fillet steak

[sidekickdmr]

Just invested £15 on two 28day matured fillet steaks

Got some beer battered chips and petit pois and pepercorn sauce

What's the best way to cook steak?

Any advise?

[OllieWinchester]

Flash in a really hot pan for two mins either side after seasoning (but not with salt as it can draw too much water out) then rest.

Edited by OllieWinchester on Friday 9th October 11:52

[pacman1]

I can never get conventional ovens/grills up to a decent temperature to do the steak justice. So I either pay the extra and have a restaurant cook it for me, or more recently I've been using the small disposable bbq's from the supermarket to do the job. IMO they work a treat. They are pennies compared to the price of the steak and no grill to clean!

[Marf]

Brush oil on your steaks, then salt and pepper.

Get the pan really hot, then cook a couple of minutes per side, turning only once.

When you turn over the steaks, reduce the heat.

Thats for on the rare side of medium rare.

Cook for a little longer if you want it more medium.

[Marf]

pacman1 said:

I can never get conventional ovens/grills up to a decent temperature to do the steak justice.

I tend to get my pan smoking before putting the steak in, gives it a nice caramelised surface on either side.

[OnTheOverrun]

Really solid thick bottomed frying pan, get really hot, splash in alittle olive oil and sear steak on both sides for a couple of minutes. Drop in a big lump of butter and baste steak on both sides for another couple of minutes. Rest for 5 minutes tightly covered in foil. Serve.

[Romanymagic]

I cook a lot of fillet steak and this works best for me. Ridged griddle pan on the fast/wok/high heat gas burner on your hob. Whack up the flame to max and leave your griddle pan on top for 5 to 10 minutes, just letting the griddle pan get real hot (this is a G. Ramsey suggestion by the way), meanwhile having rested your steak(s) for 30 minutes to get room temp (from fridge), lightly season and rub olive oil into the steaks then add to the griddle pan (if you have it, extractor fan from cooker hood needs to be on max now to avoid a smokey environment), 2 minutes each side and sear (hold the meat onto the hot griddle to seal) the steaks on the sides, then rest for 5 minutes and serve.

Add whatever blood/fat comes out of the rested steaks to your sauce/reduction and perfection is guaranteed. I find a blue cheese or bearnaise sauce works well. Alternatively a mushroom gratin on top of each steak is really good, let me know if anyone wants recipes.

[sidekickdmr]

So the generall rule is good pan, very hot, olive oil, salt, pepper, two min each side, rest!

When I rest the steak for 5 min, surely even in foil it will go cold! How about wacking it in a warm oven in foil for those 5 min?

[Romanymagic]

Personal opinion but fillet steak should not be served hot, rather at room temperature (or just above) if you cook it right.

Two things will happen either 1) you will utilise a complementary sauce over the top which will be hot disguising the temp of the steak or 2) you will serve the steak with accompaniments which will be hot and again disguise the temp of the steak. Think about when you last had steak commercially if it was fillet and it was cooked correctly i.e. rare then it won't of actually been hot - its rare so is impossible to have at the same temp as say a well done piece of pork/chicken etc.

Unlike other cuts of beef, Fillet lacks the fatty layers/marbleling of other cuts and so consequently does not benefit from being cooked medium/well done (although in America it is not unusual to cook Fillet to well done), whereas other cuts benefit from the "melting" of fat i.e. rib eye, t bone, sirloin, rump etc.

[sleep envy]

Romanymagic said:

although in America it is not unusual to cook Fillet to well done

the savages

[Papoo]

Romanymagic said:

in America it is not unusual to cook Fillet to well done

Quite the opposite, I've found from living in the states. Tis the Brits who love to incinerate their cow. The norm for steak out here is medium rare. Most decent steak restaurants will recommend decent prime fillet (fillay as they like to call it) be served rare, which is how I like it.

To answer the OP -
I season fillet by brushing it over with clarified or melted butter. Then liberally salt & pepper, I add a bit of garlic powder sometimes. The salt won't draw out moisture if it's on there for 30 mins or less.

I cook over charcoal. I can get it to well over 1200'F, so that's what I do. 90 seconds per side (at that temp, that's long enough to give a great colour and crust), then shift it to the indirect side (not over coals) for probably 3 minutes, I use the 'prod' test to gauge how it is done.. When I think it's almost there, I put a blob of my garlic butter on there.

Definately let it rest for a few mins. I put it on a plate, and put in in the microwave, and shut the door. I don't wrap in foil. It helps retain moisture (I don't worry about this, if it's cooked right) but it will cause the internal temp to rise a couple of degrees more, which makes a difference. Just be sure to factor that in.

ETA - another method I use frequently is the 'reverse sear' method. Basically it stems from the fact that searing does not lock in juices. That's nonsense, and scientifically proven so. It, like any other hot cooking, breaks down membranes and draws moisture to the surface. So, if you have a long time, and a meat thermo, cook it, wrapped in foil (throw some butter in there) at 105'c until your internal meat temp is 5-7' less than you want. This can take from 45mins to over an hour. After which, you'll have a perfectly even medium rare/whatever you want. Get your pan SUPER hot, take the steaks out of the oven, brush a light coating of EVOO on the steaks, and drop in for a quick 1 minute flash.

Trust me, this is the good one, just much more time consuming. You'll have a consitent cook level of perfect proportions running through the meat, and the beatiful,flashed outside - colour = flavour.

Edited by Papoo on Tuesday 6th October 03:40

[RizzoTheRat]

Papoo said:

I use the 'prod' test to gauge how it is done.

Great one I heard some years ago.
Hold your left hand out and relax it, with your right hand prod the fleshy bit of muscle at the base of your thumb, this is how a rare steak should feel.
Now touch the tips of your thumb and index finger of your left hand together and prod the muscle again, this is how medium rare should feel
Thumb and middle finger - medium
Thumb and ring finger - feed it to the dog, it's well done

[Don]

I do the flash fry method too.

However I do not recommend butter or olive oil as these can "burn" at the high temperature necessary. I either use no oil at all (I have a non-stick griddle) or some groundnut (peanut) oil.

[dcw@pr]

Every time this thread comes up I wonder how people can proscribe how long to cook a steak for without seeing it? I bought two days ago a 2.5 inch thick T-bone (yet to eat), and even for rare it's going to have to be cooked at least 5 mins per side.

For the OP - the only way to know is from experience (or do the slow cook then sear method) so try the 2 minute method, but if it doesn't work you'll have a better idea next time of what to do. Buy lots of steaks and soon you'll be an expert

[smack]

dcw@pr said:

For the OP - the only way to know is from experience (or do the slow cook then sear method) so try the 2 minute method, but if it doesn't work you'll have a better idea next time of what to do. Buy lots of steaks and soon you'll be an expert

Are you a spokesman for the National Beef Association?

But you are right, cook more meat, and you will get better at it!

[ascayman]

steak must be cooked from ROOM TEMP not straight from the fridge.

also take the peppercorn sauce and throw it in the bin. why on earth would you want one of the finest cuts of meat that you have spent a lot of money on to taste of somthing else???

enjoy.

[Romanymagic]

sleep envy said:

Romanymagic said:

although in America it is not unusual to cook Fillet to well done

the savages

[Zod]

The only way to cook fillet is to rub it in cracked pepper and then stick it on a hot skillet or barbecue for no more than one minute per side (if it is very thick) or 30 seconds if less than an inch. Turn only once. Eat it blue.

[Romanymagic]

Papoo said:

Romanymagic said:

in America it is not unusual to cook Fillet to well done

Quite the opposite, I've found from living in the states. Tis the Brits who love to incinerate their cow. The norm for steak out here is medium rare. Most decent steak restaurants will recommend decent prime fillet (fillay as they like to call it) be served rare, which is how I like it.

Your experience out weighs mine clearly, but I was referring to the Beef Wellington's being served up in Hells Kitchen USA recently and the majority of the orders were for "well done".

My limited experience of Philly, Florida, Keyes and New York dictate that medium rare is more common...so...I'll shut up now!

[escargot]

It isn't about time, it's about feel. Keep touching the steak and use the finger method above - it yields good results.

As for the method of cooking, season well with S&P, a big chunk of cow needs a decent amount of each. Rub on some groundnut oil (flavourless) and fry in a searingly hot pan for as long as is required.

Once it's done (usually between 1-2mins per side), I rub half a clove of garlic over the meat and place a small nob of butter to melt whilst it's resting. Resting is hugely important, it relaxes the meat and ensure it's more tender. 5 mins at least.