Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

How thick to cut a steak?

paulheels
paulheels Posts: 457
edited January 2012 in EggHead Forum
Hello all, its been a while!  I hope everyone is doing great and staying out of trouble.  Busy time of the year for me, for the next three months, and my off days are now Tue and Wed.  To the question Batman!
  How thick do yall get steaks cut?  A store here will put NY Strips and ribeye on sale, typically 3.77/lb and 4.99/lb respectively.  NY Strips are on sale now!  Thanks for the info.  
  I have had time to cook on the EGG, it has been delicious as usual.  Also my daughters first bday is Feb 3, planning on two packers and split chicken boobs.   

heyyyo



Paul
thebearditspeaks.com. Go there. I write it.

Comments

  • Thickness of a steak is pretty much a person a choice. I prefer mine minimum of 1.5 inches and not much over 2.25 inches.
  • psalzer
    psalzer Posts: 108
    Personally I like my steak 1 1/2 inches thick, cooked med rare!
  • rodent
    rodent Posts: 106
    I go with 1 1/2. Allows to put a nice sear and cook to medium rare.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited January 2012
    as always, a complicated answer from me. hahaha

    if i am cooking for the wife and myself, i slice them thinner than i used to.  maybe an inch and a half, or (gasp) thinner.  why? well, i hot tub them, so my 'cook' is nothing more than a brief sear, and i get medium rare all the way across the steak, not an exterior ring of gray with a tiny core of med/rare. i don't need a thick steal to guarantee a lot of med/rare meat.

    second... i think people eat way too much.  There, i said it.  If you drop a 2inch thick steak on my plate, i'll eat it.  but i don't need it.  reasonable steak, with sides, means i don't feel like a fat bastard when i am done.

    third, well... i used to cook a thick steak, then cut it in half and give the other half to the wife.  she still likes hers done a bit more than me though, and i was tired of hoofing it back to toss hers on again or (worse) hearing her microwave it for 30 seconds. hahaha.  so i cook her a steak by itself, to her slightly more done preference.

    be careful of the sale prices.  they may be select.  you can get away with select on a rib ey (not ideal though), but even a choice strip can be tough sometimes.  stay clear of select strips.

    try buying them whole for even more savings, and hacking off your steaks to your own preferred thickness.
    and, because it wouldn't be me without mentioning it, try aging them (wet or dry), before slicing into steaks

    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Recently the whole foods that was only a 5 minute walk from my house packed up and moved about 2-3 miles from my house. Now a new market has moved in that is owned by a ranch family and several other ranchers in the state.  Every steak they sell is dry aged and a few times I have even seen wagu.  All I can say is wow, typically I get a thick steak either Strip or ribeye and get the Ms (future Mrs) a filet. 

    While a super thick is great as Stike said, do I really need that much food, while the answer is typically no, at times it is nice to pass on the sides and just enjoy a huge steak. 

    So I don't feel the thickness of the steak is overly important what is important is how you cook it and does it taste good to you.  You can have a 2" steak and char it to crap then it becomes nothing more than dog food or a smaller steak that cooks in just a few minutes and turns out perfect.

    Butchers in my area will allow you to buy a side of ribeye, Strip or many other steaks and will slice it for you if you still buy the whole thing, to them it is about moving product and not having the potential waste which is why some prefer to purchase a side vs a single steak.
  • BOWHUNR
    BOWHUNR Posts: 1,487
    edited January 2012
    Here's how I like my ribeyes!!  And yes stike........I eat way too much!!

    image

    image

    image

    Mike
    Omaha, NE

    I'm ashamed what I did for a Klondike Bar!!

    Omaha, NE
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    that's a roast, not a steak
    :)
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • paulheels
    paulheels Posts: 457
    Thanks for all the comments.  I am going to dry age the next Ribeye I get.  Bowhnr, that is a roast



    Paul
    thebearditspeaks.com. Go there. I write it.
  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    When I buy whole beef tenderloins, I usually cut them into steaks 2-2.5" thick.
  • bamafan62
    bamafan62 Posts: 137
    Mike,

    What are you cooking your steak (roast) on???????

    Thank You,
    Phil
  • BOWHUNR
    BOWHUNR Posts: 1,487
    edited January 2012
    I'm assuming you mean the grill set-up??  It's a spider from the ceramic grill store and a 13" cast iron grate from BGE.  Gets your meat right down to the coals.



    I'm ashamed what I did for a Klondike Bar!!

    Omaha, NE
  • bamafan62
    bamafan62 Posts: 137
    Thanks Mike,

    Looks like I may need one of those!  I bet that bad boy gets darn hot.  Do you us it just for stakes?  I need a storey to tell my wife why I need one! ;-)



    Phil. 
  • rodent
    rodent Posts: 106
    You can put a wok on the spider. Put a pizza stone on it and use as a platesetter. Flip it the other way and you can use it to raise your grill. I have the spider and stone from ceramic grill store and use it all the time in my xl with the lump reducer from cgs. I didn't bother with the CI because I took one from my gasser and it sits perfectly on the spider.
  • BOWHUNR
    BOWHUNR Posts: 1,487
    Yep.....what rodent said. :D

    Mike
    Omaha, NE

    I'm ashamed what I did for a Klondike Bar!!

    Omaha, NE
  • bamafan62
    bamafan62 Posts: 137
    I am ashamed to ask but what is "the CI"?

    Phil
  • rodent
    rodent Posts: 106
    Sorry, cast iron
  • BOWHUNR
    BOWHUNR Posts: 1,487
    Cast Iron.

    Mike
    Omaha, NE

    I'm ashamed what I did for a Klondike Bar!!

    Omaha, NE
  • rodent
    rodent Posts: 106
    Yep.....what rodent said. :D

    Mike
    Omaha, NE


    Bowhunr, got my spider setup from one of your earlier posts. Use it all the time. Thx
  • bamafan62
    bamafan62 Posts: 137
    Thanks to all!

    Anybody in particular at CGW to talk to? 

    Phil
  • Ragtop99
    Ragtop99 Posts: 1,570
    You might look at getting the Woo, which gives you the lower ring of the spider and raises your main grill up.  It adds a lot of flexibility.  I bought an 18" CI grate to sear steaks on the lower ring. I got their ceramic stone that I can use when I need indirect as I don't own a platesetter.

    http://shop.ceramicgrillstore.com/products/XL-Woo2-&-17.5"-Ceramic-Stone-Combo.html

    Cooking on an XL and Medium in Bethesda, MD.