What is the Best Cooking Temperature for Steak?
September 15, 2009 by K.C. Kudra
Filed under Healthy Lifestyle
For many of us, getting out that grill is just the first step to making a great steak, and while there are lots of foods that do well on the grill, none of them are quite as good as the perfect steak. However, if you do not know what you are doing, it can be extremely difficult to produce a great steak. Lots of people say they have the best method, but choosing can be pretty tricky. Here is a quick overview of how long and how hot you should cook your steak.
It is important to keep in mind that the process of coming up with a great steak does not start when you begin cooking. You have to start with high quality meat. That is what causes some people to go so far as to buy an entire tenderloin, cutting it down into individual steaks on their own.
Look for three to five ounces of steak apiece, depending on whom you will be cooking for. Just make sure you use a consistent size. Why? Consistent size and thickness means a steak that will cook reliably every time.
The next step is learning to cook beef on the grill, if you do not already know how. Many people think that grilling takes no skill at all, but they would be wrong. If you do not know what you are doing, you will get meat that is safe to eat, but does not have a lot of taste. Remember that grilling is a fast, intense type of cooking, which makes your mistakes that much more difficult to work around.
Be sure that your grill is as hot as it can get, and make sure you lightly season your steak before you begin. You do not want to season too much, since it will overpower the taste of the meat, but you do not want a bland steak, either. The side of the steak you want to show off on the plate should be the one that hits the grill first. Cook that side until the steak is seventy-five percent done, then flip and finish cooking.
So, how long to cook a steak, and how hot should it be? Unfortunately, the answers start getting complicated pretty quickly. Usually, all we can say is that you should cook a steak till it is done. However, the process of cooking a steak is something that happens the same way every time, as long as you know what you are looking for. Keep an eye on the changes that happen in the meat to know when your steak is ready for eating.
At 165 degrees Fahrenheit, the meat proteins will start to coagulate. That shrinks the steak down and makes it stiffer. The sides of your steak will become brownish gray at this point. Later on, at 320 degrees, the sugars in the meat begin to caramelize, which is when we begin to see grill marks.
That is because the sugars are caramelizing. When your steak is nearly cooked, it will begin to bubble as the juices come up from the bottom. That is when you need to flip your steak and allow it to cook the rest of the way.
A simple steak marinade can uplift a tough piece of meat to gourmet status. Marinades pump your steak full of flavor and tenderize the fibers at the same time. The result is a delicious melt in your mouth meal that your family cannot wait to eat. Find some simple recipes at EasySteakMarinades.net.
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