10 Tips for Preparing a Strip Steak?

Answer 1

These tips for preparing strip steak will have your guests praising the cook before dinner is over.

Tips for Preparing Strip Steak

1. Before you head home with that hunk of beef, understand a little about how steak is graded. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) sorts beef into eight categories for grading. Three of them are usually available in markets: prime, choice, and select. If you want a juicy strip steak with good marbling, opt for a prime or choice cut.

2. You'll find lots of marinades and rubs for steak, but strip steak doesn't need much adornment or fussing to make a magnificent meal. It's naturally marbled, which insures tenderness (as long as you don't overcook it), and has robust flavor. If you're into beef, it's one of the best cuts for discriminating carnivores who don't want to sacrifice flavor for tenderness. A filet mignon is fork tender, but it can also be so delicately flavored that you won't get the beefy goodness that makes steak night so satisfying.

3. If you're going native with your strip steak and want to add regional herbs and spices, prefer a rub over a marinade that can alter the texture of the meat. Marinades contain acids, like wine, lemon juice and soy sauce that break down the connective tissue in meat to make it tender. Strip steak is already tender, so rub on some flavor with spices, but leave that marinade in the bottle.

4. One side of you’re a strip steak will typically sport a layer of fat. Fat helps keep steak moist during cooking, but it can also cause flare-ups on the grill. If you're leaving it on, use some caution during prep. If that pad of fat looks unsightly for presentation purposes, remove it just before serving.

5. Allow raw strip steak to come to room temperature before cooking.

6. Grilling, pan frying and broiling are the most popular methods of preparing a strip steak. Whichever you choose, don't poke holes in the meat before cooking it. Piercing your steak with a fork will let essential juices escape as the meat cooks. Use tongs instead.

7. Rather than skewer your steak with a meat thermometer, learn to use the finger test. It's a less invasive way to determine doneness in meat.

8. Oil your grill or broiler to keep steak from sticking. When broiling strip steak, keep the meat about six inches from the heat source.

9. When grilling strip steak, don't add the meat until the coals are grey. Use the direct heat method, and keep the grill lid in place while cooking.

10. You want to keep the juices in the meat while it cooks, so flip steaks every three to five minutes through the cook cycle.

Beyond being delicious, strip steak is also easy to prepare. A one to one-and-a-half inch steak will make a very generous helping and the addition of some sautéed mushrooms, an oven baked potato and a side salad will transform dinner into a meal worth dressing up for.

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