Dad Red got a gift certificate to a local butcher shop for Christmas. Last week he came home with a lovely shoulder roast and a slab-o-steak. We’re talking a beautiful piece of meat, large, marbled, and in need of cooking. Which poses a bit of a problem. Redquarters does not have a grill, and one does NOT nuke’ steak.
So we baked it.
I can hear screams, wails, and groans of protest.
You need: a cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan, foil, a piece of meat, olive oil (plain or flavored), and seasoning to taste. Cover the pan with some foil to ease clean up, if you desire.
First, we slathered the slab-o-steak with garlic olive oil. Then we covered it in a rub, in this case Bourbon Molasses with some pepper flakes tossed in. The meat sat under a foil tent, in the cold oven, for four hours or so. Then we removed the pan from the oven and heated the oven to 350 F. The meat went back in, and after half an hour DadRed started checking the temperature. Because the meat had a bit of a taper, and he likes medium while MomRed and I prefer rare, Dad checked the thickest part of the cut. When it reached 125 F, he turned off the oven, removed the meat, and let it stand for a few more minutes while we finished microwaving the baked potatoes. Dad took the thinner part of the cut, which was medium. Mom and my chunks were rare to medium rare.
The meat stayed very moist and tender, with an excellent flavor. Now, if you start with bad meat, you’re going to be better off stewing it or marinading it over night, but a good cut, with a bit of oil to help it stay moist, is a thing of beauty (in my opinion.) The rub added flavor, the oil kept it moist (as did the foil tent). If you like a bit of a crust on your meat, this method is not for you. Some cuts do better on a grill, or braised (cooked in liquid). But this turned out very well, as do many steaks.
Cat Rotator's Quarterly 
“Good Eats” method: bake then sear. If frozen, sear (in copious oil) then bake.
Thinking the same thing. Once cooked, remove the tent and put under the broiler for a couple minutes to get the light char layer.
Sounds like a good alternate to grilling on very cold or snowy days. The warmup to room temperature is probably more important in winter.
Sounds interesting, though $SPOUSE doesn’t cook much beef beyond ground beast.
I have a corner of the deck that’s sort-of shielded from prevailing winds, so unless it’s raining/snowing seriously, or the lightning is playing, when it’s grill time, we grill.
When summer squash is in season, I’ll peel and slice in segments, spray lightly with canola-in-a-can and dust a tiny* bit of spice mix**, then grill on medium; usually 3 minutes on one side, flip to another and finish with 3 more minutes.
(*) $SPOUSE grew up with Canadian/English cooking. I have a heavier hand if I’m cooking for myself.
(**) Currently Mrs. Dash. YMMV.
Why not just use the broiler? It’s not much different from a grill, just upside down.
(I’m guessing clean up?)
Smoke. Any sort of smoky output from the stove or oven causes the hard-wired smoke detectors to go off, which leads to someone at the alarm company calling the fire department. Even after they check in with us, they have on occasion called the fire department any way.
Interesting that you don’t have a grill… I’m guessing y’all make this work, but it’s an anathema to me. I may have once dug a path through 4 feet of snow to the grill in Japan just to cook some good Kobe steaks once…
Dad doesn’t like cooking outdoors, and indoor grilling went by the wayside once hard-wired smoke detectors arrived. [mutter mutter building codes mutter mutter]
I have a cast iron griddle, two burner size, that on the flip side has ridges and plays grill pretty well. Another possible option?
I can fit steaks for ten on it, though the teens whine it isn’t enough meat (but there is no enough with them). The middle is cooler, and I’ve had enough practice now that I can get everything from rare to well-done started and finished at the same time.
The big argument now is between the “Sacrilige to put anything on steak” and the “Plain beef is boring” crowd.
MomRed got one of those glass-topped stoves, which means no cast iron (unless it has a fancy smooth underside.) And the smoke problem still applies. (And cleaning spatter off cabinets.)
Ah, those.
I was asked if I wanted a glass top a while back, but they don’t allow for cast iron or canning kettles. I figured with my family anything that fragile wouldn’t last a day anyway. (I tease my husband about being Superman for a reason, after all!)
We ended up getting the old stove and double oven from 1986 rewired. It was cheaper than remodeling the kitchen for new units. Smoke dectectors are newer than the stove, of course, but they’re still battery powered: the place isn’t wired for anything fancy. Considering one of the circuits died last year, I wouldn’t want to rely on wired anyway.
We’ve baked steak this way, but only when we have very thick steaks do we finish them in the oven.
Some of the Costco NY strips we just got are almost 3″ thick, and need this to get to medium rare.
We dust with a Canadian Steak seasoning (salt, pepper, and garlic) to which we add ground savory and a little powdered bay leaf.
Grilling again tonight. Near Cape Canaveral, we are at 70+ degrees now, with mild nights.
John
Hmmm…what’s the purpose of the 4 hours in the cold oven? Is it just to let the steak come up to room termperature?
Just that, and to allow the flavors from the rub to sink into the meat. With limited counter space (and formerly lively cats), the oven makes a good place to keep meat safe and out of the way.