What is Blue Steak, Best Fitted Cuts, Cooking Tips & More

Are you a steak lover? Have you ever heard about rare steaks, including the renowned blue steak as main course cuisine at a steak restaurant?

Well, if the answer is no, you must learn about this steak that is a new addition to the rare steaks for steak lovers. 

This blog will share more about the well-known Au bleu or Blue steak, how to cook it well at high heat, and some chef's advice for steak restaurants and its safety.

AT Grills & Cookware has a fantastic range of kitchen cookware, including electric stoves, grills, frying pan, and other equipment to cook the steaks quickly.

Explore our online store and get your hands on the cookware at budget-friendly rates. 

What is a Blue Steak?

Blue steak, also known as the extra rare steak, comes with a lightly seared externally, and red inside is among the chosen ones.

The steak is cooked chiefly well for such a short time that it is safer to eat. A juicy steak that melts in the mouth is the absolute delight of this steak. 

Choosing the proper steak for the mighty meals is a real challenge. The new addition to the steak houses comes with new ways to cut, marinate, and cook, which makes it a Chef's Kiss dish.

Explore more about steak cuts and cooking steak recipes in the later section of this blog. 

Why Is It Called "Blue Steak"?

Although there is no proper answer to this curiosity, there are several reasons that this steak is called blue steak. For instance:

1. Oxygenated blood:

According to the observations, the steak is blue when cut for the first time because the meat is exposed to the air for a few minutes.

2. The Blue Sheen: 

As per some theories, the proper blue steak has oils with a blue sheen that gives it a perfect blue color. The outside of the steak has a blue glow, but the inside is red.

3. The French Au Bleu:

Another theory explains its blue color per French cooking culture. In French culture, the trout fish is cooked with a mixture of seasoning methods called "Au Bleu" Trout.

Likewise, when you cook the blue steak, a point comes that it seems raw, and then the term bleu is used for the steak. 

BEST STEAK CUTS FOR BLUE STEAKS

Steak lovers know steaks differ depending on their cuts, fat percentage, and steak recipes. Likewise, there are many options to cut this steak.

One must know the right cuts and use the right spices before cooking steak to get the right aesthetics and taste. The best tender cuts for blue steaks include:

1. Tenderloin:

A cut from the cow's loin is considered best, as this body part has no muscle. The fat percentage in this part of the body meat is very low.

This cut makes the perfect tender and juicy blue steaks.

2. Ribeye:

Another highly recommended beef cut for the blue steaks is ribeye. It has enough fat that melts during the cooking period and leaves a delicious blue steak. 

Read: Sirloin Vs. Ribeye: A Delicious Beef Battle

Read: Choosing the Best Steak: T-Bone Vs Ribeye?

3. Flat iron:

Flat iron steaks mostly originate by cutting the meat from the chuck or shoulder of the cow. Many consider it the most tender cut for steaks, including rare ones.

This cut was famous as "butter steaks" in the past years and was perceived as a low-quality steak.

However, recent innovations have made it possible to get the perfect tender flat iron slices for steaks by trimming the connective tissues. 

4. Sirloin tip:

A sirloin steak is another medium rare steak cut that results in tender meat for steak. The location of the amount has some weight-bearing muscles that make this cut a little less delicate.

The sirloin tip is still fairly tender enough to make a quality option for rare blue steaks. 

Read: How to Cook Sirloin Steak on an Electric Griddle

5 . Filet mignon:

Filet mignon is a slightly smaller cut than all other options. It makes it possible to get the meat for steak from tenderloin in the short loin area.

Filet mignon is pleasant to the taste buds and is easily chewable with its soft texture.

Cooking a steak in a different cut changes its fat-marbling status. However, as the blue steaks are cooked in a large cast iron skillet for a short time, they are soft. It also allows less melting of monounsaturated fat.

Hence, as mentioned earlier, the cuts are best for cooking blue steaks to get the perfect tender steak that melts in your mouth. 

Read: Can I Cook a Steak on an Electric Griddle?

How to Cook Blue Steaks?

Correctly cooking the blue steak makes it perfect if it's cut. Different cuts make them perfectly cooked steak with the right amount of melted fat at the end.

The meat is seasoned with black pepper, all the spices, and vinegar for a very short period.

Rather than using a cast iron skillet, try to cook the steak at an open flame grill set available at AT Grills & Cookware. The melting fat causes the flame to rise higher at high heat.

Cook the steak for around 1 or 2 minutes and flip the sides.

A meat thermometer helps check the temperature, which is also needed for this steak.

Read: Difference Between Smokers and Grills

Steps

Here are the steps to prepare the restaurant-style rare blue steak. 

Step 1: Let the thick steak cool down at room temperature for an hour or more until the steak meat is at an average temperature from outside and inside. 

Step 2: Pat dry the steak with a paper towel and season the steak with your favorite seasoning, including black pepper, olive oil, and vinegar. 

Step 3: Heat the cast iron pan and add canola oil until the smoke rises. Sear the steak at high heat for some time. Let your steak rest at the low internal temperature required to cook a blue steak properly. 

Step 4: Pan-searing the cooking surface and sides slightly for a few minutes to get the perfect blue steak.

Step 5: Do not remove, touch, or press down. Flip to the other side after some time using the tongs. Let it sizzle for a minute. 

Step 6: Sear all edges without pressing down and let the seared steak rest for some time on butter. Serve and enjoy!

Read: How Do I Cook Steak on a Grill Pan?

Additional tips to Cook Blue Rare Steak:

Here, we share a few additional tips to help you cook the steak like the restaurant style. Follow the following information to enjoy steak at home without a splurge.

• Keep the raw steak at room temperature for 5-7 minutes before cutting. 
• A meat thermometer ensures the right temperature before cooking the blue steak.
• Pan-searing all sides and corners of the steak creates a crust on the fatty steak on the cast iron pan. 
• Make sure to overcook the steak for the exact cooking time, as rare blue steak requires less time. 
• Let the perfect blue steak sizzle for 5 to 7 minutes each side. 
• Serve the steaks cooked with a simple salad or saute vegetables or, ideally, with blue cheese to make it a perfect complementary extra rare steak. 

Is It Safe to Eat a Blue Rare Steak?

With all the "shy from being raw" talk, many people are curious to find out if it is safe to eat blue steak. Have you ever thought about why we cook meat?

Barely cooked steaks may contain bacteria and their toxins. Cooking meat aims to eliminate all the harmful bacteria from meat that can cause food poisoning or other diseases.

Cook blue steak in the right manner to eliminate the safety risk. Cooked properly at high heat makes it safe to eat and easier to digest and adds to the nutrition calories of fatty steak.

Moreover, the high temperature kills all the bacteria from meat and leaves the doubt of safety for a main course cuisine at home.

What Is A Black And Blue Steak?

Black and blue steak is another type quite similar to the blue steak. The black and blue steak has the same cuts of beef meat as the ones in the blue steak.

But, the major difference between these two steaks is the cooking method.

Additionally, the black and blue steak differs from the outside as it is charred rather than seared.

A cheered, outside of steak cooked correctly with a tender inside is the blue and black steak. A seared outside with a blue sheen and red from inside refers to the blue steak.

Why does Blue Steak Refer to Pittsburgh Blue Steak?

A blue and black steak is also called the Pittsburgh-style or Pittsburgh blue steak. The name comes from the steel mills industrial area workers's magestic idea of cooking steaks.

The stories reveal that the steel mill workers in the Pittsburgh Mills used to bring steaks for lunch.

Steel mill workers used the hot factory equipment to recook their steaks. It used to chirr the outside and leave the inside red, allowing the workers to enjoy their meal in short breaks.

Hence, the blue rare steaks became famous with time and adapted from Pittsburgh blue steak to blue steak and Au Blue steak.

Are Blue and Rare Steaks the Same?

If you have attested the blue steak for the first time, you might think it looks and tastes the same as the rare steak. A rare steak is red from the inside with brown and caramelized edges and corners. 

On the other hand, a blue steak has a blue sheen outside and bright red on the inside. It is also considered as an "extra" rare steak. The blue steaks are cooked at a slightly lower temperature than the occasional steak. 

Steaks rare differ from blue steaks depending upon the cooking manner. Although the blue streaks are a perfect option for those who go with the saying "the bloodier, the better." 

Wrapping up:

Blue or au blue steak is only for some. However, it is an aesthetic steak that gives an authentic taste when cooked correctly at the right temperature for a shorter period.

To sum up, blue steak may not please your taste buds, but it is worth trying. 

FAQs

Why is Blue Steak the best?

Blue steak is best as it is almost served raw with the outer surface sealed at high heat. Also, it is trendy for its melt-in texture. 

How does blue steak taste?

The blue steak, unlike the other steaks, lacks the flavor profile. It tastes like semi-raw meat with tender and juicy steak-sealed edges. 

What temperature is best for cooking blue steak?

Rare steaks are most probably cooked around 120°F. Blue steak is cooked at five degrees less than rare steak at around 115°F internal temperature.