Searing Beef Steaks

W. Hilditch

Active member
Inviting company over for a steak dinner is a great way to show off your hollowware with a tasty seared steak. As not all steaks are created equal be sure to ask how they like their steaks cooked and then purchase the meat according to the responses per person.

For blue or rare get prime tenderloin.
For medium rare get prime top loin. (NY Strip)
For medium get choice ribeye.
For medium well get choice sirloin.
For well done get select round.

It will simplify the cooking sequence and all will be favorably impressed. You won’t waste good beef or money.

Hilditch
 
That's a great tip! Or, you could tell everybody, "I'm cooking steaks tonight. If you like them medium-rare feel free to come over."
 
And your experience tells you they work because...

The relative thickness of the cuts? Their relative tenderness? The amount of marbling?

I'm not disagreeing with your assessment - cooking those top three cuts to medium well or well, some might consider that a crime against beef. And a medium rare select round probably wouldn't be too enjoyable.

I would offer that the NY strip and the ribeye at those cook temps are pretty much interchangeable and the deciding factor could be how lean the guest prefers their steak.

Unless you're factoring relative thickness, with NY strips typically being thicker than ribeyes, the same cooking time for both would land them at those different cook temps...

Just trying to understand where you're coming from, not challenge it.
 
Yes. Yes. Yes. Flavor too. Actually the round followed by the sirloin has the most beef flavor so some is left after over cooking. My grandfathers steak was a round steak seared and rare. Chewy, but very tasty.

Many people are willing to trade some flavor for texture and the more marbling the better the flavor save. Because there are those, especially here in the South, that demand well done I felt the above list could be used to impress all with the searing/flavor of being cooked in cast iron.

I don’t do temps, but just feel, color and texture. Give me any thickness between 1/2” and 2” of any cut and it will be plated to your desired doneness after resting, although thicker cuts are more better for the cook.

Hilditch
 
Thanks for the reply.

I agree, I only use the thermometer for things like large roasts and whole birds.

IMO consistency over time is one of the biggest challenges in cooking, it takes more effort to learn consistency than to learn the original techniques. My hat's off to your skills.
 
I'll add one. If you like the actual taste of beef, flat iron steak. A wonderfully beefy "new" cut. Hard sear basting with thyme butter and medium rare is amazing. Beefy AND tender, something the lauded tenderloin can't really strike at. Honestly, I almost always save good tenderloin for carpaccio, where it excels and is really the only place where tenderloin is nearly required.
 
My first choice flat iron was VERY good. The next few not so. Jared, for medium rare are you really willing to put it up against a prime strip?

Hilditch
 
For blue or rare get prime tenderloin.
Agreed. Inherently tender. Cooking past med-rare becomes grainy. Too expensive to waste cooking any further.
For medium rare get prime top loin. (NY Strip)
Also reasonably tender and a bit of marbling retains sufficient moisture.
For medium get choice ribeye.
Sufficient intramuscular fat (marbling) to allow medium no problem.
For medium well get choice sirloin.
For well done get select round.
Neither of those lean cuts lend themselves to these levels of doneness as steaks, unless the diner prefers tough, dry meat.

Dollar for dollar, flank steak marinated and cooked med-rare and sliced across the grain on the bias is your best value for both tender and beef flavor. Followed by whole tri-tip similarly cooked (preferably charcoal grilled) and sliced.
 
My first choice flat iron was VERY good. The next few not so. Jared, for medium rare are you really willing to put it up against a prime strip?

Hilditch

I'm more than happy to cook and eat prime meat if someone else is paying for it.

As for the strip, it has never been my first choice. Not quite beefy enough. I prefer ribeye (preferably spinalis medalions) and cuts from the chuck. Another "new" one I have enjoyed recently on the cheap is the so called "Denver steak". I actually probably prefer this to flat iron. I don't mind a little chew in my beef. In fact I prefer it.
 
Eric, post #1 here: http://www.castironcollector.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2445 might help with consistency. This is for a 2” thick piece of meat but one can extrapolate for thinner cuts. For each level of doneness on the 2” piece one adds 2 minutes. Below 2” I don’t use the oven but stick to a skillet to help heat from the sides. At 1” and below you may have to steal some time from the second side to get a good sear on side one. Once I got a Waffle House T-bone. After watching one get cooked I told the cook to steal all the time from the second side to sear the first. He did as told and served it rare side up to prove it! So much for ‘First bite is with the eyes.’

The timing will eventually become instinct along with feel and sound. However when I’m doing multiple things I will chicken out and use a timer. I couldn’t live with myself if I cooked a couple of prime steaks medium or more. I couldn’t even enjoy hash made with them! Timing is a big factor in consistency.

Jared, I find it interesting how much of an influence what beef we ate growing up influences what we like it later in life. I grew up eating beef three times a week off a rear quarter of a steer that only produced 2 lbs. of stew beef. I was in college before I had a pot roast and only then because I made it myself. All steaks and roasts were always rare with all other beef dishes well done (ribs, ground beef & quarterly stew recipes).

Hilditch
 
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