Why do steaks curl up in the frying pan?

And how do you keep them from doing that?

"em" wrote

And how do you keep them from doing that?

Cook thicker steaks?

Also some ribeyes have a membrane around the outside of them. That should be
removed or at least cut through in several places.


--
Bob
http://www.kanyak.com

"Opinicus" wrote in message
...
"em" wrote

And how do you keep them from doing that?

Cook thicker steaks?

Oh.

I've been trying to pick thinner steaks because they cook faster.


Also some ribeyes have a membrane around the outside of them. That should
be removed or at least cut through in several places.

I'll try that. I assume you mean around the circumference.

Mike

em wrote:
:: And how do you keep them from doing that?

Get a George Foreman (or similar) or don't fry. Broil. At least, that works
for me.

Steaks curl up in the frying pan for roughly the same reasons that
potatoe chips curl. Unequal shrinkage in different directions from the
heat or processing conditions.

Fiber texture, thermal gradients and membranes or layers of tissue (such
as fat) which shrink differently (expand or contract) than the
surrounding medium will do it. The rib bones in certain cuts of meat
don't shrink during cooking, but the tissue does and this is one of the
reasons for the porkchop curl.

Things like the cutting through of membranes or fat layers are one way
of disrupting this differential shrinkage.

Thickness of meat cut is one way to prevent the "buckling" or lateral
deflection that one sees in certain thin cuts of meat, thin sliced
potatoes becomming chips and the drying of many leaves.

Mechanical flattening methods include things like the George Foreman
grill which is often successful in keeping thin pork chops flat during
cooking.

Wet cooking methods and time will introduce enough plasticizing water to
soften the collegen and allow the subsequent flattening of cooked meats.


Opinicus wrote:
"em" wrote


And how do you keep them from doing that?


Cook thicker steaks?

Also some ribeyes have a membrane around the outside of them. That should be
removed or at least cut through in several places.

On Nov 1, 2:13 am, "em" wrote:
And how do you keep them from doing that?

For thin meats:
Use a bacon press or a foreman style grill.

For all meats, you can make cuts around the circumfrence
of the steak about about .5-1" intervals. You want to cut
non-meat, non-bone stuff. So, connective tissue and fat.

Lastly, buy thicker steaks. Pan sear for a minute or two
to a side. Then transfer to a 400-450 over for some time,
depending on thickness and desired doneness, 4-8 minutes,
approximately. Superior method anyway to pan fry.

"em" wrote:
"Opinicus" wrote:
"em" wrote

And how do you keep them from doing that?

Cook thicker steaks?

I've been trying to pick thinner steaks because they cook faster.

Maybe think of this as the Philly Cheesesteak issue - Get thin enough
steaks and you need to keep them moving while on the flat surface.
They come out delicious. Get thick enough and they hold their shape
while on the flat surface. They come out delicious. In between
thicknesses take different creativity. Since I like Philly
Cheesesteak
style I suggest going for thinner still to the point the curling is a
part
of the deal. It also lets you mix in peppers and shrooms and stuff ...

Saw this on Good Eats, but he was cooking grilled cheese sandwiches,
worth a try:

Use two frying pans; one a little smaller than the other. Heat both
up on the stove. Put the steak in the larger one, put the smaller one
ON TOP of the steak (i.e. the bottom of the pan contacts the food).
Cooks both sides at the same time, holds the steak flat.

Not sure if the small pan will hold enough heat to cook it through,
but if you get it hot enough it will at least sear it.

DJ Delorie wrote:

Saw this on Good Eats, but he was cooking grilled cheese sandwiches,
worth a try:

Use two frying pans; one a little smaller than the other. Heat both
up on the stove. Put the steak in the larger one, put the smaller one
ON TOP of the steak (i.e. the bottom of the pan contacts the food).
Cooks both sides at the same time, holds the steak flat.

Not sure if the small pan will hold enough heat to cook it through,
but if you get it hot enough it will at least sear it.

I bet this idea comes from the traditional dutch oven with three
legs and a lip around the cover. Hot coals werescooped onto the
top so the heat would come from all directions. Alton Brown
might have only been using the smaller pan for a quick sear that
turns into a bacon press, but add some heat source and you get
the dutch oven effect.

Charcoal only works outdoors, but how about those infrared
NuWave ovens I see in informercials? "I see the light". Has anyone
tried one of these cooking devices? They start with a frozen steak
and use a heat source from above plus an insulated chamber to
supply heat from every direction to cook. It might work okay to
prevent curling ...

Doug Freyburger writes:
Alton Brown might have only been using the smaller pan for a quick
sear that turns into a bacon press,

As I said, he was cooking grilled cheese sandwiches, and there was
plenty of heat to do that. He didn't do meat that way, that was
something I thought of.