Steak
 

Who has the best, juiciest, most tender filet or rib eye, available in the area?

I stopped buying steak in restaurants. I buy 2-inch thick, half pound, USDA Prime filets at Publix for $30 per pound. I cook them on an electric grill at home, and they are way better and cheaper than in any restaurant that I have been to in the area. If you order a steak in a restaurant, you will most likely get USDA Choice or worse. If I go to a steak restaurant, I will usually order a hamburger or fish and chips.

The problem I have in cooking steaks is you cannot get the stove hot enough to char the meat.

ChopHouse in Sumter has several prime cuts. I am a huge carnivore and I like their prime cuts.

I agree about home cooking. What I have started doing is putting a cast iron skillet on the grill. I get to 400deg and put a nice sear on the steak.

I have heard that it helps to put the steak in the freezer for about an hour before you try to sear it.

New one on me, cooking shows say let it sit out to about room temp before cooking. Broiler just does not get hot enough and too much trouble to buy a propane grill and use it.

Oscar Penns in Inverness. The best melt in your mouth prime rib......Friday and Saturday menu only.

They also have a 2 inch pork chop that is unbeatable.

Anything on the menu is outstanding.

I think you should try it.

"A great steak has a beautiful brown crust, usually achieved in steakhouses with commercial grills and broilers that get much hotter than anything you have at home. A quick hit on that kind of equipment rapidly evaporates surface moisture on the steak and forms the perfectly charred crust.

But with a little trick from Cook’s Illustrated magazine, you can get close. Put your freshly salted steak in the freezer unwrapped on a rack over a paper-towel lined baking sheet for 45 minutes, right before you intend to cook. Freezers are incredibly dry environments (because the moisture in them, well, freezes) and so food placed in a freezer unwrapped dries very quickly. 45 minutes is just enough to dry out the surface without freezing the steak. Any longer than an hour and the steak may start to freeze.

After 45 minutes, take it out and start to grill or pan-sear right away.

(Most chefs recommend letting the steak come to room temperature before grilling or pan frying. The thinking is that if you start with cold meat, the tendency is to burn the outside before cooking the inside to desired doneness. I’ve never found that to be a problem with the “Restaurant Method” I describe below, and in this case, it would ruin the quick-freeze effect.)"

We grill just about everything on our new Weber gas grill.

Steaks, hamburgers, pork chops, chicken, and ribs, pizza, and I can do it in flip flops and t-shirt.
:icon_hungry: :thumbup: Must be my Midwestern roots.
Don't have to fight the crowds, dress up, or pay high prices for a nicer meal you can make at home.

Grilling also helps to keeps the house cooler in these 90-degree days.

Thanks I think I will give it a try next time we buy steak.

A reverse sear works well. Most of my steaks start by Sous Vide and finish in cast iron.

My wife is the cast iron queen on our Weber propane grill. Mostly fresh fish, but also the occasional delicious steak.

Oh man, they all sound pretty good to me. My two older sons and their mommy, Mrs. Nucky do some magic on steak and I’m in a hotel room in Savanna now but feel like waking her up and going on home for a steak now.

I’m probably better off not carrying out that plan cause she was watching how to kill your husband and get away with it before she knocked out. Steak tomorrow is a good idea. Thanks guys.

P.S. I came back down 95 instead of the secret way, you know 77 to 81 blah blah blah. Remind me the way you taught me is much better but tomorrow I get to try, avoid the ticket on 301 in Starke. No ticket, Steak reward. If I get a ticket, peanut butter wi fluffernutter to ground meat with Hamburger Helper.

Great thread. Thank You All.

We like Mark's in Ocala. Always good.

Prima Italian Steakhouse - The Villages, Florida - a modern Italian Steakhouse excellent and Marks in Ocala

Not many answers to the OP’s question!

I like Mark’s Prime in Ocala and Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa. Bern’s is supposed to be one of the best in the country and going there is a real treat and worth the drive.

We do them at home. I use reverse sear method. Cook slow and low on the smoker then remove and sear on the hot Grill. Perfection.

Depends on your taste buds - and it is a personal choice - so in other words time to take a chance and GO FOR IT!!

Another vote for the sous vide method. My wife cooks the steaks to the required doneness (usually medium) then tosses them into a cast-iron pan that she gets smoking hot--no problem as we have one those six-burner gas stoves and it gets stuff REALLY hot--gets the outside of the steak a deep dark brown in no time at all. Results are excellent.

Go buy a Blackstone Griddle. You can get a 17” for under $100 of if you prefer to cook indoors that a Ninja Grill it will cook a perfect steak in under 10 minutes cook time.

Marks Prime on the square in Ocala

Mark’s Prime on the Square in Ocala. Reservations recommended.

Lopez legacy had the best filet I've had so far. Chop House was great last time I was there a year ago. Prima messed up my steak twice on one visit and gave me a gift card which I haven't gone back to use.

I agree with the person who said they prefer making steaks at home. I order filets from Porter and York, expensive, but whenever I've served them to anyone, they all commented it's the best steak they've ever eaten.

They even have a site on YouTube on how to cook them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRWuG5SCYNY

Best steak in the Villages?
 

Prime Strip Steak, 1.75-2.00 inches thick. Cut at any of the butcher shops in any of the supermarkets. Meat Thermometer. Sear it and Grill it. And Choice is excellent as well - just a little less fat. Makes little difference if you eat rare or medium rare. No restaurant is going to match your grill.

Prime Rib
 

Fri & Sat. Had prime rib at Rose Plantation yesterday The Rose Plantation

On a par with NYC!

For comparison. Prices are based on buying 2-inch thick, 8 ounce steaks. The prices do not include shipping, which adds a substantial amount, depending on the size of your order.

Porter and York, USDA Prime filet mignon, $70 per pound
Allen Brothers, USDA Prime filet mignon, $100 per pound
Publix, USDA Prime filet mignon, $30 per pound

All of these places sell good steaks. I used to buy from Allen Brothers, but I have been very satisfied with Publix. Allen Brothers just got too expensive.

I really like the fillets at The Texas Roadhouse. I have tried most places in and around the villages and these are the best! It is not a fancy place, but that is not what I am going for!

I personally like a strip more than a filet. Much more flavorful, on the other hand, my wife who is not a big meat eater, likes the filet for it’s tenderness.

I'll give it a try, a couple of years ago I order a prime rib from Publix and it was terrific

Mark's Prime Steakhouse is the best around. At home, a premium thick cut seasoned and room temperature cooked on a HOT grill and turned once is the way to go.

For our steak fix we go to Sam's Club and buy filet, choice or prime. Seared on the grill and cooked rare, the meat is tender and "buttery." Husband can never get a restaurant to cook it undone enough for him.

RG's suggestion from "Cook's Illustrated" above about putting it in the freezer for an hour merits a try. That magazine has lots of good ideas and recipes.

Best steak
 

Grade A Prime sold at Fresh Market. The best I have ever had.

I have had a good steak at Chop House here in the Villages. Yachtsman Steakhouse at Disney’s Yaght Club resort is really good too. They almost make them as good as we do at home. The problem I’ve found with most restaurants is that you might have an amazing steak there once then when you go back, not so much. Inconsistency is an issue for me. Been too long since I’ve been to Bern’s in Tampa to review it, but that’s probably an excellent recommendation and worthy of a special occasion.

A good fillet is something we sous vide and sear on a very hot Big Green Egg. A 1” -1 1/2”ribeye we like to cook fully on the egg to just below desired temp. (Recently had a 2 1/2” cowboy ribeye off the sous vide with sear…holy cow that was amazing). We spray the meat with duck fat just before throwing on the grill which makes a good flame for searing.

More critical is where to get meat. I have not found an equal to Wassi’s in Melbourne, but I did get some quality Prime cuts ordered from Snake River Farms recently. Neither are inexpensive. Tried butcher box….terrible quality.

I did think about trying Best Meats in Wildwood. Anyone have insight to their quality?

Hate to burst everyone's bubble about steak houses and restaurants cooking steaks. They actually put them in a baggie and put the baggie in boiling water. They put a meat thermometer in the steak, and once it reaches the temperature desired for the level of doneness the customer wants they pull it out and sear it in a frying pan. You're basically eating boiled meat for $40 a plate.

Sous Vide does not boil meat. The water is at a low temperature not boiling.

You just described "sous vide" cooking...

Google it, it's most certainly not "boiled meat"...

:thumbup:

If you don't mind driving to Ocala, I think that Mark's is a great place to get a steak. I find it interesting that their website shows a photo of a filet mignon, but it doesn't have a crust on it. Also, they say the filet mignon is USDA inspected, but not whether it is Choice or Prime. They offer a 7 ounce and an 11 ounce filet mignon.

For the 11 ounce filet, with a salad, potato, tax, and 20 percent tip, you will pay about $92, or $184 for two. If you plan to drink anything, the sky is the limit. Note that the Chophouse in The Villages is less expensive than Mark's.