Subjective steak -- oh the memories!

[Gore]

The flavor difference from cooking technique can be quite surprising. I grew up eating a fair amount of red meat, probably a lot by most standards. Twice a week or so, my father would pick up a few porterhouses. He'd have them cut about 2" thick and they typically weighed just shy of 2 pounds. When we had company, he'd usually get several extra because he never wanted anyone to go hungry, and I usually ate two. We'd have these with baked potato and salad. I probably cooked over a thousand of these by the time I was 18. These were cooked right from the store, so they were still cold. We also liked them a bit on the rare side. The last several years I've been letting them come up to temp before cooking them. This allows for a more uniform interior, not so red that scares some people. The other day, I decided to cook a couple "old style," right from the fridge. It had been a long time.

I couldn't stop myself

Wow, look at all the juice that leaked out. I haven't seen that in a long time, either!

What astonished me were the memories. I get a lot of old memories from food, but this really took me back. It wasn't just cooking and eating steaks with dad, but also the Arizona steakhouses I grew up eating at. Yeah, I season them differently, but the striking flavor was due to how it was cooked. There is something about how the meat breaks down (or doesn't) when that center doesn't fully come up to temp. The chefs at these steakhouses threw those steaks on their mesquite fires right from the cooler. Mine did not have the mesquite flavor and the dominant salt-pepper seasoning they used, nor the extra char on the outside as I used the lid rather than the open-air grill, but the flavor profile of cold steak onto the hot grill was there.

 

[JandJbuidasmoker]

ahh...man... looks amazing! I'll come over if you want to have a taste test! Cold vs. room temp! I'll be a judge! Might take me a few stakes though! lol

 

[LMAJ]

Looks good. The memories are the best part.

 

[Bluesman]

Outstanding................and mine is where......:eyebrows:

 

[Moose]

Nice post, Gore! I like when folks share their memories.

However...I see you missed a few parsley flakes on your plate...:tsk:

:mrgreen:

 

[caseydog]

Ah, the memories. Dad would put some thin sirloins on the grill, turn them several times, with a fork, or course. When they looked done, he'd cut into each one to make sure they were done, and if not, he'd leave them on a while longer, as juices flowed like lava from a meat volcano.

Thanks for the memories, Gore. :doh:

CD

 

[Gore]

Nice post, Gore! I like when folks share their memories.

However...I see you missed a few parsley flakes on your plate...:tsk:

:mrgreen:

Don't worry, Moose, I slurped those up with a straw afterward. :thumb:

Ah, the memories. Dad would put some thin sirloins on the grill, turn them several times, with a fork, or course. When they looked done, he'd cut into each one to make sure they were done, and if not, he'd leave them on a while longer, as juices flowed like lava from a meat volcano.

Thanks for the memories, Gore. :doh:

I'm thinking I'm going to be waiting a while for you to replicate those steaks here.

 

[Moose]

Don't worry, Moose, I slurped those up with a straw afterward. :thumb:

:clap2:

 

[BobM]

That looks great, done just the way I like them! :hungry:

 

[code3rrt]

Looks perfect to me!

 

[bluetang]

Nice dang steaks and great tell! My Mom was a sirloin frier, always a flat bone sirloin. This was way back in the sixties and it seems to me the sirloins were better then than now. All I know it was always on a Saturday when she fried them and nobody ventured far from the house.

 

[Gore]

Nice dang steaks and great tell! My Mom was a sirloin frier, always a flat bone sirloin. This was way back in the sixties and it seems to me the sirloins were better then than now. All I know it was always on a Saturday when she fried them and nobody ventured far from the house.

My mom was a broiler, and I cannot stand the way that tastes. She also loved sirloins. They were her favorite. She is a decent cook now, but has some lapses. Growing up she was awful, but I think it was going to university, working a fulltime job and raising two kids. She just didn't have time. I remember when I was about 2 or 3 coming into the kitchen and there was smoke and flames leaping out of the oven when she was broiling hamburgers. I was terrified and remember running out of the room crying. The hamburgers were black pucks on the outside and raw hamburger in the middle. She couldn't understand why I loved McDonalds.

 

[Bluesman]

My mom took top choice sirloins, T-Bones, tenderloin, whatever. And fried them in a pan until you could use them to resole your shoes........I also went to McDonalds.....:tsk: But could she make chop suey, fried polish doughnuts, bread, and Golapki................Ohhhh I miss that way to much.......

 

[caseydog]

My dad is 80, so he and my mom grew up at a time when it was believed that the only safe way to eat meat was to cook it to death. To some degree, it was true, especially with pork.

My dad's mother was also someone who believed any food that didn't burn your tonsils was "cold." So, dad never learned to "rest" a steak.

My dad grills steaks to medium rare, now, and knows not to puncture or cut into them while hot. He rests them, too.

My mom steams fresh veggies now, too. As a kid, other than the tomatoes and peppers from our garden, and fresh Jersey corn on the cob, when in season, we ate canned or frozen veggies that were boiled to mush.

CD

 

[Al Czervik]

He'd have them cut about 2" thick and they typically weighed just shy of 2 pounds. When we had company, he'd usually get several extra because he never wanted anyone to go hungry, and I usually ate two.

:shock:

But seriously, great post and thanks for bringing back some memories... We didn't have steak all that often growing up, but when we did it was always ribeyes seasoned with Lawrys. They were grilled on a Weber Redhead and always medium rare. The sides often varied, but we always had cottage cheese on the plate too. :mrgreen:

 

[Al Czervik]

we ate canned or frozen veggies that were boiled to mush.

Sounds too familiar... :tsk:

 

[Bluesman]

My best memory is my dad bringing home fresh "live" lobster. Mom would get a kettle of boiling water going with some fresh dill She would throw those babies in and the squealing was unreal............We ate them with melted butter, and shoe leather steak...Ohhh but it was good...........:thumb:

 

[The_Kapn]

My MOM and DAD raised 4 boys in the '40's, 50's, and 60's on a limited income and did a great job feeding that "crew". 8)

But, all the meat (never steak but chuck, pork, etc.) was cooked to death and the veggies were mush.
We loved it and all of us grew up just fine.

At the end of his life a few years ago, I served my DAD a "Medium Rare to Medium " steak. Just "pink".
He just smiled and said it was the best steak he had ever eaten.
And, I don't think he was just being nice!

Times have changed and that is not a part of cooking history I want to re-enter.

Good Thread with great memories and pics.

TIM

 

[Bonewagon]

Fantastic post Gore. I have similar memories, except we had ribeyes instead of porterhouse and seasoned with celery salt. Potato salad and a tossed salad were the ubiquitous sides. Good memories. :thumb: