Depends on the cut but usually shoot for the sweet spot between 2-3. There's this magic spot for max tenderness for different cuts and if I am doing a bone-in ribeye, I'll get closer to 2 than 3 but that's after indirectly cooking it to 110 and then let the sear go to work and the after cook takes it to the right point.
I just recently tried strips again and I was surprised the difference in beef. I used the reverse sear method on an Akaushi beef strip and it had the consistency of a ribeye and lots of flavor. My two major complaints against strips were flavor and texture and that's what I like about ribeyes.
One thing I have stopped doing with steaks is paying extra for prime, it's not worth it and a friend that used to manage high end steakhouses told me the prime we get in grocery stores and is not close to the prime restaurants get. The one exception is that if I buy at Costco, usually filets that I marinate in the Steak & Ale marinade, because they do not age their beef. I also learned from him that I wasn't salting the steak enough before cooking and I was really surprised by the difference once I started doing it right.
Hey, since Hawk started this mouth watering thread, how do y'all cook your steaks? I changed to the reverse sear some time ago and it really worked well and if you go a little low and slow as I do to get that fat melting and carrying flavor, the salt acts as a bacteria deterrent.
