It's pre-seasoned, but I think I am going to cook up some bacon in it to ensure decent seasoning, cook the steaks and have the bacon on my baked potatoes.

And...it's 5 in the morning and I'm hungry suddenly.
Hope your dinner turns out great.

ROFL

:D Me too. Good thread btw.

The important thing is someone got through to you. Go forth, grasshopper... and cook well. May the Lodge be with you. Always.

I need to find that damn cast iron thread now. I'll try and get some pics on here when I'm done.

Meant to ask, do you recommend the grilling pan or just the skillet for steaks? I am leaning towards skillet because of versatility, but still uncertain.

Steer clear of the grilling pans. I hate them. If you're going to grill, grill. You'll find the grill pans very difficult to clean and season.

Which cast iron thread are you look for?

I think there was one talking about who uses cast iron. If I recall it was quite a large thread, figured I could stumble on some good ideas for the future there.

And to give credit where credit is due, you did get the ball rolling on this. The gf and I have had it in our minds for some time since I started reading your posts, but taking the leap today.

Thanks for the advice, I figured cleaning would be annoying on it. Expect a question or 20 from me in the near future.

Damn you guys! I was going to go to bed until you started. Now I'm staying up until LoLo's opens for some chicken and waffles.

Ah, you're a late night guy anyways, but I will happily be your scapegoat for staying up.

:D I don't blame anyone but me. Plus I love this time of day...happy cooking.

Always happy to help. I do love spreading the gospel according to Griswold.

Well the memory you seem to have associated with this time of day are probably pretty hard to beat. Lucky asshole.

I found the thread I was looking for and you suggested using the flaxseed oil process to season it. With a pre-seasoned skillet do I need to strip off whatever they have done then do that or should I just start with what you recommended?

If you're going to do the flaxseed seasoning, I would. But if you're wanting to cook that steak today, you're not doing the flaxseed method.

Realistically, you're not going to get much more seasoning than it came with in less than a day no matter what you do. I would still do something in it first before you do that steak, and bacon sure is tasty.

That's kind of what I was thinking too. So after I cook that bacon, just rub the remaining grease completely around the pan with a paper towel and tongs coating the whole pan then go for the steak? Or should I let the grease sit for a bit?

I plan on using conola or peanut oil to dab onto the steaks to even the sear also

Cook the bacon this morning. Drain the grease (reserve, bacon grease holds up remarkably well in the fridge), and clean the pan with hot water. Use salt of you have any stuck-on bits. Pour a couple teasoons of fat in the pan and heat. Use a paper towel to smear a very thin layer of grease all over the inside of the pan. Take a clean paper towel and wipe down the inside to ensure you don't have excess oil. Pop the pan on a low burner or in the oven for 15 minutes or so.

And remember, never let it sit in water or leave it wet. It's remarkable how quickly cast iron can rust if left untreated.

at 200 degrees, right?

350.

And if the pan is new, you should probably do a full seasoning the first few times you use it. Do the greasing, then pop it in a 350 oven for an hour. What I mentioned above is really more like maintenance.

Okay got it. Thanks FMB.

If I cook steak indoors it's only on cast iron

ON the steaks? Olive oil is best, IMO.

I disagree with this. I find my grill pan to be quite easy to clean and it isn't difficult to season at all. Of course, I only use the flat side. The ribbed side can go **** itself.

Then you're not using the grill... you're using the griddle. Yes, by all means, get a griddle. But I'd find one that's just a griddle, not a combo. That's just me, though.

They make longer flat ones with a handle. I would agree that a griddle is better.

I just like the ability the sear two steaks at once, and then flip them both onto the other end that's not cooled down a bit from cooking to get a great sear on the other end. And then the first side can come back up to temp for more steaks while the second side is searing.

My skillet just doesn't get used for steak because it's not big enough to grill two different sides of the steak in different places. Small difference, to be sure, but just a preference.

I wouldn't argue with you there... just pointing out that you're using the griddle side of your grill pan. And you comment about the ridged side (the grill side) means you agree: cast iron grill pans are a PITA. Find a griddle and get that.

Personally, I've had no problem with a skillet for two steaks.

FMB brings value..

Then you aren't grilling big enough steaks :)

But you can get flat grill pans. Really no different than skillets. Can get shallow ones that are also long.

What you're talking about is a combo grill/griddle pan. The flat side is the griddle.

Also, I don't geneally cook a steak in a pan. If I cook a steak indoors, I will do it sous vide then sear only in the cast iron. That's usually only about 60 seconds per side, and I've got the pan screaming hot.

All I have to say is amazing. The temperature was perfectly even through out. Everyone that had it said it was the best steak so far. Can't wait to give this another go. Thanks for the tips FMB

Awesome! :thumb:

Grilled two cuts tonight. Let them sit out coated in salt for 30 minutes. Rinsed and patted dry. Heat at 500. Quick sear, 4 minutes, then moved to other side of grill.
Best yet.
Thanks everyone.

:thumb:

Next time, try salting a day in advance and let them sit out for an hour before you cook.

That's just what I'll do, the quest continues.
Do I salt and let them sit in the fridge for a day?

Yes, but salt as you normally would. Just season them well with salt on both sides (just salt for now), put 'em in the fridge uncovered on a rack, take 'em out an hour or so before you cook, season with pepper. Don't wash them off, you're not going to use that much salt and the purpose for leaving them uncovered is so they'll develop a nice pellicle.

Thanks! I don't know what pellicle is but I'm pumped for the perfect steak. These last ones were the best ever. The salting and sitting makes an amazing difference.

Pellicle is a layer of protein that develops when the steak has been left to dry a bit... it helps smoke molecules stick to the meat.

Bump. Vail, can you grill a decent steak yet?

Hah yeah, thanks to the advice here I'm up to 'pretty good'. Haven't done much grilling over the last year though I did try a broiler steak in a cast iron skillet and it turned out pretty damn good.

Maybe if the restraunt you go to is Dennys

You absolutely want to let your steak come up a Lil in temp b4 u grill or broil it or cast iron.

Your nonsense about getting sick from a steak being out for a half hour/hour is idiotic

I agree with your statement that you're not going to get sick. That's just stupid. But the room temperature thing is pretty worthless:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/06/t...ing-steak.html

Ger your steaks out of the fridge and let them get to room temp. Get out your cast iron skillet. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. On stovetop crank it to high. Let the skillet heat up. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Sear steaks on all sides for a couple of minutes. Not too long, you just want a good crust. Place a nice pat of butter on top of each steak. Jab a meat thermometer in the steak. Obviously, I am talking about an oven proof thermometer with a cord. Move the skillet into the oven. Take out when you get to medium rare. Let them rest a few minutes before eating.

It's Lone Iguana.

If you come to the resident liberal pussy looking for advice on grilling steaks, you're doing it wrong.

Get a charcoal grill man! Idk I just eye it and they always come out pretty awesome. Cut matters but filet and rib-eye are pretty good. Fresh is what you want the stuff that has been sitting for awhile is always worse.

And there was some previous discussion in this thread regarding 'grill vs. skillet'. The debate is always surface contact vs. flavor from the charcoal. Both sides have some merit so the key is to find a possible best of both worlds.

I present to you the Weber Gourmet BBQ system:

https://blurppy.files.wordpress.com/...bbq-system.jpg

I love this thing. I use my wok a lot for the best stir fry you can make at home. The problem trying to use a Wok indoors is that A) Most stoves don't get hot enough unless you have a commercial grade Viking gas top or something. A residential gas stove generally doesn't have the power to really do a Wok well. Forget about an electric and my induction does well on the 'boost' setting but still not as well as it could. B) Smoke. So very much smoke.

So the Weber system has a removable round insert where you can take out the regular grill center and put in a wok. Rocket hot and smoke's outside so win/win. Now as to our steak issue - they have a cast iron flat-top insert as well. You can't do 8 steaks on it but 2 will fit nicely and a third can be squeezed in there with some effort. You can get that thing white hot with some good lump charcoal and get as much surface contact for that real even maillard reaction/sear but still get plenty of the smokeyness that comes from a good outdoor grill.

As a side benefit, because you use heavy inserts, those grates are much heavier duty. Thicker gauge bars so it retains heat a little better for regular applications (better sear marks even if you don't use the cast insert).

The obvious alternative is just putting a cast iron skillet in your grill but some of those cheaper grill grates don't care for that kind of weight sitting on them. I highly recommend this kit if you are looking for a handy little tool with a fair amount of versatility.

I have that system. I typically use the stainless insert instead of the cast iron; I have a hell of a time overcooking steaks on that cast iron grate.

Maybe the only time on this forum you'll hear me say I'd rather use the SS over CI.

HA! You're three years too late, Kenji....

Patting steaks dry is a trick my old man taught me years ago and I swear, it's the single biggest difference you can make on a steak (apart from seasoning correctly). It really does make all the difference in the world.

I don't even have the cast iron grate. I looked at it and decided it would manage to do neither thing terribly well.

Use the flat-top center or the SS. There's too much compromise on both directions with the CI grate.

Was that already posted? I'm not going through 450 posts to see.

And Kenji's article came out in June 2013; this thread was created in September 2013. So Kenji was ahead of this post.

Do you rub any olive oil on the steak before you throw it in the skillet on the stovetop?

It does a nice sear, that's for sure. But I think with the grate plus the heat from the grill, what I've come to know as normal cook times is just out the window. I've ruined too many steaks on that grate.

Well !@#$

Yeah, that was my first post on the subject (click on the little arrow on the quote and it takes you to the original post, FYI).

So Kenji actually did beat me to it. Bastich.

Smoke point is too low on olive oil, IMO. Too much smoke and not enough impact.

Canola will work better. Peanut oil has a bit too much flavor for me but if you can get some sunflower oil I think it works nicely.

But I really don't recommend olive oil for a high heat application like that.

I did (click). I didn't see that you talked about leaving it at room temp at all, just about drying it off (more later).

The general theory is leaving it at room temp for 20 minutes will bring the piece of meat closer to it's final temp. The Serious Eats article I quoted specifically lays out that this is untrue, and why it's basically a waste of time.

You're point about drying it off is ENTIRELY true. I previously suggested that if you salt a day ahead like I do, leave it in the fridge uncovered on a rack; the fridge will dry out the surface spectacularly.

In thinking about cast iron skillet in the broiler method: would you use any type of oil at all when you put it on the stovetop to form crust before placing in the broiler?

It's all about the ghee, my friend. Best flavor, higher smoke point...

Pan seared with butter, crushed garlic clove and fresh rosemary. Keep basting steak until done.

**** all of you for making me think about steak this early

A brush of canola couldn't hurt.

Though yes, FMB is right in that ghee is the absolute best way to go, I just don't know where to acquire it and I'm damn sure not going through the trouble of making it.

In either event, turn on your oven hood and open some windows. You'll get plenty of smoke during the high heat/sear portion on the stovetop and when you open that oven door after you put it in there for a few minutes, you'll have even more come rolling out.

That method creates a LOT of smoke.

I didn't talk about the room temperature thing; I was just jumping off his conclusion in the article. And yeah, I can see the condenser in the fridge doing a hell of a job drying off the surface of a steak.

It's because you're a broncos fan. You should stick to mountain oysters.

It's sooooo easy to make, though.

I'm not going to read this whole thread, but as I've said in other threads, I can't recommend the reverse sear technique highly enough. Creates a nice edge to edge pink while still getting the perfect outside. Also, +1 for the ghee recommendation, but even better than that is rendered beef fat. Most butchers will give you the fat trimmings for free and you can render it yourself.

Make it in the oven!

http://paleospirit.com/2012/how-to-m...e-in-the-oven/

Can I try that recipe with butter that isn't that organic bullshit that cost 8 bucks/lb?

At this point I actively avoid all things organic just because people that worship the shit piss me off. And ironically, the same folks that bitch about income inequality also bitch about GMOs as though getting rid of them wouldn't yield rampant starvation.

I'll just get a couple of boxes of unsalted land o lakes and call it good...

Yes. This is the barefoot Contessa's method, and it works great. Easy and perfect everytime.

Yeah I'm not messing with ghee or whatever, I like to keep it lean and simple.
Thanks for the tips.

Yes, in fact I recommend it. I use unsalted LoL all the time.

I tried the really nice European butter once to see if it would be better, but it wasn't.

That said, Plugra as a butter (not ghee) is so freakin' awesome.

You're missing out, brother.

I don't know her but she sounds cool.
Thanks for the tip.

I'm sure there are a whole lot of kitchen things you have going on that I'd dig upon. For me though there are days I don't even enter the kitchen.

Salt and fresh ground pepper, if you don't have a pepper mill you don't know what you are missing.

Oh not this shit again!