Friday, September 13, 2013

Cooking Tip of the Day: Steaks

When preparing steaks, remove from the refrigerator 1-2 hours ahead of time, as you want your steak to be at room temperature when you place it on the grill or in a hot pan.

Rub the steak with extra virgin olive oil and salt. As the steak rests, the salt will penetrate the meat and will act like a tenderizer.

Always cook your steaks with high heat. If your grilling, you want your coals about 2 inches below the grill.

When cooking your steak to the desired temperature, strop 1 temperature short of what you want. For example, if you want your steak medium, remove the steak from the grill/pan when the steak is medium rare. The reason for doing this, is you want to rest your steak for 5-10 minutes, depending on the cut, and as it rests, your steak will continue to cook. Allowing your steak to rest is called "carry over cooking" and the principal is this, when your cooking with high heat, moisture has a tendency to run away from it. In the case of a steak, all the juices get forced to the center. Thus, if you remove a steak from the the heat, and cut it, you will notice 2 things:

a) juices will spill out onto the plate, since the center of the steak is over saturated, and'

b) the outer ¼ inch of the steak will be more or less well-done.

By allowing the steaks to rest, the moisture in the middle if the steak will redistribute itself and when you cut the steak, you will now notice the steak will be uniformly cooked from top to bottom.

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