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Cheap Steak Challenge

I have many ways I flavor steak but my dad had only one....Accent/Pepper/Garlic Powder.

As for tenderizing I either do a marinade or use a meat fork to poke probably at least 100 holes in each steak...sometimes I combine these methods. Not often though as I usually tend to get very good meat. This tends to be the program if the wife on her own without talking to me decides to buy some steaks. One time she bought a whole box maybe $130 of frozen steaks from a door to door salesman. These were some very old very tough cows that had be chopped up and injected with up to 32% salt water with many needles....They shrink up like a mother****er but they were not too bad.
 
just bought a 1.4 ib, 1.5" thick, boneless angus ribeye, well marbled for $12
could not buy a pizza that cheap
which is why steakhouses are not on our local restaurant list. too easy and too inexpensive to prepare them at home in comparison

here's my approach:
allow steak to come to room temperature before cooking (if time permits)
sprinkle uncle yammy's all purpose seasoning on the side of the steak that will initially be on top when cooking. do this while waiting for the steak to return to room temp
turn oven on to its highest setting before broiling - 550 degrees on my oven
place a large cast iron pan in that oven so it also becomes 550

now you are ready to cook
put stove top at its highest setting
pull cast iron pan out of the oven and onto the very high heat stove top
place the steak in that pan and allow it to get a char, spices side up
after about 3 minutes flip the steak and allow the other side to brown; maybe 2 minutes
turn the stove top off and place the pan in the still 550 oven
close the door and turn the oven off
deal with your baked taters, salad, whatever sides you are going to also eat
and locate your digital thermometer
about 8 minutes after you first began searing the steak, check the steak to see if it needs to stay in that oven a bit longer
for me, medium rare, 130 degrees, it's going to usually be about ready to take out and place on the serving plate after about 8-9 minutes. note, while it is out of the oven it will continue to cook inside and that earlier temperature reading will rise a few degrees
add some butter
if the sides are ready to eat, so is the steak
enjoy

key points:
steak is only turned once!
seasonings only need to be applied one half hour before searing the steak
use NO oil
 
I'll report back when done. EVERY TIME I've tried to salt a steak, it comes out as salted beef and sucks. I'm trying something a little different with this one so we'll see if it makes the magic or more asstastic steak.
You may be oversalting it. Its better to undersalt it while cooking, and then just have more salt on the table during serving. When I pan fry my steaks the butter evens out the salt and I have a small bowl of rock salt alongside the plate when I serve it.

I never marinade the steak either. If its cheap meat then I just pound it out and make chicken fried steak.
 
I lived in Texas for about a year. Shopped at HEB regularly. Never knew what HEB stood for, until a few weeks ago when were traveling, and stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Beaumont. The server told us it stands for "Here, everything's better." :shrug: The more you know.

No....
It stands for the owner, Harold E Butts.
 
You may be oversalting it. Its better to undersalt it while cooking, and then just have more salt on the table during serving. When I pan fry my steaks the butter evens out the salt and I have a small bowl of rock salt alongside the plate when I serve it.

I never marinade the steak either. If its cheap meat then I just pound it out and make chicken fried steak.

It's a technique to make steaks more tender.

 
No....
It stands for the owner, Harold E Butts.

Is Here, everything's better a tag line a least?

Hopefully this is not a complete shut out for Superfly......
 
There's more than one way to tenderize a steak.

https://www.wikihow.com/Tenderize-Steak

When I worked for Mr Q's on Ft Huachuca once a month we would get two of those giant pull behind a pick-up grills you sometimes see, and do steaks for the solders on a Friday. 400-500 steaks. This is Army chow so we could not spend a lot so what we did was get some really crap steaks, run them through a tenderizer, and then dunk them in a teriyaki overnight that we made up.

OMG...them over charcoal, cooked by Army contract cooks who did not all suck.....the soldiers did some serious loving on those babies.....
 
Is Here, everything's better a tag line a least?

Hopefully this is not a complete shut out for Superfly......

Oh certainly. I've always been told it was "Harold E Butts Store" But HEB is much snappier to say
 
So I bought two ass NY Strips from HEB, like 3 bucks, 3/4 inch select. I did this as a personal challenge.

Steak Salt
Vs
Steak Beatdown

Steak Salt I have sitting on the counter with a coating of course himalayan salt

Steak Beatdown spent 20 min on air dry in two baggies in the dryer tumbling then it got smack on the ground till my arm got tired.

I'm going to pan sear them with my iron skillet (not a true cast iron because I have one of those glass tops) and see which one is more tender and better tasting.

I'll report back when done. EVERY TIME I've tried to salt a steak, it comes out as salted beef and sucks. I'm trying something a little different with this one so we'll see if it makes the magic or more asstastic steak.

I hear that putting salt on steak before cooking dries it out, and there's nothing wrong with putting cast iron on a glass top. I do it all the time. Just don't purpose rub the pan around on the glass like a sanding block. First time I've heard of putting a steak in the dryer; interesting.
 
just bought a 1.4 ib, 1.5" thick, boneless angus ribeye, well marbled for $12
could not buy a pizza that cheap
which is why steakhouses are not on our local restaurant list. too easy and too inexpensive to prepare them at home in comparison

here's my approach:
allow steak to come to room temperature before cooking (if time permits)
sprinkle uncle yammy's all purpose seasoning on the side of the steak that will initially be on top when cooking. do this while waiting for the steak to return to room temp
turn oven on to its highest setting before broiling - 550 degrees on my oven
place a large cast iron pan in that oven so it also becomes 550

now you are ready to cook
put stove top at its highest setting
pull cast iron pan out of the oven and onto the very high heat stove top
place the steak in that pan and allow it to get a char, spices side up
after about 3 minutes flip the steak and allow the other side to brown; maybe 2 minutes
turn the stove top off and place the pan in the still 550 oven
close the door and turn the oven off
deal with your baked taters, salad, whatever sides you are going to also eat
and locate your digital thermometer
about 8 minutes after you first began searing the steak, check the steak to see if it needs to stay in that oven a bit longer
for me, medium rare, 130 degrees, it's going to usually be about ready to take out and place on the serving plate after about 8-9 minutes. note, while it is out of the oven it will continue to cook inside and that earlier temperature reading will rise a few degrees
add some butter
if the sides are ready to eat, so is the steak
enjoy

key points:
steak is only turned once!
seasonings only need to be applied one half hour before searing the steak
use NO oil

How does the charred side taste?
 
Oh certainly. I've always been told it was "Harold E Butts Store" But HEB is much snappier to say

would anyone go shopping at a food store known as 'harry butts'?
 
Last edited:
No....
It stands for the owner, Harold E Butts.

Could it stand for both? The guy seemed so sure. :shrug:

Maybe it started out for the owner, and they used the other as a catchy line or something.
 
Could it stand for both? The guy seemed so sure. :shrug:

Maybe it started out for the owner, and they used the other as a catchy line or something.

I heard the Harold E Butts bit a LONG time ago, like early 90's, the Here Everything is Better is more recent to my understanding. Meh, it's HEB that's all I know.
 
both sides have a char
the second side is less prolonged on the stovetop because it will immediately be placed in the oven for addition cooking time

here, read this; it will describe the benefits of the maillard effect:
The Maillard Reaction | Modernist Cuisine

To be honest, I prefer grilled with mesquite over any pan cooked steak, any day of the week.
 
So I bought two ass NY Strips from HEB, like 3 bucks, 3/4 inch select. I did this as a personal challenge.

Steak Salt
Vs
Steak Beatdown

Steak Salt I have sitting on the counter with a coating of course himalayan salt

Steak Beatdown spent 20 min on air dry in two baggies in the dryer tumbling then it got smack on the ground till my arm got tired.

I'm going to pan sear them with my iron skillet (not a true cast iron because I have one of those glass tops) and see which one is more tender and better tasting.

I'll report back when done. EVERY TIME I've tried to salt a steak, it comes out as salted beef and sucks. I'm trying something a little different with this one so we'll see if it makes the magic or more asstastic steak.

Try blade steak on the grill, inexpensive and tasty
Looked it up and has various names- top chuck -flat iron steak, great on the grill.
 
Try blade steak on the grill, inexpensive and tasty
Looked it up and has various names- top chuck -flat iron steak, great on the grill.

yeah, I might do that. But really when it's steak I want, I have the wifey pick up a NY Strip Akaushi from a butcher that knows us well. It's really really good eats.
 
So I bought two ass NY Strips from HEB, like 3 bucks, 3/4 inch select. I did this as a personal challenge.

Steak Salt
Vs
Steak Beatdown

Steak Salt I have sitting on the counter with a coating of course himalayan salt

Steak Beatdown spent 20 min on air dry in two baggies in the dryer tumbling then it got smack on the ground till my arm got tired.

I'm going to pan sear them with my iron skillet (not a true cast iron because I have one of those glass tops) and see which one is more tender and better tasting.

I'll report back when done. EVERY TIME I've tried to salt a steak, it comes out as salted beef and sucks. I'm trying something a little different with this one so we'll see if it makes the magic or more asstastic steak.

Couple of thoughts:
  • Tenderness:
    • Tenderness is as much about the meat itself as it is about the way it's cooked. As for the cooking part:
      • Try going with 1" steaks because that quarter inch matters in the cooking and most published cook times assume a 1" thick cut. Doing that will allow you to "get it right" and form a "baseline" that you can later on vary as needed (there'll be some trial and error period you'll have to go through as you do so) when your steaks are thicker or thinner. You can create your own baseline or you can start with any one that you find on the web. It doesn't matter what baseline you start with; it matters that you have a baseline that you can use as a clearly defined starting point and then vary on subsequent cookings until you have it perfected for your preferred steak cut and cooking tools (the pan and the heat source/method).
      • Don't neglect to bring your steaks to room temperature before starting the cooking. I don't exactly what is going on with the muscle fibers, but I do know that when they are "shocked" from fridge-cold to skillet-/oven-/grill-hot, they "tense up" and get tough.
      • NY strip is my "go to" cut for "routine" steak eating at home, and, honestly, I've never needed to tenderize one. They're not as tender as Chateaubriand/filet mignon, but they're not at all tough, at least not the ones I've been buying/cooking. I tend to go for 1.25 to 1.75 inch thick cuts. I don't know if that matters, but maybe it does....I do know that a thicker steak gives one a bit more leeway as goes being very attentive to cook times on each side, whereas thinner steaks reduce the "play" one has before the meat has been too long in the high heat since the heat will penetrate through more of the thickness of a thin steak than it will through a thicker cut.
      • FWIW, when I grill, I'm a "leave it alone until it's time to flip the steak" person, but when I pan sear, I flip the meat frequently (about every couple minutes or so -- the frequency depends on the steak's thickness), but I make sure to give each side the requisite total time and then I render the fat edge.
  • Salting:
    • Have you tried the "Gordon Ramsay" method? Salt one side and "mop up" the excess with the other side of the steak.

      • The palm, wrist, chin, forehead, softness method of determining a steak's doneness works, but I had to cook a whole lot of steaks before I "got it."
    • FWIW, the method shown in the video is how I most often cook steaks. It's just super quick and since most of my cooking is for functional nourishment purposes more so than for gourmet/entertainment purposes, quick and tasty in a basic way is really all I'm after. Steak, mashed potatoes, and microwave steamed carrots and broccoli takes 30 minutes max and is a fine meal. (I use cast iron -- not enameled; just plain old basic cast iron (Lodge) I've been using since I was in college -- because it works on/in the stove top, grill and oven, it's non-stick, and doesn't have to be washed. That it's the least expensive cookware one can buy doesn't hurt.)
    • I gotta tell you, I'm not sure just what's making your steaks taste like salty beef. The only thing that comes to mind is that you're putting too much salt on it. Maybe your taste buds are just very sensitive to salt?

      I've never had a steak that tasted salty at all. I can only offer what Momma taught me: if you can taste the salt, you've put too much in/on the food; try less next time. Obviously, there are certain dishes/foods that are supposed to taste salty, but generally freshly cooked meats aren't among them.
 
Try blade steak on the grill, inexpensive and tasty
Looked it up and has various names- top chuck -flat iron steak, great on the grill.

Another really good and inexpensive steak is a chuck-eye. It's actually the top end of the rib-eye - where the rib-eye ends, the chuck-eye begins. When we can get it on sale, we'll buy a whole chuck roll (the deboned shoulder) and break it down. Out of a 30 lb. hunk of meat, I'll usually get about 6-7 lbs. of chuck-eye, 15 lbs. of roasts and the rest goes into ground chuck.
 
Couple of thoughts:
  • Tenderness:
    • Tenderness is as much about the meat itself as it is about the way it's cooked. As for the cooking part:
      • Try going with 1" steaks because that quarter inch matters in the cooking and most published cook times assume a 1" thick cut. Doing that will allow you to "get it right" and form a "baseline" that you can later on vary as needed (there'll be some trial and error period you'll have to go through as you do so) when your steaks are thicker or thinner. You can create your own baseline or you can start with any one that you find on the web. It doesn't matter what baseline you start with; it matters that you have a baseline that you can use as a clearly defined starting point and then vary on subsequent cookings until you have it perfected for your preferred steak cut and cooking tools (the pan and the heat source/method).
      • Don't neglect to bring your steaks to room temperature before starting the cooking. I don't exactly what is going on with the muscle fibers, but I do know that when they are "shocked" from fridge-cold to skillet-/oven-/grill-hot, they "tense up" and get tough.
      • NY strip is my "go to" cut for "routine" steak eating at home, and, honestly, I've never needed to tenderize one. They're not as tender as Chateaubriand/filet mignon, but they're not at all tough, at least not the ones I've been buying/cooking. I tend to go for 1.25 to 1.75 inch thick cuts. I don't know if that matters, but maybe it does....I do know that a thicker steak gives one a bit more leeway as goes being very attentive to cook times on each side, whereas thinner steaks reduce the "play" one has before the meat has been too long in the high heat since the heat will penetrate through more of the thickness of a thin steak than it will through a thicker cut.
      • FWIW, when I grill, I'm a "leave it alone until it's time to flip the steak" person, but when I pan sear, I flip the meat frequently (about every couple minutes or so -- the frequency depends on the steak's thickness), but I make sure to give each side the requisite total time and then I render the fat edge.
  • Salting:
    • Have you tried the "Gordon Ramsay" method? Salt one side and "mop up" the excess with the other side of the steak.

      • The palm, wrist, chin, forehead, softness method of determining a steak's doneness works, but I had to cook a whole lot of steaks before I "got it."
    • FWIW, the method shown in the video is how I most often cook steaks. It's just super quick and since most of my cooking is for functional nourishment purposes more so than for gourmet/entertainment purposes, quick and tasty in a basic way is really all I'm after. Steak, mashed potatoes, and microwave steamed carrots and broccoli takes 30 minutes max and is a fine meal. (I use cast iron -- not enameled; just plain old basic cast iron (Lodge) I've been using since I was in college -- because it works on/in the stove top, grill and oven, it's non-stick, and doesn't have to be washed. That it's the least expensive cookware one can buy doesn't hurt.)
    • I gotta tell you, I'm not sure just what's making your steaks taste like salty beef. The only thing that comes to mind is that you're putting too much salt on it. Maybe your taste buds are just very sensitive to salt?

      I've never had a steak that tasted salty at all. I can only offer what Momma taught me: if you can taste the salt, you've put too much in/on the food; try less next time. Obviously, there are certain dishes/foods that are supposed to taste salty, but generally freshly cooked meats aren't among them.


Oh I know how to make amazing steaks, I was challenging myself to turn a **** steak into gold. It wasn't a good outcome.
 
Oh I know how to make amazing steaks, I was challenging myself to turn a **** steak into gold. It wasn't a good outcome.

Oh. Okay. I get now. TY for the clarification.

When did a NY strip become a "**** steak?" LOL Flank or strip steak, or those things that, IMO, aren't at all steaks, "cube steaks," sure, I'd call them "**** steaks," but not a NY strip, even a 3/4" one. That's a pretty nice cut of meat.
 
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