Cooking steak

  • Thread starter Thread starter Vix
  • Start date Start date
Firstly and most importantly, a good cut of meat, I have the luxury of having a great butcher in the village, just don't go to tescos, sainsburys or asda.

A pretty vital stage is letting the whole steak reach room temperature, so this means leaving it out of the fridge for quite a while, it'll still be fairly cold and stiff after a few hours, I try to give it all day if I can.

Next, heat your frying pan up to a high heat, and melt a large knob of butter in it, if you have a good cut, you don't need any other seasoning.

Fry it for a couple of minutes per side depending on the size of the steak, 2-3 minutes a side will do for most average sized steaks.

Once you've done that, rest it in a 80-100c oven, on a rack ideally, anything from 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the steak, 5-7 minutes should do it for your average sized steak.

This will give you a perfectly cooked rare steak with an even temperature throughout, if you want it medium, just add a minute or two per side when frying it.

If you want it well done, just fry it in the pan until it's tough and dry, you don't deserve a nice steak ;)

I also like to fry some whole mushrooms in butter as well, and cut and butter some lovely bread, a great meal.
 
how long should you normally heat the pan for?

also about the oil, should you smear into the steak first, should you then add any to the pan?
 
I just heat it until I think it's hot enough, by holding my hand a bit above the pan.

Put a drop on each side and smear the steak with it, and some pepper.
 
Mr_White said:
Firstly and most importantly, a good cut of meat, I have the luxury of having a great butcher in the village, just don't go to tescos, sainsburys or asda.

A pretty vital stage is letting the whole steak reach room temperature, so this means leaving it out of the fridge for quite a while, it'll still be fairly cold and stiff after a few hours, I try to give it all day if I can.

Next, heat your frying pan up to a high heat, and melt a large knob of butter in it, if you have a good cut, you don't need any other seasoning.

Fry it for a couple of minutes per side depending on the size of the steak, 2-3 minutes a side will do for most average sized steaks.

Once you've done that, rest it in a 80-100c oven, on a rack ideally, anything from 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the steak, 5-7 minutes should do it for your average sized steak.

This will give you a perfectly cooked rare steak with an even temperature throughout, if you want it medium, just add a minute or two per side when frying it.

If you want it well done, just fry it in the pan until it's tough and dry, you don't deserve a nice steak ;)

I also like to fry some whole mushrooms in butter as well, and cut and butter some lovely bread, a great meal.
Click to expand...

2-3 MINUTESSS?!!!!!!

/passes out
 
you should try it like I had in Paris last week where the tendons and individual parts of the muscle are still soft and stringy in the middle, and oozing blood. mmm.
 
Little tip if you want to test the difference between rare and well done and in between. You know that part on the palm of your hand at the base of your thumb......well the soft area is rare and the harder area near the base of your hand is well done, just press down on your hand in the desired area and then compare to how your steak feels when you press that. I hope this makes no sense whatsoever :)
 
Steak should be (barely) introduced to a nuclear-hot griddle pan, just long enough to nearly sear the outside and get it just about warm in the centre. And even then it's touch and go as to whether it's over-cooked or not. I seem to have inherited the same problem my father has with beef - if it's remotely well done (i.e. what most people call medium rare) then I can barely digest it. But rare-to-raw, I can eat just fine.

If you like your steak slightly more cooked than that, then Alberta beef dip is the best way of having it. Better if you use topside, but you can do it with rump steak - boil it in beef stock long enough to get it just about cooked, then cut it up thin and stick slices of it in crusty bread. Dip it in the beef stock you used for cooking. Epic win.
 
If you have good quality steak the less you do to it the better.

Don't pick the bright red freshest looking steak, try and get it with a deep red colour, with a good marbling of fat.

Also do not cook it straight from the fridge, take it out and let it get up to room temperature.

The only thing I do to my steak is season it and put it into a very hot pan with groundnut oil, you can use any oil you wish but groundnut oil doesn't flavour the meat.

I cook my steak for 3 -4 minutes each side depended on the thickness. This gives me the lovely pink colour.

Also when you take the steak out of the pan let it rest, do not eat it straight away, this relaxes the meat and you get the benefits of tender meat.
 
It is also worth mentioning that different cuts of steak offer different tastes and tenderness.

In terms of tenderness steak goes along the lines of:

Fillet >>> Sirloin >>> Rump

In terms of flavour generally speaking it is:

Rump >>> Sirloin >>> Fillet
 
I buy my steaks from costco.. Awesome cuts... :) Also love it with creamy pepper sauce.. You can buy it in packs from the supermarket (Shwartz brand) its superb... Oh and i do 2 mins each side then rest for 5 mins for an awesome steak with nice thick cut chips... :)
 
I used to over cook my steaks and from trial and error (and from this thread) have worked out that cooking slightly less is better than cooking it slightly more.

also learnt to leave the steak in the room to get to room temperature before cooking (not done this before)

yum
 
Paulus said:
I used to over cook my steaks and from trial and error (and from this thread) have worked out that cooking slightly less is better than cooking it slightly more.

also learnt to leave the steak in the room to get to room temperature before cooking (not done this before)

yum
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yeah, undercooking is always better because even when you remove the steak from the pan it will be cooking inside

like said, always a good idea to have the meat at room temp before cooking

i always take mine out the fridge one hour before cooking & pepper both sides
then 5 mins before cooking i lightly salt both sides


to cook i make sure the pan is medium hot then depending on the thickness of the meat i judge how long to cook, usually 3 mins a side for and inch thick

in the last 30 seconds i add a knob of butter to the pan and let it go nutty brown then coat the meat

i then remove the steak to a warm place to let it rest for 5-10 mins, during this time i add some sliced shallots to the pan and cook them in the residue, after 5 mins i add the drippings off the rested steak to the pan along with a massive glug of marsala wine, i reduce it to a syrup consistancy and serve on top of the steak- beautiful :)
 
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