Okay whats the secret to cooking steak?

Page 1 / 2
cookessentials, Jan 7, 10:49pm
Meat at room temperature, a hot pan are two musts. One of the best youtube video's you can watch is Gordon Ramsay on cooking steak.well worth watching.

davidt4, Jan 7, 10:52pm
No secrets, but here arefew suggestions.

1.Buy top quality aged meat with good marbling.
2.Meat should be at room temperature.
3.Pan or barbecue should be fiercely hot.
4.If you have marinated the meat pat it dry before you cook it.Salt it just before cooking.
5.Lightly oil the meat, not the pan.
6.Don't fiddle with the meat when it is in the pan.Leave it to form a crust on one side, turn over once only.
7.When the meat is cooked leave it on a warm plate to rest at least five minutes.

The only cut I marinate is rump, and I use a mixture or olive oil, black pepper, garlic, onion, red wine vinegar, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce.

indy95, Jan 7, 11:00pm
I am no expert but what works for me is to make sure meat is at room temperature or close to it, a very hot pan, turn once only, don't pierce meat while cooking and rest meat before eating for time equal to cooking time.
I forgot about seasoning for which I use a little salt and freshly ground black pepper just before cooking.

cookessentials, Jan 7, 11:03pm
Yes, resting any meat is a must.

cookessentials, Jan 7, 11:05pm

pickles7, Jan 7, 11:27pm
You are onto a great steak.davidt4

mwood, Jan 9, 1:55am
I agree - but a further refinement is to sear the edges of the steak first this is doubly important forBleu (blue) or Rare steaks as it ensures the juices stay in the steak which is were you want them - not evaporating in the pan.

davidt4, Jan 9, 2:34am
It's a fallacy that searing meat keeps the juices from evaporating.Searing adds flavour from caramelisation, but tests have shown that the liquid in meat evaporates at the same rate or more quickly when seared.The most important thing you can do to retain juices is to rest the meat properly before serving it.

http://steakperfection.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/steak-myth-1-searing-seals-in-juices.html

mwood, Jan 9, 3:31am
I have owned many Restaurants and Hotels including a Steakhouse please let me assure you there is no way you will get away with serving a blue steak or rare steak with the bloody juices pooling on the plate - rested or "30 seconds each side" - if you do not seal the edges this will happen.

uli, Jan 9, 3:53am
That is exactly how I eat my steaks :)
Indeed I have to ask for "rare" in any restaurant in NZ to get "medium" .

rainrain1, Jan 9, 4:11am
Any NZ restaurant!That's a broad statement.

liamjosh, Jan 9, 4:51am
davidt4 wrote:
No secrets, but here arefew suggestions.

1.Buy top quality aged meat with good marbling.
2.Meat should be at room temperature.
3.Pan or barbecue should be fiercely hot.
4.If you have marinated the meat pat it dry before you cook it.Salt it just before cooking.
5.Lightly oil the meat, not the pan.
6.Don't fiddle with the meat when it is in the pan.Leave it to form a crust on one side, turn over once only.
7.When the meat is cooked leave it on a warm plate to rest at least five minutes.

This, and don't cut or stab to test, push the meat to see how much resistance it has ( the firmer it is, the more itcooked), and rest before serving

rainrain1, Jan 9, 5:03am
simply mouthwatering

pickles7, Jan 9, 5:52am
Rubbish. A blue steak is raw, as raw as Steak tartare. No blood at all.

uli, Jan 9, 8:28am
Yep - from Whangarei to Christchurch so far . LOL :)

uli, Jan 9, 8:38am
It depends on the heat in the fry pan!]
So you need a proper steel frypan or a good grill. Do not try to fry any steak in one of those non-stick items as they cannot be heated above 200 degrees C without disintegrating. At 200 C you will "cook" the meat - not "fry" it!
So get a good pan first :)

Then follow davidt4's advice! She is great in cooking steaks :)

nfh1, Jan 9, 9:06am
I saw Jamie Oliver the other day cook a steak and he said to turn it every minute.I thought this was a bit surprising as I always thought you should cook on one side and then turn over.

hestia, Jan 9, 10:00am
Heston Blumenthal says to turn it every 15-20 seconds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch!v=5-9NgOZuUXM

thewomble1, Jan 9, 11:53am
Some say bring to room temperature before cooking. Others say use straight from fridge.takes a little longer to cook the middle which means you can putmore crust on it without over cooking the middle.
I started using Heston's method (15-20 seconds turning till cooked how you want it) and the steaks are divine.
Also cook using his sous vide method.Again fantastic results.

rainrain1, Jan 9, 7:53pm
You must Come further South sometime

rainrain1, Jan 10, 4:10am
The scenery of course!

kuaka, Jan 10, 8:35am
or further north for that matter.There is a world beyond Whangarei!

uli, Jan 10, 10:14am
I am sure there is - which is why I travel a lot :)

aktow, Jan 10, 1:22pm
w3

yes and if you read food science a steak should be turned every 20 seconds while cooking. if you leave a steak to cook on one side the other side of the meatcools down which causes uneven cooking.

uli, Jan 10, 11:30pm
aktow - so far I am extremely satisfied with this "uneven" cooking, I always let the steak rest anyway before cutting, so it does not matter to me of one side is slightly cooler than the other. So it is unimportant how often you turn it - unless you do it to prevent turning it into charcoal on an overheated grill.