Steaks 101

In an effort to push myself out of my comfort zone, I’ve tried being a little more adventurous in the kitchen. What’s the point of all my learning, researching, Food Network watching, and cookbook reading if I’m just gonna prepare the same things day in and day out?

One thing that I love, but very rarely (until now) make at home is steak. I would always think steaks are too expensive, I don’t have a grill, I don’t know much about the different cuts, I can’t, I won’t, I don’t, I shan’t…blah, blah, blah and on and on and on. I’m great at the excuses, but I knew that, in reality, none of that was actually true and I was gonna do some investigating to figure out how I could eat steak in the comfort of my own home. Plus, it’s not like eating steak out is so affordable either.

So I decided to write this little tutorial on steak.

Welcome to Steak 101.

Some basics about steak to consider are cost, fat content (or “marbling”), keeping it juicy, how to cook it, and how/when to cut it.

Some equipment you’ll need to do a good job: decent sized cutting board, heavy bottomed skillet of some sort or a grill/grill pan, tongs, and a decent knife (either a carving knife or chef’s knife or, if you’re serving individual steaks, steak knives).

Levels of “Doneness”:

• Raw: (Not cooked at all) Usually chopped up or sliced, like in steak tartare or carpaccio
• Rare: (Core temperature of 119-121 Degrees) Outside appears brownish, gray-ish and middle is still bright red
• Medium Rare: (Core temp of 125-127 Degrees) Outside is nicely browned and middle is reddish, with a rim of pink; most typical level of doneness in steakhouses
• Medium: (Core temp of 133-135 Degrees) Middle is deeply pink
• Medium Well: (Core temp of 143-145 Degrees) Middle is light pink
• Well Done: (Core temp of 166-170 Degrees) Steak is completely cooked through and through with no pinkness and definitely no redness; might get you spit on if ordered in an American steakhouse (or at the very least a questioning eyebrow raise)

Relevant Terms/Cooking Methods:

1. Marbling – The vein-y white fat that runs through meat and melts away when cooked (meaning not the huge, thick slabs of fat you cut away as you eat the steak); more marbling is usually desired as it ensures flavor and tenderness
2. Pan Searing – Process of sealing juices into the meat to provide a more lusciously melt-in-your-mouth steak. This is accomplished by smearing the pan with a coating of vegetable or Canola oil, heating up a skillet (can be cast iron or non-stick or plain metal) over the highest heat possible. Once it’s so hot it’s almost smoking, put the meat in, leaving it completely alone (no shuffling it around with your tongs) for (depending on the thickness of the meat) anywhere from 3 – 8 minutes. Pick up a side of it just to peek for color. Once a brilliantly dark brown crust has formed, flip and sear the other side for a minute or two less. For thinner cuts like hanger and skirt, this is enough to cook the steak to a perfect medium/medium-rare. For thicker cuts like sirloin or filet mignon you may have to finish the cooking in the oven (see below).
3. Broiling - For some thicker steaks that are too thick to cook all the way through using the pan searing method, you can first pan sear and then stick the steak under the broiler (transfer to a baking pan if you used a non-stick skillet to sear it in the first place, non-stick cannot go into the oven). The broiler consists of heat from above which will help cook the middle of the meat without drying out the seared outside. You can also throw steaks straight into the broiler to cook (a flank steak, for example).
4. USDA Prime, USDA Choice, USDA Select – Grade of meat from best quality to lowest, mainly based on marbling, color, and texture.

Different Cuts of Steak:

1. Sirloin – A generally very lean cut, pretty pricey; consists of a “top” and “bottom”. Top sirloin is more tender and more expensive. Bottom sirloin is less tender, bigger, and is usually what you get when the butcher doesn’t specify whether the sirloin is top or bottom.
2. Filet Mignon – A very tender, very, very lean piece of the tenderloin, usually contradictory features in the world of beef, but alas, that’s why its unique combo jacks up the price. Typically, it is the cut of choice for skinny-minny female meat eaters across the country, meaning it is super lean and tender, but where that lack of fat shows itself is in the fact that it’s not the most flavorful of steaks. For this reason, it will often be accompanied by a sauce or wrapped in bacon.
3. New York Strip – Also, very expensive cut as it is one of the more desirable cuts for its tenderness. Also known as “Delmonico” or entrecôte.
4. T-Bone -Aside from being a cool nickname, T-bone is a very large and, therefore, very expensive cut with the eponymous t-shaped bone; kind of a 2-for-1 since it actually consists of two other cuts: the strip and the tenderloin (the 2-for-1 is another reason this steak is so pricey). Best suited for quick cooking like broiling.
5. Porterhouse – Like a larger T-bone, it, too, consists of the strip and tenderloin on either side of a t-shaped bone, but the tenderloin is thicker. Also like the T-bone, very pricey and delicious broiling.
6. Rib Eye – Pretty expensive cut (sensing a theme here?) for its especially extensive marbling and, therefore, flavor and tender texture. Called rib eye because it is cut from the beef rib and it can be served with the bone or boneless.
7. Hanger - Cut from the diaphragm, this steak is tougher than more premium cuts like strip and sirloin and, consequently, hanger is much more affordable, but what it lacks in tenderness, it makes up for in flavor. Hanger steak is characterized by a very long, stringy grain that requires quick cooking and slicing against the grain so each bite is very tender. It can benefit from a marinade of some kind, but, in my opinion, does not require one.
8. Skirt – Another affordable, flavorful, but tougher cut of steak. Looks similar to the hanger, but narrower and less marbled. The meat comes from the rib cage. Cooks very quickly and, if cut against the grain, it can also be tender. This cut is also used for most fajitas.
9. Flank – This cut comes from the cow’s stomach and is also known as “London broil.” Like the skirt and hanger, flank steak is very affordable compared to other cuts. Because it’s a well worked muscle, it is probably the toughest of all the cuts mentioned here, but with a long, tenderizing marinade, quick cooking, and, again, slicing against the grain, this steak has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

Most importantly, as Matt’s dad, Mr. C, always reminds Matt, remember that once you take the steak off the heat, there is carry over cooking time, meaning the steak is so hot it will continue to cook a bit on its own. Take this into account when timing the doneness of your meat.

Lastly, do not serve or slice the steak the minute it comes off the grill/out of the pan/out of the oven. All the juices will pour out. Wait at least 15 minutes before serving or slicing and your patience will be rewarded.

That ends Steak 101 for today. Stay tuned for Steak 102 in the future where I’ll write about my own adventures in steak-land and give you recipes for some great side dishes.