Best Steak I have EVER Made (Thanks to Alton Brown!)

[PicBuddy]

I'll be the first to admit, I am not a very talented chef. Some of the time, I stumble on something good, even something pretty fantastic, but there are times when I have turned out something more garbage disposal friendly than edible. You know, the masterpiece you had high hopes for, that came out tasting like ass. So you put it in the fridge for leftovers only to secretly retire it the next day in a humble, pride swallowing waste of good food that you ruined on your own...

Well, yesterday was a massive achievement for me. I made a steak that knocked the ball so far outta the park that it probably traveled through the time and space continuum into another dimension of drop dead deliciousness! And I have to give credit where credit is due.

Alton Brown.

When recently discovering some episodes of Good Eats online, I started to collect them on a FOOD hard drive. And since I have always loved that show, I went back and watched the very first episode, S01E01 Steak Your Claim. I watched it for historical value as opposed to a genuine interest in learning about steak, as I thought I already knew how to do a steak correctly.

And then here within the last few weeks was another episode, called "Raising The Steaks" S07E10 (Season 7, Episode 10, if you've ever wondered what those numbers mean). That episode made me decide to emulate exactly what Alton was doing... (Cooking method, not seasoning)

So, last night I started out with a 1.2 pound bone in rib-eye, thick cut. This went against my previous thoughts that I knew what I liked (I have always gone for thin cut rib-eyes and T-Bones as I thought I liked well done best)....

I heated the oven up to 500F, containing our Iron Skillet. Brought the hunk of meat up to room temp for over 15 minutes, and lightly marinated it in Colgin's Smoked Worcestershire sauce (from Mexia Texas, awesome if you can find it, my favorite), about 10 minutes per side. Also applied a generous amount of Pink Himalayan salt (fresh ground). Then removed from the marinade and rubbed it down with some Garlic Peppercorn Sear-N-Crust rub.

Brought the hotter than blazes pan outta the oven, dribbled some peanut oil in it (my choice / high smoke-point ) and then slapped that "bad boy" (kudos Aaron!) down! Seared each side for 30 seconds without messing with it, then tossed the branding iron hot cast iron skillet containing our seared piece of that cow, into the 500F oven.

Here's where I should have made notes, as I don't remember how long I left it in there. Probably 12-15 minutes. Brought it out and checked the internal temp and it was 130. Left it sitting there a few minutes until we couldn't take it any more and started to slice, and eat it right out of the pan. It was pink in the center a little, I suppose medium. Something I have always missed out on I guess. I had an open mind, and might have been a little drunk. (kidding!) Added some very powdery extremely fine Christmas Island "organic" salt, few grinds of fresh black pepper, and heaven had appeared right there before me, in an Iron Skillet.

Sweet mother of molasses, it was so delicious. Absolutely the BEST steak I have ever made in my life, and it ranked up there with the best I have ever tasted anywhere, ever in my life. (Maybe I should not have always ordered well done).... My wife even said "This is probably one of the best steaks I have ever tried", and she comes from the land of KOBE beef! So I took that as a major indication that I was not just starving.

You know, if you follow what some of these shows, show, you can really hone in your cooking skills quite well. I've learned some amazing things from Bobby Flay in the last 9 years of watching him, recently some killer fried chicken from Aaron McCargo / Big Daddy, but Alton opened my eyes and showed me how to really do a steak right. That's not a "cooking" program, that's an education that will enrich your life. So glad that I tried it, and hats off to Alton. I'm a BEEFliever in high heat iron skillet seared and then 500F baked to medium steak now!

Now that I have discovered this, it's gonna be hard to limit the Porterhouses to once a week or less....... Hehe

[Chefnot]

I perfer to cook my steak that way, except everyone else perfers the grill.

[Docsmith]

Originally Posted by Chefnot

I perfer to cook my steak that way, except everyone else perfers the grill.

My grill has remained cold ever since I've learned to cook it on a cast iron pan.

8 mins and I have a perfect steak.

[MiseEnPlace]

Originally Posted by PicBuddy

That's not a "cooking" program, that's an education that will enrich your life. So glad that I tried it, and hats off to Alton.

That's pretty much the whole philosophy of Good Eats. Alton wants to teach us about what's going on when we cook and not necessarily just how to follow a recipe. He talked a little about this in Nashville when someone asked him about creating their own recipes. His basic idea is that you need to have a foundation of cooking knowledge to build on and that's what he is trying to give the viewers. I happily admit that watching Good Eats has made me a much better cook, even though I was pretty adept before even laying eyes on Alton Brown. I've had those moments, too, when I have learned something from Alton and put it to use with great success. I think that's why he is my hands down, all-time favorite TV chef/cook because he teaches me.

I'm so glad you had success with it Keep up the good work!

I'm not a huge beef eater, but I have given the cast iron seared steak method a try and it is awesome. BTW, the fajitas from the Raising the Steaks episode is outstanding. I use the marinade for other cuts of beef too.

[Food Network Fan]

I am doing ribeyes tonight. I might give this a try.