Cooking a good steak is simple (Six tips)

Posted on | September 21, 2008 |

I don’t know what it is, but a lot of people are scared when it comes to cooking a steak at home. Possibly they fear over-cooking what is usually quite a high-priced piece of meat, or maybe they just lack confidence as cooking a steak is meant to be a ‘life skill’.

Well I think cooking a steak perfectly is easy, and the more practise you get, the less thought you have to put into it next time you come to cooking a beautiful piece of beef. Here are my top tips for cooking a steak…

Make sure the steak is room temperature before you cook it. Get it out of the fridge about am hour before you are going to cook it.
Don’t season the meat until just before you are going to cook it. Adding salt to meat draws out water meaning you risk losing some vital steak juice goodness.
Get your pan as hot as you can get it. Your pan should be just about smoking. Be sure to add your olive oil before the pan gets really hot otherwise you risk the oil splashing back at you. You need to have a really hot pan so that the meat sears instantly, locking in the juice and getting some good colour. Unless your steak is very thick (over 5cm), it is going to cook quickly so you need to ensure it gets seared asap.
Only turn your steak once. Generally a medium-rare steak takes around 2mins on each side. Allow for the steak to cook on one side for 2 mins, and then turn it over, and cook for another 2 mins. Keeping the steak cooking on each side like this means you will get a great colour to each side.
Once cooked, allow for the steak to rest for around 4 mins. This will allow for the meat fibres to relax, and the inner-juices settle.
Remember, for how long you cook your steak is so varied that there are no set times. It depends on how hot your pan is, how thick the steak is, and how cooked you want your steak. This is easier to tell the more practise you get.

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