Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Grilled Flat Iron – Make the Steak, Not the Mistake

Well, at least I don’t have to type the ingredient amounts for this could’ve-been-delicious, flat iron steak. I thought for sure maple syrup, coffee, and bourbon would be great together, but it turns out they weren’t even good together. 

Okay, they were bad. It reminded me of some daily special, gone really wrong, at one of those strip mall steakhouses. Luckily, we have several excellent marinades that will work perfectly with this great steak, and I will list a few below. 

Like I said in the video, the real point was to share what a great cut of beef flat iron is for the grill. It checks all the boxes, and requires virtually no trimming. Plus, and very ironically, it’s especially good for absorbing marinades.

So, enjoy this with your favorite pre-grill meat soak, or check out one of the following links. Regardless, I really hope you give flat iron steaks a try soon.  Enjoy!

Here are some marinade recipes that would be perfect for this:

22 comments:

drawnimo said...

coffee whiskey and maple syrup sounds like a GREAT marinade! in theory!

Unknown said...

Great video thanks!!

Wofl said...

This just leaves me wondering why it went wrong...

because I do this steak marinade with brown sugar, bourbon, soy sauce, wostercershire sauce, freshly squeezed lemon juice, pepper, garlic and chives and it is glorious. So probably the coffee?

Unknown said...

First, props to you for posting a technique/ingredient video even though the marinade component was a flop. Second, I wish there was a bigger push back from the food community on the "only turn a steak once" method that is outdated and inferior. Some serious heavyweights: Marco Pierre White, Adam Perry Lang, Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay,... all have videos out there where they advocate turning a steak multiple times for a more even cook. APL calls it the "hot potato" method and explains, scientifically in his book "Charred and Scruffed" why frequently turning produces less of a bulls eye looking steak and a much more even cook. Join the resistance! Flip your steak frequently!

Unknown said...

Tis is also known as the "top blade steak " here in Canada ...

Bret Frohwein said...

lol.. whatever possessed you to think coffee would be good in a marinade?

Alicia said...

Well certainly looks delicious. Would this cook up well without a marinade? I love marinades and seasoning, but my mom is a salt and pepper kinda gal and if she's feeling brave maybe a pinch of garlic powder and that's it.

Elizabeth said...

Thank you for showing us your failures as well as your successes! I have had many dishes that my technique was correct, but my ingredients were the problem, and it's nice to know that it happens to others, too. (A tip to other commenters - don't try to make hollandaise with old fridge butter and bottled lemon juice! BLEUGH!)

Unknown said...

Another amazing video. I am so so so amazed that you produced a video showing a situation that did not come out as desired. Your decision to do this is highly admirable. Thank you,

Elliott Encarnación said...

I'm pretty sure it was the coffee. Ground coffee makes a great rub for gamey cuts of meat, but I think having it liquid in the flesh of the steak while it heats on the grill would create that Starbucks burnt coffee flavour.

Jon K said...

Love the blog & videos. This beef looked amazing (regardless of the taste)!

I'm completely an advocate for moving frequently on direct heat of a grill. Imagine stopping a rotisserie chicken until it's cooked on one side...doesn't make sense. When dealing with high temps like 900 degree charcoal, you're never going to cook through before you burn the outside.

One of the other things that works for me is salt early and spice late. I think if you would have just salted the meat before and treated the 'breakfast style' as a sauce (vice marinade), you no longer risk ruining the cut with bad seasoning. The worst that happens is you throw away the sauce.

In any case, I'm constantly coming back to you for tips and tutorials. Keep up the great work. Because, you are of course, my John Lennon of food inspiration.

Halli said...

Leave the secret breakfast to Humphrey Slocombe (though I don't think I like that flavor anyway) but I think it was probably the coffee that did you in :(.

Unknown said...

Beautiful looking steak Chef John, and I give much respect for admission of an error. Making mistakes is how we learn.

Unknown said...

Hey Chef John for my food wish could you make a video with 5 ingredients we should spare no expense on, and 5 ingredients it's okay to go cheap with. I gotta save some money somewhere! PS we already know about the Parmesan!

Julia said...

Great!
This video describes something we all should embrace if we are going to get to be better cooks. The “something”? Wrong headedness, or idiocy, or bad judgement, or “what-was-I-thinking?”. Choose your descriptor depending on how hideous the result is.

Certain well-known and really respected cooking sites take pride in explaining how much they fine tune recipes with assiduous testing, and their final recipes—finally ready for their close-ups—are really good and useful, but… Wrongheadedness in the trial stages is gently pushed to the side.

And that is a problem because making a cooking mistake that renders the results basically inedible is an emotionally fraught event for the home cook. No one wants to throw out food; and making an inedible dish (or just a yucky one) undermines the confidence of cooks who are thinking they have upped their cooking game. I have friends who will only follow directions to the letter for fear of making a terrible blunder.

So cooking and experimentation become enemies

Chef John, your signature “you are the …… of the ……” already addresses this. Maybe there are other tricks to help us deal with throwing-food-out-anxiety, beyond this brilliant video that allows us to laugh at a what-was-I-thinking? cooking moment.

Thanks

Unknown said...

Please make us a Portuguese Pica Pau beef steak... without the pickles though. You wont regret this one, its up there with the hoisin beef!

John said...

@ Bret,

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss coffee in a marinade. You should check out Chef John's cola and coffee marinated skirt steak recipe. It's incredible! Also, I highly recommend the Kaua'i Aloha Coffee Rub by Aloha Spice Company, which I've put on pretty much every meat!

Inky said...

I'm sorry your marinade didn't work out. However, I'd say that's how we learn to cook! We mess around and experiment, and when it doesn't work out in our favor, we've just learned what NOT to do for the next time. You also have the choice of eating your mistakes or tossing the food. This is basically what I tell my friends when it comes to cooking. Thanks for sharing this one even thought it wasn't quite what you were going for.

As far as using a different marinade goes, what do you think about using the marinade from your Grilled Mojo Beef recipe? Would it be recommendable? Perhaps I'll try it and see for myself!

BroilerChef1234 said...

Just a tip! I love your videos. When you see moisture getting pushed to the surface on a steak it means you're medium, not MR. I apply this mostly to cuts like filet, flat iron, or something like a culotte. Big bone-in rib eyes don't respond the same. I've worked in one of the best steakhouses in the nation for a few years now, and have cooked probably 1000 flat irons now. Anywho, like I said, love your videos and thanks for showing your mistakes, as a cook, we all make them!

Anonymous said...

Oh!! Now, I'm so hungry TT
I want to eat it now.
goldenslot
gclub
goldenslot

panavia999 said...

I don't think bourbon detracts from a marinade or sauce, but I just never noticed any benefit. I decided bourbon is best enjoyed sipped after dinner, not as an ingredient.
Anyway, I think the coffee is the unwise ingredient. A nice Black tea would be better.

farmer said...

moral of the story is that it's ok to flip your meat when you feel like it but make sure your happy with the marinate that your marinating with.