Do you use a different technique for searing a dry aged steak vs. a regular steak? I have cooking non-dry-aged steaks down to a science using reverse sear, cooking to an even rare inside and then searing them in butter in a screaming hot pan until the outside looks nice and dark and melty.
I have barely any experience cooking dry aged steaks but I recently tried the same method with a dry aged NY steak from Flannery (thanks to this board for the recos!). The flavor was delicious and the inside looked perfect, but the outside got a dried out bark-like texture that wasnāt very pleasant to eat.
I am guessing this is because the dry aging leaves less moisture in the meat, but Iām not quite sure how to approach my next steak. Appreciate any tips you use in your own cooking!
I pull the steaks at about 108-110Ā° and let them rest for 10-15 minutes, then directly over screaming hot coals that are 1/2ā from the grill. Moving constantly (every 5 seconds), the flame from the dripping fat sears it just right.
Dry aged steak definitely needs less heat to sear to finish. Also, butter in a searing hot pan will go rancid instantly and create carcinogens, so I only use beef tallow or duck fat.
Am in Brianās camp. Only thing I really do differently with Flannery dry-aged is ratchet back the seasoning to just salt and a little bit of black pepper. I like to taste that nutty flavor profile heās famous for, rather than a garlic / chili powder rub.
Thanks, these look beautiful! And no sign of the unpleasant bark-like texture I was getting. I donāt often grill though so I was hoping to hear there was a way to do this in a pan. It is just so weird because Iāve never had this issue with a non-dry-aged steak.
Smoking and burning is definitely an issue with butter, but I have found ways to mitigate or manage it. I think the most important thing is to get the pan hot before adding the butter, but also use more butter than you might think is needed and also use a small fry pan so there is less room for the butter to be where the steak isnāt. I sometimes also tip the pan to create a small pool of butter where the gas flame is concentrated that the steak sits in. I also read long ago that butter speeds up the Maillard reaction, which is why I use it. I have had fabulous steaks this wayā¦but again, using a dry aged steak recently I ended up with very different results so obviously need to tweak something, just not sure what. Not against trying with duck fat, though, since I have it on hand.
Long way of saying I have not found it impossible to sear a steak before the butter burns. (Maybe it helps that Iām usually cooking one steak for the two of us.)
I also donāt have an outdoor grill and have to cook indoor. I reverse sear as you do but reduce the time on the pan compared to when Iām doing an unaged steak and then use a blowtorch directly on the steak if I want to liven up the crust more. I do think the dry exterior is unavoidable to some extent, though, just because the meat has less moisture to begin with.
Yep, clarified butter for higher temperature. It is butter with the milk fat separated out. Available in nearly any grocery store now-a-days, usually sold as āgheeā next to other Indian ingredients, but also easy to make at home. Browned milkfat tastes nutty but burnt milkfat tastes bitter ā much like browned garlic is yummy but burnt garlic is bitter.
Never been a fan of using just a blowtorch for searing, always had off flavors. If you are just searing a few steaks the Searzall attachment works very well. It turns a blowtorch into a handheld broiler so you donāt get the torch taste from the crazy high blowtorch temps. I have one and it works.
