If your meat is cold when it hits the pan, it can cause the muscle fibres to tense up. Get your steak out ahead of time – about 30-40 minutes is usually ample for a 500g steak.
Season the steak one hour before cooking, using extra virgin olive oil, fresh ground black pepper, and kosher or sea salt. Leave it at room temperature until cooking.
As a rule of thumb, when cooking steaks that are 1-1/2 inch thick, you want to go by the 3-4 rule. That is, three minutes per side on direct heat, then four minutes per side on indirect heat. That will get your steaks to a beautiful pink medium-rare.
Why Do You Let Meat Rest? Internal juices constrict during the cooking process, and resting meat allows its juices to reabsorb and redistribute. Cutting it too soon will cause its juice to pool out and yield a dry cut of meat.
When your raw steak is kept out on the counter, it is left at room temperature. According to the USDA, you should not leave raw steak – or any raw meat – out for more than two hours. If it is a warm day and the ambient temperature is above 90 °F, then the steak shouldn't be kept out for longer than an hour.
Here's the thing: Cooking a cold steak can be quick to result in uneven cooking, with a well-cooked outside and an undercooked center. Follow this tip: Plan to take the steak out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour before cooking. This simple step helps the steak cook more evenly.
Rare steak – 125 F, about 6 minutes of cooking. Medium-rare steak – 130 F, about 8 minutes of cooking. Medium steak – 140 F, about 10 minutes. Medium-well – 145 F, about 12 minutes.
Recent experiments and noted food scientist and writer Harold McGee indicate that flipping a steak several times while cooking results in a steak that is ready sooner but also yields better overall results than the single flip method. Flipping your meat constantly also minimizes the desiccation zone or the dry area.
But the reality is that flipping a steak repeatedly during cooking—as often as every 30 seconds or so—will produce a crust that is just as good (provided you start with meat with a good, dry surface, as you always should), give you a more evenly cooked interior, and cook in about 30% less time to boot!
Most big steakhouses broil their steaks, using overhead, infrared broilers that produce incredibly hot temperatures to cook steaks. Don't worry though, you don't need to go out and invest in one, but the principle is the same. You need incredibly high heat in direct contact with the meat.
Even modestly priced olive oil can give flavour to a steak and if you like that flavour, this is definitely the way to go. Whatever you cook your steak in, as long as you get the temperature, the cooking duration and resting period right, you should end up with a very appetising steak at the end of it.
WHICH IS BEST FOR COOKING STEAK: BUTTER OR OIL? Unlike butter, many oils have higher smoke points, making them the better option for cooking steak. Furthermore, there are some oils e.g. olive oil or grape seed oil that are healthier alternatives to butter.
Season the Steak: Steaks don't need much to make them great. Just before grilling, brush them lightly on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you want to get fancy, you can add spices like chili powder, paprika, or garlic powder to the rub.
According to Steak Specialist, you don't need to use oil when grilling a steak. The trick with the stove top and grill methods is to ensure the cooking surface is super hot before putting the meat down. That way, it will sear nicely and be easier to turn when it's time.
If you rest steak after cooking for too long under an aluminum foil tent you will get two bad outcomes: 1. Carryover Cooking: where the steak will continue to cook well past medium and into well done territory or worse.
The steaks need a few minutes undisturbed to develop a brown crust. (Don't worry about sticking; the steaks will release easily when they are ready to flip.) Flip the steaks when they release easily and the bottom is a deep-brown color (usually about 3 minutes).
Flip steak, cook for 30 seconds, then flip again. Continue flipping and cooking 30 seconds on each side. Remove steak from the pan when it has developed a brown crust, is beginning to firm, and is hot and slightly pink in the center, about 3 to 4 minutes of total cooking time for a 1-inch steak.
Rule of thumb #2: Thin-cut meat should be cooked Hot and Fast, while thick cuts are best cooked Low and Slow.
To properly rest meats after cooking, you must wrap them. After a cut of meat is finished cooking, gently wrap it with aluminum foil in a tent-like fashion. This will keep the meat warm after it reaches its peak internal temperature while resting. Depending on the cut of meat, rest times will vary.
Five to seven minutes should be the minimum if you're in a rush. If you know your cut is thick, give it at least 10 minutes. You could rest it for 5 minutes for every inch of thickness. You could rest it for 10 minutes for every pound.
The perfect steak requires time, and that is the approach that we take with salting. We recommend salting your steak approximately one hour before cooking it per inch of thickness. For example, if you were working with a steak that was 2-inches thick, then you would salt your steak 2 hours before cooking it.
Myth: Washing or rinsing raw chicken or turkey before cooking removes harmful bacteria. Fact: Thoroughly cooking chicken and turkey to 165°F is the best way to kill harmful bacteria such as Campylobacter and Salmonella.
The Deep Seasoning Method for Steak:
Lay it on a rack above a foil-lined tray, uncovered, and put into your fridge. That's it. That's the whole, entire procedure. Well, not entirely, because now you have to wait and leave it like this for 1-3 days.