Cooking a Steak

[Auntyfannybaws]

I can cook them reasonably nice but never get that lovely char-grilly flavour you get in restaurants. Does anyone know how you get that?

Anyone???

Hot pan. Stupidly hot pan.

Yes - I believe in her books Delia tells you to heat the pan "as hot as you dare" before you put the steak in.

Really hot griddle pan. 1 minute each side, then turn down a bit. Further 2 mins each side

Sorry also helps to have a cast iron grill pan as a) it gets very hot b) stays very hot.

Cross post over

Season the steak beforehand to let it dry out a bit and then you need the pan ridiculously hot

I put a little oil on the steak, then some deep south seasoning from Muscle foods then cook two minutes each side on a really hot griddle

Leave the meat out for at least 10 min before cooking, it should never be cold, and cook in very hot pan with half oil half butter.

Marinade the steak first for half an hour or so, but not for too long, DH uses a mix of dark soy sauce & Worcester sauce, tenderises the steak and gives it a lovely flavour, then griddle pan hot.

Take the meat out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Heat up the griddle pan until it’s really, really hot, rub a small bit of oil on the meat, two minutes on one side, two minutes on the other and then rest for two minutes.

Make sure you are using a thick cut, salt and dry out the surface, we often cook one very large piece between all of us - that way you'll cook the surface longer and get the charred taste. Slice and serve.

Thanks guys!!! Love a steak 😁

Yes, we also buy various cuts as thick as possible and leave them out on the side for a few hours until the reach room temperature. Don’t bother with fridge cold steak, save it for another day.
Dry it off with a clean tea towel by wrapping and patting it to get rid of excess moisture,
Season and sear in the hottest of griddle pans.

Turn once only.
Cook the first side until it’s visibly done for the first half-centimetre then flip and cook as long as you want.
Salt at the end.
Someone on Masterchef said that when you poke it, a well-done steak feels like the palm muscle under your thumb, medium feels like the ones at the base of your fingers and rare feels like the stringy bit between forefinger and thumb!

I take out my steaks a few hours before cooking. The meat needs to be at room temp for the best cook and sear.

I was told by friend who worked in some fancy restaurants that they fry it to brown, then put in a hot oven for so many minutes depending on if medium etc
Did it once and it worked well - found exact temps/times on Internet

Forget non-stick or aluminium pans. You can’t get them as hot as needed without damaging them.

We have got a very old, very black cast iron griddle pan which DP uses for steaks, chops etc. It does a great job. The technique is : Steaks out of the fridge 1 hour before needed. Pat them dry and cover with a very thin film of veg oil. Season generously. Get the pan stupidly, ridiculously hot. Slap the steaks on the pan. If it’s hot enough, there will be a lot of smoke, so be prepared with outside doors & windows open. 1-2 minutes per side. Rest for 5 minutes, enjoy.

Dry meat with kitchen roll and leave covered on plate until it’s room temperature
Heat the pan til it’s almost smoking
Get everything else ready before you start as it’s quick
Lightly oil steaks then season well
Place in pan and turn every 15 seconds - yes, stand there and count and turn it that frequently! Sounds mad but it’s scientific, to do with keeping the heat on each side so it doesn’t cool to speed up the browning crusty outside, according to Heston!
Length of cooking depends on thickness, 2.5 - 4 mins is all it takes
Leave to rest for 5 mins while you get everything else served up onto plates.
Never fails (unless you overcook it) perfect juiciness as rare as you like inside with delicious crusty brown outside.

Yeah just to echo

• cook from room temp
• season before cooking
• cast iron pan
• heat the pan before cooking

I fancy a steak now

This works for a medium rare steak for me:
Season steak with black pepper, and bash with a steak hammer!
Heat lightly oiled griddle pan till really hot.
Put steak in and cook for 3 minutes
Turn (and then turn heat down slightly), and cook till you can see droplets of blood on top surfsce. Remove from pan.
And that is a perfect medium rare steak.