Help! Searing Steaks in Stainless Steel

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Mylegsbig

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Hey guys. gonna head out in a bit to get my stainless steel new skillet, and on the way home stopping by the butcher to get some american Kobe Beef Filets. Now this crap is 40 bucks a pound, and i havent used a steel skillet in a year, last time i did i had disastrous results.

im gonna sear steaks then move skillet to oven to finish them.

these will be 1 1/2 Inch Thick Filets.

Question: Should i sear these on MEDIUM HIGH or on HIGH? If i turn them on HIGH, how long should i let skillet stay on stove heating up?

Question: I normally rub steaks down with oil, salt, pepper before i cook them, and then just throw them in skillet. Would it be better to just rub them with salt and pepper, turn skillet on HIGH, let it get hot, then throw oil in it, and steaks on top of oil? Or should i just rub the steaks with oil and leave skillet dry? Also, i have heard sear on each side for 2 mins..some say for 1 min..some say for 1:30..... For the record this is heavily marbled beef more so than USDA Prime..not sure if that makes a difference but ive never cooked with this kobe beef stuff.

Question, what is a good HIGH HEAT oil i can use to sear these steaks with? I dont want to use olive oil as it burns. Should i try peanut oil? how about almond oil?

Question: I should throw em in a 450 degree oven after searing right? I want them to be pink all the way thru. between medium rare and medium. How long should i leave em in?

If flavor is a concern about which oil i will be serving the steaks without a sauce, but they will be topped with garlic butter.

Ive asked similar questions to this before in the past but im paranoid because A. ive never cooked kobe beef. and B. i havent used a stainless steel skillet in FOREVER, and when i did it was a disaster.

if you could give me step by step how to do these steaks and i just use my intuition to make sure things flow good that would be awesome.
 
Wish you had a cast iron skillet or a charcoal grill instead. But I would just sear them all on the stovetop--not put in the oven. I think they will get overdone.
 
medium high heat at most ... let the pan preheat

for minimal smoking, use peanut oil.

timing depends on temp of meat. do a test with an equally thick burger patty earlier in the day to get some idea of doneness etc.

kobe beef is fatty and very tender, but the fat tends to be monosaturated so it is like olive oil for the body...healthy. hope you have good hood ventilation.
 
i would not recommend cooming your Kobe on your stainless just yet since as you mentioned you have not done it in a while and last time didn't work. Kobe is expensive as you know. Why not get some cheaper steaks to experiment with first so you don't ruin the Kobe?

Is a grill an option for you for the Kobe? Personally that is the way I would go. High heat for a short period of time.

If you are still sold on doing it in the stainless then i would oil, salt, and pepper the steaks. Let then sit out for about 30 minutes or so to come to room temp (very important step). i would heat the pan to med high. some people will tell you to get the pan as hot as possible, but I always seem to burn my steaks when I do that. Put your oil in the pan and let that heat up. Put the steaks in the pan and DON"T TOUCH. how long they take per side is something you are going to have to play with, but give it at least a minute. After a minute carefully try to move it. If it sticks to the pan then give it another 30 seconds to a minute. The steaks should release on their own.

As for what type of oil, you want one with a high smoke point and neutral flavor. Canola, Corn, or veggie oil should work fine.

If you are going to finish it in the oven then use a probe thermometer. If you don't have one then get one. Don't take the chance of ruining your Kobe. It is a tool you will get a lot of use out of and is well worth the money.
 
GB Okay i will go get a probe thermometer right now. Can you give me some tips on using it? If i jab that thermometer in my meat, won't it just cause all the juices to leak out?
 
by the way thanks for the speedy replies..... okay...another question.

Since im using this stainless steel skillet and one of it's advantages is getting a "fond" and you can deglaze it, i'd like to try something.

I want to deglaze the pan with something and then sautee some onions and mushrooms.

Can anyone here just give me a quick little recipe for deglazing my skillet, then adding in some mushrooms and onions? Should i use red wine for that? what seasonings? oil or butter? Order in which to add ingredients, heat to use, etc, as i've never truly deglazed......

Just give me something basic if you will......

Thank you so much.
 
GB said:
something you are going to have to play with, but give it at least a minute. After a minute carefully try to move it. If it sticks to the pan then give it another 30 seconds to a minute. The steaks should release on their own.

This is very very interesting..is this a sure thing or can it lead to disasters?
 
AHHHHHHHHH! My mouth is watering! If you are going to do the mushrooms and onions in the pan, just a teeny bit of butter in there to help soften them up, then I would pour in some red wine to deglaze after they are done. Drooling...
 
Were I using Kobe beef would use shallots instead of onions.

And a mixture of shrooms, maybe laced with a bit of balsamic vinegar.

Just an idea.
 
Can we assume your SS skillet is either tri-ply or has a heavy disk on the bottom? This is essential to even heating and for keeping hot spots that will cause the food to burn.
 
This is just a personal preference, but for a piece of beef such as the Kobe, I'd serve the sauce on the side. You may want to taste it with just salt and pepper and enjoy the great beef flavor.
 
Mylegsbig said:
If i jab that thermometer in my meat, won't it just cause all the juices to leak out?
You would think so, but no the juices will stay put. They key is to putting the thermometer in before it is cooked. It is OK that you are going to put it in after the sear because the meat will still basically be raw inside.

When you insert the probe you want to get it as close to center mass as possible. Make sure you do not touch any bone. That won't be an issue with your Kobe of course.

Polder is the name of a well respected probe thermometer. Look for one that allows you to set an alarm to go off once you hit the desired temp. make sure to take carry over cooking time into account so set the done temp 5 degrees lower than your target temp. that way when the alarm goes off you can pull it out of the over, cover loosly with foil, and let the temp creep up another 5 degrees.
 
Mylegsbig said:
This is very very interesting..is this a sure thing or can it lead to disasters?
Well I would say it is a sure thing, but in reality it has not always worked for me. But that being said, it is still the best way to do it and chances are that it will work. The times it did not work for me were probably due to other factors like not enough fat. What I can guarantee though is that if you put the meat in the pan and then play with it right way it WILL stick and ruin your meat.
 
Andy M. said:
This is just a personal preference, but for a piece of beef such as the Kobe, I'd serve the sauce on the side. You may want to taste it with just salt and pepper and enjoy the great beef flavor.



Me too. If I am paying that much for the beef, IMO the wonderful BEEF is what I want to taste, not sauce. Esp. nice Wagyu.

I'd flambee some sliced mushrooms in brandy in the pan and serve them as a side dish.

And Big, get yourself a cast iron skillet!!!! :chef: :rolleyes:
 
jennyema said:
If I am paying that much for the beef, IMO the wonderful BEEF is what I want to taste, not sauce. Esp. nice Wagyu.
Yep another one who completely agrees here! Don't spend that much money on something so wonderful just to cover up the flavor and make it taste like any other piece of meat. If you absolutely must do a sauce then serve it on the side so you can still taste the meat naked if you want.
 
I'm serving the vegetables on the side. The Kobe Beef itself will only be topped with garlic butter. (very little garlic in the butter)

Okay so i will deglaze the pan and cook the onions in butter, red wine, and balsamic vinegar. So i should cook the steaks, finish in oven, then remove steaks and cover with foil.

At this point i will have some butter, balsamic, red wine, salt, pepper, mushrooms, shallots.

I have the pan freshly used from cooking the steaks back on the stove.

What do i heat it to? In which order do i add these ingredients?

Sorry, ive never deglazed before. Do i just scrape all the stuff off of the pan?
 
Add the butter, mushrooms and shallots to the pan (medium high) and cook until soft and fragrant.

Add the liquids and scrape the pan bottom to dislodge all the cooked on bits (fond) and stir to dissolve. Reduce the volume of liquid and season to taste with S&P.

To thicken further, whisk in, off the heat, a couple of pats of butter.
 
I would make your pan sauce, and I think shallots and mushrooms and fresh parsley would be great, then red wine, then a touch of butter to bring it together. Put a swirl on the plate (very attractive) and serve the rest in a boat so people can help themselves to more if they wish.
 
As the mushrooms and shallots cook they will release liquid. Once that happens you can start scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze and get all that great fond. Once you add the wine just scrape whatever is left. it should all come up very easily.
 
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