Is there anything better than a perfectly cooked piece of beef? You don’t need to pay restaurant prices for the best steak experience, not if you know how to cook the perfect steak at home.
Where does steak come from?
It’ll come as no surprise to learn that man probably started cooking by roasting meat over an open fire. In fact, the word steak derives from an old Norse word, “steikja”, which meant “roasting on a stick.” While we still use forms of sticks commonly known as skewers to roast chunks over an open fire, we no longer cook our steaks on sticks. However, we still use fire, flame, and smoke to impart flavour. Whether it be a barbecue, a charcoal grill, or a smoky griddle pan, we use heat to flavour meat when we cook the perfect steak.
Choosing the Perfect Steak
Steaks come from all animals, but we tend to associate a traditional steak, one served with chips, with cuts of tender meat from a cow. The cuts available vary considerably, and the best cuts, such as beef fillet, are the most tender and generally the most expensive. However, you can use any steak you want if you can guarantee its quality.
I prefer rib-eye steaks, but rump, sirloin, and fillet all taste as nice if cooked right. Like always, choose the best quality of which you can comfortably afford. As a general but not always accurate rule, the more expensive the cut, the more tender it will likely be. However, the more work a muscle does, the tougher it becomes. Hence, the lazy fillet muscle is highly prized for its soft texture.
When choosing steaks, don’t be consumed by the weight of the steak. What matters most is the thickness of the meat. If the meat is too flat, achieving a juicy medium-rare cook will be impossible. However, if it’s too thick, the outside will char to the point of burning while the inside remains raw. The perfect thickness for a steak would be around 2 centimetres in thickness.
Preparing to Cook the Perfect Steak
It doesn’t matter which cut of steak you choose; you can cook the perfect steak by following a few simple rules. The first rules take place before you even turn the heat source on. First, remove the beef from the fridge thirty minutes before cooking. This allows the muscle to breathe and come up to room temperature. This allows the heat to evenly penetrate the meat. If it’s too cold, it will take longer for heat to reach the centre of the steak, resulting in uneven cooking.
We need a smoking hot pan to cook the perfect steak at home. A griddle pan will give us grill-like lines we associate with a grill bar. While a heavy-bottomed frying pan provides a charcoal exterior and a base to create pan sauces such as peppercorn sauce. Slowly turn the heat on your choice of pan until it begins to smoke. A quick tip: turn off your fire alarm and set an alarm to remind you to turn it on again.
Pat the steaks dry, then season them with salt and pepper. I usually say to taste, but salt and pepper help bring out the flavour of the meat, so don’t be shy with the shakers and grinders. Drizzle the meat with some oil and lay the steaks away from you into the smoking pan. Adding oil directly to the pan will scorch the fat before we add the steaks, resulting in a slightly burnt aroma. It’s important to remember not to overcrowd the pan, so I’d recommend no more than two steaks in any regular-sized frying pan. Too much cold meat hitting the pan will drastically lower the temperature, resulting in the meat releasing juice into the pan and the beef boiling rather than roasting. Now we’re cooking.
How to Cook the Perfect Steak
Once the steak is in the pan, leave it alone. Cook for time according to your preference, as listed below. Turn, and then cook again. The steaks should be browned evenly on both sides. This browning is known as the Maillard reaction and is the process of caramelising the sugars on the surface of foods. Once you’ve flipped the steak, I like to add a large knob of butter, a sprig of rosemary, and a clove of garlic. Once both sides are evenly browned, the edges must be browned by holding them against the pan with the help of tongs. Or by tilting the pan and allowing the foaming butter to do the hard work for us.
Rare – 2 – 2½ Minutes on each side – 57C
Medium Rare – 3 ½ Minutes on each side – 63C
Medium – 5 Minutes on each side – 71C
Well Done – 6 Minutes on Each Side -74C
(Times are guidelines only. Actual times may vary according to the thickness of the steaks.)
Once the steaks have reached their desired temperature, it’s essential to let them rest somewhere warm. Somewhere warm might be above a hot oven or in one that has just been switched off. This is the hardest part of cooking a steak, while it’s the most hands-off part. Heat will continue to penetrate the meat as it rests, meaning steaks should always be cooked a degree less than what they intend. It may be tempting to smell the steak and want to give in to the temptation to eat it there and then. However, not resting the steak will leak its juice all over the plate, while the meat itself will be tough. Resting allows this juice to settle and filter throughout the meat, producing a juicier, tender steak.
How to Cook the Perfect Steak
Ingredients
Method
- Bring a pan to the smoking point by turning the heat up slowly.
- Pat the steaks dry and season with salt & pepper. Drizzle olive oil over the steak.
- Lay the steaks away from you, oil side down. Fry for approximately 3 minutes on either side, depending on size and level of doneness. See notes above.
- Add the butter and rosemary for the final minute of cooking and baste the steaks continuously. Brush the steaks with the rosemary sprigs. Using tongs, grip the steaks, seal the edges, or tilt the pan using foaming butter to finish the edges.
- Once the steaks are sealed, remove them from the pan and leave to rest in a warm place. Spoon the hot butter, garlic, and rosemary over the steak.
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