I just grilled the best MOTHER^&**& steak ever....

[Kouki]

IMO searing is the IDEAL way to prepare a steak, better than grilling.

 

[gourimoko]

1. Pre-heat 500 degree F oven.

2. Put cast iron pan in 500 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

3. Put cast iron pan on stove top burner on high for 5-10 minutes.

4. Put ribeye steak (or any boneless piece of cow meat) that has been generously coated in canola oil, kosher salt, and pepper on both sides in cast iron skillet for 30 seconds on each side. This is called the sear. Your house/apartment should smoke up and your smoke alarms should go off if you do it right (so you should disable your smoke alarms).

5. After the 30 second sear on both sides, take the cast iron pan with the steak in it and put it in the 500 degree F oven for 2 minutes on each side (flip steak after 2 minutes on first side).

6. After 4 total minutes is up, take pan out of oven and put steak on a bowl that is upside down on a dinner plate. Put a piece of tin-foil over the steak to keep it warm. Let it sit for 3 minutes (you do this so that the juices do not dissolve the "crust" that you create from the oil/salt).

7. Consume.

8. Best steak you will ever eat if you do it right....steak should be medium rare (you should be using a steak that's roughly an inch thick...if it's thinner....it'll be more medium/well done.

Yes, this.. Many restaurants prepare their steaks in a very similar fashion. Another method of doing this, if your stovetop puts out enough heat, is to use a stainless steal pan (not a non-stick pan!) on maximum heat. Wait for the pan to become very hot.

To test the pan's temperature, I recommend the water method. Take a small bit of water and drop it into the pan. If the water hits the pan and just bubbles away, its too cool. If the water scatters into dozens of little sphereoid balls and then boils away, its still too cool. If the water forms only a few, larger sphereoids, that roll around in the pan slowing boiling away, the pan is hot enough and ready for searing. And if the water violently disintegrates, the pan is too hot.

Place the seasoned steak into the pan and turn only once for steaks 2" or thinner for medium rare. Should take roughly 3-4 mins each side for medium rare, but it depends on the cut. The leaner the cut, the longer it takes, but only by a minute or so. To cook with further doneness, you'll need to finish in the oven - do not flip twice.

A good finisher is a butter and herb compote melted over top the steak, a side of roasted herb fingerling potatoes, and finish with a sauce made from the jus from the pan, adding butter, a rich shiitake mushroom stock and a pinch of corn starch.. Drizzle sauce over plate.

Serve that shit up....

 

[Cratylus]

I have personally used "the BigMar Method" about 6-8 times since he first posted it last year and I can tell you emphatically that it is the best steak you will ever eat. I'm partial to sirloins, and this method makes an absolutely PERFECT sirloin steak. Better than anything I've ever eaten at ANY steakhouse, and I've eaten at some good ones.

 

[Chris]

I was supposed to eat leftover putannesca for dinner, then this thread popped up. Just got back from the butcher's.

Happy Father's Day, RCF! Eat some mostly rare red meat!

Got my old man $40 worth of filet mignon for Father's Day. Shit was awesome.

 

[The Common Man]

[deleted]

 

[neyvit]

1. Pre-heat 500 degree F oven.

2. Put cast iron pan in 500 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

3. Put cast iron pan on stove top burner on high for 5-10 minutes.

4. Put ribeye steak (or any boneless piece of cow meat) that has been generously coated in canola oil, kosher salt, and pepper on both sides in cast iron skillet for 30 seconds on each side. This is called the sear. Your house/apartment should smoke up and your smoke alarms should go off if you do it right (so you should disable your smoke alarms).

5. After the 30 second sear on both sides, take the cast iron pan with the steak in it and put it in the 500 degree F oven for 2 minutes on each side (flip steak after 2 minutes on first side).

6. After 4 total minutes is up, take pan out of oven and put steak on a bowl that is upside down on a dinner plate. Put a piece of tin-foil over the steak to keep it warm. Let it sit for 3 minutes (you do this so that the juices do not dissolve the "crust" that you create from the oil/salt).

7. Consume.

8. Best steak you will ever eat if you do it right....steak should be medium rare (you should be using a steak that's roughly an inch thick...if it's thinner....it'll be more medium/well done.

Based on the recs in this thread, I'm def trying this tonight. Can you explain what you mean by step 6 tho? I don't quite get that part.

 

[gourimoko]

Based on the recs in this thread, I'm def trying this tonight. Can you explain what you mean by step 6 tho? I don't quite get that part.

If you take a steak straight from the heat to your plate, when you cut into it all the juices will flow right out and onto the plate; leaving you with a dry steak. By allowing the steak to rest for 3-5 minutes, covered with tented aluminum foil (tear open the top slightly so it doesn't steam and carry over to medium or worse), you let the juices settle and cool so they're not exploding out of the steak and instead resting inside.

Think of it like this.. Much of those juices, when brought to room temperature, would solidify into a pasty fat. By letting them cool slightly, they'll stay in the meat and make it much more enjoyable to eat.

Also be sure to cut the steak properly, against the grain, for every bite. It makes a tremendous difference in taste, and texture.

 

[ssopata]

On top of everything else, make sure your steak is at room temperature before grilling on pan searing. It'll make a huge difference.

Ribeye's are the best to grill....assuming that it's a bone in Ribeye.


I'm not a fan of different rubs or sauces, just kosher salt and cracked black pepper before throwing on the grill. Occassionally I'll add a steak sauce I had down at The Bourbon House in NOLA.

Andouille Steak Sauce

1 cup Worcestershire
½ cup Crystal Hot Sauce
1 Lemon peeled and cut in half
5 Fresh thyme sprigs
8 Peppercorn
2 Bay leaf
2tbsp Cream
¾ # Butter – cut in cubes
¼ cup Andouille – small diced and rendered

Combine first 6 ingredients in a pot and reduce until thick and syrupy. Add
The cream and reduce again. Slowly whisk in the butter a little at a time, making
Sure it doesn’t get too hot or too cold. Strain and keep warm. Add andouille.
This recipe yields 2 cups.

This stuff's the real deal!

 

[Otsego Mar]

If you take a steak straight from the heat to your plate, when you cut into it all the juices will flow right out and onto the plate; leaving you with a dry steak. By allowing the steak to rest for 3-5 minutes, covered with tented aluminum foil (tear open the top slightly so it doesn't steam and carry over to medium or worse), you let the juices settle and cool so they're not exploding out of the steak and instead resting inside.

Think of it like this.. Much of those juices, when brought to room temperature, would solidify into a pasty fat. By letting them cool slightly, they'll stay in the meat and make it much more enjoyable to eat.

Also be sure to cut the steak properly, against the grain, for every bite. It makes a tremendous difference in taste, and texture.

Well said. And just to let everyone know, I've cooked literally 40-50 steaks this way (mostly ribeyes or delmonicos). If you live in a small apartment, or even a small house with poor ventilation, you're going to need to open your windows and gets some fans rolling...otherwise you will be smothered by the smoke

 

[Kouki]

If anyone has never tried a ribeye you really need to. It's the best steak there is IMO, certainly the most flavorful. Ribeyes and flank steaks get overlooked by a lot of people.

 

[neyvit]

If you take a steak straight from the heat to your plate, when you cut into it all the juices will flow right out and onto the plate; leaving you with a dry steak. By allowing the steak to rest for 3-5 minutes, covered with tented aluminum foil (tear open the top slightly so it doesn't steam and carry over to medium or worse), you let the juices settle and cool so they're not exploding out of the steak and instead resting inside.

Think of it like this.. Much of those juices, when brought to room temperature, would solidify into a pasty fat. By letting them cool slightly, they'll stay in the meat and make it much more enjoyable to eat.

Also be sure to cut the steak properly, against the grain, for every bite. It makes a tremendous difference in taste, and texture.

Alright, gotcha. But I was also confused about the actual instruction of "take pan out of oven and put steak on a bowl that is upside down on a dinner plate." Either I'm an idiot (likely) or the wording is off. I cant quite picture wtf this means.

Edit: So I was looking at YouTube videos of searing steak, and this video looks nearly identical to BigMar's method. Good stuff. It also answered my question (that I'm an idiot).
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[Otsego Mar]

Alright, gotcha. But I was also confused about the actual instruction of "take pan out of oven and put steak on a bowl that is upside down on a dinner plate." Either I'm an idiot (likely) or the wording is off. I cant quite picture wtf this means.

Edit: So I was looking at YouTube videos of searing steak, and this video looks nearly identical to BigMar's method. Good stuff. It also answered my question (that I'm an idiot).
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Yes....Alton took that method from me

Alton's my hero. As for the bowl thing...you're just putting a bowl upside down on a plate....and you put the steak on top of that bowl so that the juices drip down onto the plate....you don't want your steak sitting in it's own juices until you're ready to eat it (which is what the 3 minute rest period does as further explained/expanded on by gouri).

Here are some pictures of a recent steak I made with this method.

 

[bob2the2nd]

quick question what if you have a thicker steak (im thinking filet) or prefer a medium (as opposed to medium rare) steak. should I leave the steak covered a little longer on the bowl or just add 30 seconds of cooking time to each side while in the oven?

 

[Otsego Mar]

quick question what if you have a thicker steak (im thinking filet) or prefer a medium (as opposed to medium rare) steak. should I leave the steak covered a little longer on the bowl or just add 30 seconds of cooking time to each side while in the oven?

Add cooking time in the oven to each side. It may take a few times to get used to the exact times/temperatures you're looking for. It did for me.

 

[gourimoko]

quick question what if you have a thicker steak (im thinking filet) or prefer a medium (as opposed to medium rare) steak. should I leave the steak covered a little longer on the bowl or just add 30 seconds of cooking time to each side while in the oven?

If its a filet mignon, I wouldn't cook it beyond medium-rare to begin with, you'll ruin it. If you want a medium cooked steak you're better off buying a cheaper cut because the more done the steak the more they taste the same. But if cooking a filet, you'll probably also want to be careful because you'll almost certainly need to sauce it (filets have the least amount of beefy flavor of all the cuts), so handling the pan to get the jus can be difficult if its 500 degree cast iron.

Filets are rarely eaten straight-up without a sauce...

Btw.. to test doneness, just press on it very gently with your index and middle fingers.. If looking for medium-rare, the steak should be as firm as the fatty porton of where your thumb meets your palm. More firm = more done, less firm = more rare.