How to Cook a Steak

101 of Steak Cooking

Someone once said to me the measure of a good chef is how well they can cook a steak. I would like to think we require a few more skills than just this, but it is true any chef worth his salt must be able to cook steak properly. Here in Australia this is even more important, considering what connoisseurs of beef we are. According to the Meat and Livestock Association website every one of us Aussies consumes nearly 40kg of beef each year.

That is a lot of beef. And I think to show our appreciation to the beloved cow the least we can do is cook it properly. It always feels a bit fancy going to a restaurant and getting a steak cooked exactly how you like it but it is really not difficult at all and I will explain how you can cook the perfect steak at home.

The first choice you need to make is what cut of you will use. With all meat there is a simple relationship between tenderness and flavour. The more tender a cut is, the less flavour it will have. Imagine a scale that has flavour on one end and tenderness on the other. The tender side would start with eye fillet, then go to porterhouse and scotch fillet, followed by rump and then finishing with oyster blade or topside. I personally prefer the cuts in the middle such as scotch or porterhouse as they offer a balance between flavour and texture.

The fat content will also determine how flavoursome the steak will be. Fat on a steak can either surround the meat or be marbled through the flesh. If you have ever been to any of the restaurants at Crown Casino you will have seen the $100 plus steaks they are all offering. You could be forgiven for thinking this is a typo but I am afraid this is what they are worth. And why? Because of the fat. The type of beef used at these restaurants is known as Wagyu. It comes from specific breeds of cows that produce beef with a lot of fat marbled through the flesh. This marbling appears as very fine white lines intergrated through the red meat. When you cook Wagyu this fine fat melts adding flavour to the flesh from the inside. Although it may be difficult to find Wagyu make sure the beef you use has got the marbling.

Okay, now you have chosen a steak (I have chosen a scotch fillet) and we are going to cook it together. The first thing to do is bring the steak up to room temperature. This helps to cook it evenly.

Now heat either the char-grill of the BBQ or a heavy bottom non-stick pan. Both of which you want hot, smoking hot! A lot of people get scared when they see how hot the pans chefs use are but if the pan is good quality it will take it.

Just before you start to cook the steak you need to season it with salt and pepper. Seasoning raw meat is greatly debating amongst the steak cooking community but I do not care what anyone else thinks - you must season a steak before cooking it. The argument against putting salt on a raw steak is that it will ‘cure’ the meat before you cook it. I cannot understand how anyone could think a little salt on a steak could cure it in half a second? Furthermore the idea of a steak is to have a nice brown crusty surface and using good quality sea salt will help this happen. This is not why you season a steak though. Seasoning is to increase and compliment the natural flavour.

Now your heat is ready, the steak is ready and it all about to happen. If using a BBQ, drizzle a little oil over both sides of the steak then place on the grill. For the pan (what I am doing) add about a tablespoon of oil and a knob of butter. Butter is for flavour and the oil will raise the cooking temperature. The pan should be hot enough so the butter will brown almost instantly in the pan. Swirl the pan until all the butter has melted then gently add the steak. Straight away gently lift the side of the steak so as air pockets cannot form underneath. Reduce the heat ever so slightly. If you like a well done then you will need to reduce the heat a little more.

The steak I am cooking is about 2cm thick and I want it to be a perfect medium. Without turning keep it moving in the pan lifting the sides to allow the oil and butter to get underneath. Never over crowd the pan, I recommended you only cook one or two steaks at a time. After 2 minutes on one side, turn the steak. It should be dark brown all over, but not black, and have a nice crust. Cook for two minutes more on the other side. If you like your steak rare, stop cooking at this point and allow it to rest. For medium rare allow 30 seconds more on each side. For medium cook for one minute more on each side. For well done cook allow 4 minutes on each side.

Resting meat after it has been cooked is just as important as cooking it properly. Resting allows all of the fibres in the meat to relax after they have tensed up during the intense cooking period. Resting is just placing the steak on a plate somewhere warm for about 10 minutes.

When rested you will need to reheat the steak. Heat your oven to the hotest it will go. Flash your steak in the oven for about 1 minute then serve on a hot plate.

A nice simple sauce can be made by adding half a cup of red wine, 25 grams of butter and any juices from the resting plate back into the pan. You could even add mushrooms, onions and bacon for a very typical Warrnambool sauce! Me, I like to serve my steak with Dijon mustard and tobasco but remember steak is the basics so go for whatever sauce is your favourite. Serve with your mash potato and a blue cheese salad and the family will be herding back for more! Bon appetite.