Everyone loves a great steak. Cooking an amazing steak is an art to most people. Famous steak houses can charge hundreds of
dollars for their steak. What if you could cook a steak like those famous steak houses at home? Not only will it save you money. You
will become the talk of all your friends. I will show you how to become a steak god.
Picking out the right steak:
Quality is already taken care of you by the USDA. They have a meat grading system. This means you start by looking at the label.
1. USDA Prime
2. USDA Choice
3. USDA Select
4. USDA Standard
There are 4 lower scores of meat, but if you buy one of those you should not even continue reading this article. I myself normally find a
nice piece of USDA Choice. I try to stay with organic beef where possible because choice grade covers the largest range of steaks of any grade.
Ok, I get the grades but how do I pick between the steaks of the same grade? The secret is in the fat. Yes the fat makes the steak! You want a steak with thin ribbons of fat throughout the piece. This is what the steak world refers to as marbling. Take a look at the image below. It shows marbling declining from top left steak to the bottom right steak. You want a steak from the Moderately abundant or Slightly abundant group.
Whats with all these different cuts?
This is a rather easy question to answer for steak lovers. There are only a few steaks you need to know about. Ribeye (Delmontico), Porterhouse, T-bone, NY Strip, and Top Sirloin. You will really have to sample each type to find your favorite. I personally like the Ribeye and would recommend it if you are unsure of a cut.
Seasonings & marinade:
I stay away from marinades. I find they over power the taste of the steak. I cover both sides of my steak with a salt seasoning called Everglades Seasoning. I then coat each side with olive oil, you can even use olive oil cooking spray to coat them. I then cover the steaks with a 1:1 mixture of Italian herbs, oregano and marjoram. They are then ready to cook.
How to cook a steak?
Finally what you really came here to find out. There are 3 ways to cook a good steak, grill, griddle, or broil. Broiling is extremely difficult to perfect so I would recommend staying away from this type of cooking. So with the two remaining types of cooking heat the grill or griddle to 350 degrees. Grill or griddle to start out for about 3-4 minutes on each side to get a nice char on the steak. If your using a griddle some times a steak weight or bacon press can really help to evenly cook a steak and char on each side.
This is the griddle and press I use personally:
How do I know when the steak is done?
There is an old steakhouse trick to tell when a steak is done by touch. Use your left hand, unless your left handed then use your right hand, and connect the tip of your thumb to the tip of your first finger like the picture below and fell the muscle just below your thumb, again like the picture. This will feel like the steal does when it is cooked medium rare. Now do the same thing with your thumb and 2nd finger this is medium, thumb and third finger is medium-well, and thumb and pinky is well done. Thats it folks enjoy your Steak!
