Cooking steak...

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J. Dean

J. Dean

Puritan Board Junior
Gentlemen... and ladies (if any are so inclined),

I'm trying to make my steaks more interesting. I at times suffer from bland steak syndrome. This is not right, because I love steak but cannot seem to make the meat come alive with flavor when I try my hand at it.

ANY suggestions as to things you have found that work will be of value to me (best cut, best rub, best marinade, etc).
 
I love a NY Strip or Ribeye left to sit in a little bit of Liquid Smoke (Stubbs mesquite is my favorite) & some red wine. Don't drown it, but let it sit on a plate/marinade bowl for a while, then flip. Then shake on some Cajun seasoning (my homemade mix is 2 parts cayenne, 1 part paprika, 1 part black pepper, 1 part onion powder, 1/2 part garlic powder) before cooking. This works great for the grill. For indoors, add some onion and olive oil to a ribbed frying skillet. :drool: and cook to desired doneness.
 
Granulated garlic and granulated pepper are my go-to seasoning for all red meat. Use equal parts as a dry rub, then salt it before eating it. Can't beat it as far as I'm concerned.
 
Rich Koster said:
...left to sit in a little bit of Liquid Smoke
Click to expand...

Heresy!

---------- Post added at 02:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 PM ----------

You need to identify what you want your steak to taste like.

If you want it to taste like steak, then do very little to it and grill it to a proper medium rare or medium.
If, on the other hand, you want it to taste like seasoning, then rub it down with spices and drown it in marinade.
 
Step 1: figure out what type of steaks you like. Personally I can't stand Sirloin. I like tbone, ribeye, tenderloin...
Step 2: buy a good steak. Marbling is the key (fat within the meat). This is where the good flavor comes from. The fat on the outside means little, except to give some added flavor.
Step 3: throw any steak sauce out the window (literal). :). If you must use steak sauce then your steak isnt good, you might as well go ask for a steak at Wendy's or something. If you like steak sauce, just go buy a steak at Walmart and close this thread. There is no hope for you. A good steak doesn't need sauce.
Step 4: simple seasoning is the best. Some salt and pepper and not much. Based on you desire (trial and error). Try to use good salt you have to grind. Same for pepper. Or you can go to the grocery store and buy steak seasoning that will already have salt/pepper in it.
Step 5: Grill your steak. Do this a lot to get better. Try to contain juices as much as possible for best flavor. I've found medium rare range is best tasting.


The two big things are: buying a good steak and grilling well. If you do these two things, your meat by itself will taste great (even without seasoning).
 
Get a ziploc bag. Add a cup of red wine, a cup of teriyaki, a bit of olive oil, and whatever spices you want. Put the steak in the bag and leave it in the freezer overnight or until you're ready to grill it.
 
Leaving the seasoning question aside, you should do 3 things you probably aren't doing.

1. cut slits in the outer ring of fat on the steak so that it doesn't try to curl.

2. Get the hottest fire and the best kind of grill-grates. I use lump charcoal and cast iron grates. I use a cheap coleman air compressor that is used to blow up an air matresses to get my fire extremely hot.

3. Sear your steak with no mercy in four steps. Lay the meat down (side A) on the hot grates. Turn the steak 90 degrees halfway through Side A's cook time. Flip the steak to side B, turn 90 halfway through. Searing is THE key to good steak, roast, chops. Anything that needs to come out juicy.

* if you are able to move your grates around on the grill, then that is ideal. I have a grill with 3 removable sliding grate sections. I leave one grate out, and build my fire in the middle. I preheat the right grate by sliding it over the middle fire. Once my meat (side A) is on the right grate, I slide the grate to the right side of the grill off of the heat. I slide the left grate over the fire and let it heat up Until side A is halfway cooked. Then i move the meat (still side A) over to the newly heated grate turning 90 degrees. The same thing can be accomplished on a circular grill by spinning the round grate and putting all of your coals on one side of the grill.

For seasoning, I use black pepper, garlic salt, and maybe some mcCormick or really any generic steak seasoning, that depends on the taste buds of my dinner guests. I rub the seasoning on while my grill is getting up to temperature. Salt draws moisture out, so I don't want it sitting on the meat for very long. You should only put the seasoning on early if you are truly marinating - 24 hour minimum time.
 
Romans922 said:
Step 1: figure out what type of steaks you like. Personally I can't stand Sirloin. I like tbone, ribeye, tenderloin...
Step 2: buy a good steak. Marbling is the key (fat within the meat). This is where the good flavor comes from. The fat on the outside means little, except to give some added flavor.
Step 3: throw any steak sauce out the window (literal). . If you must use steak sauce then your steak isnt good, you might as well go ask for a steak at Wendy's or something. If you like steak sauce, just go buy a steak at Walmart and close this thread. There is no hope for you. A good steak doesn't need sauce.
Step 4: simple seasoning is the best. Some salt and pepper and not much. Based on you desire (trial and error). Try to use good salt you have to grind. Same for pepper. Or you can go to the grocery store and buy steak seasoning that will already have salt/pepper in it.
Step 5: Grill your steak. Do this a lot to get better. Try to contain juices as much as possible for best flavor. I've found medium rare range is best tasting.
Click to expand...

You're doing it right!
 
Tripel said:
Rich Koster said:
...left to sit in a little bit of Liquid Smoke
Click to expand...

Heresy!

---------- Post added at 02:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 PM ----------

You need to identify what you want your steak to taste like.

If you want it to taste like steak, then do very little to it and grill it to a proper medium rare or medium.
If, on the other hand, you want it to taste like seasoning, then rub it down with spices and drown it in marinade.
Click to expand...

The OP wants to avoid a BLAND steak. Maybe you like plain beef, but I offered up a formula to jazz it up a bit, especially if you are stuck indoors.

Good old au poivre works well too, for the palate that desires the steak plainer . It is best with a variety of peppercorns.
 
Good suggestions all! I plan on using them in due season!

And I agree about the steak sauce thing. If you have to use a steak sauce, you don't have a good steak. I use steak sauce for fries.
 
Josh, I feel sorry for you.


Anyway, to avoid a bland steak, you don't have to put things on it necessarily. You have to be buy a good quality steak!
 
Joshua said:
It is not about having to use a steak sauce always, it's often about wanting to. Maybe the steak tastes wonderful by itself, but maybe the man eating it likes the combination of said flavor with the flavor of a favorite sauce of his. Haters gonna hate.
Click to expand...

My Grandpa made steaks so well that I didn't use sauce when he cooked them. He just knew what to do with a steak and a grill.
 
Horseradish!

Otherwise, sometimes I'll use a China-zoid marinade with seseme seed oil (hot is great) a dash of soy sauce, thinly sliced garlic, rice vinegar, a pinch of sugar, green onion and tiny pieces of fresh ginger if I have it. But sirloin on sale is the best we can buy, so I'm usually looking to tenderize.
 
Joshua said:
It is not about having to use a steak sauce always, it's often about wanting to. Maybe the steak tastes wonderful by itself, but maybe the man eating it likes the combination of said flavor with the flavor of a favorite sauce of his. Haters gonna hate.
Click to expand...

So would you say the same thing if a man wanted to enjoy a Bud Light with his steak and steak sauce?
 
How do you prefer your steak? I think that most steak tastes bland when cooked beyond medium, but it took me years before I would try one rarer.

My favorite now is a Pittsburgh rare. I use ground peppercorn and a little garlic, after marinating in a mixture of Jack Daniels, Coca-Cola, soy sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and Worcestershire Sauce.
Heat an iron skillet on a very hot burner or grill, and cook for a minute or two on each side, until the outside is charred and the inside is very rare, about 100-110 degrees.
I dunno about a Bud Light, but it is excellent with a Guinness and a good salad with bleu cheese crumbles.
 
Fresh ground pepper, fresh ground salt, healthy dash of worchestershire sauce, flip and repeat, and then let it sit while the grill is getting hot. For variety, I may use a little paprika. I use a gas grill and throw in some hickory chips to get some smoky flavor. Sear it on both sides over high heat and hot lava rocks, then move it to a cooler area to grill to desired level of cooking.

Although hamburger is a lot more common than steak these days.
 
Flatiron steaks are my absolute favorite to cook up. I don't need a grill to cook it. I marinate it for at least 1 hour in a acid/vingar/oil and spice marianade (whatever you like really). We use some chopped garlic, chopped ginger, soy sauce, onion powder, salt, mirin, sesame oil, and some vingar of whatever sort. I only put enough garlic and ginger in the marinade bag to flavor the steak the rest of the chopped goods and mixture I use as a dressing when the steak is done. I love the clean asian flavors! When I get it out to cook. I place the marinaded steak (still wet don't have to dry off this guy) in a heat proof oven pan and broil it on high (on the lowest possible rack) for about 8-9 minutes per side...Depends how you like it done. 8-9 minutes on each side is probably medium- medium rare! Yum! When you take it out put a tent of tinfoil over the top and don't touch it for 10-15 minutes. After that slice it against the grain and you have a beautiful steak, oh and don't forget your made ahead dressing to eat with it!
 
Curt said:
Andres said:
enjoy a Bud Light with his steak and steak sauce
Click to expand...

Huh???
Click to expand...

You have to know Josh. In the past he has been adamant that Bud Light and other popular American beers are not real beers and that they taste absolutely disgusting. I found it a bit ironic that he defended using steak sauce, something that most true steak connoisseur's shun.
 
Josh, they are analagous as we compare beer snob and a steak snob.

Beer snob won't drink bud light.

Steak snob won't use steak sauce.
 
Joshua said:
No, the two are not analagous. If the steak, itself, was bad steak, there might be similarity. I simply say that people may combine their wonderfully sufficient-in-and-of-itself steak with sauce. One can't combine bad "beer" with anything, cuz it's always bad.
Click to expand...

Perhaps a better analogy is using a good Scotch whiskey to mix with Coke.
 
I cook a lot of steak.

My wife's I put on for about 3 minutes, then turn 1/4 circle (in order to get the pretty diamond-looking grill marks) and cook for another 3, or so minutes.

Then I flip hers over and do the same to the other side.

When I get to the last three minutes of her steak, I put mine on.

A minute and a half per side is good for mine.

12 minutes for hers gets it to medium rare.

3 minutes for mine gets it barely more than "blue."

I do put it on the top shelf of the grill (far from the heat) just to warm it a little on the inside before I cook it.

Yummy!!
 
All you need to do is season both sides of the steak with salt (preferably kosher). Avoid marinades (that's for chicken and stuff you'll put in an oven, not the grill), fresh herbs (includes ground black pepper; they burn too easily) and dried herbs (if I want a salad, I would be eating that instead).

Make your grill as hot as you can get it (charcoal would be great, but a gas grill will work as well) and grill it to medium, following Andrew Barnes' instructions.

By the way, I can't emphasize this enough, so I'll put it in capital letters below.

MAKE SURE THE STEAK IS ALLOWED TO REST OFF THE HEAT FOR AT LEAST 5 MINUTES BEFORE SERVING AND CUTTING INTO IT.

Why? The juices in the steak are flowing like blood is in your veins. Allowing it to rest will let the steak settle those juices down, so they won't spill out of the meat and take most of the flavor with it.

Ignore this step and you will have a very dry, bland tasting steak (possibly tough if you INSIST on grilling it any higher than medium) sitting on top of what Alton Brown would call "a liquid pool of love".

If the steak is done right and allowed to rest, that juice will be your steak sauce. I guess you can make some au jus out of any drippings if you must (the how-tos will wait for another episode), but if you buy sauce off the shelf, it better be because someone you're going to visit makes terrible steaks and you don't want to insult him/her by saying they taste like cardboard.

Like your steak medium well or well done? I got a suggestion (don't mean to be rude here, so sorry if it sounds like it), get over it. If you like it because food poisoning isn't an issue, I've got something to share with you. If the steaks were handled correctly at the store (or at home if you cut your own), food poisoning chances are extremely low. And even if there was any bacteria on the surface of the steak, we just doused it with salt and put it on a 700 degree grill for 10 minutes. There is absolutely no chance anything that would result in you counting bathroom tiles will have survived that. If you like it because of the taste, you don't know what true steak is.
 
Remember not to overcook the steak, otherwise all the essential nutrients will be lost, and worse, it will lead to harmful mutations in your body. This applies to all ingredients, not just steak. The more food you can eat raw, the better.
 
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