Pre-searing Steaks
On one of the Top Chef episodes, several seasons ago, one of the chefs pre-seared her steaks for restaurant wars. I was wondering if this is a typical practice and how do you finish up the steak.
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4 Comments:
Never did it with steaks.
When helping a caterer we used to sear tenderloins and finish them on site.
The process worked well for tenderloin. Don't know about steaks though. Unless you were doing many, why bother?
CJ McD at 7:20PM on 11/08/09
If the steak is really thick, you can definitely pre-sear. But if it's only about an inch or so thick, it won't make much difference as a time saver.
Thicker steaks can be seared and then placed in the oven to finish cooking. America's Test Kitchen did a demo of the opposite -- they found that starting steaks in the oven first, and then pan searing eliminated the gray ring around the meat.
WickedGoodDinner at 10:38PM on 11/08/09
It depends on the kitchen. Our restaurant did it to let the steaks rest before getting them hot for serving. It normally wasn't a big deal if an order for a tenderloin came in and you had 1 or 2 courses going before. By the time the steak was cooked and set on the resting rack the table was likely to be fired.
During busy times the medium rare tenderloin I put on when an order was called may not be the same one that goes to that table. I'd just fire up the one that was next in line when called. Like all methods it has its problems, such as the occasional steak sitting on the resting rack for 10-15 minutes.
Just searing (not cooking the meat to desired temp) doesn't make that much sense. Unless you're doing a big catering job and the site doesn't have the equipment to sear off 200 steaks, then I don't see a reason to do it.
phenoderr at 3:23AM on 11/09/09
I belong to a dinner club group that involves between 24 and 32 people. No one has figured out how to serve a steak, that is warm, medium rare and ready for 30 people.
marguerite m at 8:22PM on 11/09/09