Making my first steak

[Sonikku]

And I've never done it before. A first time for everything, right? Basically I know nothing and need some tips. I got a rib eye from Aldi's and a seasoning. I tend to prefer medium well and cook on a george foreman grill. (live in an apartment)

Apparently there's a lot more to cooking a steak than just preheating the thing and slapping it on. What's the deal with seasonings? Marinades? Google is saying to put seasonings on and rub them in then pour a marinade over it in a bowl, wrap it up and leave it in the fridge a day. Other links are saying don't mess with the rib eye at all, that it's fine as it is.

Some cook the steak on the bare grill while others put foil in their GF grill and I don't know what the difference is. Other links say take it out of the fridge but wait until the steak is room temp before cooking it. I want to learn all this stuff and the reasons for it all but I'm out of my depth.

 

[maddogchen]

your overthinking this.

Most important thing I would say is to not cook it too long. You don't want charred, overcooked steak.

 

[Rakehellion]

If it's a good steak, just use minimal seasonings. Salt and pepper and maybe garlic. You don't marinate a ribeye. That's for poorer cuts of meat whose flavor you want to disguise.

Let it get to room temperature and pat it dry. Cook it on a skillet, not George Foreman because he'll squeeze out all the juices. You paid a lot of money for all that fat.

 

[MongGrel]

Welp, here we go.

Easy answer, put some salt and pepper on it.

Turn grill on high without flipping it shut. That or just heat a pan up. Slap it on one side about 4 minutes, flip, leave another 4 minutes.

Eat.

*edit* NM, you said medium well.

Next advice is to not eat steak

 

[deadlyapp]

If it's a good steak and cut, you should be able to season with as little as some salt and pepper and absolutely shouldn't marinade it. If it's a tough cut, or something meant to be marinaded (eg tri-tip) then by all means do so.

A george foreman is not the best way to cook a steak, it simply isn't a hot enough surface. In addition, all the internal juices will leak out of the steak into the drip tray. That's likely why people are saying wrap it in foil if you must use a GF.

The best way to cook a steak is to quickly sear each side on a hot cast iron pan and then blast it in an oven for a few minutes at the highest temp you can.

With that all said, the fact that you like your steaks medium well means you're not ready to eat steak anyways, so do whatever you want.

 

[ElFenix]

in an apartment your best bet is a reverse sear technique and a cast iron skillet. they run about $25 at target. you also need a decent thermometer

here's what you do:
salt your steak liberally for at least 45 minutes. rinse salt off.
set oven to 250. bake steak in oven until internal temp comes to 120*. meanwhile, on the stove get your cast iron skillet just to the point it's starting to smoke on medium high temp (mine takes about 5 minutes to get to this point). take steak out of oven, brush with a little canola oil, season with salt and pepper, then put into cast iron skillet to sear, maybe 1 minute per side. remove from pan to plate, tent with foil, and let rest a few minutes. then eat.

there's no reason to let the steak sit at room temp - after an hour seriouseats found minimal change in the internal temperature of the steak.

 

[highland145]

If it's a good steak, just use minimal seasonings. Salt and pepper and maybe garlic. You don't marinate a ribeye. That's for poorer cuts of meat whose flavor you want to disguise.

Let it get to room temperature and pat it dry. Cook it on a skillet, not George Foreman because he'll squeeze out all the juices. You paid a lot of money for all that fat.

Welp, here we go.

Easy answer, put some salt and pepper on it.

Turn grill on high. Slap it on one side about 4 minutes, flip, leave another 4 minutes.

Eat.

*edit* NM, you said medium well.

Next advice is to not eat steak

These

K.I.S.S.

 

[Drako]

salt your steak liberally for at least 45 minutes.

Doesn't your arm get tired shaking that long?

 

[Sonikku]

Alright so I guess I'll give medium rare a try... thanks for replies so far.

 

[MongGrel]

Doesn't your arm get tired shaking that long?

:sneaky:

 

[Svnla]

Subscribe to this thread.

 

[jchu14]

Since this is your first time, I would keep it simple and follow these steps

1) salt the steak liberally at least 45min before cooking
2) pat it as dry with paper towels as much you can right before you cooking
3) heat up the GF grill to the highest temp setting
4) rub high temperature oil (saffleflower, sunflower, grapeseed, or canola) all over the steak
5) put on GF grill (time depends on thickness), probably 7ish minutes for an inch thick steak for medium.
6) take it out and let the steak rest for at least 10minutes

I like to add freshly ground coarse black pepper after cooking since I don't like the burnt pepper taste. However, some people like that slightly burnt taste on their steak so they would add it before cooking. That's up to you.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

from a guy who has used a foreman grill for a steak I recommend against it. The grill is far too easy to over cook it. The oven on broil is a safer choice.

 

[Ns1]

I tend to prefer medium well and cook on a george foreman grill. (live in an apartment)

You should abandon the thought of cooking on a george foreman and get a cast iron pan and do the steak on the pan if you can't get a real grill

ElFenix covers it all in post #6

and IDGAF what other people on this forum say, you want steak done right you get one of these, ESPECIALLY if you aren't cooking a thousand steaks a year.

 

[ultimatebob]

Do you have access to a real oven, or is the George Foreman all you got to cook with?

 

[blankslate]

I use the instructions in this link to great results (imo)

http://www.food.com/recipe/broil-a-perfect-steak-165254

the steak ends up seared on the outside and nicely pink on the inside not burned and dry.

Also as another poster mentions a cooking thermometer is a good thing to have.


___________________

 

[pauldun170]

For when you completely forget to marinate the steak overnight.

1 inch steak as an example
Prep using whatever methods acceptable for the particular cut
For cheapo, tough cuts, you can use the salt trick where you dump loads of sea salt on both sides and let set for an hour (hour per inch of steak). Then remove all the salt with water and pat dry with a paper towel.

For good cuts, no worries. No need to salt or do heavy prep work. If you are first starting out and you are preparing a good cut, I actually recommend adding as little as possible. For every jerk who gets a steak well done, there is another jerk who tosses too much salt on their steak. These people are broken from the factory

Turn on the oven...full powah
Grab yourself a seasoned iron pan. Bring it up to medium-high temp (or just blast it on high. depending on how gimpy your stove top is)

Break out your timer.

Toss steak on pan.
Flip after 2 minutes and toss a little butter on top.
Repeat 2 minutes later then toss it in the over.
2 minutes later flip again toss a little butter
Remove 2 minutes later and put the pan on the stove.

Adjust time based on thickness of steak.
The "toss a little butter" on top is optional.

 

[Ns1]

n/m

 

[michal1980]

Welp, here we go.

Easy answer, put some salt and pepper on it.

Turn grill on high without flipping it shut. That or just heat a pan up. Slap it on one side about 4 minutes, flip, leave another 4 minutes.

Eat.

*edit* NM, you said medium well.

Next advice is to not eat steak

Wrong

If it's a good steak and cut, you should be able to season with as little as some salt and pepper and absolutely shouldn't marinade it. If it's a tough cut, or something meant to be marinaded (eg tri-tip) then by all means do so.

A george foreman is not the best way to cook a steak, it simply isn't a hot enough surface. In addition, all the internal juices will leak out of the steak into the drip tray. That's likely why people are saying wrap it in foil if you must use a GF.

The best way to cook a steak is to quickly sear each side on a hot cast iron pan and then blast it in an oven for a few minutes at the highest temp you can.

With that all said, the fact that you like your steaks medium well means you're not ready to eat steak anyways, so do whatever you want.

Wrong

in an apartment your best bet is a reverse sear technique and a cast iron skillet. they run about $25 at target. you also need a decent thermometer

here's what you do:
salt your steak liberally for at least 45 minutes. rinse salt off.
set oven to 250. bake steak in oven until internal temp comes to 120*. meanwhile, get your cast iron skillet just to the point it's starting to smoke on medium high temp. take steak out of oven, brush with a little canola oil, season with salt and pepper, then put into cast iron skillet to sear, maybe 1 minute per side. remove from pan to plate, tent with foil, and let rest a few minutes. then eat.

there's no reason to let the steak sit at room temp - after an hour seriouseats found minimal change in the internal temperature of the steak.

This guy knows what he's talking about.

 

[smackababy]

Ditch the GF, get a cast iron skillet and a sous vide. Sous vide the steak to your desired doneness, sear each side on the cast iron and then rest.

 

[michal1980]

I use the instructions in this link to great results (imo)

http://www.food.com/recipe/broil-a-perfect-steak-165254

the steak ends up seared on the outside and nicely pink on the inside not burned and dry.

Also as another poster mentions a cooking thermometer is a good thing to have.


___________________

also bad instructions.

 

[michal1980]

Ditch the GF, get a cast iron skillet and a sous vide. Sous vide the steak to your desired doneness, sear each side on the cast iron and then rest.

this sounds good.


The logic behind low temp cooking is simple.

It takes time for the inside of the steak to get warm. If you blast it with too much heat the outside will cook too fast and dry out.

If you slowly get the steak to the temp you want, then sear it, you get perfection.

The outside is not overcooked.

 

[blankslate]

also bad instructions.

my tastebuds and stomach disagree with you... :sneaky:


______________

 

[MongGrel]

I seriously doubt at the moment the OP is going to be doing Sous Vide, running out and buying a meat thermometer, or a lot of things.

But ya knew it would head this route anyway.

Well most of us should.

michal even showed up for input

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2360863

 

[smackababy]

I seriously doubt at the moment the OP is going to be doing Sous Vide, running out and buying a meat thermometer, or a lot of things.

But ya knew it would head this route anyway.

Well most of us should.

michal even showed up for input

Amazon Prime Now can have those things at the OPs house in 2 hours or less...