Story Tools
Ever since the first cavemen rubbed two sticks together to create fire, the urge to place a thick, juicy steak on top of it has been irrepressible. Nothing satisfies one’s inner caveman (or woman) more than biting into a perfectly grilled prime steak. But, with prices for prime meat approaching $25 per pound, a good steak dinner has changed from a weekly dinner staple into an “affordable luxury.” If I’m going to spend that kind of money, it had better be awesome.
In order to ensure that my next steak dinner was up to par, I turned to a man who has been making steak dinners awesome for a long time: Chris Palmer, the executive chef of Maxwell & Dunne’s steakhouse, in Plainview. A hulking man who looks as though he would be more comfortable behind an IFC steel cage than a stainless-steel stove, Palmer’s gruff, tattooed exterior masks a more subtle worldview. As a professional chef, Palmer has been cooking conventionally for years, but something changed with the birth of his son. “My children made me realize the importance of food sourcing,” says Palmer. “All I ever wanted to do was provide my customers with the best. When I found out I wasn’t doing that by serving conventional food, I had to make some hard decisions.” When Palmer switched everything in the restaurant (with the exception of the steaks) to 100 percent organically sourced food, his regular customers rebelled. “We lost more than two-thirds of our customers—the ‘steakhouse guys’ who didn’t understand that what organic really meant.”
Despite the initial customer downturn, the move looks prescient now. Palmer has tons of new customers—many of whom would never think of setting foot in a steakhouse before. After tasting one of his all-natural Porterhouse steaks, I, too, was convinced. I wanted to find out how I could replicate that steak experience in my backyard. Here is my summer guide to grilling great all-natural steaks, courtesy of tips I garnered from my visit to Maxwell & Dunne’s:
Sourcing
Although “free range” chicken has been around for a number of years, the beef industry has lagged behind in terms of providing consumers with many choices for sourcing their meat. Despite a lot of noise around the humane treatment of cattle, consumers just weren’t requesting source-verified, hormone-free meat. That dynamic is quickly changing, as consumers are demanding more accountability from meat producers. Steak lovers who are concerned with the humane treatment of cattle have a couple of choices: 100 percent certified-organic beef, from cattle fed exclusively on grass, and “all-natural” beef that are fed on grass and corn. For steak lovers, an “all-natural” steak has to suffice, since prime beef cannot come from cattle that are fed exclusively on grass (corn fattens cows up a lot better). Therefore, you are looking for all-natural, source-verified, certified-humane, 100 percent antibiotic- and steroid-free Angus beef. That’s a lot to remember. Luckily, there is really only one producer that breeds 100 percent steroid- and hormone-free prime Angus beef, and that is Meyer’s Natural Angus. Founded in 1990, the Meyer ranch in Montana is the standard-bearer in the natural-beef industry, and is leading the way in helping Angus producers raise cattle humanely, without drugs or chemicals. You can find Meyer’s products in your local Whole Foods Market.
I talked to Meyer’s Del Holzer about what makes his beef better than the rest. Just back from a trip to the company’s Helmville, MT, ranch, Del explained to canvas that consistency is the key in the beef business.
“We originally set out to consistently provide the best-tasting beef—a simple statement that is complicated by the word ‘consistently,’” claims Del. “Many beef programs produced in a traditional commodity-beef environment search for high- quality beef, and therefore it is a byproduct of the process and not the driving direction. They will, on occasion, provide a very good eating experience. In the food-service business, ‘occasionally’ is not preferred. Chefs have been asking for years ‘Why can’t I get the same steak every time and why can’t it be a great eating experience?’ We are convinced that the only way to consistently deliver incredible beef is to invest and manage before the processing plant. We must control what happens to the animal from birth to plate to be certain the quality and consistency the chef demands will always be there.”
Part of that control involves using only Angus cattle (and documented, certified Angus cattle); using no hormones or antibiotics; feeding them a 100 percent vegetarian diet; and honoring the commitment to a certified-humane breeding process. Regarding the latter, Del says, “we are the only natural Angus company you will find that has the commitment to be involved with a third party to provide transparency to our process (unheard of), guidelines to follow, and ongoing audits of our execution of the plan. We have already proven since being Certified Humane since 2002 that our commitment to humane treatment of the animals has a big impact on consistency and overall quality. It just makes good business sense, and is good ol’ common sense at the same time.”
The approach seems to be working, and not just at Maxwell & Dunne’s, where they specifically market an all-natural steak. On Long Island, other Meyer’s customers have found that an investment in quality beef (whether steak or burger) makes great business sense. Some of Del’s customers include Rookies Sports Club in Huntington, Horace & Sylvia, in Babylon, Maguire’s, on Fire Island, and Fiddleheads in Oyster Bay.
Grading
There are many different grades of meat, but when you are thinking about a great steakhouse steak, you are thinking of “prime” meat. Every steak has some white, flexible fat, called marbling, embedded within the meat. The more fat marbled within the interior meat, the more prime the steak is. There are three grades: prime, choice, and select. Prime meat, which accounts for less than 3 percent of all steaks sold, is primarily sold to high-end restaurants and gourmet stores, or exported. Prime beef should be a vibrant red color and beautifully marbled, with thin streaks of pure white fat. The “choice” grade of meat actually encompasses a large range. Many steakhouses use the top tier of choice, which is hard to distinguish from “prime.” At the lower end of the spectrum are “select” cuts, which are the steaks you will encounter at your local supermarket or Price Club. Price-wise, you should be prepared to spend about triple for prime or high-end choice steaks.
Cut
Now that you have selected a proper prime or high-grade choice steak, the next thing to look for is the cut. For my money, there is nothing more elegant than the porterhouse. The porterhouse is two steaks in one: a delicious strip steak on one side (from the short loin section), and a filet mignon on the smaller side (from the tenderloin section), separated by a t-shaped bone. The porterhouse is basically the t-bone’s richer cousin, and features more tenderloin and a larger “tail” section. Another great steak is the rib-eye. From the fattier rib section of the cattle, rib-eye steaks are very flavorful and great for marinating. You can’t go wrong with either.
Aging
Let’s face it: you don’t have to be Jean-Georges Vongerichten to cook a great steak. You just need to put it on a hot grill and flip it once. Therefore, the real key to making a great steak comes in the selection. In New York, when we think of great steak, we think of places like Peter Luger’s and Delmonico’s—restaurants that made dry-aged steaks famous. Although many parts of the country don’t age their prime meat, New Yorkers who know tend to demand it. In the dry-aging process, a freshly harvested rib-eye or short loin of beef is placed in a pristine, 40°F, humidity-controlled environment and allowed to dry for 21 days. As the outside of the meat hardens, the inside becomes more and more tender. After 21 days, the “bark” is trimmed from the outside of the meat, and the steaks are ready to be grilled.
Cooking
Now that you have found your perfect, prime, dry-aged, all-natural Angus porterhouse steak, you are ready to cook it. This should be done over extremely high heat. There are three recommended ways to cook a prime steak: grill at extremely high temperature, broil under infrared heat, or pan-sear the steak over a high flame. Since most of us do not have access to professional-level kitchen equipment that produces extremely high heat, grilling is recommended. Chris Palmer recommends using an all-natural, hardwood lump charcoal, which burns hotter than ordinary briquettes. Royal Oak is one brand that’s easy to find.
All grills cook differently, so there aren’t any good universal guidelines for timing the steak. A good chef should be able to test the “doneness” of his steak by pressing into the meat with his finger. A rare steak will feel soft to the touch; a medium steak will feel firm but yielding to the touch; and a well-done steak will feel firm. I find that, for a 2-inch-thick steak, approximately four minutes on each side yields a perfectly rare steak on my old Weber kettle grill.
WHERE’S THE BEEF?
Resources
Meyer Natural Angus
meyernaturalangus.com
Certified Humane
certifiedhumane.org
Local Restaurants Serving
Meyer’s Natural Angus Beef
Maxwell & Dunne’s
1600 Round Swamp Rd., Plainview
mdsteakhouse.com
Rookies Sports Club
345 Main St., Huntington
rookiesny.com
Horace & Sylvia
100 Deer Park Ave., Babylon
horaceandsylvia.com
Maguire’s (Fire Island)
1 Bay Walk, Ocean Beach
maguiresbayfrontrestaurant.com
Fiddleheads
62 South St., Oyster Bay
fiddleheadsnewyork.com
Chris O’Hara is author of six cookbooks, and has been seen showing off his barbeque skills on the Today Show.
