Porterhouse Steak

salt and coarse pepper a good hour before cooking. cast-iron pan heated HOT. film of oil. sear steak on one side, about 4-5 minutes, then the other 4-5 minutes. reduce heat to low (the pan will take a while to cool), and cook, turning a couple of times (each side should get 3-4 times on the pan). also, turn it with tongs, not a fork. ETA: of course, a 10-minute rest. here's a good post on resting (not by me!)

I rub fresh corse cracked pepper (mixed colors of pepper red, pink, white, black for extra flavor) and garlic salt into the meat including the sides. Let it sit for 10+ minutes before cooking. After cooking "tent" the meat with aluminum foil for 5 minutes. I think you will experience even better flavor.

It's 4 pm. After writing my post I find myself very, very hungry for a sizzling steak

Originally Posted by foodguy

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salt and coarse pepper a good hour before cooking. cast-iron pan heated HOT. film of oil. sear steak on one side, about 4-5 minutes, then the other 4-5 minutes. reduce heat to low (the pan will take a while to cool), and cook, turning a couple of times (each side should get 3-4 times on the pan). also, turn it with tongs, not a fork. ETA: of course, a 10-minute rest. here's a good post on resting (not by me!)
yikes. this is contrary to a lot of what people say. wayyy too long on the sear -- bad texture and poor "doneness" gradient inside, ime with searing meats. unless the steak has been properly warmed (from fridge temp) the sear gives it a dead gray texture. the "standard" in house method as previously mentioned is ~1 minute sear (depending how hot one can get the pan) and finish in the oven, but in my experience results are much better in the reverse order: heat in oven (on a raised sheet, of course, for heat circulation) on low (ie 250F) until steak hits 105, THEN sear on a pan until 115 or 120, then remove from heat and let rest, and the latent heat will raise it an additional +5-10F.. then its great but of course i prefer grilling it on weber in the backyard....

Originally Posted by foodguy

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salt and coarse pepper a good hour before cooking. cast-iron pan heated HOT. film of oil. sear steak on one side, about 4-5 minutes, then the other 4-5 minutes. reduce heat to low (the pan will take a while to cool), and cook, turning a couple of times (each side should get 3-4 times on the pan). also, turn it with tongs, not a fork. ETA: of course, a 10-minute rest. here's a good post on resting (not by me!)

wouldn`t this draw out all the juices?

I rub a bit of olive oil and butter while letting it sit at room temperature. Then, a little before I`m ready to cook, I put salt and pepper. Usually let it sit for about 10 minutes, but I think shorter would be fine.

Originally Posted by Trompe le Monde

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yikes. this is contrary to a lot of what people say. wayyy too long on the sear -- bad texture and poor "doneness" gradient inside, ime with searing meats. unless the steak has been properly warmed (from fridge temp) the sear gives it a dead gray texture.
hmm, i guess that depends on how hot you get your pan. i don't understand how searing a cold steak would give it a dead gray texture. maybe you could explain.

Originally Posted by Dragon

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wouldn`t this draw out all the juices?

try it and see. i learned it from Judy Rodgers, who salts and seasons all her meats as soon as they come into the kitchen. the flavor difference is pretty nice.

Originally Posted by foodguy

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hmm, i guess that depends on how hot you get your pan. i don't understand how searing a cold steak would give it a dead gray texture. maybe you could explain.

Just my experience dropping a cold piece of meat on a hot pan turns it into really tough gray crust. And cooking a decently thick steak entirely on pan just means a thicker version of that bad crust. A steak that is warmer when seared will have proper browned color and taste (hence my preferred oven --> sear order). Im no chemist but the results have been friendlier to the lower temp contrast.

try it and see. i learned it from Judy Rodgers, who salts and seasons all her meats as soon as they come into the kitchen. the flavor difference is pretty nice.

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Agreed. I prefer an earlier salt as well... so it for most of the things I cook. Supposedly the fluids it draws out promotes better browning... yet it doesnt draw out enough to "dry out" the meat. Herve This says its negligible hwoever

Originally Posted by Trompe le Monde

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Herve This says its negligible hwoever

that's because HE didn't think of it.

Lame post, odoreater. You've got bad info in there. Others above commit the same atrocities. Apparently there's a lot of folks ******* up steak out there in SF-land.

The notion that iron will "get hotter...maintain the heat the longest...and distribute heat" and so forth is silly and plain wrong. Do you really think that your iron pan gets hotter than 500 F in a 500 F oven? It doesn't. What's more, its ability to hold heat is determined by its mass more than anything. Actually, for stove-top cooking, it *may* be better to use a pan that is more conductive and capable of responding to rapid changes in burner temps. That's why copper pans lined with zinc are so prized by serious chefs. They don't hold heat. They conduct it. Most good anodized aluminums and stainless steels use a copper core. Because we provide constant heat as we cook the steak, the issue of heat retention in the pan is totally negated. You want a pan that will distribute the heat. Copper is the best conductor for this purpose. The pan you really don't want is the super-flimsy $10 fry pan with no heft and a nonstick coat.

Consider too that your iron skillet is very porous. It actually holds oil and other particles from previouly cooked dishes. That's why you don't wash it with soap. You wanna preserve that naturally built nonstick/flavor surface. Now it's doubtful that the iron pan will impart any flavor to something as big as beef. Save that pan for your eggs or maybe some chicken. Use a non nonstick pan for cooking your steak. You'll get a better brown and you can build a pan-sauce.

Steak has fat in it. Why rub it in some inferior fat that will simply turn rancid in the pan? Peanut and canola both smoke out at temps below 450 F. In many cases their smoke points are lower depending on how the oil is processed.

I don't understand why people wanna saute their 2-inch porterhouses. The essence of a saute is that the pan has fat added. Saute means "dance" in French. They call it saute because the item cooked dances on the fat in the pan. Saute vegetables or super-lean meats. A cut like a porterhouse has beautiful fat that will slow-release as you cook. It's self-*******-basting. You don't need to dunk it in salad dressing before you put it in the pan. Salt and pepper it. Maybe finish it with a little maitre d'hotel butter.

Your suggested cook times seem short. Time is actually not the best measure of doneness. Neither is a thermometer that stabs into the meat and allows juices to escape. Feel it instead. Feel it when it's raw. Feel it as it cooks. Learn the parts of your hand that correspond with med rare...med..well. The last thing you want is to cut into that *****, see that it's too raw, and then have to throw it back. That's the ******* worst. Just give it to the dog then.

Yes, finishing a thick steak in a preheated oven is a good move. It does good things to the edges of the meat and helps to break down some of the fat that resides there.

Originally Posted by Trompe le Monde

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Just my experience dropping a cold piece of meat on a hot pan turns it into really tough gray crust. And cooking a decently thick steak entirely on pan just means a thicker version of that bad crust. A steak that is warmer when seared will have proper browned color and taste (hence my preferred oven --> sear order). Im no chemist but the results have been friendlier to the lower temp contrast.


Agreed. I prefer an earlier salt as well... so it for most of the things I cook. Supposedly the fluids it draws out promotes better browning... yet it doesnt draw out enough to "dry out" the meat. Herve This says its negligible hwoever

When you try to cook a cold, thick piece of meat you end up cooking the **** out of the outside of it in your effort to cook the inside of it to the minimum acceptable temp. Most of the steak ends up over-cooked. Juices are gone. YOu never get the right balance of inside and outside temp and texture.

Tip: To speed your cold steak's readiness for cooking, place the steak in a clean room temp pan on your counter. Cover it. The room temp pan will act to conduct the room temp into the cold meat. This is the best way to get meat ready in a hurry. You don't want to change the meat's temp too fast. MOst plates don't work very well for this. Plates are made of insulating, non-conducting materials. They'll keep your cold steak colder for longer.

Originally Posted by TGPlastic

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Saute means "dance" in French.
I don't know anything about the heat conductive properties of iron vs copper but if the rest of your post is as accurate as this...

Originally Posted by gdl203

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I don't know anything about the heat conductive properties of iron vs copper but if the rest of your post is as accurate as this...

Wait, weren't you the guy who suggested stuffing the porterhouse with vegetables? I didn't think you were being serious. I thought you were just joshing us. Now I don't know. I think maybe you have your head in your ass.

Saute means jump. Are you seriously arguing with a Frog about the definition of a french word?

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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Saute means jump. Are you seriously arguing with a Frog about the definition of a french word?

sorry I sudied Latin

Originally Posted by TGPlastic

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Consider too that your iron skillet is very porous. It actually holds oil and other particles from previouly cooked dishes. That's why you don't wash it with soap. You wanna preserve that naturally built nonstick/flavor surface. Now it's doubtful that the iron pan will impart any flavor to something as big as beef. Save that pan for your eggs or maybe some chicken. Use a non nonstick pan for cooking your steak. You'll get a better brown and you can build a pan-sauce.
I dunno of anyone that would sear with a non-stick pan. First off, the teflon coating will start to vaporize causing a known carcinogen. Cast iron although it doesn't release heat anywhere close to copper has other properties that makes cooking a steak ideal. Since it's a slow release, it's possible to achieve a thicker crust on the steak while the copper pan would have already burned the the outside of the steak. HOWEVER, I believe that a better approach to cooking steak is not to reach that high temperature to begin with. At 300 degrees, the milliard reaction begins to happen. I would highly recommend not going over 450 degrees because although rare, it's possible that burning might occur. To be fair, most steakhouse char their steaks up to 1000 degrees. I don't understand how people can consider this acceptable preparation for a steak. At that temperature all you get is bitter burnt meat. Here's a way I learned and works great. I would have the steak on a cast iron pan. Sear for 1.5 minutes while basting with the butter in the pan, flip, continue basting and do this for 4 times so that is 1.5*2*4 = 12 minutes. That should provide a nicely cooked medium rare steak that is even throughout. Obvious salt and pepper the steak before cooking. For a dry-aged meat, salting earlier won't really draw out too much liquid. Besides, that is water, not the fat marbling that is basting the meat. Also the butter helps too so salting early shouldn't be a real issue and in fact would make sure that the salt would have penetrated into most of the meat. You can do a faux aged steak at home. Just wrap a steak in paper towel or a clean linen/cotton towel and leave it in the fridge for 3 days. Before this faux aging, make sure you wash the steak. Any dirt or bacteria will be on the surface so wash, pat dry and wrap with towel. Simple as that!