minute steak

many dates

General rule for a rare to medium-rare steak:
The thinner the steak, the hotter the pan and the shorter the cooking time.

For a minute steak—1/4" thick or less— that means a smoking-hot (non-stick?) frying pan and very brief cooking times. Minute Steak is called that because it cooks in just about that time. You want the outside seared by very high temperatures, but without giving that heat the time to penetrate into the meat. I find our table grill with thermostat @ 350-400+ ºF very useful for this.

You can sometimes find pork minute steaks from pork—e.g. thin-cut pork chop.

Chicken or turkey breast consists of several muscle groups that are about the right thickness for searing in a similar way.

Top Round minute steak

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for 2-3 servings:

1 lb. thin-cut top round steak
1 tbsp. olive oil
S&P

Pic1: top round minute steak
clean look, single muscle with no visible gristle

Directions

Add S&P to the olive oil.
Lightly rub that on both sides of the meat.
Warm up the table grill to it’s highest temperature.
Add just a few slices of meat to the midline of the grill.
The meat should sizzle as soon as it touches the surface.
Push down on the meat with a slotted spatula for better contact with the hot surface. Especially chuck steak tends to bulge in places and would cook unevenly.
Do not move the steak until it sears properly (30 seconds for rare to 60 for medium), then turn it over just the one time and repeat.
Turning more frequently prevents the meat from reaching the high temperature needed for searing properly. It also causes the meat to cook throughout.
When done, move all the slices onto a pre-warmed plate.
Cover and let it rest a minute.
Serve with the sauce of the day.

Chuck minute steak

The chuck steak at our local grocery store Peppers here in Deming, NM is carefully cut against the grain and as a result it is surprisingly tender . Top round minute steak is so lean that it doesn't have much flavor.

Chuck steak and chuck tender steak are cut through several muscles with some fat streaks in between. If you're not careful, this connective tissue between the muscled may separate like lace and you'll be left with several small pieces.

I prefer to cook these on a grill or in a frying pan. It gives me a better feel for what's going on. It is so easy to get a thin steak too far gone in the oven where you can't see it. (Pic7)

Pic2: thin-cut chuck steak, many different muscles with fat and gristle in between
Pic3: pan-fried chuck steak - 2016-10-18
Pic4: another day another steak - pan-fried 2019-09-05

2019-09-23

Pic5: a slightly thicker chuck steak on the oven grill
Pic6: nicely colored
Pic7: a bit overdone for my preference, not nearly well-done enough for Marielos

2016-12-29

Pic8: chuck tender steak
Pic9: pan-frying
Pic10: juuuust right for me

2021-08-10: steak archiduc

Pic11-13: meal #2: larger, medium(-rare)

This was a good example of dark-searing a thin-cut steak without over-cooking it on the inside.

Top Round minute steak

Chuck minute steak

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more and avemariasongs.org

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more
and avemariasongs.org