Going to try one last time - The Perfect Steak!
Discussion
Just to start, I am an awful cook who has literally no idea what he is doing, I also love steak.
I decided a couple of minutes ago I want to have one last try at cooking a good steak.
I have left it too late to go to a butchers unfortunately so Tescos it is, have I got the below correct? I like it rare.
- Keep steak at room temp before cooking
- Rub olive oil into the steak directly and sprinkle a bit of salt and black pepper
- put steak in boiling pan (how long for each side for rare??)
Now the rest is where I don't understand and also where i have gone wrong in the past I think, I have never put it in the oven after? Is this needed? It always seems to be cold about half way through eating it which is fine but it doesn't seem "right"
Any help would be appreciated, happy to post pictures of my effort!
I decided a couple of minutes ago I want to have one last try at cooking a good steak.
I have left it too late to go to a butchers unfortunately so Tescos it is, have I got the below correct? I like it rare.
- Keep steak at room temp before cooking
- Rub olive oil into the steak directly and sprinkle a bit of salt and black pepper
- put steak in boiling pan (how long for each side for rare??)
Now the rest is where I don't understand and also where i have gone wrong in the past I think, I have never put it in the oven after? Is this needed? It always seems to be cold about half way through eating it which is fine but it doesn't seem "right"
Any help would be appreciated, happy to post pictures of my effort!
Your method looks fine to me. Timing depends how rare you want it, and how thick it is, but two minutes each side per inch of thickness should ensure it's warm all the way through, but still red in the middle. Give it a bit longer if you want medium rare. When it's in the pan, don't move it around, just let it sit and cook. Also, put the steak aside to rest for 10 minutes after you've cooked it.
Boiling pan and oven? One of is a cookery klutz but I'm not sure which 
Keep steak until it loses its redness. Unwrap. Notice how your cat, which previously was fast asleep in next door's garden, is suddenly present and boring holes in you with its eyes. Cut off small piece and give to cat. Grill under a hot grill (the steak not the cat), both sides, until cooked as required. It seems to cook more evenly if you turn the grill off just before it's done and let it sit for a minute or two. The fat renders down into the bottom of the grill pan and mixes with all the other crud from god-knows-what; this makes a tasty 'jus' to drizzle over the top. Serve with saute potatos, sliced tomato, an episode of Masterchef on telly and a large glass of good red wine
Keep steak until it loses its redness. Unwrap. Notice how your cat, which previously was fast asleep in next door's garden, is suddenly present and boring holes in you with its eyes. Cut off small piece and give to cat. Grill under a hot grill (the steak not the cat), both sides, until cooked as required. It seems to cook more evenly if you turn the grill off just before it's done and let it sit for a minute or two. The fat renders down into the bottom of the grill pan and mixes with all the other crud from god-knows-what; this makes a tasty 'jus' to drizzle over the top. Serve with saute potatos, sliced tomato, an episode of Masterchef on telly and a large glass of good red wine
Assuming steak is around 3/4" or so thick:-
Meat up to room temp and seasoned
Preheat oven to 190/GM5
Get pan smoking hot
Oil steak
Cook steak for 1.5-2 mins turn over and put pan in oven for 2 more minutes.
Take out and leave to rest for a couple of minutes
Will come out pink, juicy and cooked. Reduce time in pan and oven if you want it more on the rare side. Increase if you like it more well done.
Meat up to room temp and seasoned
Preheat oven to 190/GM5
Get pan smoking hot
Oil steak
Cook steak for 1.5-2 mins turn over and put pan in oven for 2 more minutes.
Take out and leave to rest for a couple of minutes
Will come out pink, juicy and cooked. Reduce time in pan and oven if you want it more on the rare side. Increase if you like it more well done.
Original Poster said:
Another quick question, I can't buy the steak till about 9ish tonight so getting it to room temperature the normal way isn't going to be possible, any other ways to being it up a bit?
Don't worry about that bit, no restaurant does. All it will do it help it even the cooking but TBH on a bit of steak normal thickness steak it's not going to make a significant difference. In fact I could argue reasons for not bringing it up to room temp first.21TonyK said:
Don't worry about that bit, no restaurant does. All it will do it help it even the cooking but TBH on a bit of steak normal thickness steak it's not going to make a significant difference. In fact I could argue reasons for not bringing it up to room temp first.
But it does depend how rare he wants it... if it's blue, or very rare, then it definitely needs to be at room temp beforehand. Otherwise it'll be cold in the middle, which would completely ruin it.Original Poster said:
Another quick question, I can't buy the steak till about 9ish tonight so getting it to room temperature the normal way isn't going to be possible, any other ways to being it up a bit?
If you are buying supermarket meat, it is worth stabbing it repeatedly with as fork on both sides, pay attention to any areas with a lot of marbling (fat showing through). And remember that whenever you have a steak from a restaurant it will have been rested for a few minutes due to it sitting on the plate as they plate up/finish the rest of the dishes. Follow their example and make sure the steak is ready first, then get the rest onto the plate.
But basically don't be to harsh on yourself, no one steak cooks the same, and even the best chefs can get it wrong sometimes, so enthusiastic amateurs should never expect to be perfect either.
If you have a blowtorch to hand, (a proper plumbers one, not a cooking one,) you could try this:
- Allow steak to come to room temp.
- Brown with blowtorch, trying not to cook it. (The quicker it burns, the better.)
- Cover and leave for a few hours, at room temp or on the boiler.
- Heat up your griddle pan until it's smoking. (Ten minutes for my cast iron one.)
- Drop the steaks in, and season with salt and pepper each time you turn them, depending on how salty you like it.
- When the steak is done to your liking, let it rest on your plate a few minutes. Use this time to drop a big blob of butter in the pan and move it around to get up all the meaty bits lift behind. Pour it over the steak.
Original Poster said:
Now the rest is where I don't understand and also where i have gone wrong in the past I think, I have never put it in the oven after? Is this needed? It always seems to be cold about half way through eating it which is fine but it doesn't seem "right"
The steak needs to rest on a warm plate in a warm place for a few minutes before eating. However it shouldn't be too hot - if the plate's too hot to touch you've overdone it.
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