Should steaks be left at room temp before cooking?

Should steaks be left at room temp before cooking?

There’s a common belief that steaks should be left on the counter at room temp for 20-30 minutes before cooking. The idea is to “let the steak come to room temp”, allowing for more even cooking.

The fact is that the change in temperature after 20-30 minutes is almost negligible. For these thin steaks, they only rose by 7°F. @JKenjiLopezAlt did a similar experiment with a larger 15oz steak. After 20 minutes it only rose by 2 degrees… after 2 hours the steak was still at 49.6F, nowhere near room temp. At that rate it would take 6 hours to reach room temp and would become a food safety concern.

I’ve heard the argument that a cold steak hitting a hot pan will make the fibers “tense up” but I question this theory. Whether the steak is cold or at room temp, it is being placed into a ripping hot 600F pan. The small difference in steak temp is nothing compared to the extreme heat it’s being exposed to. I’d be interested to see a study done, but I question any noticeable differences in texture.

Results:
I noticed no differences between the two steaks. The crust, tenderness, and grey band were the same. Interestingly it took nearly the same amount of time to cook them, as the “fridge” steak quickly caught up with the “room temp” steak (see graph in video).

If you’re going to do anything to a steak before cooking, a better idea is to dry brine. Add your salt at least 2 hours before, ideally overnight for better flavor, texture and crust.

[SenpaiKai]

Dope video Max.
Can you do an update where the steak is brought to 70 degrees + (2ish hours)

[thefreakasaurus]

as a canadian i got so freaked out when he said that the temperature had raised "only 15 degrees" because in celcius that makes a world of difference and then some

[serraislife]

When your room temp is the same temp as the fridge:…

[Lisztener]

The camera quality is so good! And thank you for answering this! I was wondering if it was worth it.

[bobjamaica]

Hey if you ever worked in a professional kitchen you’d know how many times idiots cook cold meat straight out the fridge and it gets sent back because a costumer discovers it’s raw … don’t cook cold or frozen meat just let it come up to temp.
And your fridge might not be cold enough if after an hour your steak is only 15 Fahrenheit colder … A standard fridge at home is 5 degrees Celsius you don’t leave meat in a fridge for 60 mins it’s there overnight or a couple of days at most, try seating a 5° C steak on a smoking hot skillet, it will be raw.

[playerwil]

I'm vegetarian for 10 years and this guy is still my favorite

[james.randorff]

Vacuum seal (or ziploc and water displacement seal), then leave in slightly higher than room temp water for 45 minutes. That will raise the internal temperature MUCH better than leaving out, and should reduce cooking time and grey band.

[sueledohow]

Always interested to know the difference between room and fridge temperature steaks. Glad that you did these experiments. Thank you 🙏🏻 for sharing and showing these! Love your camera image. Looks great!

[christopher]

Personally I like leaving it on the grill, really brings out the juices

[SeraphsWitness]

Someone who actually understands how to do this experiment. Thank you!

[Jake-vhkp]

Thank you for actually saying they’re the same and not following the hive mind of cooking YouTubers! It never fails to annoy me when people say to, “leave it out because it makes a difference” when it has been proven multiple times it doesn’t. Appreciate you man!

[faithresigns]

I leave them in the fridge anyway. I don't always get super thick cuts and think it helps with a little room to keep them mid rare.

[lifeless]

I actually don't really like steak but seeing these videos makes my mouth water

[duststorm]

I sous vide my steaks and put them back in the fridge for sometimes 3 days.
I have tried both letting them go room temp to right out of the fridge. No difference at all.
One time I had a 2 inch thick ny strip. The middle only got warm but it was fully cooked because of the sous vide. I love my steaks rare. Sous vide allows me to enjoy it that way as well as a tender cut of beef.
Sous vide changed my life.

[clutchbleach]

I'm glad someone said it. It's crazy how much misinformation is about there for food. Like letting a steak rest and how you cut it is so huge its crazy. You wouldn't think something that seems trivial would matter so much

[maxsilbert]

I love this, dispelling unnecessary myths to make cooking more efficient! Well done 👏👏👏

[FluxProGaming]

The temp charts did it for me. Well done

[ROBLOXlover]

I enjoy the side by side comparison, good vid! ❤🎉

But I think it’s important to note that when you’re leaving a steak at room temp, it cooks faster, you can see that the *fridge* steak got to medium rare (given the control of an evenly heated pan), and was juicy, the *room temp* steak was more medium, but still as juicy as the fridge’s medium rare (the *room temp* steak should’ve been pulled earlier).

Leaving the steaks out before allows the tenders and moisture in the meat to soften before cooking, and can be cooked faster, and rested better as well.

Sources; working in kitchens, cooking steaks on a daily basis, I still don’t got the hang of it, but room temp is worth a shot but experience and finesse win any day of the week.

Doesn’t matter how you get it done, as long as it’s delicious in the end, and I guess sanitary.

Love to steak and respect to the farmers and animals 💕💕💕

[mariedi]

Thank you! I've always wondered about this

[djapll]

bro if it wasn't for you dude I would not know the proper way to cook meat I've impressed my family ten fold with the knowledge you have given all of us