What should the temperature of a steak be
prior to searing it in a pan?

A few minutes ago, I was watching Lidia
Bastianich's new show, and her son demonstrated
making a Tuscan-style steak. He said to
leave it out overnight, so it would be at
room temperature before grilling, but he
didn't say why.

He grilled the steak, not seared in a pan
the way I do.

I always move it from the freezer to the
refrigerator the previous evening, and
pan-sear it in the morning. I'd be a bit
leery of leaving a steak out at room
temperature overnight (despite recent
research that suggests it's safe).

Steve Wertz wrote:
>
> Even if you're making a steak for breakfast, leaving it out all
> night is too log unless it's frozen.

In my case, it is frozen. Does that mean overnight
at room temperature would be a sensible idea?
I don't normally live life on the edge.

> I leave my steaks out for an hour before grilling or pan searing,
> when possible. It's still not room temp, but it's makes for more
> even searing for a rare steak.

I'm planning to make another tomorrow morning.
I'm taking the steak out of the freezer this evening,
unless I forget.

Ever since I found these range-fed Australian
ribeyes at Trader Joe's, I've been eating
half a steak per day. I trim them heavily
to remove tendon and fat, and yet I worry
about the cardiovascular consequences.

But then, I tell myself:
a) you haven't had a hamburger in over 20 years,
and they're far worse
b) you stopped eating butter almost 30 years ago

That should count for something.

Steve Wertz wrote:
>
> Some would call it living on the edge, as all the warnings tell
> us not ot thaw meat at room temp. I think their FOS, for smaller
> cuts like steaks and 2-3 pieces of chicken as long as they're
> wrapped.
>
> Even for the thawed parts of the meat, the frozen parts will
> still keep the meat near the 40F temp. I wouldn't let a
> frozen steak come to room temp from the frozen state on the
> counter, though. I would thaw in the fridge first and
> then leave it out to come up to temp.

The problem is that during the summer
I cook in the early hours of the morning,
and run a big fan to get rid of the hot
kitchen air and draw in the cool night air.

If I add a one-hour warm-up, that'll be
too late. I don't have that much time,
even if I wake up at 5 AM.

In this case, the meat is not just wrapped,
it's Cry-O-Vac'd, or whatever the equivalent
is in Australia.

Maybe I'll just have to chance it.
Smoke a cigarette first, then take the
meat out of the freezer.

In article >,
Mark Thorson > wrote:

> What should the temperature of a steak be
> prior to searing it in a pan?
>
> A few minutes ago, I was watching Lidia
> Bastianich's new show, and her son demonstrated
> making a Tuscan-style steak. He said to
> leave it out overnight, so it would be at
> room temperature before grilling, but he
> didn't say why.
>
> He grilled the steak, not seared in a pan
> the way I do.
>
> I always move it from the freezer to the
> refrigerator the previous evening, and
> pan-sear it in the morning. I'd be a bit
> leery of leaving a steak out at room
> temperature overnight (despite recent
> research that suggests it's safe).

I pan-cook steaks -- or similar beef cuts -- from time to time, and do
them on the gas grill, too. Our cookstove has a griddle in the middle,
and it sits sort of over the two pilots that serve the burners to the
left and right. That means that the griddle is always nice and warm --
maybe about 100 F or so.

I unwrap the steaks or whatever and place them (on the butcher paper) on
that griddle, turning them from time to time. By the time I plop them in
the smoking hot iron skillet or on the grill, they're warm enough that
the fat has gotten just a bit soft and slippery.

I always use a meat thermometer, and I try for an internal temperature
of not more than 130-135 F. (a bit less for very tender cuts like the
filet or a flatiron) so starting with the inside of the meat at a higher
temperature has a significant effect on the total cooking time, and I
believe, on the texture and taste of the meat nearer the outside
surface, too. I can do steaks that are pink-to-red nearly all the way to
the crusty surface.

I will only do that with single pieces of meat, though; no chance I'd
try it with anything like 'burgers.

We usually do a full beef tenderloin for Christmas dinner, and of course
there's always leftovers (oh, yeah!). I try to pull it out of the oven
at 128 F. Next night for dinner I cut inch-thick slices, bring them to
"griddle temperature" as I described, and then pop them in a smoking hot
skillet filmed with a bit of oil, for just long enough to put a crust on
them. They're just wonderful as little steaks, and of course that would
never work if I tossed them in the pan right out of the 'fridge.

Isaac

Steve Wertz wrote:
>
> Even for the thawed parts of the meat, the frozen parts will
> still keep the meat near the 40F temp. I wouldn't let a frozen
> steak come to room temp from the frozen state on the counter,
> though. I would thaw in the fridge first and then leave it out
> to come up to temp.

I thawed it on the counter, still sealed in its
Cry-O-Vac plastic and further wrapped in three
paper towels. The towels were to retard the thaw
so that most of the steak would be nearly the
same temperature, instead of some parts being
close to room temperature while others were
much colder.

After about 8 hours, it was thawed and cool.
Not as cold as it would be if it was thawed
in the fridge, but cool enough that I wasn't
worried about spoilage.

I pan seared it, and ate half of it. I couldn't
tell any difference from my usual method.
Maybe it was too cool to make a difference,
but I'm not sure I'll try again. I think
my old technique produces great results.
If the only advantage of warming to room
temperature is a more even result, I've
already got that.

By thawing in the fridge, I have additional
flexibility if I decide to postpone the
steak for a day.

Mark Thorson wrote:
> What should the temperature of a steak be
> prior to searing it in a pan?
>
> A few minutes ago, I was watching Lidia
> Bastianich's new show, and her son demonstrated
> making a Tuscan-style steak. He said to
> leave it out overnight, so it would be at
> room temperature before grilling, but he
> didn't say why.
>
> He grilled the steak, not seared in a pan
> the way I do.
>
> I always move it from the freezer to the
> refrigerator the previous evening, and
> pan-sear it in the morning. I'd be a bit
> leery of leaving a steak out at room
> temperature overnight (despite recent
> research that suggests it's safe).

Shove that thermometer up your ass. The *real* question is WTF are
you freezing perfectly good steak... what did that steak ever do to
you... RU NUTZ (rhetorical)

On Jul 7, 9:03?pm, Steve Wertz > wrote:
> On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 12:56:18 -0700, Mark Thorson wrote:
> > A few minutes ago, I was watching Lidia
> > Bastianich's new show, and her son demonstrated
> > making a Tuscan-style steak. He said to
> > leave it out overnight, so it would be at
> > room temperature before grilling, but he
> > didn't say why.
>
> Even if you're making a steak for breakfast, leaving it out all
> night is too log unless it's frozen.
>
> I leave my steaks out for an hour before grilling or pan searing,
> when possible. It's still not room temp, but it's makes for more
> even searing for a rare steak.

With steak that's been frozen it doesn't matter... it's already
ruined.

Sheldon wrote:
>
> Shove that thermometer up your ass. The *real* question is WTF are
> you freezing perfectly good steak... what did that steak ever do to
> you... RU NUTZ (rhetorical)

It was frozen when I bought it.
That part was out of my control.