Our Favorite Steak to Cook

Cooking a great steak can be tricky. High heat is needed to develop a crust and beautiful flavors (via The Maillard reaction). At the same time, the steak needs to be cooked as evenly as possible without overcooking, something that is usually achieved with slow, low temperature cooking. Successfully marrying both of these somewhat opposing requirements is the key to making a great steak.

Inevitably, the sides of a steak are going cook more than the center. In an oven, or closed grill, heat enters the steak through its entire surface (shown right). At the center, heat enters from the top and bottom. However, around the edge of the steak, heat not only enters from the top and bottom, but also from the sides. The result is that the sides take on more heat and cook more than the center.

Fortunately, some cuts have natural defenses against overcooked edges. The steak with the best fortifications is the Bone-In Rib Steak (pictured right). The ribeye is protected on all sides from overcooking. The rib bone, fat cap, and ribeye cap all do a fantastic job of insulating the ribeye from the heat coming in through the sides. This makes it much easier to get even cooking throughout the entire ribeye. The ribeye cap will cook a bit more than the ribeye itself. However, the cap is very fatty and benefits from the extra cooking. In fact, for many the cap is the best part of the steak.

Not only is the Bone-In Rib Steak easier to cook, but it’s also the cut with the most amount of fat. As we always say “Fat is flavor.” For these reasons, we prefer to cook rib steaks over other steaks. Of course, any bone-in steak with a good fat cap will also give you great results. For other cuts, the cooking may be more uneven, but there are some techniques to help minimize this. More on this in future posts.

Find the Bone-In Rib Steak in our online store: http://www.lafrieda.com/USDA_Prime_Black_Angus_Bone_In_Rib_Steaks_p/bfspbrs.htm

Pat LaFrieda Birchbox Man

Yelp’s Brews Bash at New Jersey Beer Co.

This past weekend, Yelp asked us to join them at a Yelp Elite Event and grill up some of our meat. The event was hosted at New Jersey Beer Company which is literally three streets down from the meat plant. We had never done a Yelp event before. We didn’t know what to expect, but beer and barbecue… How could we say no?

We typically grill up some of our sliders for events like this, but we decided to treat everyone to some kalbi made from our short ribs. Kalbi is popular Korean BBQ dish made with marinaded beef ribs. We like to use three-bone short ribs cut 1/3″ thick. The marinade is both sweet and savory. We use a  family recipe and you can find it in our previous post here:

https://patlafrieda.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/kalbi-made-from-pat-lafrieda-short-ribs/

We spent the morning marinating short ribs for 100 people. As we left the plant, the old man must have gotten a craving for sausage because he grabbed a couple of boxes. He was very disappointed to find out that we didn’t have any bread. We planned to serve the kalbi with just lettuce. The old man made a quick call and shortly after a squad car pulled up. An officer gets out and drops off a case of rolls from Hudson Bakery. That’s old school!

The guys from the NJ Beer Co. were great hosts. Their place is clean and well maintained.  It’s obvious that, like us, they take pride in what they do. There are three main beers that they offer: 1787 Abbey Single Ale, Garden State Stout, and Hudson Pale Ale. We had a chance to try them all and loved them. (Perhaps too much, I spilled a Pale Ale all over my keyboard.) If you are in the area, we highly recommend that you check them out. They have tastings on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. For more info go to http://www.njbeerco.com.

We made the mistake of having a few beers while setting up. That made us a little complacent, and we were slow getting the grill going. Fortunately, the Yelp Elites were well-mannered and patient. That’s leaps and bounds better than the savagery that occurs with a hungry mob at the typical LaFrieda Family BBQ. All in all, a great event with a great group of people. We’d love to do it again sometime.

You can check out the Yelp reviews for this event here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/yelps-brews-bash-at-new-jersey-beer-co-north-bergen

Kalbi Made From Pat LaFrieda Short Ribs

We are huge fans of Korean BBQ. Kalbi (also written galbi) is a marinaded and grilled meat dish typically made from beef ribs. Although kalbi is tasty even when made with supermarket beef, making it with high quality short ribs launches it into the stratosphere. Our preference is three-bone 1/3″ thick Prime Black Angus Short Ribs. The bones add flavor and work as a natural handhold to turn this into a finger food. We are fortunate enough to have a Korean mother-in-law in the family. The following is her recipe that she has allowed us, after some coercing, to share with you.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs 1/3″ thick short ribs
• 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 3/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 1.5 tbsp Sesame Seed Oil
• 1.5 tbsp Roasted Sesame Seeds
• 4 cloves pressed garlic
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 4 stalks finely chopped green onion
• 1 tsp black pepper

We sell the short ribs cut for kalbi in our online store. Here is the link:

http://www.lafrieda.com/USDA_Prime_Black_Angus_Kalbi_Flanken_1_3_thick_p/bfspbsrk.htm

First, score the meat using a knife. Do this by gently tapping a knife across both sides of the short ribs. Then, sprinkle each slice of meat with sugar and set aside. For the marinade, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, green onions, ginger, garlic, and black pepper in small bowl. Add marinade to meat. Let meat marinade for at least an hour (preferably two hours). Cook on a grill or broil in your oven. On a hot grill, these only need 2-3 minutes per side.

What is medium-rare?

What is medium-rare? Unfortunately, there is no easy way answer to this question. An internet search for medium-rare turns up a wide range of answers. Anything from a red center to brownish pink throughout seems to qualify. Instead of declaring a winner, we are going to look at a range of internal temperatures that should cover the medium-rare spectrum. The surprising result is that even within the range of what most would consider medium-rare, there are significant differences in tenderness, juiciness, and flavor.

We have narrowed down the range of internal temperatures for medium-rare to be between 125°F to 140°F. It is fair to ask what we mean by internal temperature. The temperature across a steak or roast does vary by a large amount. We always measure the center of the meat. If there is a bone, then we measure just off center towards the bone. If you are using a fast read thermometer, you’ll notice that this is typically the minimum temperature you’ll observe. (If you cook on high heat you may find the lowest temperature to be somewhere along the bone. If you use this point as a reference you’ll end up overcooking the meat.) Using a sous vide machine, we cooked prime tenderloin roasts to precisely 125°F, 130°F, 135°F, and 140°F. An image of each and our observations are shown below.

We mark flavor with an asterisk because it is somewhat subjective. We happen to associate flavor with juiciness (the amount of fat still trapped in the meat), but others may perceive it differently. However, tenderness and juiciness are not subjective. Anyone could have ranked these from most tender to least, or most juicy to least. We were surprised to see such obvious differences in as little as five degree increments.

What’s the best internal temperature for those who like medium-rare beef? It depends on how you value tenderness versus juiciness. For us, the 130°F-135°F range seems to be ideal. At these temperatures, much of the flavorful fat is still trapped in the meat and the meat is plenty tender. For those who want maximum tenderness, then 140°F would be best. If you want the most juicy steak with lots of beef flavor, then we suggest you stay under 130°F. In this case, make sure you are prepared to chew each bite a little longer.

You Need a Good Reliable Thermometer

If you want to cook the perfect steak, rack of lamb, or prime rib, then you need an accurate way to track the internal temperature of meat. The only good way to do this is with a properly calibrated thermometer. Every oven, every stove top, every grill, and every piece of meat is different. There is no set of cooking times that will work for everyone. Consistently cooking meat to the correct doneness requires us to go by temperature, rather than time.

Often, chefs and cooks suggest using the hand doneness test. There are multiple versions of this test, but the basic idea is that parts of your palm (when you flash different gang signs) feel like a steak cooked to different levels of doneness. We’ve never had much success with this method. Perhaps we lack the necessary training in phrenology (a pseudoscience that tries to relate personality traits to the geometry of one’s head) to pull it off. Also, this method is limited to steaks and will not help you with roasts or other cuts.

There is a noticeable difference in flavor, texture, and juiciness of meat in as little as five degree increments. For example, if your ideal steak is cooked to 135°F, then you may find one cooked to 130°F too tough or one cooked to 140°F too dry. In upcoming posts, we will discuss different cooking methods that help you achieve a great result. However, they all require that you have an accurate way to measure the internal temperature of meat.

A fast read thermometer with a long narrow probe is ideal for cooking steaks and roasts. Our personal favorite is the Thermapen from ThermoWorks: http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen. We have found this thermometer to be incredibly accurate. In the image below, you can see us testing the Thermapen in ice water and boiling water. It was right on the money. However, at $96 it’s on the pricey side.

As a convenience for our online customers, we sell a lesser model of the Thermapen on our website: http://www.lafrieda.com/product_p/cgrt600c.htm. It’s not quite as durable as the Thermapen, but it is one fourth the cost. It is still very accurate for cooking meat. We typically use this thermometer when cooking at events.

Out of all the cooking gadgets we have tried, and we have tried many, a reliable fast read thermometer is the most essential. It will almost immediately make you a better cook. You’ll quickly learn the exact temperate that you prefer meat. With this information and knowing how to manage carry over cooking, you’ll be cooking perfect steaks and roasts in no time.

Join Us at Googa Mooga

Come join us at Googa Mooga this weekend in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. We will be serving our:

Pat LaFrieda’s Original Filet Mignon Steak Sandwich

Pat LaFrieda’s Reserve, 100% Black Angus, hand cut beef, Vermont Monterey jack cheese, sautéed sweet vidalia onions and beef au jus on a locally baked and toasted french baguette.

http://brooklyn.googamooga.com/

A Meat Blog is Born

We are Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors. We are the premier butcher to the NY Metro Area and we’re expanding into new markets every day. We have a popular reality show on Food Network, Meat Men. Our client list includes the most famous chefs in the world, such as: Mario Batali, Gordon Ramsay, Emeril Lagasse, Guy Fieri, Todd English, Michael White, Michael Symon, Alex Guarnaschelli, Geoffrey Zakarian, Marc Forgione, Chris Santos … this list can go on forever. As we write our first post, we serve over 1,000 restaurants, process meat for 300,000 people a day, and make 75,000 hamburgers daily from 50 custom blends. We do all of this at our state of the art facility in North Bergen, NJ. Our family name appears on every box, on every product label. That means something to us. Everyday, we strive to be the best and to make our customers happy and successful.

With such a phenomenal resume, we feel very comfortable calling ourselves meat experts. The motivation behind this blog is to share our expertise with others and to keep our fans up to date with the latest Pat LaFrieda news and events. From detailed discussions about the different cuts of meat to preparing many of our favorite meat dishes, we are certain most will find this blog to be a valuable resource.