Some dialogue on steak took place at a recent family dinner with the brothers, wives and girlfriends. In my experience, when preparing steak for guests there is typically a confirmation of preference, even if it is previously known, as a matter of politeness and/or courtesy from the chef. If there is more than mild satisfaction with the result, this is typically followed by a conversation during dinner that evaluates the accuracy of the chef, and explores the well known but often varied methodologies for preparing and cooking beef steak on the BBQ. Perhaps the relative success of my process is commonplace, but typically it includes one or two subtle steps that are not widely practised, and many that are similar to how everybody else does it. Sharing should only have a positive impact, so here goes.
Step 1: Purchase AAA Grade Loin From Costo
I found this picture on the web. Prices typically range from $9/kg up to $16/kg (last summer). Today it is about $10/kg and $11/kg in the photo I have borrowed. I learned at this site that my high opinion of Costco meat was supported in the Feb 2005 issue of Cooks Illustrated where it could not be beat for flavour, texture and price.
Step 2: Age the Meat
The one great thing about the Costco whole loin is that it comes in a cry-o-vac plastic that is suitable for additional ageing in your home refrigerator. It takes a lot of space, so a second refrigerator is particularly useful for this purpose. I learned from a colleague, who worked in a meat house earlier in life, that an additional ten days of ageing from the Costco package date (marked on the label) can give the meat a far superior tenderness in the long run. If you can’t store/age it, look for the oldest strip loin, typically identified at a distance by the most blood in the bag. Knowing that I will store the meat, I focus on evaluation of the gristle and marbling of the fat in my Costco meat selection.
Step 3: Cut the NY Strips
My process is to cut into 1″-1.5″ New York Strips, which brings the price range into about $5/steak, which are typically large enough to share between my wife and myself after preparation. The 1″-1,5″ range ensures that the steak is not difficult to cook (i.e. not easily overcooked) and is thick and juicy (personal preference). Chopping is a similar process to this blog however I put paper towels below the cutting board as the aged meat is very bloody, and use Zip-Lock freezer bags to ensure a protected deep freeze in my block freezer. The 14-16 steaks are not consumed at once, so therefore must be frozen. Usually I eat steak the same day I chop the meat to sample the product. Equal thickness across the steak is required for proper cooking. Usually the end cuts end up in a bag labelled purposefully “Fajitas”.
Step 4: Deep Freeze
My steaks are labelled with a Sharpie on the Zip-Lock bag with air removed and go directly into a block/deep freezer. The temperatures in a deep freezer are actually lower than the freezer that is on the fridge. The freezing process does considerable damage to the cell structure of the meat, contributing further to its tenderness and suitability for a King.
Step 4: Throw it onto the BBQ
This next step is the one that I hear the most often contended. I hear a lot of “Thaw it First”. In my humble opinion, this does nothing except ensure that your hard work softening the meat results in a puddle of juice under your thawed steak resulting in unavoidable increased dryness of the finished product. It can still be great, just not super. I allow my steak to warm up for about 30 min to the point where the frost (this actually builds up from moisture in the air only as it starts to thaw; a notable difference with a deep freeze) melts enough for the steak spice to stick to the meat effectively. I fire up the BBQ and apply my spice (usually Barbarian) five minutes before I throw it on the BBQ.
Step 5: Cook Side One
I am a strong believer of the single flip. Generally I let the BBQ warm up to 600-800 and throw my steaks on. Immediately I reduce the temperature to medium heat; the goal is to allow for a sustained 400-450 reached later in the cooking process. Too hot and you will get too much flare-up before the flip. Typical times for my steak, which I like medium rare (and Err on the Rare side if ever) are about 7.5 minutes per side at my thickness and frozenness. This is almost twice as long as the thawed versions cooked on the day I chop the meat. It is worth noting my BBQ is whimpy by all standards at 25,000 BTU. If you have a hot-spot, orient the fat towards that high heat (not over it) to enable a nice crusty edge, aka flavour country.
Generally I use knowledge of the clock to initiate a test of readiness to flip. The observations are usually that juices appear to be evenly appearing on the surface (glistening everywhere), and the steak appears to be sweating. Breakthrough of juice bubbling, or liquefied fat is a sure sign you have passed the mark. A lot of flare-up from juices coming out of the top is a sure sign that you are likely going to have a short cook on the second side too. All this depending on thickness and length.
Step 6: After “The Flip”
It is “the flip” because I believe in a single flip. I used to subscribe to the quick first searing flip after 30 seconds (which I still do on fresh steak), but have found only toughness downside with a frozen steak as the exposed top seals at 800 degrees whilst the centre is thawing before juices escape en-mass. I have a few hypotheses on why this results in a softer steak, predominantly based on the fact that heat rises and drives hot juices upwards in the meat as it cooks. With a single flip, the cooking juices only change direction once. If you imagine the individual cell structure being cooked by juices moving in one direction, it seems logical that the cell structures are like stationary sacs cooked more on the bottom where rising juices make their initial contact and most of the energy transfer takes place. Juices travel the path of least resistance, which likely changes each time the meat is moved on the grill. It would seem logical that each time the juices change direction, or follow a different path, the individual structures are cooked more thoroughly on more places resulting in a toughening the meat. I think of it as microscopic crusting of the cell structures from cooking juices passing by in more places.
Readiness for medium rare is determined by a feel with the tong, and generally gives a certain resistance that results in a 30-45 degree bend in the meat with slight springiness based on thickness and length. Prodding your steak with a thermometer or anything else is going to cost you precious juices if you pull it out before the steak sits for five minutes after cooking. Not to mention an accurate read of 125F at the centre of a New York Strip is likely somewhat prone to error.
Step 6: Let it sit for 5 Minutes
Often touted as the most important step, the resting of the cooked steak is very important. If you don’t think this step makes much difference based on experience, there is a good chance your steaks are not very juicy to begin with. This could probably as a result of any number of things, including cutting them on the BBQ to see if they are done, prodding them with a fork or thermometer whilst they are BBQ, or letting them thaw before cooking them.
If you wait until the steak has sat for 5-10 minutes depending on the environment and preference, the result should be a nice even red/deep pink colour from edge to edge, slightly darker in the middle and visibly juicy throughout with red hue right to the edges, like this photo. 
Note that there is no clear transition from red except right at the edge. If you do not wait, you end up with a red centre, that looks very juicy, a lot of juice on the plate and dryer, greyer meat along the edges, like this photo. 
Note the strong transition from red to grey. Its great, but again, not super. Now I need to take some of my own photos to backup some of these observations. Likely it will be some time before I rush a steak, and who’s to say if a camera will be at the ready.
