What's the best method to cook a steak indoors?

[Andy M.]

If you're cooking a filet at home and want to wrap it in bacon, you can partially cook the bacon so some of the fat is rendered while the bacon stays flexible. Then wrap the filet and continue.

I have also seen a wrapped filet cooked around the edge first (hold it vertically with tongs and turn it).

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Bacon around a filet mingon serves chiefly to flavor the meat with a bit of smoky goodness, and help in presentation. If I'm not incorrect, this preparation is called a tournedo, and comes from France. If the steak is broiled, or grilled, the bacon is more crispy. Pan frying doesn't allow the bacon to come in contact with the hot pan surface required to make it crispy. Though it is cooked through, it retains most of its water content.

I bet if you deep-fried that bacon wrapped fillet, you'd get some crispy bacon, and a pretty tasty steak to boot. When the tournedo is finished, it is sometimes served with steamed artichoke heart on top, and compound butter. That's where I got the idea for the other post I made on this subject.

As I think about it, tournedos are cut from a larger portion of the tenderloin than are the fillet mignons, which come from the tail end of the tenderloin. But like the fillet, they are usually wrapped in bacon, and cooked the same way. They are simply a larger version of the same thing.

Here is a link for other ideas concerning this cut of meat: Tournedo - Definition and Cooking Information - RecipeTips.com

Again, this cut is usually broiled, or grilled.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[TATTRAT]

With a proper restaurant style salamander, the bacon on a wrapped filet gets cooked nicely, but there just isn't a home appliance that can get to those temps, imo.

For me, if I have to do it indoors, I am with the second post in the thread, Cast Iron pan/griddle. Nom nom nom.

 

[buckytom]

there's a tv ad for a nearby steakhouse that is nothing but a 30 second video of a porterhouse in a salamander broiling away while a narrator talks about the restaurant. it looks so good with the flames licking the top of the steak and the fat renders and drips off the edge.

you can see just how hot the interior of that salamander must be by how well browned the steak gets on all exposed sides. if i ever had a choice of professional appliances that i could add to a home kitchen, it would be a salamander, even before a walk-in fridge, wok burner, or deep fryer.

 

[TATTRAT]

there's a tv ad for a nearby steakhouse that is nothing but a 30 second video of a porterhouse in a salamander broiling away while a narrator talks about the restaurant. it looks so good with the flames licking the top of the steak and the fat renders and drips off the edge.

you can see just how hot the interior of that salamander must be by how well browned the steak gets on all exposed sides. if i ever had a choice of professional appliances that i could add to a home kitchen, it would be a salamander, even before a walk-in fridge, wok burner, or deep fryer.

Agreed.

 

[taxlady]

blow torch?

 

[buckytom]

lol, taxy, cooking a steak with a blow torch might take a while, unless you like black and blue/pittsburgh steak.

 

[taxlady]

lol, taxy, cooking a steak with a blow torch might take a while, unless you like black and blue/pittsburgh steak.

Well, you could finish the bacon with the blow torch. I have seen TV chefs use a blow torch and mention that they would have used a salamander if there had been one in the studio. I think Julia Child was one of those chefs. I've seen one used to finish crème brulée.

 

[buckytom]

a torch or a salamander for the brulee?


and lol, i thought you meant to cook a steak entirely with a torch.

i guess you could finish crisping the bacon with a torch while the tenderloin rests. good idea.


btw, if anyone has been to a chinese takeout and looked in the kitchen, the big broiler thing they use to finish off spareribs is a salamander.

 

[taxlady]

a torch or a salamander for the brulee?

...

I've seen crème brulée finished in a salamander and with a torch. The sugar could also be caramelized by flambéing with booze.

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

I use a blow torch,

I tried the souse vide method of steak cooking a few weeks ago, its a bit of a faff but the result is fantastic.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I have one of them brulee tourches (from BB&B). It's a bit underpowered. IMO the best bet is to just go to a home improvement store and buy a torch tip for disposable propane bottles.

 

[cvanhorn]

Thank you all for the advice, I will be experimenting later this week and will let you know how it goes!

 

[Rob Babcock]

If you live in an apartment and don't have a gas or charcoal grill then a hot skillet (or better still, two) is your best bet. Ideally both would be cast iron. Definitely avoid teflon which will burn. This method does generate quite a bit of smoke, so it's probably not practical unless you have a decent exhaust hood. Place one pan on each burner until they're very hot. Pour a small amount of oil into one and add the then, then apply pan spray to the bottom of the other and set it onto the steak like a panini grill. After a minute or two flip the steak. This works well if you like your steak rare/medium rare and if you let the steak come to room temp for an hour or so before cooking.

Short of this, just cooking the steak in one heavy skillet over high heat works reasonably well.

Otherwise I'd suggest you try your oven broiler. You can get pretty high direct heat this way.

If you're the adventurous sort sous vide cooking is your best bet. High quality home sous vide units are available around $300, and there inexpensive crock pot "hacks" that are cheaper still. But there's a useful method that will let you approximate a real sous vide unit that's very cheap- cooking in a cooler! All you need is an isulated cooler, the type used for soft drinks or camping food, plus a thermometer.

First place your steak in a zip-loc bag and squeeze out all the air you can, and seal it. Next, determine the temperature or degree of doneness you want in your finished steak. 130 is generally the temp that's considered medium rare. Next, fill your cooler with water of that temp. With my current settings my tap water maxes out at about 136 F. If yours won't get as hot as you like your steak done then heat it a smidge on the stove.

Then you simply drop your steak into the cooler of water and shut the lid. Within about 45 minutes to an hour your steak will be the temp of the water consistently from edge to edge. Obviously if you preheat the cooler and use a large one that holds a lot of water it will hold the heat better, as will be a better insulated one. Coleman Xtreme coolers are claimed to be able to hold ice for 5 days in 90 temps, so that would be a good option.

At any rate, once you take the steak out of the cooler you unbag it and pat it dry. Then you can sear it for 30 seconds per side in a hot pan or use a blow torch to get some crust on the outside.

The sous vide method, even the "ghetto" version outlined above, will give you a very good steak with minimal mess and smoke. I prefer using my Sous Vide Supreme at home to the products offered at most steakhouses.

 

[Cerise]

Searing doesn't seal in juices, though. That's a "kitchen myth"

But you need to start with a dry, preferably room temp piece of meat.


Sear and Blast method works well.

Liberally salt your steak.

Get a cast iron skillet very hot.

Turn your oven to 450.

Open a window.

Dry any moisture off the meat.

Plop it in the skillet.

Turn after about 3-4 min and put it into the oven for another 5 or until cooked to your liking.

That's pretty much how I cook my steak. Let the meat come to room temp for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Try not to poke, or pierce the meat. I let it rest a few minutes after removing it from the oven, & sometimes add a pat of compound butter.

I've cooked steak (and asparagus) on the Foreman Evolve grill, & it turned out pretty well.

Evolve