous No.17461612]

>>17458298
>Resting steak ruins the steak
>I rest it when using X technique

Please, explain.

[Anonymous No.17461629]

>>17457786
get a thermometer and learn to reverse sear