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Campfire Outfitter
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OP
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hey mick,
you can skip the oven altogether, like this....
1] garlic powder, and black pepper a steak and let it sit under wax paper until approx room temp...
2] put a well seasoned cast iron skillet on a vigorous medium high fire and preheat until a drop of water dances on the surface...
3] without any oil or grease place steak in the center of the frying pan - steak will stick to the pan instantly...
4] allow steak to cook on first side until it "unsticks" or "frees" with out help... ok to gently try and lift it, but do not tear the steak to get it free...
5] when steak "frees" from the frying pan, turn with tongs and cook reverse side for approx same time as first side....
this will generally produce a "medium" steak... nicely browned with a pink middle.... and as juicy as you could ask for...
i was taught this method by mr john sumrell of the cumberland knife and gun shop, fayetteville, n.c. some 30 years ago...
i have enjoyed it many times, and enjoy the look on unbelievers faces when they take their first bite..... John, While I've never done it I have seen people cook a steak simply by laying on a bed of hot coals at a campfire. If anybody ever tries this be sure the fire was not made with any resinous wood such a pine or cedar.
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Joined: Jan 2007
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Campfire Regular
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This is a great way to cook a steak. However, I doubt this is the way the big steak houses cook them. It is just not practical:
The different cuts of meat vary in cooking times to get them to the desired doness - and can even vary from one ribeye to the next. For a grillman to keep track of the all the steaks cooking at the same time in ovens is a nightmare, and will result in steaks being over cooked.
Commercial grills run much hotter than home models, and can be set to have a hot side to sear, and a slightly cooler side to finish on. All there in front of the grillman to keep an eye on.
Have an A1 Day!
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Campfire Sage
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Campfire Sage
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I read recently about how big steak places actually cook their steaks. It goes something like this:
Preheat your oven to 450*
Take an oven proof skillet and put a little oil in it and get it HOT. Season your steak as you like it and then put it in the hot skillet and sear it a couple of minutes per side to seal in the juices. Then move it to the oven and let it cook 5-7 minutes for rare, 8-10 minutes for medium and so on.
I tried it and it was the best steak I remember ever eating. I buy my steaks (rib-eyes) at Sam's in Montgomery and they are huge. They cost less than $8/pound and are delicious.
Does anybody else cook their steaks this way? I may never use my grill again. I've tried it like that, after reading an article similar to the one you describe. I liked it, but it's just as perfect on the gas grill, so that's how I usually do it. I heat it up to over 600 degrees (cover down) and throw it on for about four minutes on each side (cover down). Nice and charred on the outside, but rare inside.
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2004
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This is a great way to cook a steak. However, I doubt this is the way the big steak houses cook them. It is just not practical:
The different cuts of meat vary in cooking times to get them to the desired doness - and can even vary from one ribeye to the next. For a grillman to keep track of the all the steaks cooking at the same time in ovens is a nightmare, and will result in steaks being over cooked.
Commercial grills run much hotter than home models, and can be set to have a hot side to sear, and a slightly cooler side to finish on. All there in front of the grillman to keep an eye on.
I tried to point this out already...
I replace valve cover gaskets every 50K, if they don't need them sooner...
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Campfire Regular
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Now I'm getting hungry for a blackened steak. If you have a turkey cooker, try this:
Make some cajun blackening seasoning (I prefer Paul Prudhomme's recipe), or buy Tone's Cajun (not salty), and get a cast iron skillet blazing hot - it's hot enough when it turns grey on the inside. Now drag your steak through melted butter, then dip in the seasoning. Gently put it in the skillet. The steak almost levetates. Lotsa smoke here, which is why it isn't done inside the house. Turn when almost half done, and let it cook for the remainder. A small slice of cold butter on top of the steak once plated completes it.
Have an A1 Day!
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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If anybody ever tries this be sure the fire was not made with any resinous wood such a pine or cedar. yeah, buddy!!!.....
"Chances Will Be Taken"
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Campfire Regular
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Have an A1 Day!
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Campfire Outfitter
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OP
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This is a great way to cook a steak. However, I doubt this is the way the big steak houses cook them. It is just not practical:
The different cuts of meat vary in cooking times to get them to the desired doness - and can even vary from one ribeye to the next. For a grillman to keep track of the all the steaks cooking at the same time in ovens is a nightmare, and will result in steaks being over cooked.
Commercial grills run much hotter than home models, and can be set to have a hot side to sear, and a slightly cooler side to finish on. All there in front of the grillman to keep an eye on.
I tried to point this out already... Oh, I believe you. I was repeating what the article said that I read. I have no personal experience in cooking for the public and readily defer to the ones who are the experts. That aside, the method I tried worked really well and it's perfect for cooking one or two steaks in my experience.
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I believe the better steak houses (if not using a grill) do their steaks in an oven with at least 600 degrees...not possible at home.
A trick I learned some years back is to season the steaks evenly (and not too lightly) with kosher salt. This increases the effective temperature, or somesuch, and lends itself to searing the meat much better. Nothing compares quite with a grill, but this is the best way I've found to do it in the kitchen.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools & fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubt" Bertrand Russell
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Having beaten Aneroxia sucessfully good points all around,i prefer a good thick bacon cheeseburger lightly salted with Kosher salt a good dijon mustard and plain ketchup the steak sauce i put on the fries or pomme frites.I cook the bacon in the oven at 400 degrees for 11 minutes halfway through i lay the burger in a cast iron skillet turning once and twisting once when the bacon's done i put the burger in the oven for 4 minutes at 425 degrees,as the burger finishies i cut cheese Cheddar or Mozzarella remove burger sauce cheese bacon Yummie!
Bangflop! another skinning job due to .260 and proper shot placement.
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Campfire Outfitter
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I have a catering company and one our better dishes is fillet minion cooked in a similar fashion. The principle is the same, high heat sear, and then a high heat finish in an oven like environment. What we do is this:
Set steak out and allow to come to warm, cold steak is bad. Rub with olive oil, coat with ground pepper, garlic salt and sea salt.
Place onto high heat grill. We us a lump coal fired charcoal grill. Grate temp is around 750-850.
Sear each side for 2 minutes.
Immediately remove and place into smoker. (This is our 'oven') The smoker is hickory wood fired and we will have it stoked up to 475 degrees. Let steaks sit in the high heat smoke for 8 minutes or until internal temp reaches 135.
Remove steaks from smoker, place on plate and tent with foil. Internal temp will rise another 5-12 degrees during this 'rest' period.
Plate and serve.
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Campfire Tracker
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I have never tried to oven cook a steak. Back when I was living in Tucson, I would go out back and grab a bunch of Mesquite deadwood from the trees, get a roaring fire going on my grill.
When the grill was REALLY hot and smokey, throw the steaks on. I like my steaks Charred/Rare. Charred black and crispy on the outside and pretty rare inside, of course,, over Mesquite wood.
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Campfire Sage
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I believe the better steak houses (if not using a grill) do their steaks in an oven with at least 600 degrees...not possible at home. Not true. That's how I do it. My gas grill, outside, goes well above 600 when the cover's on. At that temp, four minutes on each side, and a thick steak is perfect. Cool in the center, and black on the outside.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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I think the primo steak houses only use the oven to sear in the oils or butters they put on the steaks at the end of direct fire grilling.
Last edited by isaac; 12/10/08.
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
William Arthur Ward
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Campfire Regular
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I would like to add that the method of searing in a cast iron skillet is an excellent way to cook venison steaks. One of the local processors here will cut a hindquarter into large steaks with the bone in. We marinate the steaks in italian dressing then flop them into a hot skillet. With venison, a good searing on each side and they're done, no need to cook any longer. This works really well over a campfire but also in the kitchen.
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Home alone last night and tried the MColeman recipe, but with some venison top-sirloin.
Excellent! Used several smaller pieces of steak and some cajun.
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Throw it on a hot grill get good marks on both sides and get internal temp to 120 for a perfect medium rare steak. Really nothing more to it. 5 minute job
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Campfire Tracker
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Room temp MT ribeyes
puncture both sides with fork thoroughly
liberally coat with unseasoned tenderizer and rub in
Mix up:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup veg. oil
2 T. ketchup
1 T. white vinager
2-3 pinches fresh ground black pepper
1 pinch garlic powder
Cover steaks in marinade and let sit min. 2 hrs
Grill at 500+ 3-4 min/side for med. rare on gas or for the best steak cook on charcoal w/apple, hickory, mesquite, or alder chips added.
I won't eat a steak that has been pan fried - never had a good one.
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There really can't be a set time for cooking any piece of meat unless they are all the same weight and thickness, also not every spot on the grill is the same temp. Go by firmness and temp.
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Campfire Tracker
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Skillets and ovens may be okay for domestic steaks, but for game meat, it seems to me to be SO wrong-
Today's lunch for me and the wife was four small fresh cow elk backstrap steaks, marinated for 30 min. in lite soy sauce, thrown on a hot outdoor grill for 4 minutes on a side.
If God made anything that tastes better, I really don't know what it is.
I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave....
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