How to make a good steak

How to choose meat for a steak

1. Take only beef

Just in case, we remind you: only beef has the right to be called a steak. No pork, lamb, or even more so chicken! This is a fundamental point.

2. Decide in advance what kind of steak you need

If you think that "steak is steak," you are wrong. There are about a dozen types of this grilled meat. Basically, they can be divided into three groups:

Marble steaks … They are prepared from the so-called marbled meat: tender, soft, fat-streaked parts of the back and sirloin (thin and thick edges). This type of steak includes the popular ribeye and striploin.

Lean steaks … Prepared from tenderloin. They also differ in tenderness, but at the same time, due to the smaller amount of fat, they are slightly less high in calories. These include, for example, filet mignon and chateaubriand.
Alternative steaks … Prepared from other parts of the beef carcass: shoulder blades, flanks, and so on. These steaks are less fat and soft, rarely have the correct shape, and may contain tendons. They are more suitable for lovers of "real" meat, which can be torn with teeth … This type of steak includes flank, skert, top blade and so on.

Once you have decided what kind of flavoring and nutritional characteristics you need, go for meat.

How to choose the right meat for your steak →

3. Don't buy just beef pulp

We will partly repeat the previous point. The rules are tough: to get exactly the steak you want, you need to choose meat from very specific parts of the carcass. Skirt steak is always flank. The top blade is the scapula. Rib eye and striploin - back and sirloin. Filet mignon is prepared only from the most tender tenderloin - and from nothing else!

4. Don't be smart

If you are not an expert in the selection and preparation of meat, it is better to limit yourself to the classic, most popular and easy-to-prepare types of steaks - marbled (ribeye) and lean (filet mignon). The premium carcass parts from which they are prepared will be quite edible, including in inexpensive meat.

But alternative steaks will be delicious only if they are prepared from really good, matured meat of a beef breed, fed with grain.

5. Check the quality of the meat before buying

Rib-eye steak meat should be soft and marbled, that is, with distinct streaks of fat.

The quality of the meat for filet mignon can be checked as follows. Press down firmly on the notch with your finger: it should give in easily, but as soon as you remove your finger, quickly return to its original shape.

We will not talk about the quality of meat for other types of steaks now: it is difficult for a non-professional to determine the required characteristics, so it is better to dwell on the classics.

6. Frozen meat is allowed

But it is important to take it only from trusted sellers, so as not to run into a "second freshness product" or the wrong part of the carcass.

Please note that this option will require competent defrosting. Never defrost meat in the microwave or in the sun: a temperature jump will lead to the loss of precious juice, and this will worsen the taste characteristics of the future steak.

Place the beef from the freezer in the main compartment of the refrigerator about 24 hours before you are planning to fry. This will soften the meat without losing its juiciness.

In general, you don't need to defrost the meat at all.

How to prepare meat for frying

1. Cut the meat perpendicular to the grain

How to make a steak: Cut the meat perpendicular to the grain

Culinary experiments prove that steak cut across the muscle fibers is much softer. The ideal thickness for each piece is 2.5–4 cm.

2. Let the meat return to room temperature

This is important for future even roasting. If you have time, just remove the meat from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before cooking and it will warm up on its own.

If there is no time, wrap the future steak in plastic wrap and immerse it in warm (30-35 ° C) water for 20-30 minutes.

3. Or do exactly the opposite: freeze before frying

It sounds original, but, as the experiment shows, an unexpectedly interesting result is obtained: a very juicy steak with a pale pink heart.

The bottom line is that when defrosting, the meat loses some of the juices. And if it gets frozen on a hot frying pan, it instantly becomes covered with a crust that fixes the juice inside.

4. Marinate only when necessary

Do not marinate if you plan to cook a classic steak from tenderloin or marbled meat - the same ribeye or filet mignon. Due to their softness and juiciness, they are good in their natural - only with salt and pepper - form. Marinade, on the other hand, can interrupt the taste and add a certain viscosity to the steak.

It's another matter if you still decide to take a risk and cook an alternative steak. In this case, marinating is desirable, otherwise the meat at the exit will be too tough. There are many marinades, choose according to your taste.

How to marinate the perfect steak →

5. Thoroughly dry the meat

Blot the meat with a paper towel before frying to remove any excess moisture from the surface. If you don't get rid of the liquid, the steak in the pan will boil rather than broil.

Sprinkle cornstarch on raw meat to remove moisture for sure.

And a way for perfectionists. Take a disposable foil mold, pierce it in several places with wooden skewers (so that inside the mold you get a kind of grid) and put the meat wrapped in a paper napkin on this grid. Let it sit in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. Perfect surface dryness is guaranteed.

However, if you have a grate, you can do without skewers.

6. Allow the meat to dry slightly

Let it sit in the air for at least 20-30 minutes. During this time, the meat will be weathered around the edges and covered with a light crust, which, when frying, will keep the juice inside the piece.

How to cook a steak: Allow the meat to weather a little

7. Do not salt or pepper

Of course, this recommendation again applies to classic premium steaks that are cooked without marinade. It is better to salt and pepper such meat after cooking.

If you add salt to the steak during the frying process, the meat juices will seep out. As a result, you will end up with a piece that is tougher than you could possibly be.

Here we will make a remark: many neglect this recommendation, because they prefer just such a slightly harsh type of meat. Experiment. In this case, you can rely on your own taste.

If we are talking about alternative steaks, then they should either be marinated, or salt and pepper and grease with olive oil before frying.

What else needs to be done before frying the steak

1. Choose the right pan

An ideal choice is a grill pan or a regular pan with a thick bottom (cast iron would be good). The thick bottom of the pan ensures that after heating it will keep the temperature at one level for a long time.

If the pan has a thin bottom, it cools quickly. This means that the meat is not fried, but rather boiled in its own juice.

2. Consider the choice of oil

Butter adds fatness (softness) and flavor to the meat. Which one would you like? Some recommend frying in olive oil, adding a little butter towards the end.

Others advise exotic - liquid peanut butter: it has a mild aroma that will add tenderness and originality to the steak.

However, if you are preparing ribeye or any other steak from marbled meat, additional fat content is not required. It's up to you to decide, but come to this point consciously.

Another important point is the boiling point (smoke point) of the oil. If the fat smokes, it will give the steak an unpleasant taste. Therefore, it makes sense to choose vegetable oils that boil at an elevated temperature for frying.

For example, unrefined sunflower and linseed oils are not suitable for steaks. They begin to smoke already at 107 ° C, while the temperature of a well-heated frying pan is 150 ° C and above. Extra virgin olive oil and unrefined peanut oil tolerate up to 160 ° C. Creamy, coconut, unrefined sesame does not smoke up to 170 ° C.

Excellent options are refined sunflower and avocado oil: they start to smoke after 200 ° C.

3. Get a thermo needle or learn to do without it

The degree of doneness of a steak is determined by the temperature inside the piece of meat. It is easiest to measure with a needle thermometer.

The generally accepted degrees of roasting are as follows:

38 ° C and above - raw / blue (steak with blood);
48 ° C and above - rare (very lightly fried);
52 ° С and above - medium rare (lightly roasted);
58 ° C and above - medium (normally fried);
63 ° C and above - medium well (well done);
from 74 ° С - well done (very well done).

If you don't have a needle on hand, you can roughly determine the cooking level by pressing down on the meat with your finger.

Blue and rare steaks feel the same as the muscle tissue at the base of the thumb: press it down with the index finger of your other hand and feel the softness.

If you squeeze the tips of your thumb and forefinger, the muscle will tighten and the base of your thumb will resemble a medium rare steak. Large and medium - medium. Large and unnamed - medium well.

Well, by connecting your thumb and pinky, you will feel approximately the same pressure as when you press a well done steak.

How to cook a steak

1. Pre-fry the steak in the oven

This How-To Reverse Sear A Steak will allow you to get the most even frying without the gray, overcooked meat around the edges.

Place the steak on a baking sheet and bake at 90–95 ° C for 30–60 minutes, depending on how deep you want the steak to be.

If you want a steak with blood, you can skip the pre-fry episode.

By the way, in a similar way, you can restore the taste of an already cooked, but cooled and lying steak. Place it in the 120 ° C oven for about 30 minutes, then pan fry on both sides to bring back crisp.

2. Heat the pan

Let it stand over high heat for at least 8-10 minutes. More is better. The chef at Alinea in Chicago, for example, recommends 12 Unexpected (But Totally Legit) Tricks For Making The Best Steak to reheat a cast iron skillet for half an hour!

Then add the butter, wait a few more minutes for it to warm up, and only then lay out the steak.

3. Fry the steak at high heat

For 1, 5-2 minutes, depending on the desired crust color, on each side. During frying, the protein - primarily on the surface of a piece of meat - curls up and turns into a kind of film that blocks the exit of liquid. This means that steak fried over high heat will remain juicy on the inside.

Only then reduce the heat to low, cover the meat and let stand for another 1–5 minutes, depending on the desired degree of doneness. This recommendation applies to steaks made from fatty and juicy marbled meat.

Check readiness with a thermo-needle or finger. You should not cut or pierce the steak with a knife: juice will leak out of the meat.

If we are talking about leaner steaks from the tenderloin, the technology will have nuances. After frying the steak on both sides until golden brown, add a little more butter (for example, butter) to the pan, as well as, if desired, your favorite spices (the same garlic) and herbs (rosemary, lavender, thyme, sage …) … Reduce the temperature to medium and continue toasting the meat on both sides, pouring the juices over it. This will give the steak the correct finish.

4. Bring to the desired doneness in the oven

In a skillet covered with a lid, steaks with a degree of rareness up to medium rare are excellently cooked. If you want a truly cooked steak, place it in an oven preheated to 180 ° C immediately after frying it on all sides in oil.

The residence time of meat in the oven depends on the desired level of roasting:

medium rare - 4 minutes is enough;
medium - 7 minutes;
medium well - 10 minutes;
well done - 14 minutes.

How and with what to serve a steak

1. Let the steak sit for 3-5 minutes

At high temperatures, the top layers of the meat shrink, fixing the juice inside. Cutting the steak right away will simply drain the juice onto the plate. Wait up to 5 minutes: this is enough for the upper layers of meat to expand and also become saturated with juice.

2. Serve hot

This is one of the basic rules for serving steak. In this case, meat is an independent dish, simple and straightforward. The steak must be hot for its flavor to develop to its fullest.

How to cook a steak: The steak must be hot for the fullest flavor

3. For fatty juicy steaks, choose a minimum of spices

On the same ribeye, it is enough to put a sprig of rosemary or a clove of garlic: hot meat will quickly absorb the aroma. Also, the taste characteristics of the steak are well emphasized by parsley, thyme, cilantro.

4. Lean steaks require sauce

The fillet mignon tenderloin is a very tender meat that literally melts in your mouth. But at the same time, it is rather tasteless, and therefore such a steak is always served with sauce.

10 hot sauces for every taste →

5. The best side dish is vegetables

Fresh or grilled. This is an ideal side dish for a steak in terms of proper nutrition.

15 unusual vegetable salads →

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