Blue Steak – How to Cook Blue Steak Recipes? Is it Safe to Eat?

blue rare steak
by Roberto Cruz @ flicker

What is Rare Blue Steak

Because blue steak is ‘almost raw,’ there is a popular misconception that it is extremely unhealthy. Fortunately, this is not the true.

Blue steak is totally safe to eat as long as all edges are perfectly cooked and the outer layer is intact. A blue steak is additional rare and should be served slightly rarer than raw. It’s called blue because it has a blueish or purple color, depending on how you see colors. When exposed to air, it turns red and loses its blue color because myoglobin is oxygenated from the time it is cut to the time you buy it from the butcher. A rare steak is seared on the outside and 75 percent red in the center, whereas a blue steak is crisped on the outside and completely red in the center.

A blue steak doesn’t quite require a lot of time on the grill. The interior temperature of the steak does not exceed 115°F. The reasoning is straightforward. Bacteria is capable of covering the steak, which is sometimes unavoidable when the meat is raw. The bacteria, on the other hand, can only exist on the outside as long as the outer layer is unchanged and unbroken.

Cooking Rare Blue steak

Well-renowned chefs get offended when you order your steak medium-well or above. Chefs usually prefer making their steaks medium rare; since it allows them to showcase their skills by serving a juicy blue steak. But have you ever thought about how they would feel if you order a nearly raw steak?

This doneness’ level of steak is called Blue Steak; it is on one of the extreme sides of the doneness spectrum. The “Blue” in Blue Steak refers to the color of freshly cut beef. So as you can tell, blue steak is the closest a steak can get to a living cow. The blue-ish tint fades away with time to get back to. That’s due to the oxygenation of myoglobin getting exposed to air.

You might be wondering now: “If I get to see the color of fresh meat in blue steak, does that mean it’s completely raw?” Well, not exactly.

Blue steak gets to know the grill for a bit, and that’s what enables you to see a crusty thin layer on the outside and a fresh blue-ish tint on the inside of a grilled blue steak. In fact, ‘Blue’ is taken initially from the French expression ‘au bleu,’ describing the method of cooking a fresh, cold piece of meat by exposing it to sudden heat for a brief period.

We should probably warn you about the texture too. Blue steak is known for its gently seared exterior shell and its tender and bouncy interior.

Don’t expect Blue steak to be juicy, though. Since the heat doesn’t get a chance to penetrate well into it, you’re expected to find barely warm, chewy meat on the inside. To better visualize the texture, you can press on the muscle between your thumb and forefinger when it’s completely relaxed. That’s what blue steak is supposed to feel like.

As weird as it might look to some people, Blue rare steak is quite popular among others. In fact, restaurants get around 4 to 5 orders of Blue steak a night, on average.

 As a matter of fact, the only thing you should be concerned about is safety when eating nearly raw meat.

However, we can assure you, Blue rare steak is actually safe to eat. What might put you at risk of food poisoning is bacteria living off it. When it comes to steak, we find this bacteria on its surface only. Therefore, to make sure you’re safe, all you need to do is make sure you sear all the surface, including the side edges. It should be enough to banish all the bacteria.

While searching into Blue rare steak, you might have encountered black and blue steak. These two terms are slightly different. While blue steak has a dark brown finish on the outside and a cool, red inside, the black and blue steak is charred black on the outside with a cool yet slightly warmer than a blue steak’s inside. The difference remains in the cooking method.

Black and blue steak are cooked on a piece of metal and exposed to a scorching flame for a brief moment giving it a charred black cover. Blue steak, on the other hand, is cooked on a pan or a grill for a minimal amount of time on each side too; but on a moderate flame that gives the outside a nice brown finish.

Before diving into the cooking methods of Blue steak, we need to go through a steak cut that suits this doneness level.

As you probably have concluded, the inside of a blue steak is not going to be hot enough. So it should not contain much fat; since it isn’t much pleasing to bite into. You also might want to choose a leaner cut since heat won’t get a chance to help you soften it any further. Therefore, we suggest you get Top round or sirloin tip.

There still is one step to enjoying your blue rare steak: Knowing how to cook it.

Of course, having it at a restaurant is always an option, but we’re here to help those who enjoy making food on their own. That’s why we’re providing you with some pretty good black and blue steak recipes.

You should probably know that blue cheese is a steak’s best friend. Hence, you’ll find a blue cheese sauce recipe in this section too.

Black and Blue Steaks recipes

What you need:

• 2 New York strip steaks, 1- to 1 1/4-inch thick (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 4 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon Steak seasoning

What you should do:

1. Cut a 3-inch wide pocket in each steak. Be careful not to cut through the back or sides of the steak.
2. Fill each pocket with 2 tablespoons of blue cheese. Press steak lightly to seal closed.
3. Brush steaks with butter.
4. Sprinkle with Seasoning.
5. Grill steaks over medium-high heat 6 to 8 minutes per side or until desired doneness. Sprinkle steaks with additional blue cheese, if desired.

1. Black and Blue Steak Pittsburgh Style

What you need:

• 1 8 ounce filet mignon.
• 4 ounces frozen unsalted butter cut up.
• Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

What you should do:

1. Preheat your grill to high heat, between 550°F and 650°F
2. Season the steak on all sides with salt and pepper.
3. Place it on the grill once it is at full temperature.
4. Immediately add butter directly around the steak and over the top to cause hot flames to shoot up over the grates to char the steak.
5. Place the grill lid over and cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side or until charred black on the outside but rare in the center (100° F).
6. Serve.

2. NEW YORK STRIP WITH STILTON- WALNUT BUTTER

What you need:

• Four 10- ounce New York strip steaks
• 1 cup port wine
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup), at room temperature
• 1⁄4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 2 tablespoons kosher or coarse sea salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground
• Coarse black pepper

What you should do:

1. Place the steaks in a resealable plastic bag or a shallow container, and drizzle the port over them.
2. Seal the bag or cover the container, and refrigerate for 2 hours, turning the steaks occasionally.
3. In a small bowl, stir together butter and Stilton until creamy. Stir in the walnuts.
4. Using a rubber spatula, transfer the butter to a piece of waxed paper.
5. Wrap the paper around it, forming a log. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
6. Preheat a grill to high, and oil the grate well.
7. Remove the steaks from the marinade (discard the marinade) and pat them dry.
8. Season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper.

3. Blue Cheese Sauce for steak

What you need:

• Beef Stock – Enhances the beefy flavors.
• Cream – The bulk of the sauce. Ensure it’s double/heavy cream and make sure it’s at room temperature.
• Blue Cheese – St.Agur is preferred, but you can use any variety you like.
• Chives – Chives and blue cheese go together beautifully. They also add a nice fresh burst of flavor!

What you should do:

1. Add herbs, garlic, and butter into a smoking hot pan.
2. Pour in stock and cream.
3. Stir in blue cheese and chives.

You can make this sauce beforehand and store it in the fridge. We recommend you reheat it on low stove heat, stirring it continuously. You can add some milk to loosen it a bit if needed.

4. Back and Blue Steaks with Crumbled Blue Cheese

What you need:

• 1 Tbsp. Paprika
• ½ Tbsp. garlic powder
• ½Tbsp. cayenne
• ½Tbsp. Onion powder
• 1 Tbsp. Cracked black pepper
• ½ Tbsp. Dried Oregano
• ½Tbsp. Dried basil
• Steak of Choice. (We recommend filets and strip steaks)
• 1 8 oz. container crumbled bleu cheese.

What you should do:

1. Heat your grill on high.
2. Take your steaks out of the fridge and bring to room temperature.
3. In the meanwhile, in a small-medium bowl, combine all spices.
4. Mix well with a fork and set aside.
5. Sprinkle generous amounts of the blackened seasoning mix on all sides of the steaks, and lightly press so that it sticks.
6. Grill each steak for about one minute (with the grill lid closed) on each side.
7. After the initial flip, sprinkle bleu cheese crumbles over the steaks and close the lid top the side with those pretty grill marks with bleu cheese crumbles and close the lid.
8. Remove and serve.

How to know when you have cooked the perfect blue steak?

There is a simple test you can perform to determine how well a steak has been cooked to meet the specifications for doneness. The touch test involves placing your nondominant hand in various positions to determine how the meat should feel in relation to your hand. Your nondominant hand should be palm up and relaxed. The muscle and flesh at the base of your thumb will be the same texture as the well steak if you touch your thumb to the tip of your ring finger.

Each finger you touch closer to your thumb will change the texture of this and bring it down a level of doneness. To ensure that your blue steak is perfectly cooked, it should feel exactly like the flesh at the bottom of your thumb when it is not touching any other finger.

Nutritious effects of rare blue steaks

You’d be forgiven for starting to wonder whether or not steak is good for you if there has been a spotlight on the role it plays in our diet over years. So, how nutritious is steak? Whether you like it or not, we can all agree that eating steak has a plethora of nutritional benefits. Let’s take a closer look at why steak is a healthy food option.

Best protein rich foods

Steak is a high-protein food, and protein is essential for nearly every cell in your body. It’s a macronutrient, which means your body requires a lot of it to function properly. Protein is necessary for the health of our hair, nails, skin, bones, cartilage, and blood. It is a necessary building block for continuing to increase muscle mass and repairing tissues, as well as for the production of hormones, enzymes, and other substances within the human body.

Eating steak is an easy way to increase your protein intake, and whether you go for a porterhouse, sirloin, or t-bone, you’re looking at about 176 calories and 20 grammes of protein per 100 grammes.

Steak can help to prevent iron deficiency

Iron is essential for our bodies; it assists our red blood cells in delivering oxygen to our cells, making it critical for daily functioning.

Steak is one of the best sources of iron, making it an excellent food choice for those who are prone to anaemia. Not only is it high in iron, but the iron in red meat is also easily absorbed by the body. One serving of beef contains 15% of our daily recommended iron intake, with the iron RDA sitting between 13.7 to 15.1 mg/day.

Steak is also rich in other important micronutrients

Aside from protein and iron, steak is extremely high in other nutrients that our bodies require to function, such as carnosine and creatine, which aid in the function of our muscles and brains. In fact, those who do not consume meat have historically been shown to be deficient in these nutrients.

It’s also high in iron, B vitamins, selenium, and zinc. If you want to increase your vitamin intake even more, choose grass-fed beef over grain-fed because it contains more omega-3s, CLAs, and vitamins E and A.

Steak can improve your smile

As if we needed any more reasons to believe that steak is a healthy dinner option, it turns out that it can even protect our bright smiles. Steak, believe it or not, is beneficial to oral health. Red meat consumption is encouraged by medical organisations such as the American Dental Association because it is high in phosphorus, which is important for bone and tooth enamel protection.

Steak is good for mental health

This one is particularly intriguing because it appears that red meat can be extremely beneficial to our mental health.

Several studies have found a link between red meat consumption and a lower incidence of mental health disorders. Scientists identified 60 women with major depression and another 80 with anxiety in one study. Each woman’s red meat consumption was tried to compare to the Australian daily recommendation of 65 g to 100 g. The study discovered that women who ate less red meat than the daily recommended amount doubled their chances of developing dysthymia and major depression compared to those who ate the recommended daily amount. Furthermore, women who ate little red meat were considerably more likely to have an anxiety disorder.

Rare Blue steak safety tips

Blue steaks are safe for human consumption when properly prepared, but you must follow food safety regulations when doing so. To avoid illness, always clean and sterilize your tongs after transmitting raw meat with them. You should also make absolutely sure that the outside of your steak is completely seared before serving to ensure that bacteria like E. coli are completely removed.

Important points to remember

To eliminate the risk of food poisoning, seal brown the entire outer surface of the steak. If you sterilize your tongs after you’ve placed the meat in the pan and flipped it over, you’ll avoid cross-contamination. If you want to be certain that your meat is a blue steak, it should be charred on the outside but raw in the center. One of the reasons blue steak has become so popular is because it has a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture that allows you to absorb the rawness of the steak.

How do you know whether you’ve prepared the perfect rare blue steak?

The meat should have a spongy texture and no resistance. When relaxed, a blue steak should feel like the muscle between the thumb and the forefinger.

Just keep in mind that a blue steak may be difficult to chew and that there won’t be much juice bubbling out of it because the heat hasn’t penetrated the steak.

What meat should you get for the ultimate rare blue steak?

Speak to your butcher regarding how you want your steak to look, and inquire about the meat they have that could achieve your desired result. The best option is to find meat that is tender and comes from a muscle that hasn’t been overworked. Tenderloin, sirloin, and Scotch fillet are some options to try (discover more steak cuts)

For diners looking for something extra rare, blue steak has become a trendy alternative to meat.

Good read: What is Wagyu beef, and how Is Japanese A5 Wagyu Beef Graded?