If you are a meat lover, then learning how to cook a steak is an essential skill to have.
Here are my top tips to keep in mind when cooking a great steak:
- First choose your cut – rump, porterhouse, scotch fillet or even a good old fashioned t-bone steak. Look for meat with a bit of fat marbled through it, or ask your butcher for a well-aged cut.
- Bring steak to room temperature prior to cooking.
- Heat a chargrill pan or bbq until smoking hot, no need to oil it as extra oil just creates smoke.
- Season the steak well with salt and pepper just before you are about to cook it, again oiling is not really necessary but optional.
- Cook steak for at least 2 minutes, without moving it, to form a good crust. At this point, it may appear to have ‘stuck’ but in a matter of minutes once the crust has formed, it will be easy to release by holding the sides with tongs and gently rocking the steak from side to side.
- Cooking time will vary according to the thickness of the steak – but in general, 2-3 minutes each side for rare, 4 minutes each side for medium and 5-6 minutes each side for well done (but PLEASE don’t cook it until well done, I beg you!)
- I favour learning to test doneness by touch. Rare meat feels soft like the fleshy mound on the palm of your hand, medium a bit springy, well done is firm…(…and leathery, and tough as an old boot…don’t do it!)
- Allow meat to rest covered for at least 5 minutes before serving so the meat fibres relax and retain the juices when cut.
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Chargrilled Steak with Fat Chips and Basil Pesto
This Chargrilled Steak recipe features some home made pesto and hand cut fat chips which are the best accompaniments to a good steak and both can be prepared in advance so you can concentrate on cooking that slab of steak perfectly while the chips fry to crispiness.
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