Even for a professional chef, cooking the perfect steak is no easy task. Small pieces can burn, while large pieces can be well done on the outside but raw on the inside. Well-known culinary secrets will help you avoid such mishaps. Choosing the meat
To cook the perfect steak, use marbled beef with streaks of fat. Otherwise, the dish may turn out tough. And be sure to test the tenderloin. Press your finger on the meat. The tissue will sink, and when you stop pressing, it will immediately return to its original position.
Preparing for frying
A beef steak will only turn out perfect if it is properly prepared for frying:
- Defrost the meat in a timely manner. Place the tenderloin in the refrigerator the day before cooking. This will ensure that the defrosting process is as gentle as possible and all the juices remain inside.
- Let the tenderloin breathe. Remove the meat 1.5–3 hours before frying and allow it to reach room temperature. This will help it cook evenly.
- Prepare the beef. Remove the film from the meat 30 minutes before frying. This will allow the product to dry out and form a light crust, which will retain the juices during heat treatment.
- Use ready-made pieces or cut them across the grain. Steaks cut perpendicularly to the grain are more tender and soft. The optimal thickness is 2.5–4 cm.
- Forget about spices. You can only salt and pepper a classic steak after cooking. Otherwise, the dish will turn out tough. It is also not worth marinating the meat: it will become sticky, and the taste will be spoiled.
- Dry the cooked pieces. Before frying, pat the beef dry with a napkin. Due to excess moisture, even a steak of minimal thickness will cook in its own juice rather than fry.
How to cook a beef steak correctly?
You can cook the perfect steak by following a few tips:
- Use a grill pan or a regular pan with a thick bottom. Such cookware retains the required temperature for a long time. In other cookware, the meat will start to boil.
- Choose the perfect oil – refined olive or sunflower oil. These products can withstand temperatures of up to 200 °C. Other oils start to smoke, which gives the steak an unpleasant taste.
- Before frying the meat, heat the pan for 8–10 minutes. Remember that it should be semi-dry. Add a couple of drops of oil to the surface of the pan and wipe the steaks lightly.
- Observe the heat treatment and “rest” times. To cook a medium beef steak, fry the meat for 5 minutes on each side at a temperature of 190-200 °C. Let the dish rest under a lid for 8 minutes. If you want a well-done option, finish cooking the fried pieces in the oven.
- Check the internal temperature of the meat with a meat thermometer. For a medium steak, the ideal temperature is 60–65 °C.
- At the end of cooking, add spices: a sprig of rosemary, pepper, garlic. Use no more than 2-3 spices at a time.
- Serve the steak hot. The dish can be complemented with sauce and a side dish: fresh or roasted vegetables.
Cooking the perfect beef steak is a real art. It takes a lot of time, effort, and patience to master it. However, you can appreciate the unrivaled taste of the dish much faster. Just visit a professional steakhouse.