I've a big sirloin, help me cook it to perfection.

[NickM450]

I was reading the steak a la man thread yesterday and it got me proper craving a good steak. I have a cast iron skillet and quite regularly manage to get myself a decent steak from it.

However this time, because of the thread, I decided to go a bit mad. I went and bought a bit of sirloin, well matured and a rather big 1.5" thick. I know I need it at room temp and the skillet to be very hot but apart from that my steak skills run out. I'd like to know what the brains of PH would do with it?

I'm having it on Fri night so ideas on storage, seasoning and how to cook it to perfection would be great. Is a skillet even the best way to deal with such a thick steak?

[illmonkey]

Fire up the BBQ and cook it direct on the lump charcoal for 4 mins a side for medium rare. Don't season on them.

Get the charcoal red hot, fan away ask and chuck it on. Once done, rest it for 5 minutes.

[NickM450]

Thanks, but I'll save that tip for camping in the summer

[Tickle]

The ribeye I cooked this weekend was on the big side (1.2kg) so I cooked it as follows:

Season, put plenty of butter on/under it and wrap in foil. Put it in the oven on about 80C for 30 mins. I then seared all sides (not just two) in a hot pan, I set it to rest for 20 mins in the foil used to cook it on with a little more butter and seasoning. My steak was rare.

Sure it will work for your sirloin.

Ref pics from steak thread:

Tickle said:

1.2kg of ribeye with blacksticks blue sauce and some other stuff...

[cbmotorsport]

Careful how hot you have the pan. A steak this thick will burn on the outside before the middle has even got warm, if your pan is smoking hot. You could quickly sear it, and then pop the pan in the oven to finish off.

[Zod]

For a steak that thick, one minute on a hot iron griddle pan, then turn, one minute on the other side, then turn and rotate so the lines criss-cross and give it another minute, then flip and rotate and give it a final minute. Then put it in a roasting tin in the oven at 180 for 6 minutes. Finally, let it rest for ten minutes. It will be caramelised on the outside and rare to medium rare inside.

[davidexige]

Do you have a meat thermometer? if so I use the following as a guide to cooking, never failed yet, using the thermometer measure the temperature of the centre of the steak whilst in the pan, (the temperature will continue to rise when resting) for rare you need 40˚C, medium rare 45˚C, medium 56˚C and well done 65+˚C.

[21TonyK]

Be aware that if you use the pan-to-oven method that the pan is normally significantly hotter than the oven when you put it in. Therefore the side in contact with the pan will cook quicker and unless you turn the steak as you would in a pan it can cook unevenly.

Personally I would sear in a hot pan then transfer to a tray that is already in the oven leaving the pan free to cool. When the steak is still a little under for you taste return to the pan and baste with clarified butter and fresh thyme leaves, let the steak rest, pour off the butter and return any juices to the pan and deglaze with a splash of port to serve over the steak.

[Zod]

21TonyK said:

Be aware that if you use the pan-to-oven method that the pan is normally significantly hotter than the oven when you put it in. Therefore the side in contact with the pan will cook quicker and unless you turn the steak as you would in a pan it can cook unevenly.

Personally I would sear in a hot pan then transfer to a tray that is already in the oven leaving the pan free to cool. When the steak is still a little under for you taste return to the pan and baste with clarified butter and fresh thyme leaves, let the steak rest, pour off the butter and return any juices to the pan and deglaze with a splash of port to serve over the steak.

Yes, transfer from pan to roasting dish to place in the oven.

[NickM450]

Thanks for the replies folks, I have a few issues witht the advice. I do not have a meat thermometer and my skillet, maybe I used the wrong word, is not like a frying pan. It's like this:



Never tried to oven cook a steak...

[tomsugden]

Have a look at the reverse sear method. You basically put the meat at room temperature into a warm oven, then you pan cook it. One benefit of this method is that you rest the meat after the oven but before the pan, meaning you can then eat it from the pan without further resting.

http://jesspryles.com/how-to-cook-a-steak-with-rev...

Method:

INGREDIENTS

One behemothly thick steak (bone in ribeye works great!). It's going to need to be at least 1" thick if not more. The thicker, the better.
Salt & pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 135c/275f
Place well seasoned steaks on a rack over a baking tray (cover the tray with foil to save yourself a clean up)
Put in oven and cook til an internal temp of 125-135f depending on your preference of "doneness". Usually takes around 45-60 minutes.
Remove when at temp and rest for 10-15 minutes under foil
Preheat a skillet or heavy based pan to screamingly hot temperatures
Sear steaks for one minute each side
Serve immediately

[hyphen]

NickM450 said:

Thanks for the replies folks, I have a few issues witht the advice. I do not have a meat thermometer and my skillet, maybe I used the wrong word, is not like a frying pan. It's like this:

Never tried to oven cook a steak...

Griddle pan

[deadslow]

tomsugden said:

Have a look at the reverse sear method. You basically put the meat at room temperature into a warm oven, then you pan cook it. One benefit of this method is that you rest the meat after the oven but before the pan, meaning you can then eat it from the pan without further resting.

http://jesspryles.com/how-to-cook-a-steak-with-rev...

Method:

INGREDIENTS

One behemothly thick steak (bone in ribeye works great!). It's going to need to be at least 1" thick if not more. The thicker, the better.
Salt & pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 135c/275f
Place well seasoned steaks on a rack over a baking tray (cover the tray with foil to save yourself a clean up)
Put in oven and cook til an internal temp of 125-135f depending on your preference of "doneness". Usually takes around 45-60 minutes.
Remove when at temp and rest for 10-15 minutes under foil
Preheat a skillet or heavy based pan to screamingly hot temperatures
Sear steaks for one minute each side
Serve immediately

this would be my choice of method

[NickM450]

hyphen said:

NickM450 said:

Thanks for the replies folks, I have a few issues witht the advice. I do not have a meat thermometer and my skillet, maybe I used the wrong word, is not like a frying pan. It's like this:

Never tried to oven cook a steak...

Griddle pan

Ahh, thanks for that.

tomsugden said:

Have a look at the reverse sear method. You basically put the meat at room temperature into a warm oven, then you pan cook it. One benefit of this method is that you rest the meat after the oven but before the pan, meaning you can then eat it from the pan without further resting.

http://jesspryles.com/how-to-cook-a-steak-with-rev...

Method:

INGREDIENTS

One behemothly thick steak (bone in ribeye works great!). It's going to need to be at least 1" thick if not more. The thicker, the better.
Salt & pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 135c/275f
Place well seasoned steaks on a rack over a baking tray (cover the tray with foil to save yourself a clean up)
Put in oven and cook til an internal temp of 125-135f depending on your preference of "doneness". Usually takes around 45-60 minutes.
Remove when at temp and rest for 10-15 minutes under foil
Preheat a skillet or heavy based pan to screamingly hot temperatures
Sear steaks for one minute each side
Serve immediately

I've now ordered a meat thermometer and I'm going to try this method. I think this may have started something, look out for my efforts on the steak a la man thread

[Tickle]

tomsugden said:

Have a look at the reverse sear method. You basically put the meat at room temperature into a warm oven, then you pan cook it. One benefit of this method is that you rest the meat after the oven but before the pan, meaning you can then eat it from the pan without further resting.

http://jesspryles.com/how-to-cook-a-steak-with-rev...

Method:

INGREDIENTS

One behemothly thick steak (bone in ribeye works great!). It's going to need to be at least 1" thick if not more. The thicker, the better.
Salt & pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 135c/275f
Place well seasoned steaks on a rack over a baking tray (cover the tray with foil to save yourself a clean up)
Put in oven and cook til an internal temp of 125-135f depending on your preference of "doneness". Usually takes around 45-60 minutes.
Remove when at temp and rest for 10-15 minutes under foil
Preheat a skillet or heavy based pan to screamingly hot temperatures
Sear steaks for one minute each side
Serve immediately

Thats similar to how I do mine, works great.

[mattdaniels]

One thing I do which tends to work quite well, is to start the steak off in a dry non-griddled flat pan, fat side down. You need some locking tongs so that you can support the steak. Slowly bring the pan up to temperature and render the fat on the steak whilst trying for as long as possible not to colour the steak itself. Once you've got some nicely done fat then transfer to scorchio griddle to do your cheffy lines and finish cooking in the oven if needs be.

[NickM450]

What about storage and prep? Just let it get to room temp and salt & pepper? It's in the fridge at the moment, still in packaging.

[mattdaniels]

Get it out of the packaging asap dry it off and store it unwrapped in the fridge. Lift it out of the fridge half an hour or so before cooking. Don't season it before cooking. Oil the steak not the pan.

[illmonkey]

mattdaniels said:

Get it out of the packaging asap dry it off and store it unwrapped in the fridge. Lift it out of the fridge half an hour or so before cooking. Don't season it before cooking. Oil the steak not the pan.

If you're not doing my method of dirty cooking, you're also better off not using olive oil, as it has a low smoke point. groundnut oil or something like that.

Make sure its hot enough too, a drop of water in the pan and make sure it goes nuts, it's hot then.

[Luca Brazzi]

deadslow said:

tomsugden said:

Have a look at the reverse sear method. You basically put the meat at room temperature into a warm oven, then you pan cook it. One benefit of this method is that you rest the meat after the oven but before the pan, meaning you can then eat it from the pan without further resting.

http://jesspryles.com/how-to-cook-a-steak-with-rev...

Method:

INGREDIENTS

One behemothly thick steak (bone in ribeye works great!). It's going to need to be at least 1" thick if not more. The thicker, the better.
Salt & pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 135c/275f
Place well seasoned steaks on a rack over a baking tray (cover the tray with foil to save yourself a clean up)
Put in oven and cook til an internal temp of 125-135f depending on your preference of "doneness". Usually takes around 45-60 minutes.
Remove when at temp and rest for 10-15 minutes under foil
Preheat a skillet or heavy based pan to screamingly hot temperatures
Sear steaks for one minute each side
Serve immediately

this would be my choice of method

Yep. Always this. Always for thick steaks.