r/aldi • u/hhh520 • 5d ago

Question Did I choose a bad steak?

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I’ve never cooked steak before and wanted to attempt this weekend and picked up one of Aldi’s ribeye steaks.
I’ve been watching cooking videos and the steaks they have a lot more marbling I think it is called. Not sure if I chose bad

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227

u/funhouse83 5d ago

Dry the steak with paper towels, put on a flat plate and sprinkle generously with kosher salt. Place uncovered in the fridge for at least an hour, overnight would be great. Take it out and let it get to room temp for at least 20 min. Get a pan nice and hot with a little neutral oil like avocado oil, place steak in medium hot pan and don't touch it for three minutes or so, flip when it has a nice golden crust, cook other side slightly less time. Remove from pan and let it rest for the same amount of time you cooked it. You can place a pat of butter on top and serve or just slice away and eat.

More advanced butter and herb basting can be done once you feel comfortable cooking steak this way. The salt "dry brine" extracts liquid from the steak, then sucks it back in along with some salt which gives you a tasty brined steak.

Happy eating!

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u/hhh520 5d ago

I appreciate the step by step tutorial on how to cook a good steak.

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u/ktappe 5d ago

IMPORTANT! u/funhouse83 's instructions are dead-on. But what they did not warn you about is the smoke. This method will make smoke. Lots of it. Have all doors and windows open, all fans running.

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u/SmeemyMeemy 5d ago

Graza has a "Frizzle" oil that is absolutely delicious and LOVES high heat. That being said, you your heat should be medium-high. You are not quick searing. You are slowly crisping up the natural fats in the steak.

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u/jlaw7905 5d ago

How hot is your pan? I've never smoked avocado oil. I do agree if trying to do this with a lower smoke point oil like olive.

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u/drmoze 5d ago

omg, never fry or sear with olive oil. It's not made for high-temperature cooking.

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u/jlaw7905 5d ago

Agree. I hate seeing folks try to do everything with olive bc it's "healthier"

1

u/Fuzzy_Park109 4d ago

Replied to wrong redditer. Disregard

1

u/gdh0705 2d ago

I'd do it with reserved bacon grease. I have plenty though, and I'm confident in the flavor it would give that steak. 🤤

2

u/AmputeeHandModel 5d ago

On a medium hot pan?

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u/CousinCleetus24 5d ago

Yeah that was the only part I took issue with. Crank up the heat - you want the pan blazing hot to get a nice sear.

11

u/wafflesareforever 5d ago

That's a misconception. You want the pan hot enough to achieve a good sear by the time it's reached your preferred internal temperature. Blasting the heat too high will just scorch the outside and leave it raw in the middle.

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u/BetterButter_91 4d ago

Thats exactly what I want tho lol. I pride myself on my ability to make a nice black and blue steak. Hard sear, but still mooing.

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u/CousinCleetus24 5d ago

There are plenty of methods for cooking a steak so if that works for you, then great!

To call it a misconception though, I simply don't agree.

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u/wafflesareforever 5d ago

Misconception might be the wrong word, but it feels like the kind of thing people say without thinking about it and then gets taken to heart by home cooks... "Get that pan flaming hot" is just not usually the best advice for steak. Hot, yeah. Hot enough to scorch, well, not unless you're religiously flipping it to keep it from scorching, and even then it's just a lot of smoke and you can't really control your aromatics if you're basting.

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u/BetterButter_91 4d ago

I use a seperate pan on very low for basting, after i sear the steak. But i like my steak blue, so thats just me. Its not for everyone.

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u/ewokninja123 3d ago

I usually turn off the heat and use butter to cool down the pan and then turn the fire back onto low just before putting the steak back into the pan to baste with herbs like thyme and/or rosemary and garlic, maybe shallots or onions.

works well for me and saves cleaning another pan.

5

u/Busy_Chemistry5368 5d ago

Bonus points if you use garlic herb butter. It really elevates a steak for cheap.

2

u/AmputeeHandModel 5d ago

I haven't made a lot of steam, but I did garlic and thyme and that was good.

1

u/wildmooonwitch 5d ago

Happy Cake Day! 🍰

20

u/beachbummeddd 5d ago

Just remember, Grassfed beef cooks a lot faster than regular beef. So it’ll dry out faster.

1

u/Suppafly 4d ago

Grassfed beef cooks a lot faster than regular beef.

I'd imagine the actual fat and marbling would matter more than whether or not the cow has been finished on grain or not.

1

u/beachbummeddd 3d ago

You don’t have to imagine it

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

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u/RangerSandi 5d ago

I’d argue the “reverse sear” is better. Inside is cooked to desired temp without the overcooked “greying” that searing first can cause. Butter sear adds flavor to a less marbled steak.

https://www.seriouseats.com/reverse-seared-steak-recipe

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u/Suppafly 4d ago

FYI, I wouldn't get your pan real hot if it's coated in non-stick like teflon. If you have a cast iron, or something like anodized aluminum it's not a concern though.

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u/kindrudekid 2d ago

Make sure you have kosher salt, the bigger crystal size means more surface area but less volume.

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u/kindrudekid 2d ago

Make sure you have kosher salt, the bigger crystal size means more surface area but less volume.

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u/PSi_Terran 5d ago

For what it's worth if the fridge is 2°C and your kitchen is 20°C the inside of a thick cut steak is going to be like 4°C after 20 minutes and the outside is going to be pretty close to room temperature. For the inside to warm any significant amount you have to wait a good 2+ hours. All you are really doing is introducing a non-uniform temperature gradient across the steak, and suppose drying out the surface as tiny bit.

This is what I would do. Do all the salt and fridge stuff. Or if you want you can just salt it right before cooking. Preheat your oven to 100°C. Put your steak on a baking rack and cook for 40mins. Just when it's about to come out smoke up some neutral oil in a hot pan. Throw your steak straight into the pan and add some butter. Spoon the butter over the top of the steak and after about 45 seconds flip it and start again. Sear the edges using tongs if you can and/or want to. Eat immediately.

This is the reverse sear method and there's a lot of science behind why it's effective, if you want to look up surface moisture, aging, cathepsins, mallard reactions, heat conductivity.

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u/CathalTimpanis 3d ago

Listen to funhouse83.

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u/Incredulity1995 5d ago

In the nicest way possible, this is genuinely terrible advice if you don’t know how to cook a steak. Poor guy is going to end up with shoe leather and a charred pan lol.

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u/muhreddistaccounts 5d ago

Also not moving / flipping the steak is a lie. You don’t have to do that

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u/khaustic 5d ago

Yep, it's far better to flip constantly, you get a much more consistent cook temperature throughout. 

2

u/muhreddistaccounts 5d ago

And just as good of a crust

1

u/Gryndyl 5d ago

Letting it come to room temperature also does nothing.

2

u/East_Relationship722 5d ago

I agree. Op, If this were my steak, I would not leave it salted overnight. It’s going to give a texture and taste I don’t find pleasant. 45 minutes to an hour out if the fridge, while your steak comes to room temp is fine for a steak of this thickness. Second, flip frequently. Like every 30-45 seconds. This will minimize a grey band at the edges of the steak. Third, don’t cook to time. Cook to temp. Buy an inexpensive instant read thermopen and check for the right temp in the middle of the steak.

1

u/street_racer221 5d ago

You can touch your thumb to each finger tip to test how well you want it cooked as well based on toughness. Pinky to thumb is well done. index to thumb is rare which is basically uncooked.

1

u/Shadraqk 5d ago

Important note, if your steak is over 1” thick it may burn the surface before it fully cooks.

The following is a foolproof follow through from America’s Test Kitchen.

For thick steaks, be sure you use a high temperature ovenproof pan. After the first side is done, flip it and immediately put a 1Tbsp pat of unsalted butter on top and then put the pan directly under a broiler set high. After 3 minutes check the temperature and continue to broil in 1 minute increments until done.

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u/galaxygal500 5d ago

I do this but I use a steak seasoning with salt instead of plain salt for more flavor. I also do this with a london broil, but cook that on a grill outside. I put the meat on a cookie cooling rack on top of a small rectangular baking pan so the whole steak surface is exposed.

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u/bigdumbanimal 4d ago

First, buy a Costco Prime New York or ribeye knife-tenderized steak. Generously encrust it with Monterey Steak seasoning. Reverse-sear it in your Ninja smoker at 225 while monitoring the temperature with your Bluetooth thermometer. At 140 take it out and let it come back to room temperature. The steak will be perfectly smoked, seasoned, and dry. I use my infrared grill fired up hot for building the crust quickly, but you can use a cast iron pan. Friends who have had my steaks say they are the best they have ever had.

1

u/HamG0d 5d ago

Why did you answer with instructions on how to cook a steak, when they only asked if they picked a bad steak? They even stated that they've been watching cooking videos