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OK, I will shortly be cooking my very first large piece of meat (i.e. not a single steak, but rather a larger one that I will carve into pieces when serving). I think I have the procedure down, but I want to go over it with you guys to make sure that it sounds good.

The steak is just over one kilogram. I will remove it from the refrigerator one hour before cooking. I am planning on searing the outside, then placing it in a roasting pan on top of carrots, onions and celery. I will use a 120 degree (celsius) oven, on the convection setting. I will be using a temperature probe, placed into the centre mass of the steak, and shooting for a target temperature of 53 degrees celsius.

I am expecting a post-roasting rise in temperature of 5-7 degrees, which should leave me with a nice medium rare steak. I will rest the steak on the cutting board under aluminium foil for at least fifteen minutes.

I am also planning on deglacing the pan with a mix of 50/50 red wine and tap water, then making a gravy based on the pan juice and a basic roux.

Does that sound good to you guys?

I have a choice between using a roasting pan and a cast-iron pot. Which should I use?

razumny
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1 Answers1

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The method sounds fairly traditional.

You may find better results doing the oven phase first, and the searing phase last. By doing so, you will desiccate the outside of the steak, making it begin to sear more quickly (since there is little or no water left at the surface to evaporate).

The pan you use for the oven phase matters very little; cast iron will be superior for the searing phase.

Since you are going for a fairly classic red wine pan sauce, you may wish to investigate butter mounted sauces, rather than doing a roux based sauce. This may give more intense flavor, but is certainly not core to the technique for the steak. This Chicago Tribune article has a good summary of the technique.

The one key to success that you have left out is seasoning the steak. Perhaps the best method is to season it liberally the night before (or at minimum, 40 minutes before cooking), and allow it to sit overnight in the refrigerator. At first the salt will bring liquid to the surface of the steak, but later it will be reabsorbed, spreading seasoning into the meat itself. See Kenji Alt's Food Lab article for more details.

SAJ14SAJ
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  • Dairy products are out of the question as I do not mix milk and meat on account of being jewish. Otherwise, that was some solid advice. – razumny Oct 30 '13 at 19:42
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    I cannot think of any kosher equivalent to butter mounting, so I would agree a roux based sauce is your next best bet. You may just wish to deglaze with straight wine, reduce to syrup, add water or beef stock to get volume, and then thicken with your roux. Some thyme or similar also wouldn't hurt. – SAJ14SAJ Oct 30 '13 at 19:44
  • That sounds very reasonable to me. Great advice! – razumny Oct 30 '13 at 19:48
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    Don't forget to deglaze both the roasting and the searing pan, if they are separate... you will get the brown fond from any oven drippings and your aromatics. – SAJ14SAJ Oct 30 '13 at 19:50
  • That is absolutely true, and I will certainly make sure to do that. – razumny Oct 30 '13 at 19:54
  • I don't know anything about butter mounting, but can you use margarine instead of butter for a non-dairy equivalent? – chama Oct 30 '13 at 21:26
  • @chama Eeew? Margarine just doesn't taste good, although I supposed technically a kosher margarine with no milk products in it could be used. I tend not even to think of margarine when reviewing fat options in my mind. It is a product with no reason to exist now that the shortages of WWII are over. – SAJ14SAJ Oct 30 '13 at 21:34
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    While I suppose I could, I don't know how it would behave, and how the flavors would develop. Plus; I don't eat margarine. That stuff is the nasty. – razumny Oct 31 '13 at 07:22
  • As a kosher consumer, margarine is often the go-to non-dairy butter alternative... – chama Nov 01 '13 at 13:25