How to cook a good steak
December 25, 2009
Having grown up with our “own” beef, and spending some time working for BBQ’s Galore, I have been fortunate enough to have quite some practice at cooking steak.
People are often fooled into automatically thinking that a “nicer” type of steak will be better, this isn’t always the case.
As a general rule, lighter shades of meat indicate the animal had a less stressful time at slaughter and subsequently the acids released by its body in a state of “calmness” (as opposed to stress) after slaughter will equal a more tender (and flavorsome) steak.
Be careful to check the “best before” date however – as steaks age, its color becomes lighter, you do not want to mistake a cut of steak from an animal that wasn’t stressed for a steak that is actually well past its use-by date!
Other things to look for is fat “marbling” through the steak, this is small speckles/lines of fat (unless, of course, your looking at lean cuts such as tenderloin, flank steak, skirt steak, etc. which will have little if any marbling in the interior of the muscle).
Do NOT mistake gristle for marbling however!
Lastly, make sure you choose a good thickness of a steak to ensure that the steak will cook well. Around 1″ (2.5cm) works well for pretty much all steaks (except skirt/flank which will be much thinner)
First rule is that the steak should be at room temperature all the way through before cooking (this means leaving it out, but covered, for around 1hr prior to cooking).
If you have a good cut of steak, it is a waste to utilize marinades, just pat a bit of salt and pepper into all the sides of the steak will suffice, and you will get the flavor from the marbling in the steak.
If you do elect to use a marinade, make it light.
Skirt and Flank steaks work well with marinades however (make sure it is kept at least 12hrs in refrigeration with the marinade!)
Make sure the pan is very hot. Distribute a bit of oil over the pan, wait till you see a small bit of smoke coming from the oil, and gently place the steak on the plate. You are now going to “sear” the steak.
Leave on one side for around 90s and turn. Leave on the 2nd side for around 90s.
If the steak is 1″+ in thickness, also sear each edge of the steak for around 30s a side.
Turn down to medium heat.
Now you are going to “cook” the steak to your liking.
You are going to aim (for a 1″ steak) 6minutes total cooking time (this includes the time to sear the meat) for rare up to around 12 minutes for a well done steak.
Let the steak sit for around 6 minutes to allow the fluids and heat to equalize throughout the meat.
If your steak is extra thick (1.5″+), pre-slice it at a 45deg angle before serving.
Enjoy!
Travel, cooking and web 2.0+ 
January 20, 2010 at 8:24 pm
yummy…… thx for ur tips i’d love to follow u.anyway happy new year ~~~~~~~~