Pan frying steak?

[jennyema]

Just keep on cooking in that cast iron skillet. Soon it'll be your best friend!

 

[buckytom]

way to go, noob!!!

boy, that pan must have been really hot for it to have cooked in only 6 minutes.

 

[Timothy]

That's a FINE looking steak! Done just the way I love em!

 

[Noob2cookin]

way to go, noob!!!

boy, that pan must have been really hot for it to have cooked in only 6 minutes.

It was, it didn't take long for the oil to heat up at all. My stove doesn't say whether it's high or medium and whatnot so I just had to guestimate what medium high was. I was probably way off

 

[GB]

Well whatever you did, it worked!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Hey everyone. I finally did it

I heated EVOO in my CI skillet until the oil started to smoke some, seasoned each side of the steak with salt and pepper then cooked it 3 minutes per side. Here are the results:

I don't want to toot my own horn, but that was the BEST steak I've ever had. The outside had a nice crust, it was tender and just so delicious. A lot better than the steaks I've gotten from restaurants. I did have a problem with it sticking to the pan when I went to flip it though, but other than that I was problem free. Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread, I couldn't have done it without you

PS: that yellow mess on the plate is cheese, so don't mind it

Ok, you've got that down to a science. Now you just need to do the same thing with a Webber Kettle, and a solid bed of coals. It will take your steak flavor three levels higher. Remember, how you heat the meat isn't as important and the meat temperature. About three minutes per side will give you the same results as your pan fried steak if you are cooking over a solid bed of charcoal, about 4 inches between the meat and the heat, and cover it with the lid, all vents wide open, to capture flavorfull smoke and cook the meat faster.

Seeeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

Spot on Noob

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Terrific job! Now please don't ruin the moment by putting the cast iron skillet into the dishwasher or washing it with dish soap and water.

First, attempt to wipe it out with a dry paper towel. If that doesn't work, scrub it with a dry scouring pad like Chore Boy or Scotchbrite. I use a stainless steel scrubby to clean mine. If you must use water, confine it to the interior of the skillet, dry it as thoroughly as possible, then put in on a hot burner to dry completely. You might also want to give it another coat of shortening or oil (I use bacon squeezin's) while it's hot to help build a good patina.

 

[taxlady]

Terrific job! Now please don't ruin the moment by putting the cast iron skillet into the dishwasher or washing it with dish soap and water.

First, attempt to wipe it out with a dry paper towel. If that doesn't work, scrub it with a dry scouring pad like Chore Boy or Scotchbrite. I use a stainless steel scrubby to clean mine. If you must use water, confine it to the interior of the skillet, dry it as thoroughly as possible, then put in on a hot burner to dry completely. You might also want to give it another coat of shortening or oil (I use bacon squeezin's) while it's hot to help build a good patina.

I never use water. If it needs it, I use a layer of salt - enough salt that you don't see the metal - and heat on low for a while. You can see dirt in the salt. Then, I scrub with a bamboo "brush" that came with my husband's wok. If it looks like it needs it, I add a bit of oil with the salt.

 

[chopper]

Welcome to DC! You could also try broiling the steak in the oven if your oven came with a broiler pan. Turn on the broiler, let it heat, and then put the broiler pan with the steak (you can dry rub the steak or not).The oven rack should be at the top and leave the oven door open about 1 inch (this is one thing my mother could always do until recently--broil a perfect med-rare steak). Depending on how thick the meat is, it will take about 4 minutes each side. If too rare, you can also put it back and cook a little longer--if overcooked, well, not much to do there except eat it. Her thing was to put a little dab of butter on the top when she plated it. When I was young, she always warmed the plates too, but that might have been habit because we ate venison steak almost as often as we ate beef steak (which steak = Friday nights on my mom's 7-meal rotation plan).

I'm partial to tenderloin...but the cuts mentioned above are all good. Good luck!

Wow. I think we grew up I'm the same house! Mom cooked steak this way too including the butter!

 

[dean1969]

Here's a site I've visited several times in the past. Hope this helps.

 

[Mad Cook]

Welcome to DC! You could also try broiling the steak in the oven if your oven came with a broiler pan. Turn on the broiler, let it heat, and then put the broiler pan with the steak (you can dry rub the steak or not).The oven rack should be at the top and leave the oven door open about 1 inch (this is one thing my mother could always do until recently--broil a perfect med-rare steak). Depending on how thick the meat is, it will take about 4 minutes each side. If too rare, you can also put it back and cook a little longer--if overcooked, well, not much to do there except eat it. Her thing was to put a little dab of butter on the top when she plated it. When I was young, she always warmed the plates too, but that might have been habit because we ate venison steak almost as often as we ate beef steak (which steak = Friday nights on my mom's 7-meal rotation plan).

I'm partial to tenderloin...but the cuts mentioned above are all good. Good luck!

I'm with you on this. I much prefer steak broiled than fried. I don't salt it until point of service but I do put freshly ground black pepper on the raw steak before putting it under the broiler.

(Writing this felt very weird. In the UK your broiler is what we call a grill and our broiler is a very young chicken!)

As for cooking times, the old chef's trick is a useful one. If you touch the ends of your thumb and forefinger together and press the pad at the base of your thumb, the feeling is the same as you'd get if you pressed a rare steak with your finger, thumb to second/middle finger gives you a medium steak and thumb to third/ring finger gives you a steak that is well done. Hope this helps.