Steak is a cut of meat that is generally sliced across the muscle fibres, it can refer to meat from various grazing animals but in this instance, we are talking about the delicious longhorn beef steak.
A quality, well-cooked steak is one of the purest carnivorous pleasures of the culinary world. It is a trickier cut of meat to cook perfectly and with its higher price tag, many of us choose to only have a steak when dining out. Well, we are here to change that and to ensure you can enjoy a delicious steak from the comfort of your own home.
Before you start cooking your steak
Take the meat out of the fridge and allow to warm to room temperature, around one hour before cooking. It is also very important that you ensure your pan or griddle is super-hot before you begin cooking! Why? Because this will help caramelise the meat and producing a delicious crust. A heavy based pan, chargrill or BBQ is best for cooking (so long as you preheat the metal for a long time until smoking). Don’t squeeze them into a small pan, either choose a larger pan or cook one at a time.
Seasoning
We would recommend adding nothing more than salt and pepper. To get the best results salt in advance, around 2 hours for every 1cm of thickness. You can also add olive oil.
Which cooking fat to use
It’s best to use flavourless oils such as sunflower or vegetable. Then, once the pan is searing, add butter to the pan.
Searing the steak
When cooking a thick sirloin steak where there is a strip of fat on the side, the best way to start is by searing this. Hold the steak with a pair of tongs and sear the fat in a hot pain.
TOP TIP – the oil in the pan should be separating but not smoking.
To get the perfect caramelised, brown crust around the steak cook for the total time stated (depending on how you prefer your steak) but keep turning the steak every minute.
Cooking your steak
How long you cook your steak for will depend on your preference. Below is a breakdown of the different cooking categories:
Blue – the steak will remain dark in colour, almost purple. It will feel spongy with no resistance.
Rare – this will be a dark red in colour with some red juices. It will feel soft, spongy with slight resistance.
Medium rare – it will be pink in colour with some juice and will be a bit soft, spongy, and very slightly springy.
Medium – Pale pink in the middle with a brown edge and hardly any juice. It will feel firm and springy.
To ensure you cook the steak for the right amount of time it’s important to consider the size and weight.
It will also depend on the cut of meat. For example, for a fillet steak that is 3.5cm thick you will need to follow these cooking times:
Blue: 1 and a half minutes each side
Rare: 2 and a quarter minutes each side
Medium Rare: 3 and a quarter minutes each side
Medium: 4 and a half minutes each side
Once it’s cooked, leave to rest on a plate for about 5 minutes.
Checking your steak is cooked
One of the easiest ways to check it’s cooked how you like it is to check the temperature using a meat thermometer.
Blue: 54C
Rare: 57C
Medium rare: 63C
Medium: 71C
Resting your steak
Your steak will stay warm for up to 10 minutes so, you should test at room temperature for at least 5 minutes. Be sure to pour over the resting juices before serving.
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Martins Meats are an award-winning family butchers established in 2003 by husband and wife, Martin and Emma Gilder. Martin’s father and grandfather have been cattle farmers and dealers for many years. Take a look at our website www.martinsmeats.com to find out more about who we are and what we do.
We don’t enter into competitions for any glory (although it is nice to win and be recognised), but we do enter because we believe it is the perfect way of showcasing our passion for our industry. It’s also a great way to educate the public about how best practice and husbandry of animals leads directly to superior quality meat.
We go to great lengths to make sure that the farms we select our meat from, including our own, are of an exceptional standard before, during and after delivery of livestock. We are proud to state that this, combined with our understanding of meat and how to get the best from it, enables Martins Meats to recommend the best methods and recipes to maximise the flavour and tenderness of our meat and meat products.
Find out more about the individual awards.
