The Art of Medium Rare Meats (& steak advice)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The Art of Medium Rare Meats (& steak advice)

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

Here's some wisdom courtesy of The Food Lab.

quote:

The results? The steaks that were salted immediately before cooking and those that were salted and rested for at least 40 minutes turned out far better than those that were cooked at any point in between. What was up with those 10, 20, and 30 minute steaks?

Here's what's going on.

Immediately after salting the salt rests on the surface of the meat, undissolved. All the steak's juices are still inside the muscle fibers. Searing at this stage results in a clean, hard sear.

Within 3 or 4 minutes the salt, through the process of osmosis, will begin to draw out liquid from the beef. This liquid beads up on the surface of the meat. Try to sear at this point and you waste valuable heat energy simply evaporating this large amount of pooled liquid. Your pan temperature drops, your sear is not as hard, and crust development and flavor-building Maillard browning reactions are inhibited.

Starting at around 10 to 15 minutes, the brine formed by the salt dissolving in the meat's juices will begin to break down the muscle structure of the beef, causing it to become much more absorptive. The brine begins to slowly work its way back into the meat.

By the end of 40 minutes, most of the liquid has been reabsorbed into the meat. A small degree of evaporation has also occurred, causing the meat to be ever so slightly more concentrated in flavor.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2013 20:20

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 20:58

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

Fo3 posted:

What's the right environment? On the cow?
You're the first I've heard of in recent times saying aging in the fridge accomplishes nothing, assuming you are speaking about all fridges, and all temps/humidities.

There's aging, and there's aging. "Aging" in the fridge (which in this case I would describe as leaving the steak uncovered) with a single steak allows the outer layers of cells to desiccate, which promotes browning and crust development. You're not going to see any added benefit after, say, two days of this. Actual dry aging would involve careful temperature temperature control as well as constant airflow (not intermittent like a fridge) using whole primals, not single cuts. The process is also much longer, with it taking at least a month to develop any of those "aged" flavors that are so highly prized.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2013 16:11

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

Make a rosemary compound butter and melt a pat of it over each steak after you cook them.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2013 16:15

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

Hooooooooooly poo poo, that goes beyond a "steal". That's practically like them paying you to take that beautiful meat off their hands. Great find, I'm extremely jealous.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2013 19:36

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

blacquethoven posted:

why are some of you heating your pan in your oven, it seems to me that it would heat much faster over high on the stove top.

What? Who is suggesting heating their pan in the oven? Like every post in this thread says to put it on the stove on the highest heat and let it sit there for like 10 minutes until it's ripping hot.

# ¿ May 6, 2014 15:51

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

Yep. Sounds like you're overcooking the part of the steak close to the surface while you're developing your crust, which leads to narrow bands of dry overcooked greymeat even if the center of the steak is your preferred doneness. You might be better suited to the reverse sear method mentioned earlier in the thread (within the last couple pages at least).

# ¿ Jun 4, 2014 15:21

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

Falcon2001 posted:

Anyone know of a good guide to dry-aging meat? Interested in trying it out.

Here you go.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2014 20:23

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

Tender Child Loins posted:

Is it sacrilege to marinate a dry-aged ribeye?

Yes. Salt and pepper only, maybe a little butter to finish. Compound butter is as far as is legally allowed.

# ¿ Sep 26, 2014 21:29

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

BlueGrot posted:

Remember a few years ago when the steak thread was grey meat surfaces and cameras that didn't capture red?

I ducassed a steak!

*shows picture of a literal brown leather shoe*

# ¿ Mar 23, 2015 19:39

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 20:58

The Midniter: Jul 9, 2001

xergm posted:

If I remember, I usually salt it the night before and let them set in the fridge. They're usually fairly dry when I finally use them and hardly need a pat down.

Hell yeah, that's from the steak's outer layers drying out while exposed to air in the fridge, which leads to a bangin' crust. Keep fighting the good fight.

# ¿ May 22, 2015 18:30

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The Art of Medium Rare Meats (& steak advice)