Cooking steak indoors

This isn't really a review but a friend of Ed and friends asked the question "I have steaks for valentines day but no gas for the grill, how would you handle this?" So I decided to answer the question.

The first step I take when planning a steak dinner is to “dry age” my steaks. The fancy steak houses have a lot of different ways they do this but mine is pretty easy. I take a plate or platter and put about five layers of paper towels down on it. Then I put the steaks on the paper towels. Next I put about three layers of paper towels on top of the steaks. I put the whole platter into the fridge just like this. I DO NOT cover it with plastic wrap or foil. I want the air to circulate around the steak and paper towels. The air inside the fridge is low in humidity for the same reasons that air conditioning takes humidity out of your house. I want this dry air to suck the water out of my steaks. I change the paper towels and flip the meat over every 8 to 12 hours. You will find that the paper towels look bloody but this is mostly water that has been sucked out of the steaks. I usually “dry age” steaks like this for about 2 days. If I am going to roast a whole standing rib I will use this same technique for five days. I use this “dry aging” technique no matter how I am going to cook my steaks (grill, panfry, broil, etc).

Since we are cooking indoors today the next thing I will do is heat the oven to 300 degrees and put my nice dry steaks on a broiler pan or a sheet pan with a cooling rack. I will place the rack with the steaks on it into the oven until the center of the steak registers 120 degrees on my instant-read meat thermometer. Once the steaks hit 120 degrees in the center I will pull the pan out and do one of the next two things.

ONE. Fire up the broiler in the oven and put the top rack about 6 inches below it. Put the steaks back in the oven under the broiler and get the steaks nice and crusty on both sides. This will only take a few minutes per side. Don’t worry it will be cooked a nice medium rare because you already heated the inside of the steaks up to 120 degrees. Pull the pan out and cover the steaks with aluminum foil and let them sit there for 10 minutes. After ten minutes serve them up and enjoy. They are going to be GOOD!!!

TWO. Put a big cast iron skillet on top of the stove and heat that dude up very hot. It should be so hot that if you flick a drop of water into it the water should go crazy and turn almost immediately to steam. Put the steaks into this hot pan and get them nice and brown and crusty on both sides. This, like the broiler method will only take a few minutes per side. Also like the broiler method, don’t worry; the steaks will be done because you already heated the inside to 120 degrees. Again like the broiler method, put them on a rack and cover with foil for ten minutes. Serve them up and enjoy!!!

Most important!!! Try to know the butcher or even better the farmer you buy your meat from. Make sure you trust both of them and you will always get a great quality piece of meat that has been raised with care and processed with love!!!

Ed and friends