Is it possible to steam steak?

Question

Steaming seems like an ideal cooking method; I've seen it used for mostly vegetables, sometimes fish (salmon).

Is it possible to steam a steak? Does it cook well? (I assume the target is medium doneness.)

What are the limitations of steaming steak? For example, I usually marinate mine in some oil, soy sauce, salt, black pepper, and garlic; I assume if I steam it, I would put the soy sauce in the steaming liquid.

Answer 1

You could do it, and it would certianly cause the meat to be cooked. However, I suspect it would lead to a less-than-tasty result. There are two potential issues here that I can see:

1. If you're steaming, the temperature maxes out at 100 degrees Centigrade. This leads to longer cooking time, and a "washed" look. Think of how the chicken meat looks in chicken soup.
2. You'll be losing the Maillard reaction, which is what gives that lovely outside texture to anything fried. This is because of the relatively low temperature of steaming, and the lack of liquid (oil) to react with.

Answer 2

As Sean already says, yes you can. The result will be different than cooking on a high heat. So, if you are going to steam, think about:

• Sous-vide (like) bags to prevent watering down the steak and losing flavor.
• Low heat for some time (50ºC) for the enzymes to tenderize the meat (adjust time according to meat tenderness).
• A bit higher heat (54ºC) for doneness (adjust according to meat/preference).
• Let the meat rest until 50ºC, then sear very high heat, very short on both sides.

Look at Cooking Issues for more and better info.

This nice chart will give you the minimum temperature and time needed to fully pasteurize the food.

Source, again Cooking Issues.

Answer 3

Well I steam steak quite often, My mother in law is from Holland, and has this wonderful way to do it, AND so so tasty !!!

You will need the following.

4 cloves of garlic - sliced thinly a bunch of parsley - chopped fine 1 jar of bonox around a 1/2 a cup of butter.

Now find a Pyrex dish that will fit in side your pot, use that pot lid to cover the pyrex dish.

Slice the steak into thin slices, then hammer / pound each slice until all is flattened. Once this is done, smear butter or Margarine all over the walls and the bottom of the dish, lay the steak in a single layer, enough to cover the bottom of the dish. add a few slices of garlic, and sprinkle over some parsley, place a few dollops of bonox around the steak and some knobs of butter. Continue this in layers until all the meat is in the pyrex dish.

Now boil the kettle, place all the boiled water in the bottom of the pot, place the pyrex dish over the steaming water, and place the lid on the top of the pyrex dish. Cooking time is around 2 to 3 hours depending on the volume of meat you are cooking, the steam / heat from the water melts the bonox and the butter, combined with the juice from the steak makes a very VERY tasty sauce.

I check the meat after the first hour, stir it around so it does not dry out, and all the meat is coated, as the heat in the pyrex dish builds up and the meat is getting hot, check every 15 to 30 minutes,AND don't forget to keep an eye on the water level in the pot, keep adding boilt water from the kettle. I serve this up with HOT chips from the fish and chip shop and a warm vienna loaf of bread to mop up the sauce at the end. I had also served mash potato in stead of chips.

Its a family favorite and have been asked by many how to cook it, as the flavor is out of this world. So try it, and enjoy it !!!

Answer 4

I don't see any reason that you couldn't steam a steak. It would provide a gentle cooking environment to get your cut of meat to a desired level of doneness, so you would be hedging against the drying effect that flareups can have. And you are going to heat the outside surface quickly enough to overcome any objections to having meat in the danger zone for too long.

As far as limitations go, I don't know that there would be any from a cooking perspective, but it may alter the flavor profile (maybe for better, possibly for worse), and you're going to get a sickly looking piece of beef with uninteresting texture. Maybe you get around that by searing it at the end, after you've reached your desired internal temperature.

The only way you'll find out if this is a winner or not is through experimentation. Get two cheap steaks, both of the same cut and roughly equivalent size, and cook one the way you normally would, and the other with your steam method.

Answer 5

Steamed steak can be seasoned after cooking and added to salads. Very delicious and easy. Cooks a lot of fat away as well.

Answer 6

Steaming is actually very similar to sous vide. There are ovens called combi ovens where you control both temperature and humidity. First you steam until it has reached the appropriate internal temperature and then you sear it in a hot dry oven or hot pan to give it a nice crust. Here is a webpage of someone that has done it.

http://jetcitygastrophysics.com/2011/03/21/modernist-cuisine-at-home-combi-oven-rib-eye/

Answer 7

Take aways from the answers:

1. Steaming it in a dish with seasonings and flavorings allow you to cook the beef in this and its own flavorful juices.
2. You need to finish this steak for the browning or the Maillard reaction. I suggest finishing on a lump charcoal chimney for a smoky grilled flavor. Chimney will get very hot (hotter than an ordinary grill) and will enable you to sear the surface very quickly without overcooking the inside meat, much like a torch will do.

So in a way this is a lot like reverse searing your steak.

I would recommend a baste of an emulsion mixture prior to grilling. Mayonnaise, butter and soy sauce or tamari. Mayo is the emulsifier, butter for the flavor, tamari or soy for the umami and saltiness. And mayo helps the surface brown well.

Answer 8

It's possible to steam a steak. You will cook it and you will remove all the flavour.

@BaffledCook is giving you good advice with the sous-vide route, but it requires specialist kit to do, which even a lot of professional kitchens don't have. You can glad wrap or bag your steak before steaming - highly recomended since it with retain all the flavour of both the steak and the marinade. But to get that lovely finish, brown surface (the Maillard reaction mentioned by @Carmi) you're going to have to drop it onto some hot iron! A Skillet, pan, what ever you want to call it!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that steaming a steak is disrespecting the animal it came from. Bring your steak and marinade up to room temp or a little warmer and sear it on a smoking hot skillet. Enjoy.

PS putting soy in the water will have very little effect since the mineral element will not evaporate in a manner that will season your meat, and any of the more volatile compounds that might add the light, more fragrant seasoning notes, will have evaporated in the first couple of minutes.