Cooking For Engineers

falcios · Joined: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 2

Is there a way to keep steak from curling when pan frying?
Thanks

Javaman · Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 4

The best way I've found is to remove most of the fat on the outside edges of the steak. At the very least, score it almost down to the meat every 1/2 inch or so. You may need to cut into the meat to deal with silverskin (The thin tough shiny looking stuff) but it's best not to cut into the meat more then necessary due to moisture loss during cooking.

DrBiggles · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 356 Location: Richmond, CA

GaryProtein · Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 535

I was going to say the same thing as DrBiggles. The bacon press is the way to go. If you want to get rid of the fat, do it AFTER you cook the meat.

Thor · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 112 Location: Camp Hill, PA

Compromise. Trim off some of the fatty fringe and toss it in the pan to fry with the steaks.

I don't own a bacon press. But I do have a brick and some aluminum foil.

Javaman · Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 4

Wouldn't any type of press or weight squeeze juices out of the steak?

GaryProtein · Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 535

Thor · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 112 Location: Camp Hill, PA

Maybe a double layer of foil containing some dried beans could act as a press without being over zealous.

SirSpice · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 95

Buy a round 5-10 pound weight at walmart, wrap it in foil, put something flat over the steak, put the weight over that.

Also, you could try making small cuts near the edge of the steak as shown in this video:

http://www.bob-an.com/movie/asx/2-butanosuzigiri.asx

DrBiggles · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 356 Location: Richmond, CA

Thor · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 112 Location: Camp Hill, PA

The narration isn’t in English, so this is visual only for most of us, and we have to assume the method demonstrated is intended to prevent curling. The subject appears to be a boneless center cut pork chop that has an edging of fat, a potential curler. The point of a knife is used to produce a small nick in both the fat and the meat at the interface between said muscle and flavor. The fat band is left wholly intact. The entire perimeter of the chop is nicked at about 1 inch intervals. Once pork poking is complete, a flat meat mallet is used to slightly flatten the chop by spanking its edges. The blows concentrate on the fatty edges and use a sweeping motion from the center of the chop towards the edge. The entire perimeter is partially flattened in this manner. The demonstration ends without satisfaction.

Has anyone tried it to see if works??

SirSpice · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 95

Well, this isn't really meant for steak, it's for tonkatsu (schnitzel with panko instead of breadcrumbs). I've tried it with grilled chicken breast, but I'm not sure if it didn't curl because of the cuts.

And the weights I use are 2.5 pounds, I don't know how I came up with 10 pound.

Thor · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 112 Location: Camp Hill, PA

SirSpice · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 95

Actually it wasn't grilled chicken, it was fried chicken schnitzel. And I have had chicken curl a bit when deep frying. I was just trying it for the sake of trying it and to see how the end product looks.

I do know that Tonkatsu tends to curl when I fry it. I've never tried the slits on it before though.