To read more about this technique be sure to check out Part 2.
I don’t cook steak very often. When I do, I’ll go all out and buy big. Massive dry aged porter houses. Rib eyes so thick they look like they belong on the Flintstones. It’s expensive and usually worth it, but only when cooked properly. A while back I posted a menu titled Steak Dinner for 4. It was a nice meal, but a critic would have noticed the pictured beef was woefully over-done.
Cake Tester Thermometer... and some really big steaks
Bourbon Steak house had just opened and every blogger that scored an invite was gushing. I had butter blanketed dry aged beef on the brain and it was time to have a few guys over for red meat. Dinner for four with wine at Bourbon could run at least five bills. We thought we could accomplish something similar at home for a fraction of the cost. The difference could be blown on red wine and a bottle of scotch — sans corkage fees. Maybe even some cigars. My job was to purchase the meat, whip up some sides, and not fuck up. Seemed easy enough…
Except I fucked up.
Most meat thermometers (save some pricey digital ones) take some time to report accurately, if they’re accurate at all. Sure they work but it’s fussy analysis when you’re dealing with multiple steaks. Then there’s the touch test that everyone describes, but never quite the same way. Touch your palm here, squeeze your thumb there nonsense that I think is prohibitive for the average home cook. And who’s to say that a tender Fillet Mignon feels exactly the same medium rare as a humble hanger steak? They don’t.
Enter the cake tester. Small and narrow the thin metal assumes the temperature of the surrounding meat in seconds, and then can be read against the lips in an instant. I’d read about the technique in Heat, and seen it practiced at Michel Richard’s Central, Inox, and other restaurants in D.C. A cool cake taster indicates meat that is undercooked, while slightly warmer than your lip represents a perfect medium rare. Anything warmer and you’re in trouble.
When my tester emerged from my steaks scorching hot, I freaked. I let them rest un-tented while debating a frantic ice bath, and eventualy carved the medium-ish results. Admitting defeat I served the rarest peices from the center for my guests while I ate humble steak. I was remided to never try a new technique on company — or 70 bucks worth of meat.
Prime Aged Rib Eye Cooked Medium
