Dry Age "Cheating" on your steaks. Get the same great Steakhouse taste and texture at home

[brazoseagle]

"Shine On!"

V-tines Steaksperinece/Meatscape 2/11/2012

It's all here

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=109412

[brazoseagle]

Epic

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=109623

[Ishmael]

I just went out and grabbed a bone in ribeye the size of my head. Drying it out as per your method now. Can't wait till Wednesday!

[mbrody]

In honor of BrazosEagle, I tried his method today for a family dinner. I used his techniques and applied the NY method (everything is faster in NY). 24 Hour Cheat in fridge. I then seasoned while bringing to room temp. Fired up the Weber, over 600 degrees, the needle kept going. Here is the pictorial.

The 24 hour cheating absolutely dries out the meat and forms a crust. Good Stuff. I used Kosher Salt/Pepper/Olive Oil and Beef Bouillon for the seasoning.

Time to char these babies

Resting

Dinner Time!

Now I am having a Mag50 to cap off the evening. Dave's method works great and I will use it again!

[brazoseagle]

In honor of BrazosEagle, I tried his method today for a family dinner. I used his techniques and applied the NY method (everything is faster in NY). 24 Hour Cheat in fridge. I then seasoned while bringing to room temp. Fired up the Weber, over 600 degrees, the needle kept going. Here is the pictorial.

The 24 hour cheating absolutely dries out the meat and forms a crust. Good Stuff. I used Kosher Salt/Pepper/Olive Oil and Beef Bouillon for the seasoning.

Time to char these babies

Resting

Dinner Time!

Now I am having a Mag50 to cap off the evening. Dave's method works great and I will use it again!

It's your World, I'm just living in it, trying to make it a better place. Shine On!

[mbrody]

It's your World, I'm just living in it, trying to make it a better place. Shine On!

Quick Question: When grilling, do you have the cover open or closed?

[brazoseagle]

Quick Question: When grilling, do you have the cover open or closed?

Closed, I want to retain as much heat as I can, The only time I open it is to turn it, and maybe quell down the occasional flare up from the fat drippings.....ummmmmm fat drippings!

Too little heat is death to a great piece of meat that you want to be consistent all the way through. There are few grills that would be able to actually get "too hot" for cooking a steak.

I like a nice char and crust on the outside sear, and enough heat to penetrate the middle of the steak, but , if the heat takes too long to penetrate you end up with a sear on the outside, a ring of well done, a ring of medium and then a small thin layer in the middle of med/rare, which is what I want. If you look at some of my pics, you don't ever see that, it's the seared outside layer and then the entire middle is a consistent med.rare to rare. You achieve that by high heat, and you achieve the most efficient high heat by leaving the lid closed, a sufficient pre heating time, clear grates, clean heat deflectors, clean under carriage, and of course BTU's!!! That's why I think on Steaks, infrared is the only way to go.

[mbrody]

Thanks. I reached really high heat and had flare up in two spots on my gas grill. A little too much char on 2/3 steaks. Need to watch them a little better next time.

Does the dry age cheating work well on other meat?

Lamb, for instance?

[brazoseagle]

Thanks. I reached really high heat and had flare up in two spots on my gas grill. A little too much char on 2/3 steaks. Need to watch them a little better next time.

Does the dry age cheating work well on other meat?

Lamb, for instance?

Yep, lamb, pork, venison, whole prime rib

Not so much on chicken or seafood though.

(Flare ups do add a level of great flavor, you just have to watch them closely and move, so you do burn.)

[brazoseagle]

I just went out and grabbed a bone in ribeye the size of my head. Drying it out as per your method now. Can't wait till Wednesday!

How did it turn out?

[brazoseagle]

Most Recent: AwesomeSauce - http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=109738

[Bolismoker]

Great read thanks for the information, I will be implementing these concepts the next time we are having steak.

[Vitty]

Giving this a go. Had a couple porterhouse cuts in the fridge already, so figured I would try this on them first. They are currently undergoing the first 24 between the towels. Can't wait to try these!

On a side note, all I have is a charcoal Weber. Any suggestions for an infrared that I don't have to take out a secondary mortgage for?

Great write up! Thanks!

[ptrthgr8]

Okay... I'm a charcoal griller. Propane rubs me the wrong way. I also love cooking all of my steaks, ribs, whatever, with wood chips (usually a mix of mesquite, applewood, hickory, and alder... sometimes cherry). Occasionally we'll do the actual slow-cooking with the smokerbox, but usually it's just the wood chips and the charcoal. How would a process like this be impacted by smoking? Would it makes it worth the process? Or would the smoking process make it pointless?

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[brazoseagle]

Okay... I'm a charcoal griller. Propane rubs me the wrong way. I also love cooking all of my steaks, ribs, whatever, with wood chips (usually a mix of mesquite, applewood, hickory, and alder... sometimes cherry). Occasionally we'll do the actual slow-cooking with the smokerbox, but usually it's just the wood chips and the charcoal. How would a process like this be impacted by smoking? Would it makes it worth the process? Or would the smoking process make it pointless?

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

In my honest but blunt opinion. Smoking a steak is pointless, and if you do it, just go get the cheapest cut of close to expiration date value steak you can get so you don't waste money.

I too enjoy 90% of my outdoor cooking on wood, then charcoal, but I absolutely feel that cooking a Prime quality (individually cut) steak on charcoal (or wood) is :

1) Sac-religious

2) defaming the beef

3)counter productive

4) you will never ,ever be able to achieve the "Steakhouse" quality combination or pure beef taste, crust, and juiciness with a perfect doneness.

You may not like propane or gas, but it has it's place in outdoor cooking as best choice for steaks.

I could take a Prime Kobe steak and cook it on charcoal and then take a value cut and cook it the way I cook it on gas or propane and present a blind tasting, I promise your taste buds will choose gas/propane.

Charcoal and wood is designed for 1) preserving meat, 2) tenderizing meat that is naturally tough,3) lower heat applications 4) imparting flavor on otherwise bland meat 5) long cooking time to obtain the objectives of 1,2, 3 & 4.

Good Steak is not tough, is already flavorful on it's own, and is designed for fast and extremely hot cooking times and temps. This can only be achieved by the clean burning BTU'S of gas/propane.

[Evangundy]

This might have already been asked, but for medium well, how long on each side do you suggest?

[brazoseagle]

This might have already been asked, but for medium well, how long on each side do you suggest?

For Med/Well, - all cooking times will depend on temperature, thickness of meat,cut of meat, bone in or bone out, what material your grates are made out of , and cleanliness of grill.

But on an average grill set up sold today , I would advise for med/well, if the grill has been preheated, and with an average grill holding temp of 400F-450F, for a 1 inch thick ribe-eye steak, without the bone:

i'd say 6-7 minutes per side, with the grill lid closed.

[charlesod]

Excellent article.

You clearly have made the art of grilling and bar-b-que your life's work. I'm from North Carolina. Like Texans, we pride ourselves on our Que. We mostly focus on slow smoked pork over hickory. Sauces are usually proprietary information and the multi-generational pride of many families I know. I have a few recipes I'll post at some point.

We're cooking ribs tomorrow. After my kid's baseball game in the morning, I'll fire up the big Green Egg and begin to slow-cook the ribs until dinner time. Not sure on the smoke yet. Probably a Monte 2 or a Partagas Lucitania.

[ptrthgr8]

In my honest but blunt opinion. Smoking a steak is pointless, and if you do it, just go get the cheapest cut of close to expiration date value steak you can get so you don't waste money.

I too enjoy 90% of my outdoor cooking on wood, then charcoal, but I absolutely feel that cooking a Prime quality (individually cut) steak on charcoal (or wood) is :

1) Sac-religious

2) defaming the beef

3)counter productive

4) you will never ,ever be able to achieve the "Steakhouse" quality combination or pure beef taste, crust, and juiciness with a perfect doneness.

Interesting. I'll never tell a Texan that I know more about grilling or steaks than they do - because I don't - but I do know what I like. I won't make myself out to be some sort of steak connoisseur who's dined at all the finest steakhouses in the nation (because I'm not and I haven't), but I have eaten enough steakhouse offerings between Seattle and North Dakota to know what's good (the Metropolitan Bar and Grill in Seattle) and what's bad (the Bronze Boot in Grand Forks, ND) and I can honestly say that I've never eaten anything at a steakhouse or restaurant that's as good as what I usually do on our grill at home. I love the taste of meat that's been grilled over a wood or charcoal fire, and the application of smoking chips (if using charcoal) can quickly and easily impart the smoky flavor without the time constraints of actually doing a good slow cooked smoking. True, it's not the same as a steakhouse, but I prefer the smoky flavor over the restaurant flavor anyhow.

We're going to try your method this weekend to see how it works with our cooking style. We'll get some nice thick New Yorks or Top Sirloins from our local butcher shop and then we'll let your recipe do its thing. At the very least, it's going to be fin trying something new and the result will almost certainly be a tasty dinner. (Well, to this non-Texan anyhow. )

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[brazoseagle]

Interesting. I'll never tell a Texan that I know more about grilling or steaks than they do - because I don't - but I do know what I like. I won't make myself out to be some sort of steak connoisseur who's dined at all the finest steakhouses in the nation (because I'm not and I haven't), but I have eaten enough steakhouse offerings between Seattle and North Dakota to know what's good (the Metropolitan Bar and Grill in Seattle) and what's bad (the Bronze Boot in Grand Forks, ND) and I can honestly say that I've never eaten anything at a steakhouse or restaurant that's as good as what I usually do on our grill at home. I love the taste of meat that's been grilled over a wood or charcoal fire, and the application of smoking chips (if using charcoal) can quickly and easily impart the smoky flavor without the time constraints of actually doing a good slow cooked smoking. True, it's not the same as a steakhouse, but I prefer the smoky flavor over the restaurant flavor anyhow.

We're going to try your method this weekend to see how it works with our cooking style. We'll get some nice thick New Yorks or Top Sirloins from our local butcher shop and then we'll let your recipe do its thing. At the very least, it's going to be fin trying something new and the result will almost certainly be a tasty dinner. (Well, to this non-Texan anyhow. )

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

The main point I guess, is enjoy what you like and enjoy what tastes good to you. Just the name"Bronze Boot" made me laugh out loud.

My simple philosophy is, especially since I've had prime beef on my plate 20 minutes after it was cut off the cow, It has never appealed to me to cover up the pure taste of high quality fresh beef with smoke or any other aggresive flavors. And that's really what I'm talking about. Have I smoked steak before and loved it? Sure, I used to smoke ribeyes all the time and loved them, but I wasn't using the "best of the best" cuts of meat to do it. I'm not adverse to using everyday steaks in a manner that pleases the palate ie. smoking ect. But to do so with a high quality cut, defeats the purpose, and is a waste of money. You would be covering up and dilluting all of the flavor tones that you just paid extra to have. I feel lucky to have the priviledge to have access to such great quality prime cuts of fresh meat where I cam, be it, home grown, from my local butcher or even the local kroger. Anytime I am referring to the steaks I use, I would venture to say that only 10% of the US steakhouses have access to equal quality of meat, and very few have access to meat as fresh as I do.

If you like smoking steak, go for it, that's what make you happy and that's the whole purpose of being passionate about food, I merely try to advise that there is no need to buy prime or any special cuts, if you are going to do so.

I am very eager to hear how your steaks using my method turn out, please keep us posted and enjoy!Regardless of what part of the world you are from, Texas or where ever, just do what you enjoy, and experiment with new ideas and concepts and if you don't like it go back to what you enjoy. I think that my geographic and social environement has played a very large role in my Steak Education and experience, but those are aspects out of ordinary control. I've probably eaten steak at least twice a week every week of my life since I was 5 or 6 years old, and If there is a Steakhouse on any "To Do" list out there, odds are I've eaten at it, because it is one of my passions.

[mbrody]

David, My local butcher is good. I have enjoyed some great steaks. Once, the meat was foul. I never really bother returning things, but this was bad. They made amends and gave me the best tasting rib eye I have had. I assume butchers keep a secret stash for their best customers, but that is an assumption.

To make a long story short, do you have any contacts that could ship steaks that meet the quality standards you are used to? I would splurge to taste the difference...i'm not talking some mail order steak place, I'm looking for the authentic "meatscape" experience...

[brazoseagle]

Another Happy Experimenter

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=109941

[brazoseagle]

Latest Meatscape and Review:

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=110092

[mbrody]

Springtime and I think of Lamb...any Lamb meatscapes coming up???

[brazoseagle]

You know, I've never cared for lamb much. It goes back to being forced to eat it as a child, straight from the farm, which is usually more gamey tasting. In recent years, I've had some fantastic quality chops and racks, but I still have that disdain for it in the back of my mind. I have always equated the taste to barnyard and moth balls. It is never a meat I choose on a menu or at home over beef, veal, pork chops, or good fish- in that order. I will have some whole un-cut ribeye roasts coming up, a whole beef tenderloin coming up and some thick tomahawk veal chops coming up soon. I've been grilling a lot of shellfish, crab and oysters lately. Love grilled oysters! I've got Drago's recipe and I've created my own recipe for bloody Mary sorbet to serve on top of grilled oysters. Will post some of that soon.