The Keys to Great Steak, Courtesy of Craftsteak

Any aproned fool can hover around a grill with a beer in one hand and a spatula in the other . Precious few , however , really dig grilling ’s most nuanced example : step away and lease the meat do its thing . In an seek to get you on the privileged cartroad to steak greatness , we chatter up the jefes at Tom Colicchio ’s Craftsteak , a thirteen - year destination cornerstone of MGM Grand on the Las Vegas airstrip , for a few Spanish pointer . On deal : Executive Chef Michael Chapman and General Manager Christopher Goss . Like anything worth doing , the steak fundamentals are simple enough – but mastery is a lifespan in the devising .

The cut and grade

To a degree , cut selection is immanent . You prefer flat atomic number 26 to ribeye ? Cool . Do that . What ’s not subjective is grade – determined mostly by marble with a little help from the USDA . marble , for the hoi polloi in the back , is the visible streaks and specks of white fat you incur throughout thin meat . More marbling = more look = the form of meat perspire you’re able to feel good about .

Enter the USDA with their grading system . The graduated table runs from Standard ( hint marbling ) up to Prime ( abundant marbling ) , but for upright result forget Standard and Select ( slight marbling ) even exist . Chef Chapman suggest strongly against using anything below Choice ( moderate marbling ) . Goss sum up that taking the supererogatory fourth dimension to spill to the man behind the meat comeback will get you penny-pinching to the deletion of your dreams than grabbing anything out of the tank . The line between a landing strip and a ribeye , it seems , can be deceptively fragile .

Wet-aged beef vs. dry-aged

Meat that ’s been aged just savour better – enzymes start to break down tissue paper for a more raw bit , but there ’s more than one way to go about it . Wet - senior bitch is vacuum cleaner sealed and age for a span of four to 10 days while in transit to market place . prohibitionist - aged beef is maturate for weeks , with whole sides of beef or cut hung at stop dead temperatures ready for hard - scrabble Philadelphia drawers to violation . That environment agesanddehydrates the meat , concentrating flavors . Though dry - of age is more expensive and may give way better results , you may still get a slaying - worthy wet - aged steak .

The temperature

And not the degrees at which you ’re serving ( that come after ) . In the interest of even cooking , institute your meat to board temperature before burn . Unless , and this is a big unless , you want a patrician ( fundamentally raw ) interior . In the case of the latter , pull it decent out of the electric refrigerator and get to work between plug lumber or whatever other extremely tough stuff you do . Otherwise , even for a rare steak with a warm core , you ’ll be well serve if you ’re not fight the frosting box seat ’s icy 35 ° F with your sear .

The seasoning

salinity . Pepper . Look , neither Goss nor Chapman are in the line of telling you how to love your steak . You like marinade – go to there . But , in the interest of staying true to Craftsteak ’s column philosophy , a good undercut of meat yoke perfectly with the basics . You should be able-bodied to see your salt and common pepper on the meat , but also consider your method of cookery . On a grill , you could give to season liberally , give what you ’ll lose to the slat and gravity . In a pan , however , a materialistic paw will win the day . Any excess has no spot to go , and it ’s always easier to add flavorer than to uncase it away . defend off on this dance step until you ’re ready to cook . You do n’t need the salinity leaching at your heart and soul on the board while you wait .

Add heat

If you ’re working on the stovetop , preheat your oven to 400 ° . terminate up a high heat under a mould - smoothing iron skillet and get it preposterously blaze red-hot , like really , really hot . Now , sear your meat on both sides . Listen for the sizzle as your clue to turn . You want those fats to render while you seduce that brown cheekiness . This chemical reaction , which ensue in the browning of the steak , is known as the Maillard Reaction , and it ’s what makes steak gustatory sensation like champion kissed every one of your taste bud . This happens tight , so do n’t exaggerate it or all that sweet skill will turn to charcoal and rancor . Now move your frying pan to the oven for the goal . dissimilar thickness will call for different times . On the grill , you ’ll want to go a little longer on the first side to get a nice crust and just long enough on the bit to get some color . The 2d side is where you ’re most potential to overcook .

You may be tempted to utilise a thermometer to check your temperature . That ’s a surefire method acting ( 140 ° F and bury it ) , but we apprize against it . You desire to avoid poking unnecessary mess in your meat . Instead , employ the ages - honest-to-goodness proficiency of " finger pokery " . Just meet that steak ; a uncommon one should feel similar to the meat between your thumb and your index . The further toward your radiocarpal joint you move along the fleshy part of your thumb , the more done it is . average rare should feel the same as the clump of your ovolo when you make a circle with your midriff and finger and thumb . Well - done should feel like your bony forehead and you done messed up .

Letting it rest

This is the most important and one of the most overlooked steps . In fact , it was both the first and last mentioned by both Goss and Chapman separately . When you lay a piece of meat on high heat , the natural response is for the juices to move forth from it . Cut into your steak fresh from the fire and you ’ll have ironical meat and a puddle of juice on your plate alternatively of , you have intercourse , in the steak . Not one part of that is appetizing . Rest your steak for at least five minutes to give those juices the time they need to resettle the entire steak . It ’s meat science , the best skill ( dismal , palaeobotany ) .

Plating

No , this does n’t entail add fancy garnishes or using pair of tweezers . The savvy chef recognise that it ’s more important to serve a warm home than a hot steak . Hot steak on a cold plate gets stale quickly . fond steak on a warm plate : double-dyed . That five - min resting period is a cracking chance to toss your serving dishes in the oven and nail the last step in delivering a kingly small-arm of beef .