Sacrificial Steak

Cornfed

I was talking to a friend of one of the owners or managers or something of Arthur's Steakhouse. This is a chain of at least two restaurants that I know of in Hoboken and Morris Plains in NJ. They serve these 24 ounce steaks for something like $10.95 and I think they also have steaks up to something like 96 ounces.[p]Enough background info. The point of this post is that my friend was telling me of an interesting technique used by these folks to create a steak with a really good sear on both sides. I think the issue is that when a nice raw steak is thrown on a hot grill, the raw bottom side achieves a good sear but the other side gets partially cooked by the surrounding heat before it is given a chance to be seared. The solution employed by these folks is to put another steak on top of the original steak while one side is searing to shield the top of the bottom steak from heat and to keep the top part raw. Now, when you flip, you're putting another raw side of meat on the hot grill and you supposedly can achieve a better sear on both sides. The heat shielding piece of meat used is often something cheap that the cooks don't care about not cooking to perfection - thus the term, sacrifical steak.[p]Has anyone tried this or does anyone think it's worth a try? I'd hate to sacrifice something as precious as a steak! I guess you can still do a pretty good job of cooking the sacrifical steak after it serves its duty as long as the other steak is REALLY good.[p]Cornfed

JJ

Cornfed,
I know that you hate me and have constantly posted for me to stop posting on the BGE forum that I have helped found with my best friend, the late Bill Miller but I will attempt to give you a reasonable responce.
Any 24 oz steak that they can sell for $10.95 is shoe leather to begin with. 2nd the fire is NOT hot enough to maintain enough heat to keep the grill at optimum temp. Forget their method and stick to what has been posted many times on this fine forum. Also stick to good cuts of meat not the scrags they are selling.

Cornfed

JJ,[p]Thanks...I think.[p]Cornfed

djm5x9

Cornfed:[p]JJ is right about the 24 ounce shoe leather . . . Since I have been purchasing quality meat from a good butcher shop and grilling on ceramic cookers, steaks out are not the same. When taken to Longhorn's for lunch I skip the steak (shoe leather) and have soup and salad . . .

Char-Woody

Cornfed, Nobody, and I mean nobody has had shoeleather steaks as hardsoled as my mother-in-laws that was pounded flat and fried till it bowed in the middle. I chewed on that first cut thru 6 innings of a ball game, and when nobody was looking fed the next bite to the dog.. He never came back for seconds...:-)
Well, the technique makes some sense. When I cut my eye teeth as a novice fry cook in a restaurant as a teenager, we used a weighted steak iron on the steak, while the first side seared. Then flipped it to finish the other side.
I think we sacrificed quite few to the Saturday night crowds...:-)
I wonder if a cold iron would do the same thing in the BGE??
Char-Woody[p]

The Colonel

Cornfed,
Hey friend, sounds like a solid idea. I think I will look into the cold piece of metal CW mentioned. Next steak will have a sacrifical piece or some metal or something to shield the top. With respect to our friends on the forum, You can go to the T-bone in Weatherford Oklahoma. They have been serving 24oz angus beef for $9.50 for the last 25 years and it melts in your mouth. There are some places in this great nation that still serve quality meat at quality prices.
I still prefer the egg a million to one.
yours in the egg--The Colonel

Tim M

Cornfed,

Interesting idea about the meat on top, sounds like it would work to keep the top from cooking as fast. I prefer an almost black outer and a pink inner so I would be interestd in your results. That resturant must be something - $11 for a steak, the potato must be $4 and the drinks $11 and some $2 bread. New York is not know for its "bargan resturants" but maybe you found the diamond in the ruff. [p]I saw a resturant that used a "live wood" (means they use wood coals) grill. They topped every steak with a pie pan while cooking. Not sure why but I tried it on the Egg several times hoping I had found a new way to do something - it didn't work and only decreased the cooking time from a couple minutes to less than a couple minutes. I do use it when I cook fish though. Give your method a try and let me know what you find. I have some mini ceramic squares that I might try next time I do a steak. Interesting idea.[p]Tim

JimW

JJ,
A couple of years ago, I went to the Arthur's in Morris Plains and yes, I had one of those 24-oz steaks. I don't know what cut of meat or cooking technique they used but it sure was good. So...if you haven't tried it, don't jump to such a dogmatic conclusion about something you've never seen.
JimW

Cornfed

Char-Woody,[p]I was wondering the same thing about an alternative to the sacrificed steak. Cow is such a terrible thing to waste![p]Cornfed

Cornfed

The Colonel,[p]Agreed. Since I've had BGE steaks, I haven't had anything in a restaurant (regardless of whether I paid $10.95 or >$30) which comes close! This just seemed like an interesting addition to an already tried and true method of cooking great steaks.[p]Yours in sacrificial metal
Cornfed