Yo DJ, some help with this rump

[Azbubu]

Rump steak. Grill instructions say "place steaks on a rack above a roasting pan and position 10cm below grill element".

Wtf is a roasting pan and is it necessary? Can't I just place the steaks on a tray and slide them into the oven?

The steaks are already seasoned, can i baste some chutney on them before i pop them into the oven or will it burn? Any other suggestions to make these steaks palatable?

 

[Kornhub]

/Answers like DJ

First off you need to breed your own cows and...

 

[Nicci]

Hello Abzo,

Don't EVER grill steak in the oven! It makes it tough as hell, and tasteless.

I presume you have a non-stick pan? Best way to cook a steak is to let it cool to room temperature. Rub the steak with olive oil (do NOT put oil into the pan) and then add your seasoning (salt / pepper) and rub into the steak. Once the pan is smoking hot - add the steak and let it fry a few minutes and then turn the steak to the other side. Watch the whole time as not to over cook your steak or to burn it. Serve hot.

Hope this helps.

 

[Azbubu]

Hello Abzo,

Don't EVER grill steak in the oven! It makes it tough as hell, and tasteless.

I presume you have a non-stick pan? Best way to cook a steak is to let it cool to room temperature. Rub the steak with olive oil (do NOT put oil into the pan) and then add your seasoning (salt / pepper) and rub into the steak. Once the pan is smoking hot - add the steak and let it fry a few minutes and then turn the steak to the other side. Watch the whole time as not to over cook your steak or to burn it. Serve hot.

Hope this helps.

Thanks. I have a pan, not sure if it's non-stick though. I don't have olive oil but I do have olive oil cooking spray, will that do?

I generally don't like using my stove because it's gas so I prefer the electric oven.

 

[Kornhub]

Thanks. I have a pan, not sure if it's non-stick though. I don't have olive oil but I do have olive oil cooking spray, will that do?

I generally don't like using my stove because it's gas so I prefer the electric oven.

Should be fine,just make sure the pan is pretty hot so as soon as you slap it on you get the sizzling noise.

 

[ponder]

This is how I do it and I use the same method for hamburger patties.

Get a cast iron griddle pan (looks like a sinkplaat dak).
Turn the stove plate to max and wait for the pan to start smoking and then wait for it to get past the point of smoking. 15-20min.
Take your steak and put some course ground pepper & salt on both sides. DON'T USE OIL!
Bomb it straight onto the griddle pan. Make sure you have the windows open and extractor fan going as it smokes like hell.
Watch it change colour to almost half way and then turn it over. You want it pink inside, this part comes with experience. If you turned it more than four times it was to much.
Keep a wood cutting block in a warm oven, take it out, rest the steak on it for a few minutes to rest before serving.
You put any sauce on that steak I kill you!

 

[fastesthamster]

Hello Abzo,

Don't EVER grill steak in the oven! It makes it tough as hell, and tasteless.

I presume you have a non-stick pan? Best way to cook a steak is to let it cool to room temperature. Rub the steak with olive oil (do NOT put oil into the pan) and then add your seasoning (salt / pepper) and rub into the steak. Once the pan is smoking hot - add the steak and let it fry a few minutes and then turn the steak to the other side. Watch the whole time as not to over cook your steak or to burn it. Serve hot.

Hope this helps.

Searing isn't the best method of cooking a steak, see "The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" by Harold McGee, page 161.

High heat dries out the meat, rather than locking moisture in. It is useful to flavour the meat though, due to the maillard reaction

What I do is place the steak in the oven at 50 degrees centigrade for two to three hours, turning every now and then. Then sear in a hot pan, flipping at least every minute. Cook for 5 minutes for the rare side of medium rare. You will have a very moist, juicy steak.

 

[Azbubu]

And here it is!

Rump steak with chutney, feta, Jalapeños, blueberries and grilled tomatoes. Best I've ever made

 

[ponder]

And here it is!

Rump steak with chutney, feta, Jalapeños, blueberries and grilled tomatoes. Best I've ever made

You just fscked up

 

[Azbubu]

You just fscked up

No it was great! Much more tender than I expected.

 

[ponder]

No it was great! Much more tender than I expected.

I have a rule, good meat does not need anything on it.

 

[Azbubu]

Just had the stuff lying around so decided to throw it on.

 

[Kornhub]

Just had the stuff lying around so decided to throw it on.

You fry or oven nuke it? Would of done the same with the stuffing

 

[Azbubu]

You fry or oven nuke it? Would of done the same with the stuffing

Only Fried the steak and tomatoes.

 

[paddy_za]

I can't believe no one has mentioned resting the steak? Let it sit in a dish for at least 10 minutes after cooking. I then like to cut it into slithers and then place them back into dish to soak up the juices that have seeped out of the meat while it was resting. Season with salt and pepper. If it is a good cut of meat you don't need to do anything else to it. Serve with a baked sweet potato (baked until the skin has caramelized slightly) with some salty butter.

 

[DJ...]

Searing isn't the best method of cooking a steak, see "The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" by Harold McGee, page 161.

High heat dries out the meat, rather than locking moisture in. It is useful to flavour the meat though, due to the maillard reaction

What I do is place the steak in the oven at 50 degrees centigrade for two to three hours, turning every now and then. Then sear in a hot pan, flipping at least every minute. Cook for 5 minutes for the rare side of medium rare. You will have a very moist, juicy steak.

Top advice. However maintaining 50C is tough to do in most ovens and a little on the low side for a few minutes places the steak in the bacterial danger zone.

For two to three hours (which is relatively short for this type of cooking) I'd prefer to use 60C which is a good internal temperature to eat a steak at.

With regards to the Maillard Reaction, you need a smoking hot pan and you need to oil the steak, not the pan, as the oil will burn. For this method you definitely wouldn't use olive oil as it has a very low smoke point. Peanut oil is best IMO. The maillard reaction is when the amino acids react at high temperatures and create sugars. This reaction creates the dark brown chargrilled lines on most meats and is responsible for the majority of flavour in a steak.

Also, you need to season steaks with plenty of salt and I also use a lot of cracked pepper. Like potatoes, you actually overseason them by normal standards. I enjoy using a basting if I braai the steaks, otherwise I just season with salt and pepper. Here's my recipe for vodka steaks which is absolitely awesome:

Pre-heat a pan to a high temp (not a griddle pan and not a non-stick pan as you'll be making a pan sauce)
Season steaks with salt.
Now thoroughly roll the steaks in cracked black pepper.
Cook them to your preferred temp (rare, well done etc) then remove from the pan and rest them under tin-foil. Don't worry if some black pepper falls off into the pan.
Now pour in about 100ml of vodka (I'm guessing as I do this by sight) and be extremely careful as it can flame up immediately. If it doesn't, then carefully light the vodka and allow the alcohol to burn off.
Now add two teaspoons of Dijon mustard and 250ml of cream.
Season to taste and serve over your steaks.

It is my absolute favourite steak sauce and is even better if you chuck some mushrooms into the mix...

 

[DJ...]

And here it is!

Rump steak with chutney, feta, Jalapeños, blueberries and grilled tomatoes. Best I've ever made

Not too sure about the chutney. I'd have pan-fried the bluberries on a high heat and just had that with the feta. But taste is a personal thing so if you enjoyed it then that's all that matters...

 

[Azbubu]

I'm not sure that I can wait 3-4 hours for a steak while it's on low heat in an oven :O

Will pan-fry the blueberries next time. I like trying more "exotic" ingredients and mixing things up.

 

[DJ...]

This is how I do it and I use the same method for hamburger patties.

Get a cast iron griddle pan (looks like a sinkplaat dak).
Turn the stove plate to max and wait for the pan to start smoking and then wait for it to get past the point of smoking. 15-20min.
Take your steak and put some course ground pepper & salt on both sides. DON'T USE OIL!
Bomb it straight onto the griddle pan. Make sure you have the windows open and extractor fan going as it smokes like hell.
Watch it change colour to almost half way and then turn it over. You want it pink inside, this part comes with experience. If you turned it more than four times it was to much.
Keep a wood cutting block in a warm oven, take it out, rest the steak on it for a few minutes to rest before serving.
You put any sauce on that steak I kill you!

The oil serves a few purposes that are important.

Firstly it helps to avoid it sticking, although if you grill at a high enough temperature that isn't a problem. Also, if you lift a steak 20 seconds after putting it on the pan, and then put it down again, it will have formed enough of a moisture layer on the surface to avoid it sticking. That's an old chef's trick.

Secondly, oil helps to evenly coat and spread your season when it cooks. It also helps your seasoning to "stick" to the meat and even penetrate deeper when cooking.

Thirdly, fat is a distributor of flavour in your mouth. The oil helps to distribute the flavours over more taste buds which ups the flavour according to new science coming out of Ferran Adria's kitchen.

Lastly, the oil helps to sear a crust on to the steak which you cannot get without oil, or at least without overcooking your steaks.

So the oil does serve more purposes than simply helping it not to stick...

 

[DJ...]

I'm not sure that I can wait 3-4 hours for a steak while it's on low heat in an oven :O

Will pan-fry the blueberries next time. I like trying more "exotic" ingredients and mixing things up.

The low, slow method is well worth it but the best thing to do is to sear the steak first on a high heat. This induces the maillard reaction in the meat while it's in the oven. The oven method then helps to break down the protein bonds and fat within the meat so it is super tender. This is why roasts are (usually) so tender.

If you use this method, then you must cut the initial sear off of the steak after it has rested once it comes out of the oven, otherwise it dries out completely. You then sear the steak as suggested before, not forgetting to season the meat.

There is also a myth that putting salt on steaks beforehand will draw out the moisture and make it dry. While the principle is sound, the process is a very, very slow one in red meats as the myocin proteins are strong enough to hold the juices in.

So by all means, season the meat with salt before it goes in the oven. Three hours is not enough time to draw any moisture out. In fact it is believed now that seasoning red meat an hour before cooking is beneficial, due to the salt actually inducing more of a brining reaction which draws flavours into meat, and not out of them...