Steak

[Tilly2]

We have just eaten sirloin steak, garlic mushrooms, roasted tomatoes and wedges. It was lovely but the steak looked a bit anemic. Why can you not cook steak at home in the same way they manage to do it when you go to a restaurant.
It was tender, bloody and really tasty but it was not that lovely, brown crusty topping that you get in a good establishment.

[EDDIE51]

An ordinary domestic grill can never get hot enough to cook steak properly.
I work in pro kitchens, a steak grill has a solid metal plate on the bottom and a very hot gas burner over it. The grill plate slopes down so that the back is nearer the heat and hotter than the front. The grill will be on and running at max heat for around 30 mins before service even starts. The hottest part of the grill will be 400 to 500 deg's !
The steak is seared on both sides at the very high heat at the back of the grill, then the chef moves it forward so the heat decreases to cook it through.
It takes a lot of skill and experience know where to place the meat to get it cooked correctly the way the customer wants it. Secondly and very important the steak a top restaurant buys is the very highest quality, hung for 28 days. There is a VERY limited supply of meat of this quality and none gets to supermarkets. You may be able to get meat of this quality at a small independant butcher who buys his meat 'on the hoof' but be prepared to pay for it. I am talking of around £20 to £35 a kilo!

[gollob]

I think you will find that if beef steaks are tough after 7 days hanging they will be tough after 21 or 28 days.
Hardly any beef is hung for 28 days today or ever was.

[EDDIE51]

The beef a top restaurant buys for steak and roasts will have been hung for 28 days.' Hanging' meat actually means it is starting to go rotton, the tenderness is caused by the meat fibres beginning to soften as they rot. NO beef ever can be tender if has not been hung or is over cooked.

[hc4361]

It is air that makes beef appear brown or dark at point of sale. Take the cling film and wrapping off bright red beef and after a few hours it is dark.

I would never, ever buy steak from Asda or any supermarket. My steak is hung for 21 days and is sourced locally.

[Mamyalynne]

Asda do lovely 28 day matured steaks,


http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/article.aspx?ID=1923

[gollob]

Sorry Eddie51 but fillet steak will always be tender that why it can be cut up and eaten raw in Steak Tartare. Sadly it is nearly always tastless.
The trouble today is quite soon after slaughter the animal is cut into different cut then cryvaced . This means it is put into bags and all the air is drawn out of it .This then can be left sealed for up to 50 days It does not mean it has been hanging which is completely different . This beef can generally recognised as it has been in the pack soaked in it's own blood and the fat is not creamy white as would be if the beef had been hung naturally. There is also a smell when these packs are opened but this will disappear after half an hour

[Tilly2]

I don't buy cheap steak, any more than I would buy cheap shoes, cheap facial products, cheap perfume or cheap food for my dogs. I do buy some clothes from charity shops though.