Yup, welsh black beef is my favourite closely followed by the beef from Herds butchers in Aberdeen which is all sourced from a farm by Inverurie just up the road. Ribeye is the only steak a man should purchase. Two minutes either side, two minutes rest then stuff it down the neck with a nice Amarone.
No idea why on earth everyone is obsessed with balsamic vinegar these days. It overpowers everything so it all just tastes of vinegar. ugh.
Ribeye is the only steak a man should purchase.
Nope. Sirloin or..... *sigh* fillet...
Red Poll rib eye is where it's at. Cut by the butchers at Suffolk food hall. Rare and succulent a one a month treat.
Regarding votes for Welsh Black, Red Poll etc.
I grow my own steaks, show cattle andwinprizes in many Wesh shows, my wife is from a family of butchers so I'm around beef a fair bit.
I'd say the way the beef is reared has as much to do with how the sirloin steak comes out as it's breed.
A good example is Welsh Black. Above me there are WBs grazing the mountain. they are small, lean and very fit and strong. Go down into the Valley and there are the same breed stood on farms on intensive feed, maizelage etc, they are larger, fatter and their muscles have not walked many miles per day.
Both will give good meat; but you might approach cooking them slightly differently to get the best, or even favour different cuts.
Blimey, another classic STW moment of brilliance 🙂
Smiffy - I have another beefy question, if I may? We're often told that grass fed beef is much better for you, but I think the advice comes from the US where most beef seems to be factory farmed. How much grass does the average UK cattle see (beef or dairy - I assume that the cows we see in the fields are dairy ones since they are mostly cows)? And how can we choose what our meat was fed on, if we don't live in a big city with access to fancy butchers?
too many questions without stright, simple answers!
UK grass-fed finishes more slowly and may not get to show-winning conformation achievable with a richer diet including cereals etc, but should achieve good marbling (essential for steak). they do some pretty intensive stuff in US that I can't really comment on with much authority.
nearly all cattle eat some grass at some stage, except perhaps the intensive bull-beef that goes into fast burgers.
In terms of what cows are in fields, the tall, skinny, usually black and white ones without calves are probably dairy. shorter, rounder varied colour herds, often with calves at foot will be a suckler herd.
For you I'd suggest James of Raglan or Rawlings of Abergavenny, or Wayne Randall of Pontypool.
except perhaps the intensive bull-beef that goes into fast burgers.
Hmm.. interesting.. so intensive beef goes into burgers. What ends up on the shelves of Tesco and Asda then?
Spent a lot of time working on the family mixed farm in Cornwall during the 80s. Mix of Friesian / Hereford crosses, Charolais crosses and S Devons.
Beef cattle were generally brought in during the winter months and fed on a mix of silage and cereals. Let out on grass during the spring, summer and autumn months. Not involved these days, but I dont think much has changed...
... except the economics. The farming side is a loss making / break even way of keeping the property together. Profits have to be found elsewhere
Cos it's the best way of cooking steak. Would it help if I called it sauteing?
They usually grill or barbecue steak in Argentina. What they don't know about steak isn't worth knowing. Served "jugosa" with a bottle of Malbec - perfect.
Why do we all have to do it the same way as the Argentinians?
Ask Bertie.
I reckon the key is loads of heat. The blackened bits are a taste you can't get from anything else, so that's the point of a steak for me. I think I'd struggle to get enough heat from my electric grill, but a barbecue might work. A lot more hassle though than 3 mins in a pan.
Why do we all have to do it the same way as the Argentinians?
You argued that frying is the best way of cooking steak. The Argentinians don't fry their steak. Their steak is fantastic.
Their steak is fantastic.
So's mine, and so's the fillet at the Aviator in Farnborough.
So's mine, and so's the fillet at the Aviator in Farnborough.
It's unlikely to be as good as Argentinian steak. You should try it.
You should also try the Aviator.
Maybe there's room in this crazy world for both fried fillet AND grilled ribeye?
Hang on I'll ask the wife....
You should also try the Aviator.
What do they do that's different to other top quality restaurants in the UK?
Fillet's a poor choice in my view.
I dunno, I have been to very few top restaurants 🙂
I love fillet. Am I wrong?
Coincidentally i was just looking up a Jamie Oliver recipe that was awesome.
It involved making a huge ciabatta sarnie with steak, rocket, jar of roast peppers, horseradish. Lovely stuff.
Buy rump instead!
It's cheaper, and IMO has a better taste.
Heat the pan up, chuck it in for about 5-6 minutes, turn it over a few times and serve!
Marinade 'in-stomach' with a nice bottle of ale or lager or a glass of red wine.
Just before you think I'm a total peasant, sometimes less thought and more straight forward is the way to go.
Take fish for example - my fave is still a nice 'steaky' hunk of halibut, brushed with a mix of olive oil and lemon juice and topped with a little bit of pretty much any leafy green herb you have around and grilled. Simple but delish.
Basically anyway is the correct way, every chef/expert seems to have a different opinion, even on the basics such as:
1). seasoning - some say salt and pepper before frying, others say salt only before as the pepper will burn and some say season after as the pepper burns and the salt draws out the juices
2). resting - a guy from a steakhouse in London that had just won some award said when interviewed they serve it straight from the grill without resting as it makes no difference
3). pan temperature seems debatable (most are in the hot as you can get it camp others in the medium camp - I think the former only works for a medium-rare if you finish it in the oven)
So basically no right answer, do what you want with it...
Gordon Ramsey says fry at high heat on both sides to sear then put under the grill to cook for however long is required in the skillet you fried the steak in. I would guess this is a fairly good way of cooking steak. Also Season after.
Interestingly the same for eggs though without the flipping; unless you like over easy eggs
Agree with a lot of the above.
However I have never managed to get any where like the bit of steak I had from Fischer's (Michelin) resturant in Derbyshire. It just melted in the mouth and tasted amazing...
If ever I have a steak in a restaurant and they bring out a steak knife, I know its going to be a bad steak!
I always ask what's wrong with the steak when the do the stupid ritual of swapping your cutlery around.
If a sirloin needs a steak knife you shouldn't pay for it.
I do own a steak knife.
I forgot to add earlier - de-glaze(?) the pan when it's still hot.
Just after you've lifted the steaks out, splash about 100ml of red wine into the pan, let it sizzle for about 20 seconds whilst agitating whatever juices are left into it.
Pour over steak as a 'jus'.
I now don't know if I'm a peasant, a pedant or a pretentious person!
Having drooled my way through this thread on Monday I went out yesterday, bought a huge steak from my local butcher (1.2kg 🙂 ), stocked up on Leffe and invited a couple of friends around. Inspired by some of the links and ideas posted here I went for the method of 'cooking' it in a cool box filled with hot water for an hour or so followed by salt, pepper and 30 secs each side on the barbecue
Sounds weird, raised some eyebrows but it really worked. Absolutely perfect rare steak, properly warm all the way through but not overcooked. Our only slight failure was not having the temp on the bbq cranked all the way up as we had been doing some veg just beforehand
tx to whoever suggested that way of cooking
mmmmmm. remembers, dribbles a bit more and runs off to rest of forum for more ideas....
If a sirloin needs a steak knife you shouldn't pay for it.
I half agree. Whilst steak should never be tough, there does seem to be an obession that tenderness is all. In my experience, steaks with the best flavour need slightly more chewing. If you want melt in the mouth, buy fillet, if you want flavour, other cuts are better choices.
I went for the method of 'cooking' it in a cool box filled with hot water for an hour or so followed by salt, pepper and 30 secs each side on the barbecue
Good to know thanks - I saw that recipe in he Guardian a while back, and have been meaning to try it. A great advantage is that it's impossible to overcook the steak - the middle can only get as hot as the water temperature.
A great advantage is that it's impossible to overcook the steak
Yep. We had a 3kg lump of beast once and that was a little nerve wracking on the BBQ as it was lovely but would spoil in no time. This would have solved it
drools a little more
