Steak: It's all about the sear

Four types of steak. Clockwise from left: a 10 ounce filet mignon, a 14 ounce New York Strip, an 18 ounce bone-in rib eye, and a 14 ounce top sirloin.

The Blade/Jetta Fraser
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Chef Tim Childers places a 10-ounce filet mignon onto a plate a plate next to a 14-ounce New York strip at Rockwell's.

At some point in our long-distant past, an ancestor of the cow fell or strayed into a fire. A nearby caveman, drawn by the delectable odor, sampled a taste and decided it was very, very good. And then he invented ketchup.

Ever since then, steak has been at the top of the list of what Americans eat when they go out to celebrate. Some people may like a lobster, go for a glazed ham, or fancy a fillet of salmon. But for a large number of us, the go-to dish for fine eating is steak.

"I think it's the Maillard reaction," said Tim Childers, executive chef at Rockwell's. "When you sear a steak and it gets that savory brownness, and it hits your tongue and you taste it, that's what makes your mouth water. I'd say it's all about the caramelization of the sugars of the steak."

The searing is important — that's the Maillard reaction, which refers to the browning and caramelizing of everything from bread crusts to steak. But so too is the way the seared exterior leads as a gateway on your palate to the juicy, beefy interior. Each rich mouthful is hearty and decadently satisfying.

The professionals have ways to get that crucial sear that are not available to the rest of us. Mancy's Steak House uses a double-sided broiler that heats the meat on the top and bottom at the same time, according to executive chef Sean Moran. Once it has been seared, it is moved around to cooler parts of the broiler to continue cooking the inside without burning the outside.

At Rockwell's, they blast it in a 1,600-degree broiler to get a quick sear on the surface and then bring it out to the table on a 500-degree plate, which finishes cooking the steak to the proper temperature.

But what is a home cook to do? The experts agree the best way to cook a steak, if possible, is on a grill.

"Put a nice sear on the outside to seal in the juices," Mr. Moran said. "Let it sit for about three minutes, turn it on a bias so it gets those nice cross marks from the grill." After another three minutes, "flip it and do the same thing."

That's for an average-sized steak, cooked medium. The times will vary depending on the thickness of the meat and how done you want it.

Four types of steak. Clockwise from left: a 10 ounce filet mignon, a 14 ounce New York Strip, an 18 ounce bone-in rib eye, and a 14 ounce top sirloin.

If you don't have an outdoor grill, you can use a stove top and an oven to get much the same effect, Mr. Childers said. The secret is to preheat your oven to 400 degrees and to start with a very hot pan. A cast-iron skillet is best, because you can heat it over high temperature for a half-hour or more before placing the steak on it. The skillet will become ferociously hot but it won't hurt the pan; the melting point of iron is about 2,800° and you are never going to approach that on a stove. Be very careful when you are done using it, though; remember that cast iron retains its heat and takes a long time to cool.

If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, heat a pan as hot as you are comfortable doing. Add a little oil (it won't be needed for a well-seasoned cast-iron pan), and put in the steak.

With either pan, just sear the meat on both sides. Then put it in a different pan and finish cooking it in the oven.

"And make sure you've got your kitchen fan on, or it will stink up your house for a week," Mr. Childers said.

I tried the cast-iron pan method, and the pan got so hot that what I can only describe as a layer of seasoning started to flake off. The steak took about a minute to sear on both sides, and it did not stick to the pan at all.

What type of steak you choose to cook depends both on your tastebuds and your wallet.

Sirloin is one of the less expensive cuts of steak, and "is the most prevalent in supermarkets and a lot of restaurant chains. It has such a great steak flavor, it is classically what you think of when you think of a steak. It has a firmer texture than the filets and strips, but it makes up for it in flavor, Mr. Childers said.

On the opposite side of the scale is the filet, which is the most tender steak, though it has less of a meat flavor than a sirloin or a strip. It is the most popular choice by far at most steak houses, and can also be the most expensive cut of meat.

A lot of people prefer a strip steak, which is kind of in between the two, Mr. Childers said. Strip steak comes from the strip loin, which is well marbled with fat and has a lot of steak flavor. A New York strip is the same cut of meat as a Kansas City strip, but the Kansas City strip sometimes still has the bone attached.

That bone is the central feature of the porterhouse. On one side of the bone is the strip, on the other is the filet. A T-bone steak is the same cut of beef but from farther up the cow, so that the filet part, the tenderloin, is smaller.

"Porterhouse is good, but it can kind of be difficult to cook because [the two sides] cook in different ways because of the different musculature. Sometimes I'll cook it for a minute so it gets a good surface sear, then I'll cover the tenderloin part with tin foil so I don't overcook it while I'm cooking the strip," Mr. Childers said.

The Rockwell's chef added, "rib eye is my favorite. It has the most fat, it has that giant beautiful fat in the middle, in the eye. I think it's the most flavorful and textured meat. It has the cartilage. I love it. It's like the Cedar Point of steaks — it has something for everyone."

Once you have chosen your cut, how much do you cook it? According to the Culinary Institute of America, the final temperature of a rare steak (it will have a cool red center) is 135°. Medium rare (a warm red center) is 145°. Medium (all pink center) is 160°. Medium well (light pink in the center) is 165°. And well done (gray all the way through) is 170°.

Because meat continues to cook after it is removed from the heat, be sure to take off your steak a few degrees below these target temperatures.

Once it is cooked, do you eat the meal plain or with a sauce? The choice is yours, of course, but steak houses always offer an assortment of sauces that have proved to be winners, often including bordelaise (dry red wine, shallots, butter, demi-glace, and sometimes bone marrow), bernaise (white wine vinegar, white wine, shallots, tarragon, butter, and egg yolks), and hollandaise (egg yolk, butter, and lemon juice).

At home, Mr. Moran makes a very simple sauce of balsamic vinegar that has been reduced a bit. "It gives a little flavor, a little sweetness to it," he said.

Chef Tim Childers of Rockwell's says the secret to getting a good sear on a steak indoors is preheating your oven to 400 degrees and using a cast-iron skillet.

But steak houses are finding that a lot of people merely want to dot their steaks with compound butter, which is softened butter that has herbs or other ingredients worked into it, and then chilled again.

Mr. Moran suggests a compound butter with a profusion of common herbs: equal parts of fresh rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley, and cilantro chopped together. A tablespoon or a tablespoon and a half would flavor a pound of butter, he said.

For a more exotic choice, Mr. Childers suggests a cabernet and roasted shallot butter.

You begin by reducing cabernet wine and then swirling in a little butter. While that mixture cools, roast a couple of shallots in the oven, cut them up, add them to the wine, and season with salt and pepper. Work that mixture into softened butter, re-refrigerate the butter, and carve off thin slices to place atop a hot steak.

"That's my favorite," he said.

Contact Daniel Neman at: dneman@theblade.com or 419-724-6155.

RECIPES

Herb Butter

1 stick butter

¼ teaspoon fresh rosemary

¼ teaspoon fresh thyme

¼ teaspoon fresh basil

¼ teaspoon fresh parsley

¼ teaspoon fresh cilantro

Soften butter by leaving it out for at least a few hours.

Mince the herbs and mix them together. Put the butter in a bowl, and thoroughly mash the herbs into it with a spoon. Turn the butter out onto a piece of plastic wrap, and roll the wrap until the butter forms a log about the size and shape of a stick of butter. Refrigerate. To use, slice off thin pieces of the herb butter to place on top of a sizzling steak.

Yield: ½ cup

Source: Adapted from Sean Moran, Mancy's Steak House

Cabernet and Roasted Shallot Butter

1 stick butter

2 shallots, peeled

Olive oil

1 cup cabernet

Salt and pepper

Soften butter by leaving it out for at least a few hours.

Preheat oven to 425°. Place shallots in a heat-proof bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in oven until soft, about 20 minutes. While they are roasting, boil the wine until it reduces to about 1/3 cup.

When shallots are done, chop and add to reduced wine. Allow to cool.

Put the butter in a bowl, add two tablespoons of the wine-shallot mixture, and thoroughly mash together with a spoon. Turn the butter out onto a piece of plastic wrap, and roll the wrap until the butter forms a log about the size and shape of a stick of butter. Refrigerate. To use, slice off thin pieces of the flavored butter to place on top of a sizzling steak.

Yield: ½ cup

Source: Adapted from Tim Childers, Rockwell's