What Is a Cowboy Steak?
A cowboy steak is a thick (2 ½”-3”) bone-in ribeye cut between the ribs and feeds 1-2 easily. As with all our beef, these cuts come only from the upper 1/3 of Choice and Prime grades then aged to perfection. Many companies cut all the meat away from the rib bone (Frenching), but at Windsor Meats, we leave that rib meat attached for additional flavor. Call it our gift to the chef.
What is the Best Way to Cook a Cowboy Steak?
The best method we’ve found to properly cook a massive cowboy steak is the Reverse Sear method.
How to Reverse Sear
When done correctly, the reverse sear method will yield a steak with even doneness from edge to edge and a beautifully seared crust. This is not a hard technique to master. There are just a few rules to follow.
● Remove steaks from the fridge 1-2 hours before cooking to allow to come to room temperature.
● Season liberally with your favourite seasoning or just salt and pepper for 30 minutes before cooking. Now Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Roast the meat on a rack until a leave in thermometer reads an internal temperature of 125 degrees (for medium rare) 120 degrees (for rare). Cook time will be about 50 – 75 minutes.
● Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
● Brush each side of the steak with a thin coat of vegetable oil. This allows the steak to make good contact with the pan and sears evenly. DO not use EVOO as it burns as these high heats.
● Heat a cast iron or stainless steal skillet(not non-stick) on till hot then sear steak for 2 minutes per side.
● Don’t forget the sides–hold the steak with tongs vertically and sear the sides.
● Slice and serve.
Have More Time? Maximize Flavor with a Dry Brine
The Reverse Sear method takes a while, but if you start mid-afternoon, you can enjoy it for dinner. If you have more time, you owe it to yourself to try the dry-brining method. This method serves three purposes:
● it draws flavor deep inside the meat
● it allows salt time to denature some of the proteins in the steak, resulting in an even more tender cut
● it dries the surface of the steak so it takes minimal time to sear
Here’s the timetable.
Two Days Before Cooking
◆ Season the steak fairly heavily with kosher salt (½ teaspoon per side)
◆ Also sprinkle on a good amount (maybe ¼ teaspoon per side) of steak seasoning
◆ Set a small, oven-safe rack on a plate or try to catch any juices and refrigerate in a cold refrigerator for 48 hours. You will find that the meat initially gets very wet as the salt goes into solution with the juices it is pulling out of the meat. Once this has happened, the seasoned salt water will get pulled back into the meat through osmosis. As part of the dry-brining process, the surface of the meat will dry out
and will lose its cherry red color.
◆ Remove the steak and rack from the fridge. It will not need any additional seasoning.
➔ Cook the Steak
◆ Put the steak, still on the rack, in a shallow roasting pan and roast in a 200F oven to an internal temperature of 125F, about 1 ½ hours. Check the temperature with an instant read thermometer.
◆ Continue with the reverse sear method, above. Note it will take less time to achieve a nice sear since the surface of the meat is nice and dry after seasoning. It should take no more than 1 minutes 30 seconds per side
