What is the best steak?

Unknown

I was thinking about steaks recently and thought that I would ask a few questions about them. Kind of a poll if you will.[p]What cut of steak do you like best?
How thick do you like them?
How do you like it prepared (well done, rare, etc)?
What do you season it with?
What is your cooking temps and times?
Do you seek out a butcher that has aged beef and if so how long is it aged?
What is the best tasting side dish to accompany it?[p]Matt.

Ca_rnivore

South O,[p]I like a medium-rare, 1-inch thick T-bone, organic and grain fed. Meyer Ranch Beef form Montana is what I've been using lately. [p]I like 'em done Tuscany style. It's really simple, rub the bone and meat with a clove of garlic and throw on a little salt and pepper (Kosher salt and mignonette pepper is really good). Grill it at 600 for 3 minutes per side and a 4 minute dwell over some hickory. Let it rest for 5 minutes, remove the bone and slice it into 1/2 inch thick slices, drizzle with olive oil and serve. I've been doing steak this way for acouple of months now, but the current issue of Cooks Illustrated has a good article on this method.[p]--Kevin

sprinter

South O,[p]Interesting post, here are my opinions:[p]What cut of steak do you like best?
I prefer a good ribeye but a goot T-Bone is nice too.[p]How thick do you like them?
When I'm buying steaks I don't tell the butcher to cut them to a specific "thickness" I tell him to cut it to a specific size. I like steaks in the 14-16 oz. range. This typically works out to about 1" in ribeyes and a bit thinner on T-Bones.[p]How do you like it prepared (well done, rare, etc)?
I tease my wife that I'll cook hers and just walk mine past the grill to show it the coals. Very Very Rare, especially if its a good cut of meat.[p]What do you season it with?
I season my steaks with coarse ground black pepper, garlic powder, a bit of salt, and Andreas Steak Seasoning.[p]What is your cooking temps and times?
Typically about 325-350, direct, with some wood chips added for smoke flavor.[p]Do you seek out a butcher that has aged beef and if so how long is it aged?
I don't week out a butcher with aged beef. I have aged beef myself in the fridge for a couple of days, didn't seem to make THAT much difference to me. I do like to marinade steaks in Olive Oil for a couple of days before cooking, it adds a nice flavor and seems to break down the meat a bit making the steaks very tender.[p]What is the best tasting side dish to accompany it?
Grilled onions and some sauted mushrooms.[p]
OK, thanks, now I'm hungry.[p]Troy[p]

Car Wash Mike

South O,
Beef Filets period for me. I get 10-12 oz filets at McGonigles in KC and they have been dry aged and are prime beef. Just picked up 6 for the lake this weekend. Worst thing about this is that I can't use a BGE at my condo have to use gas.
I get the temp up to 750 at home and do the high sear, then dwell thing.
I have used Montreal Steak seasoning, Kosher salt and fresh pepper, and also a Aldolphs meat marinade. Just depends on your taste.
Good Cooking,[p]CWM

Kelly Keefe

I go along with Troy. Ribeyes are out favorites with T Bones a very, very close second.[p]I go with a high heat cook, around 700° using the 3 minutes per side but with a longer dwell since we like ours well done.[p]Sometimes I use a mustard rub with Outdoor Home Steak seasoning, sometimes just olive oil, S&P and garlic powder. I just bought some Montreal Steak Seasoning and am looking forward to trying that since I've heard good things here on the Forum.[p]Sides? Sauted onions and mushrooms, baby. Steak fries are also good and give you something to soak up the juices with. My Mom got me started on using Roka salad dressing instead of ketchup on the fries. Give me all that and a good salad and I'm there.[p]Kelly Keefe
Jefferson City, MO

Kelly Keefe

The Lake, Mike? What time's dinner? ;-)[p]Kelly
Jefferson City

Spin

South O,[p]A nicely marbled 1-1.25" ribeye is hard to beat in my book, but a NY strip, or porterhouse is a very close second. Bone-in steak just tastes better IMHO.[p]I like to let the steak be the standout for the cook. I trim any excess fat down to 1/8", dry with paper towels (dry meat sears better), give a light dusting of kosher salt to one side and a dusting of fresh cracked tellecherry pepper to both sides (pressing the seasonings into the meat). I cook for medium well using 550-650°F for 4/6/x, with the dwell (x) being what the meat requires to reach 150°F. Allow a 5-10 minute covered rest, then brush with either clarified butter or ghee (toasted clarified butter) before serving.[p]I have yet to try aged beef. Nice side dishes are a fresh salad and baked potato (russet or sweet) which can be done ahead in your Egg. Veggie of your choice and a crusty bread finishes the meal out.[p]Spin

sprinter

Kelly Keefe,[p]My wife makes potato wedges in the oven that are awesome. Cut up some potatoes into decent size wedges, and place them in a flat baking dish. Drizzle them with olive oil to cover them, then sprinkle on some Greek Seasoning or whatever herbs you want. Cook them until they are done, usually 45 minutes at about 350-375, depending on the size and quantity of potatoes. In the last 5 minutes, sprinkle on some good shreaded parmesan cheese or you can use cheddar and melt it over the potatoes.[p]Serve with a good ranch dressing, sour cream, or blue cheese is my favorite. No calories at all in this dish.......let me tell you, every one of them is worth it.[p]Troy

Gloria

South O,
I will leave the steak discussion to those who obviously know what they are talking about! However, as to sides, you just have to have potatoes with steak (although in Arizona we were always served pinto beans with them), and being from Georgia, when the Vidalias come in, I take a big one and slice it, not too thin, and saute it in nothing but Balsamic vinegar. If you like them crunchy, just let them sit in the vinegar until you put the steaks on, then start them cooking slowly. Or just cook them until they are as soft as you like them. You can use any large sweet onion. The Texas Sweets are hard to beat as are the Walla-Wallas.

Car Wash Mike

Kelly Keefe, Anytime you wish. I enjoy entertaining at my condo. Just bought it so have no means of water transportation yet but just wait.
Springfield is right at 90 minutes away.
Would like to have a BGE fest somewhere in that area.[p]CWM

Kelly Keefe

Troy,[p]My wife does the same thing (sort of) but uses Lipton's Dry Onion Soup mix. Awesome stuff.[p]Another personal fave is green beans done how I term "Southern Style" (cause I never had 'em this way until I moved down South). Basically you take a can of green beans (NOT French cut), some bacon and onions and then cook the livin' $hit out of them -- until the green beans wrinkle up. Add liquid as needed but be sparing with it. There should be very little left when they're done.[p]Now I'm gonna have to go "Southern". Just put on a Dillard's CD (The Darling Family on the old Andy Griffith Show) and will have to cook up a mess of grits for breakfast tomorrow. Grin![p]Kelly
Jefferson City, MO

Kelly Keefe

Car Wash Mike,[p]Thanks for the invite. Might just have to take you up on that sometime although it's been a mighty long time since I was on Tablerock Lake. I tend to steer as clear of the Branson area as possible due to the traffic though. We really DO need to get a Missouri Eggfest goin'![p]Kelly[p]PS -- The wife and I aren't really into boats anyway...

Gloria

Kelly Keefe,
Southern style green beans should never be canned ones! But you are right, we do cook the $hit out of them.

Porkchop

my fave is generally ribeye. cut 'em THICK. season them simply and throw a big lump of butter or compound butter on top. best side dish with steak is ribs or any kind of fresh shellfish. maybe a tater and salad with lots of blue cheese dressing.[p]2 wild cards here, for which i might take some flack. i like my ribeye slow cooked til well done. the fat in the meat gets all liquid-y like melted butter. second, while ribeye is my fave, the only steak i will order at a steakhouse is sirloin, just because you really have to be working at it to screw up a t-bone or ribeye. to make a good sirloin, you really gotta know your stuff. so, i like a good bronto-sirloin too, but lean as it is, would do it hot and keep it in the rare to med rare range.

Unknown

South O,
Nebraska Aged USDA Prime 2" Thick Filet or 32oz plus Porterhouse. The only seasoning needed IMO is Sea Salt and Fresh cracked Black Pepper.
~Teddy Bear

Kelly Keefe

Gloria,[p]Agreed that fresh is best, but if they're not available the canned ones (as long as they're not French cut) will do in a pinch.[p]Kelly

YB

Kelly Keefe,
Your right fresh is the best...The frozen green beans are much better than can ones.
Larry

Unknown

Nothing beats hanger steak. We have it almost every week. It's beefy and flavorful, tasting like steak tasted when I was a kid. Since we started eating hanger, ribeyes just taste too fatty to me and filet mignon has no flavor. Yes, I've been ruined. I think it's a shame more stores don't carry, and more Americans aren't familiar with, this cut of beef.[p]We season ours with salt, pepper, and herbes de provence. Nothing more. I cook them at 700-750. I like mine rare to medium-rare.[p]As for sides, homemade french fries are traditional for an American "steack-frites". With fresh corn coming into season, though, we also enjoy grilled corn on the cob with our steak.[p]For green vegetables, we often go with baby spinach or arugula (my favorite). We've started serving the vegetables the way we've seen them do in France and Italy. We scatter the raw greens out on the warm (not hot) platter we plan to serve the steak on. Drizzle over a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the greens. Then, when the steaks are finished cooking, we put them on the platter and cover them with aluminum foil to rest. The heat from the platter and steak slightly wilts the greens. Also any juices from the steak blend in with the greens. It's delicious.

Unknown

DavidH,
what is a hanger steak? Chance it goes by another name? Anybody got one of those purdy cow diagrams?

Unknown

South O, I just gotta wade in here on this one! My vote is for New York strips 1.5 to 2.0 thick prepped "ala Dr Chicken" That means buying freshly cut from the butcher - never out of the display case - and no less three days and up to 5 days before having. Now using the no-salt, no-msg Adolphs give all four sides a very light sprinkle. Next place your steaks on individual pieces of saran wrap and coated liberally with garlic flavored olive oil. Wrap and refrigerate. When it is time to egg, use a 675° temp 3/3/2 for a nicely seared, medium rare TASTY steak. As I write this I have two beauties readied for Saturday night.
^oo^~

Unknown

I wish I knew... My butcher once told me that it's part of the cow's diaphragm, but I've heard from other people that it's a muscle used to purge the cow's pancreas or something like that. Sounds disgusting, huh. Maybe we don't really want to know what it is. :-)[p]I've also heard it referred to as a hanging tender. The French term is onglet. You'll occasionally see it that way on "Frenchified" restaurant menus.

sprinter

kat,[p]THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.[p]Doc Chicken and I took a LOT of ribbing (no pun intended) a year or so ago when he introduced that olive oil method to the forum. He and I had been doing that to steaks for about 6 months (he's been doing that to steaks since he was a kid) and everyone seemed to say that it didn't really add anything to the steak. There were discussions on the chemical makeup of olive oil showing how it COULDNT tenderize the way we said it did. I just let it pass, everyone elses loss. I LOVE what a good olive oil marinade does to a nice steak. Infused olive oil is even more of a treat. This time of year with all of the herbs fresh out of the garden I usually have several bottles of infused oil in the pantry and there's nothing better on a steak.[p]Thanks kat, glad to see that someone else is enjoying that prep method for a steak. Hope more people give it a shot, its well worth the extra few days of prep time.[p]Troy

djm5x9

South O:
Rib eyes for me. I purchase whole rib eyes and cut my own 1½ inches thick and FoodSave them for the freezer.[p]Typically, basic seasonings like salt and pepper with crushed garlic, Obie's SteakMaker, Obie's GatorBreath, or sometimes just plain are how we do them. Regardless of seasoning used, the steaks are brushed with olive oil, seasoned, and refrigerated for a few hours.[p]The steaks are cooked direct at temperatures between 550º and 650º. I like them rare and for a 1½ inch this is about two and one half minutes per side.[p]Regarding sides, one or more grilled vegetables like asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash, or tomatoes are selected depending on what is in the garden or available at the store. Baked potatoes (no foil) seasoned with Obie's GatorBteath or baked Vidalia onions are also favorites.[/b]

Unknown

sprinter,[p]I for one am a believer. It is the only way a steak gets cooked at my house. No better flavor ever tasted, and yes you are right about the fresh herbs. [p]THANK YOU

Unknown

Kelly Keefe,
Being fom the south (Arkansas) I do my green beans the same way except, I drain the liquid out of the can and replace it with chicken broth or chicken stock if I have any made up and like you said cook the $hit out of them. I do the same method with frozen and fresh green beans.

sprinter

KT,[p]Again, not my idea, I just helped Doc Chicken run it up the flagpole here in the forum awhile back. He and I had been talking about it for quite some time through emails etc. and one day I mentioned it on the forum and things got a bit crazy. You're welcome but Doc deserves the credit for the method of preparing the steak.[p]Troy

nikkig

kat,
Here is what a hanger staek is. I've never heard of one of these either.
[ul][li]Hanger Steak[/ul]

Unknown

sprinter,[p]Yeah I remember that post and thread well. I had a tough couple of steaks and thought I would try it for myself. WOW what a steak that was and so tender. It changed the texture and taste completly. Good stuff

KennyG

South O,[p]Wow, there is plenty of great steak info in this thread!![p]The health concious and aerobics queen better half carefully limits the red meat consumption in this household.[p]On those rare occasions, she likes filet and I am partial to NY strips. Fortunately, I have a source for restaurant quality, Prime aged beef based on some BGE repair work I did for a local restaurant. [p]No matter what your preference is, you've gotta try this marmalade whenever you serve beef. Just once and you'll be hooked. This recipe is courtesy of "Cooking Light" magazine from sometime last year.[p]K~G[p]
[ul][li]Red Onion-Garlic Marmalade[/ul]

Gordy

No one mentioned the number one side - BEER, gotta have a cold one when searing.[p]I like thick steaks, between rare and medium rare. Wife and daughter like filets so we usually have those but I like ribeyes too.[p]Can't stand those 1/2" T bones or porterhouse jobs from Kroeger.[p]We have steak most every Friday night (sometimes salomon, sea bass or tuna) at the lake, don't usually eat until 10:PM after we get done water skiing (Lake Hartwell, SC). We have the long and slow cooks for Saturday.[p]Big salads with blue cheese or a really good ceasar salad. Aspargus, broccoli or some type of zuckini. Baked potatos or hash brown casseroles, garlic bread and a nice merlot or cab.[p]Can't wait until Friday

Unknown

Gordy,[p]That is a given for me. I check for beer before the fire gets lit. Not enough beer....can't cook.[p]