3 Tips For a Perfect Steak
Ahhhh, beef. Beautiful, glorious beef. Sorry to all my vegetarian friends, but I frickin' LOVE beef. And when you cook it right, it's so delicious. I've considered the way beef is raised, the way it's killed and the way it's butchered. And I've watched all the snuff films that shows cows being slaughtered. After all that, I wanted beef even more.
I can't help but wonder why humans instinctively took to eating plants and animals back in the days of living in a cave and inventing the wheel. It's like the universe said, "here, I'm giving you an animal that's dumb as a brick but big and fat and delicious. Have fun."
I only eat the best meat. None of that mystery meat substance fast food chains serve. Who knows where McDonalds gets their 'beef'? And Taco Bell...don't even get me started on the definition of 'beefy'. It's not beef, it's beef-like in nature. That's fucking gross.
Get yourself a really good quality piece of beef raised in the best way. Costco has really good beef—everyone knows that. The packaging with the blue Styrofoam is USDA Prime (top of the quality scale) vs. the white Styrofoam that's USDA Choice. Still good at Costco, and better than Safeway by a long shot.
Getting the right piece of meat is more than half the challenge. I like to honor the animal that gave its life to feed me by not wasting any part of it and cooking it right. If I was a food source, I'd want someone to cook me right. Sound weird, right? But that's the reality of the food chain. You're on it...just a matter of where. Ask any shark.
If you get that delicious piece of meat, these 3 tips to a perfect steak might help. Two main concepts to pay attention to are cooking over high heat, and letting it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
1. Buy a Well Marbled Cut
80% of your success comes from picking the right cut that's well marbled. You want some of the white colored fat sprinkled throughout the red muscle. A good cut of meat doesn't need a lot of seasoning—salt and pepper will do.
Coarse sea salt is a good choice. Hold your hand about a foot above the meat when sprinkling the salt so it spreads evenly. Let the salt "melt" into the meat before doing the other side.
2. Cook Over High Heat
Cook your steaks over the hottest grill setting or hottest skillet setting (after letting it sit out for 30 minutes or so at room temperature).
That high heat sears the outside, seals juices in and forms a bit of a crust on the outside while keeping the inside moist. It's called the Maillard reaction, and it's a chemical process that affects the muscle fibers of the beef while cooking. These days I've been opting for a cast iron skillet instead of a grill because I can get it hotter and use a bit of vegetable oil to help sear that outer crust even more.
3. Let Sit 10 Minutes
One of the most important steps for serious grillers is to let the meat sit covered with foil after taking it off the heat.
Keep in mind the meat will cook a little bit so you want to factor that in when taking off the grill or out of the skillet.