Steak on a stone kits

[Vixpy1]

Been looking around for a kit to do this at home and come across this :

http://www.steakstones.com/product_info.php?cPath=...

Has anyone any experience of these or other suggestions please

[sleep envy]

£100 for a piece of stone?

get yourself down to a stone merchant with a chopping board under your arm to size the stone

[anonymous-user]

Never understood the attraction of that idea.

[JaybirdUK]

I had steak served on a stone in a Portuguese restaurant (in New jersey) and it was fantastic!

Wouldnt mind a go at that at home

[Mobile Chicane]

bulldong said:

Never understood the attraction of that idea.

Me neither.

a. How can a 'stone' possibly cook, say, steak as effectively as a decent hot pan;
b. If used at the dining table I bet it will stink the house out.

[sleep envy]

it's the enjoyment of doing it - you're old enought to remember fondue the first time round, aren't you?

[mattdaniels]

Anything has to be better than bloomin wooden boards. What is it with restaurants serving steak on wooden boards? I don't want to see the juices oozing away in to the wood (or think about how many previous meals have oozed in to it too) and I want the steak to be vaguely hot beyond the second bite.

[cheddar]

Mobile Chicane said:

bulldong said:

Never understood the attraction of that idea.

Me neither.

a. How can a 'stone' possibly cook, say, steak as effectively as a decent hot pan;
b. If used at the dining table I bet it will stink the house out.

+2

[cal72]

Have a look at stonegrills.co.uk.
Fantastic for most outdoor meats.

[Puggit]

JaybirdUK said:

I had steak served on a stone in a Portuguese restaurant (in New jersey) and it was fantastic!

Wouldnt mind a go at that at home

Likewise, I've eaten like this in a Portuguese restaurant, on the Algarve. My steak was cooked to perfection, which is very rare in a restaurant!

[muppetdave]

I had this locally to me in June for my birthday, in fact three of us did. Absolutely great, makes a bit of a change and a bit of fun. Kitchen literally sealed it in a pan prior to sending out, and then it was a case of cutting a slice and cooking for 5 seconds. Absolutely stunning in my opinion.

[10 Pence Short]

There's a place locally that does this. The problem was, they were serving a cut of meat that's very thick, and the stone isn't really the best piece of kit for cooking it properly (and I like my steak blue).

The other problem was me having my steak ready to eat within a few seconds and my other half having to wait much longer for her food to be ready. Not really that practical or socially comfortable at a restaurant table.

[majordad]

A Novelty I say. They do it in the Pistenklause in the Nurburgring and it's hard to breath at times at the table. You need a plate to put your cooked steak on as well unless you want it to keep cooking.

[cheddar]

10 Pence Short said:

There's a place locally that does this. The problem was, they were serving a cut of meat that's very thick, and the stone isn't really the best piece of kit for cooking it properly (and I like my steak blue).

The other problem was me having my steak ready to eat within a few seconds and my other half having to wait much longer for her food to be ready. Not really that practical or socially comfortable at a restaurant table.

Agreed.

Cooking your own dinner when you're still paying for the privilege of someone doing it for you?

Defeats the object of going out to eat.

What next? Nipping into the restaurant kitchen to knock up your own dessert?

[insurance_jon]

I've had a few overs the years, and I can honestly say they are brilliant, but have two tips

1 buy the thicker stones as they retain heat better
2. Heat them for as long and as high as possible as they cool down pretty quick.

[anonymous-user]

Puggit said:

JaybirdUK said:

I had steak served on a stone in a Portuguese restaurant (in New jersey) and it was fantastic!

Wouldnt mind a go at that at home

Likewise, I've eaten like this in a Portuguese restaurant, on the Algarve. My steak was cooked to perfection, which is very rare in a restaurant!

In Alvor? If so I ate at the same place and it was excellent. Immediately burned my hand on the fecking stone though

[anonymous-user]

cheddar said:

Mobile Chicane said:

bulldong said:

Never understood the attraction of that idea.

Me neither.

a. How can a 'stone' possibly cook, say, steak as effectively as a decent hot pan;
b. If used at the dining table I bet it will stink the house out.

+2

Also, chef knows best in a restaurant right? I go to a restaurant to be cooked for, not to cook myself... and yes, it would make your house stink.

[Pferdestarke]

The meat would have to be very fresh too, but I fear that many of the steakhouses using this equipment will be serving vac packed steak from a wholesaler where the meat has been steeped in its own blood for weeks.

To then cook it with your knife and fork on some luke-warm stone having to cut it in to tiny pieces to actually get some heat to transfer through the meat would be a bloody pain.

So chef receives your order, takes slab of vac packed steak, slaps on pre warmed stone, adds salad garnish and some frozen chips. "Service!"

£21.99 please sir.

Naff.

[pacman1]

Tried it in Portugal, superb. The stone gets heated to 400 deg plus in the special oven, so no problems with luke warm food. I guess it must use a fair bit of electric though!

With mine, I had to sit the meat on top the onions & peppers to stop it overcooking, and on a hot day you will end up with a sweaty red face with it sat on the table next to you!

A guy I knew bought a catering one for his pub from Black Rock, it proved very popular indeed.

[832ark]

Loads of places in Portugal do it, seems to be a Portugese thing?