What Makes a Perfect Steak     

Such a simple question but such an complex answer. As most of you know I cringe on ordering a steak in a restaurant, because in 98% of the time they will serve me an slightly edible piece of shoe leather. Even out west on a trip to Calgary at one of the best recommended steak houses, I was disappointed with the steak and just why was I paying extra for a potato? There is just seems to be no compromise for good steak and reasonable value...

If you come to my place and if steak is on the menu, you will understand what I am talking about. This is likely my signature dish and my true love, so we are going to be a little serious about this one. Anybody can make a good steak at home, it all starts with good beef.

When starting your search for a perfect steak your first consideration should be what type of breed you are looking for and how was it raised. If somebody told you all beer was created equal, I would say that you have have never ventured past plain American draft beer.

Beef is just as varied as wine, beer or sprits. There is a king of beef but it is out of reach for most of us. I would love to refer you to Kobe beef, but when it' up to $300 a pound it will not likely fall on my grill.

Kobe is a little village in Japan where the beef is massaged daily and fed the best of grains, a few beers, no exercise while music is played in the background. Can life get any better,  you could just refer to the perfect life as "Kobe". When you can take the cow out of "Kobe", you then get  Wagyu beef. Take the Wagyu breed and cross it with Angus beef as we do in North America and you can get some serious steak for about $30 a pound and even less, this is the foie gras of beef. I had the opportunity to try some and it is a slice of heaven when prepared properly. Should you go out and get it, nope, unless money is no object.  On the new TLC Pit Masters BBQ series Myron Mixon only uses Wagyu beef, forcing a fast cook at hotter temperatures, this cut can take it, my wallet can not.

From here there are a multitude of choices much like wines, each having different characteristics; it's now a personal preference. In our area of Canada, Angus beef rules, it has a balance of price to quality. I have a source to a farmer that produces his own beef and we have reviewed Dave's beef here before, its great meat. If you do not have a Dave in your life, try your trusted butcher, it is likely he has a Dave in his life. If you have to go to the mega mart talk to the butcher there and get the premium beef and the highest grade you can, tell him you want marbling, this is where flavour country starts. If all else fails Costco is still a good source but buy it in bulk, the whole roast will do, thank you! 

Let's now talk about aging of beef, if takes 15-28 days to dry age beef and the longer the better. It's my opinion the longer the age the more concentrated the flavor the tender the beef.  Just for reference "The Keg" has a relative decent steak aged 28 days, when it's cooked properly it can be a decent meal but at $30 a plate... table of four $200...   YIKES!

I often buy the entire prime rib and have the butcher age it another 2 weeks. I would go longer even a full 6 to 8 weeks, cutting the green mold off it to get a great piece of meat. Mold you say, yep, let the health inspectors cringe, it's like cutting the mold off cheese, you live with it and learn to love it. Unfortunate it's hard to find a commercial butcher to really age meat. I have read about a new process of hitting the beef with doses of UV light to starve off the mold but that is another story.

I also get  wet aged meat, which is gaining popularity with most mega marts. You do not lose weight with it as with dry aging and you get the same results in faster time. You can see why the profit margin goes way up here. So expect to pay up to 30% more for dry aged beef. Is it worth it, the jury is still out on it but the trend is still for dry aged beef. I do not mind either. God for bid you buy a "Cryovac" package that was "seasoned" this would likely be a cheap piece of beef pumped with salt water ARGH!. (never,never, never buy seasoned meat)

Now you have your source let's talk about cut. The general rule is the most tender cut is farthest from the hoof, horns and tail. This will give you the prime-rib (rib eye) and the loins (tenderloin, strip loin and sirloin) Where is the infamous T-Bone or Porterhouse, why that is just a tenderloin and a striploin still connected. My problem with this is that the individual steaks cook differently, so sacrifice the bone and go with the individual cuts.  While these lion cuts are the most tender you sacrifice flavour and the well worked mussels have a better flavour profile. The best tasting meat is the flank steal or the brisket but very tough and suitable for long slow cooks. The chuck, shoulder, and round are better suited for stew, burger or slow cooked brazing. 

Considering all this information, my favorite is the rib-eye with a very close second on the striploin. I buy the entire primal cut so I can make my own steaks,  When cutting the steak, my preference in 1 and ¾ inches to 2 inches, anything less is called minute steak and again that is another post.

Now you have your steak how do you season it and then how to cook it. Sometimes just plain salt and pepper is all a steak needs, Montreal steak spice is another winner, give your steaks about 10 minutes with your chosen season profile as not to bleed the steak out.

Pan seared, slow smoked or grilled, propane, electric heat or charcoal are just a start of your choices. My preference is a slow cook with addition of smoke and heat seared. I also like a nice oven pan sear.

Heat a cast iron pan to rocket hot set your oven to bake at 500 give you oven time to get to hot, I mean Fracken really hot. Hit your steak with some good high heat oil and then season it. Put your steak into the hot pan for 1 min and turn, pop it into the oven and 4 - 5 minutes a side.

Until you learn your oven or cooker use a digital probe and monitor the temperature. WATCH OUT for carryover. In our house nothing goes past medium rare or 130-135 degrees (f) this means cooking to 125-130 and allowing for carrying over of 5-10 degrees.

When cooking over a grill same thing, sear your steak over very high heat and then move over to indirect heat for the balance of the cook time. Depending on your cooker and the amount of meat you are cooking (heat recovery) the cook time will change, so use a digital probe until you are use to the feel of the meat. (I still use a probe for every cut of meet I cook)

A new process we are doing is slow cooking the steak in an oven at 180 degrees (f) taking up to 2 hours to get the steak up to 125(f) and then searing it for 1 minute a side. This gives a very different texture and redder colour throughout the steak with just the very edge being browned, just awesome, if you like bleu, rare or medium rare steak, this is the way to go.

Rest your meat under tinfoil on an elevated rack for at least 5 minutes, keeping it out of its juices and preserve the nice crust you have just created.
 
Top with herb butter, or one of my favorites, "Béarnaise sauce" serve with Ceasar salad and your choice of vegetable. My entire family goes nuts for this, no gravy and no cheese curds required.

Enjoy, the only thing you can do wrong is to over cook your steak... as soon as they order a medimum well done steak, offer them a hamburger

Cheers from the Big Dog....