How to Make Coffee Crusted Steaks

Coffee Rubbed Steak

Publix has ribeyes on sale this week, and I actually have all my stuff paid off for this month, so I thought I’d get a little luxuriant on myself since I don’t have to start earmarking until next week. And what could be more luxurious than a delectable steak with a crunchy coffee-based crust? Uh, that’s right, nothing.

For this recipe, we’ll return indoors and use cast iron to build a gorgeous crust. Unfortunately, grilling often allows the rub to fall off before it develops a crust, so we’re going to fake the fire with a few smoked spices in our rub.

I recommend utilizing our dry aging process to further crust development. However, rather than allowing steaks to come up to room temperature, we’re going to try another method I’ve heard of and freeze them for about half an hour before cooking. Supposedly, the time isn’t long enough to chill the center, so you don’t have to worry about a cold middle in your steaks, but it helps the rub to adhere to the cold outside of the steak so it doesn’t melt off immediately when it hits the heat. It’s also supposed to give that restaurant quality crunchy sear and an even color on the inside rather than the ring of medium and rare inside.

A seasoned cast iron pan and the fat that’s in a ribeye should be all you need to cook your steaks. Adding oil or grease to the pan may prevent your crust from developing properly, so don’t add anything except a thin film of oil on your steaks to make the spice rub stick.

So without further ado, let’s dive into these steaks!

Ingredients:

1-1 ½ in. thick ribeye steaks (dry-aged recommended)
¼ c. ground coffee
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. smoked salt
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. dry oregano
1 tsp. black peppercorns
½ tsp. chipotle chili powder
Olive oil

Directions:

Place steaks in freezer to chill for half an hour. Set broiler to preheat on low with top rack positioned just under broiler.
While steaks chill, combine spices in blender, food processor, spice mill, coffee grinder, or other small grinding device. Blend or grind until fairly uniform, mainly ensuring the peppercorns are broken up into smaller pieces. Empty out into flat container to rub steaks (a pie plate or square baking dish would be ideal).
Set cast iron pan on stovetop and set heat to 6.5/10 to preheat while rubbing steaks. Remove steaks from freezer and rub with olive oil just to coat so spices will stick. Press both sides of each steak into the coffee and spice rub to cover liberally.
Place steaks in pan with at least an inch of space between the steaks and the sides of the pan and between each steak. Cook 2 and a half to 3 minutes on the first side, then flip and move pan to the oven on the top rack just under the broiler. Broil on low 5-7 minutes.
Remove pan from the oven and set steaks elevated over a cutting board on a wire rack to rest 7-10 minutes.
Serve warm after resting and enjoy the praise heaped upon you by family and friends.

Normally we rest our meat directly on the cutting board, but this time we’re really working for that crunch on the outside, and some juices from the steaks may pool and make the bottom side of the steak soggy (boooooo!). So I opted for a wire rack perched over a cutting board, so juices could drip onto a contained environment without being held against the meat.

I used untrimmed bone-in ribeye for the video and photos, because I’d rather have the flavor there for cooking and just cut the fat and other undesirable bits off on the plate. And it’s not like my Farberware knives from Walmart are top-notch tools for home butchery, anyway. If I really wanted, I could spend an extra dollar per pound on trimmed boneless ribeyes at the store and not have to hack my steak up on my plate. If you’re showing this recipe off for date night, then I’d recommend splurging on the prettier cut at the store.

I hope you guys enjoy making some fancy-pants steaks at home for way cheaper than you can get at a restaurant (let’s face it, a restaurant ribeye runs somewhere between $20-28, and it won’t taste as good). Serve with a starch and at least one vegetable, and savor the flavor that you made with your own two hands in your very own kitchen. Please leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.

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How to Make Coffee Crusted Steaks

Jamie

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