#SteakChat 6/9/10: Cooking Steak

#STEAKCHAT TOPIC ON 6/9/10

For the #SteakChat conversation on June 9, 2010, the topic will be:
What’s the best way to cook a great steak?
There are 8 cooking equipment options, 10 techniques, 9 fuels and 10 temperature levels. Which combinations have you tried? Which do you prefer? Which produce great steak? Which are likely to produce mediocre steak?

5 COOKING EQUIPMENT OPTIONS

There are 5 basic cooking equipment options available for steak:

1. Broiler
2. Grill
3. Oven
4. Pan
5. Sous Vide

Which of these produces great steaks? Which produce mediocre steaks?

10 COOKING TECHNIQUES

There are 10 basic cooking techniques for steak:

1. Boil
2. Braise
3. Broil
4. Grill
5. Pan Fry
6. Pan Roast
7. Roast
8. Stew
9. Sauté
10. Stir Fry

Which of these produces great steaks? Which produce mediocre steaks?

9 COOKING FUELS

There are 9 basic cooking fuels that produce heat to cook steak:

1. Briquettes (variety of types)
2. Electric Elements (e.g. broiler)
3. Hardwood (variety of types)
4. Infrared Tiles
5. Lump Charcoal (variety of types)
6. Metal Conduction (e.g. pay fry)
7. Natural Gas
8. Propane Gas
9. Sous Vide (i.e. low heat via plastic bag in water)

Which of these produces great steaks? Which produce mediocre steaks?

10 COOKING TEMPERATURE LEVELS

There are 10 different temperature levels for cooking steak (all temperatures are given in degrees Fahrenheit):

1. 1,200° to 1,600°
2. 900° to 1,200°
3. 750° to 900°
4. 650° to 750°
5. 550° to 650°
6. 450° to 550°
7. 350° to 450°
8. 250° to 350°
9. 212° to 250°
10. 125° (sous vide) to 212°

Which of these produces great steaks? Which produce mediocre steaks?

WHAT IS #STEAKCHAT?

#SteakChat invites everyone who want to discuss and share ideas about steak.

#SteakChat covers topics such as the many different tastes and textures produced by different cooking methods, cooking fuels, steak cuts, steak marbling, cattle breeds, cattle feed, and even different farms.

#SteakChat takes place every Wednesday at 8:00 pm ET (every Thursday at 0000 GMT) and lasts about one hour.

#SteakChat may be very fast-paced. It takes place in real time, as a streaming conversation. Think of #SteakChat as a group of friends having a discussion about steak while standing around a backyard grill or dining in a steak house.

For information about how to participate in #SteakChat, see our Blog on How to Participate in #SteakChat.

MORE QUESTIONS?

If you have any more questions, send them by DM, tweet or other way (see below).

JOIN US AT #STEAKCHAT
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, AT 8:00 pm ET
STEAKPERFECTION

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  Also, please let us know if you see any errors.  We try to ensure that all of the steak information that we provide is both accurate and supported by credible cites.  Thus, please let us about any errors, so that and we can correct them immediately.

SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

Click here for our SteakPerfection Twitter.
Click here for our Steak Perfection Facebook.
Click here for our Steak Perfection Blog.
Click here for our Steak Perfection LinkedIn.
Click here for our Steak Perfection Wave.
Click here for our Steak Perfection website.

A short link to this blog is http://bit.ly/9nLSdX

#SteakChat 6/9/10: Cooking Steak

#STEAKCHAT TOPIC ON 6/9/10

For the #SteakChat conversation on June 9, 2010, the topic will be:
What’s the best way to cook a great steak?
There are 8 cooking equipment options, 10 techniques, 9 fuels and 10 temperature levels. Which combinations have you tried? Which do you prefer? Which produce great steak? Which are likely to produce mediocre steak?

5 COOKING EQUIPMENT OPTIONS

There are 5 basic cooking equipment options available for steak:

1. Broiler
2. Grill
3. Oven
4. Pan
5. Sous Vide

Which of these produces great steaks? Which produce mediocre steaks?

10 COOKING TECHNIQUES

There are 10 basic cooking techniques for steak:

1. Boil
2. Braise
3. Broil
4. Grill
5. Pan Fry
6. Pan Roast
7. Roast
8. Stew
9. Sauté
10. Stir Fry

Which of these produces great steaks? Which produce mediocre steaks?

9 COOKING FUELS

There are 9 basic cooking fuels that produce heat to cook steak:

1. Briquettes (variety of types)
2. Electric Elements (e.g. broiler)
3. Hardwood (variety of types)
4. Infrared Tiles
5. Lump Charcoal (variety of types)
6. Metal Conduction (e.g. pay fry)
7. Natural Gas
8. Propane Gas
9. Sous Vide (i.e. low heat via plastic bag in water)

Which of these produces great steaks? Which produce mediocre steaks?

10 COOKING TEMPERATURE LEVELS

There are 10 different temperature levels for cooking steak (all temperatures are given in degrees Fahrenheit):

1. 1,200° to 1,600°
2. 900° to 1,200°
3. 750° to 900°
4. 650° to 750°
5. 550° to 650°
6. 450° to 550°
7. 350° to 450°
8. 250° to 350°
9. 212° to 250°
10. 125° (sous vide) to 212°

Which of these produces great steaks? Which produce mediocre steaks?

WHAT IS #STEAKCHAT?

#SteakChat invites everyone who want to discuss and share ideas about steak.

#SteakChat covers topics such as the many different tastes and textures produced by different cooking methods, cooking fuels, steak cuts, steak marbling, cattle breeds, cattle feed, and even different farms.

#SteakChat takes place every Wednesday at 8:00 pm ET (every Thursday at 0000 GMT) and lasts about one hour.

#SteakChat may be very fast-paced. It takes place in real time, as a streaming conversation. Think of #SteakChat as a group of friends having a discussion about steak while standing around a backyard grill or dining in a steak house.

For information about how to participate in #SteakChat, see our Blog on How to Participate in #SteakChat.

MORE QUESTIONS?

If you have any more questions, send them by DM, tweet or other way (see below).
JOIN US AT #STEAKCHAT ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9
STEAKPERFECTION

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  Also, please let us know if you see any errors.  We try to ensure that all of the steak information that we provide is both accurate and supported by credible cites.  Thus, please let us about any errors, so that and we can correct them immediately.

SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

Click here for our SteakPerfection Twitter.
Click here for our Steak Perfection Facebook.
Click here for our Steak Perfection Blog.
Click here for our Steak Perfection LinkedIn.
Click here for our Steak Perfection Wave.
Click here for our Steak Perfection website.

A short link to this blog is http://bit.ly/cXpbkD

7. Cooking Temperature: Modify Grill Height

This is the first in the following series of blogs on the ideal cooking temperature for grilling a steak over live coals:

1. Cooking Temperature: Ideal Temperature
2. Cooking Temperature: 1600 Degrees?
3. Cooking Temperature: Need to Modify Grill Height
4. Cooking Temperature: Measure Temperature
5. Cooking Temperature: Measure Grill Height
6. Cooking Temperature: Calculate Ideal Grill Height
7. Cooking Temperature: Modify Grill Height
8. Cooking Temperature: Inverse Square Law

If the temperature of your backyard grill is too low at the grill level (which is usually the case), then you should make a modification to change the distance between the top of your grill and the top of the live coals.

Previous blogs describe (1) how to measure the temperature of an unmodified grill, (2) how to measure the distance from the grill level to the live coals, and (3) how to calculate the ideal distance from the top of the grill, at the meat level, and the top of the live coals. With these calculations, you can determine the distance to raise the level of the charcoal grate. In most cases for a Weber Kettle, this distance will be about 1 1/2".

In most cases, there is no easy way to lower the grill level by this amount, so it is usually easier to raise the level of the charcoal grate (the metal grate on which the charcoal burns) by this amount.

Use bricks or balls of alumunium foil to raise the charcoal grate to the correct amount by using bricks or balls of aluminum foil. For most, the charcoal grate will have to be raised about 1 1/2",

It is very important to raise it my the exact amount, within 1/8”. The reason for the needed precision is that a tiny change in the charcoal level translates into a huge change in the temperature. For example, an error of 1/8” changes the temperature 20°.

After the grill level has been adjusted to the ideal distance, and before cooking a steak, light the normal amount of lump charcoal and let it come to the correct temperature (after about 30 minutes). Then measure the temperature at the meat level. (See how to measure the temperature. Verify that the temperature at the grill level is 750°. If the temperature is not between 720° and 780° (which is within 5% of the ideal temperature), then repeat the process.

SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

Click here for our SteakPerfection Twitter.
Click here for our Steak Perfection Facebook.
Click here for our Steak Perfection Blog.
Click here for our Steak Perfection LinkedIn.
Click here for our Steak Perfection Wave.
Click here for our Steak Perfection website.

A short link to this blog is http://bit.ly/djitSH