Mmmmmm.... STEAK

[Daniel Koster]

you guys that like it rare...what do you like about it?

(just curious...I've never had red meat rare)

 

[NickWheeler]

I order them medium rare to medium well depending on the place.

I don't mind a little pink in the center as there seems to be a lot of flavor and it's very tender.

It grosses me out though, when you're with somebody at a restaurant and they cut into their steak and it starts bleeding... that's pretty nasty. I'm not sure why that would be good, but I'm sure somebody has a reason

Thanks for the ideas guys So what's with the kosher salt and the sea salt?

I've seen them both at the store... but not sure what the deal is.

I've gotta add, some wild game does have a really nasty "gamey" flavor.

A friend of my dad's ages his deer. He lets it hang (gutted and skinned) in his shop for about 4 or 5 days before he butchers it. Personally, the thick, furry green coating makes me want to :barf: but he wouldn't have it any other way

-Nick-

 

[Chiro75]

I don't eat a lot of steak (wife is vegetarian) but when I do I like thrown on as hot a grill as possible and turned a couple times so the outside is nicely carmelized and the inside is rare-ish. Otherwise you denature most of the protein and it's worthless, nutritionally, anyway. Sauces and accoutremonts are for wimps. Good steak should stand up (and moo) by itself! Given a choice between steak and a raw slab of sashimi grade tuna, though, I'll dive head first into the raw stuff myself.

 

[jhiggins]

Thanks for the ideas guys So what's with the kosher salt and the sea salt?

I've seen them both at the store... but not sure what the deal is. -Nick-

I like Kosher salt because its less-salty. I like a salty flavor on my beef. Its a coarse salt, too. Nice to keep a small dish of it always on the counter for when I am cooking. Sea salt is okay too, but definitely more expensive than Kosher salt. I am not Jewish, but I think the main thing behind kosher salt is that it is pure with no additives like iodine.

 

[Chiro75]

Oh, now we're going to get onto salt, eh? I am a salt aficianado. Higgins is right about Kosher salt. No iodine and is more pure, which equals better taste. Also tends to be in larger crystals, which can add some texture to your food and sort of melts as the food grills, so it disperses a little differently. Personally, I go for sea salt, though. Sea salt is a true whole food. I like New Zealand organic sea salt and that's pretty much my "go to" cooking salt.

I also have some Hawaiian sea salt that is pink from the clay or something that it dries out in and that's a cool finishing salt, especially on fish that is light and you can see the salt on. If you want to try something really different, another good finishing salt is a sea salt that is smoked with old chardonnay casks, giving it a smoky, winy flavor. It has huge crystals, and when I cook I find myself just popping a few of those crystals in my mouth and enjoying them that way! It's really good stuff. I get all my salts from http://www.saugatuckspicemerchants.com/ which is close to my home. I only walk into the store a few times a year because I drop serious bling bling when I go in the place, but I think you can order online, too.

Anyway, ditch the Morton's or whatever and at least get a good kosher or sea salt. You don't have to be as fruity about it as I am. I dig spices, herbs, salts, etc probably because I am a practicing herbalist in my office, in addition to the chiropractic thing. You can get a pretty good sea salt at most grocery stores called "Baleine" or something like that. I think it's a French sea salt. It's in these sort of tall tube type of things, one is red and one is blue (one color is ground really fine like table salt, the other is a coarse grind, which is what we go for).

We use a grinder, like a pepper mill, for our salt, so we just buy coarse and then grind it if we want it finer for popcorn or something. If you do this, you should invest in a special salt grinder. You can use a pepper mill, but the salt will corrode the steel/metal components over time, so it pays to get a dedicated salt grinder.

Good quality meat + good salt (and plenty of it, don't be a wimp!) + hot heat + good charcoal = dinner.

 

[Dan Gray]

I've gotta add, some wild game does have a really nasty "gamey" flavor.
-Nick-

it's how you cook it Nick. Moose is good to go as is.
bear on the other hand is coarse like pig but very gamie
you boil it to get the fat and most of the gamie
taste out. cool it, then fry or what have you..

A friend of my dad's ages his deer. He lets it hang (gutted and skinned) in his shop for about 4 or 5 days before he butchers it. Personally, the thick, furry green coating makes me want to :barf: but he wouldn't have it any other way
-Nick-

in animal processing it all
should be hung for 3 days at least, in a cold place at 40 (about) deg
it lets the crider bleed out and age, the longer it ages the more tender the meat. I'm not too sure about the green either :barf: but the temp is the key there..
, but I've been told , just cut it off and use the rest

I had a next door neighbor that was a butcher. he would always bring home the out dated meat , his said it was the best in the store..
you really should know your stuff doing that though..I think..

I love salt

 

[jhiggins]

Oh, now we're going to get onto salt, eh? I am a salt aficianado. Higgins is right about Kosher salt. No iodine and is more pure, which equals better taste. Also tends to be in larger crystals, which can add some texture to your food and sort of melts as the food grills, so it disperses a little differently. Personally, I go for sea salt, though. Sea salt is a true whole food. I like New Zealand organic sea salt and that's pretty much my "go to" cooking salt.

I also have some Hawaiian sea salt that is pink from the clay or something that it dries out in and that's a cool finishing salt, especially on fish that is light and you can see the salt on. If you want to try something really different, another good finishing salt is a sea salt that is smoked with old chardonnay casks, giving it a smoky, winy flavor. It has huge crystals, and when I cook I find myself just popping a few of those crystals in my mouth and enjoying them that way! It's really good stuff. I get all my salts from http://www.saugatuckspicemerchants.com/ which is close to my home. I only walk into the store a few times a year because I drop serious bling bling when I go in the place, but I think you can order online, too.

Anyway, ditch the Morton's or whatever and at least get a good kosher or sea salt. You don't have to be as fruity about it as I am. I dig spices, herbs, salts, etc probably because I am a practicing herbalist in my office, in addition to the chiropractic thing. You can get a pretty good sea salt at most grocery stores called "Baleine" or something like that. I think it's a French sea salt. It's in these sort of tall tube type of things, one is red and one is blue (one color is ground really fine like table salt, the other is a coarse grind, which is what we go for).

We use a grinder, like a pepper mill, for our salt, so we just buy coarse and then grind it if we want it finer for popcorn or something. If you do this, you should invest in a special salt grinder. You can use a pepper mill, but the salt will corrode the steel/metal components over time, so it pays to get a dedicated salt grinder.

Good quality meat + good salt (and plenty of it, don't be a wimp!) + hot heat + good charcoal = dinner.

All joking aside, Steve. You are a nutbag, aren't you? Is your last name really Lecter? You are beginning to scare the hell out of me. I would hate to be on your chiro table, because all that's coming to mind right now are scenes from "Reanimator."

Just kidding, man. Your burst of maximum verbosity on the subject of salt has me chuckling.

 

[Chiro75]

Higgins, when I get into something, I really get into it. Why do I know so much about salt? Food Network, as well as the fact that this is the kind of off the wall crap that patients ask me about! When someone asks me something I don't know about, I learn it so it doesn't happen again. "Hey, Doc, what kind of salt should I use?" Yes, I've been asked this! So, it pays to know stuff. And when I research something, I don't half ass it. I learned about salt, I got mineral analyses of salt products from various manufacturers (because people ask about iodine, too, which then leads to a discussion about iron, iodine patch tests, mucous viscosity and other stuff, not to mention thyroid function), etc etc. The big clencher was when I walked into Saugatuck Spice Merchants the first time and the dude who owns the place spent a half hour with me tasting different salts. People who say "Yeah, this is no difference" need to do a salt tasting and see! It was unbelievable. So, yeah, I am crazy about certain things, but my head is full of a bunch of weird facts and information brought on largely by the weird questions that patients ask. When you get paid $250 an hour or whatever you better damn well know what you're talking about AND be able to show the documentation to the patient who asked the question, because inevitably they call bull$**** half the time, anyway!

 

[Steve Hayden]

As a geologist, I have to note that it is ALL sea salt. Rock salt-as in salt mine stuff is just old evaporated salt from seas, or hypersaline lakes like the Great Salt Lake, Dead Sea or Aral Sea. The only way halite-NaCl, Sylvite-KCl and other natural salts form is in aqueous solution.

As an old fart, they cut me off from NaCl and I now use KCl substitute, which does not taste as good. I do like fresh sea salt, but its a nono.

 

[Chiro75]

Table salt gets the heck processed out it, though, doesn't it? I like those old Frenchies piddling away on big evaporation flats to make my sea salt for me (actually, I boycott France right now, so I like the Kiwis doing it for me). The craft aspect of it is cool. The mineral balance of sea salt creates a pretty interesting flavor range when you can compare side to side.

 

[butcher_block]

yep i like the sea salt too
dont use pepper on anything least not after cooking so my pepper grinder has salt in it
i like to grind it to a powder or as close as i can get it
and yes i also belive that a good steak needs nothing but maybe a little salt and i do mean alittle

 

[Dan Gray]

. When you get paid $250 an hour or whatever you better damn well know what you're talking about AND be able to show the documentation to the patient who asked the question, because inevitably they call bull$**** half the time, anyway!

Steve I'm wondering why a patient would want to pay $250.00 per hour talking about salt when he/she is there to get the back cracked

personally if I make knives and I get an off the wall question about
clipping poodles, I'd just say,
that guy is down the road a piece..I'm sure he could tell you..

now lets talk about the steel you would like in your Knife

 

[silenthunterstudios]

If any members live in or near Chambersburg PA, stop in at Ryans Buffet for steak. Yeah, yeah, I know, how can steak be good at a buffet, but it's the best I've ever had. Up on Rte 30.

http://www.ryansinc.com/frameset_locations.html


No recipes for steak, but I like mine bleedin'!

 

[jhiggins]

I learned about salt, I got mineral analyses of salt products from various manufacturers (because people ask about iodine, too, which then leads to a discussion about iron, iodine patch tests, mucous viscosity and other stuff, not to mention thyroid function), etc etc!

You don't sleep, ...do you? You spend all night watching Emeril, browsing the Internet, and making knives. C'mon, admit it!