Why can't I cook steak?!

[summerholsdreamin]

Where am I going wrong?
Doesn't matter what cut I use the steak turns out chewy, brown on outside but very underdone/raw in middle.

I use an iron griddle pan, oil the steak rather than pan and cook for specified amount of time according to preference. Leave to rest.

Look of disappointment on people's faces, not to mention the waste of money

Have lost count of the amount of
methods I've googled and youTubed,
It all turns out the same.

Where am I going wrong? Is there some secret method I need to bribe out of someone?! Am so jealous of those cooks who can just throw steak in a pan and serve up a delicious meal in minutes (pathetic face emoticon!)

Do you remember to take it out the fridge and warm up to room temperature first?

Hmm, pretty sure I do Pest but good point

Room temp is critical.
That said, I find gas bbq gives a better result than a pan on hob. The latter just doesn't get hot enough

Take it out for a good half hour or so before you cook it. I used to be the same but this sort it for me

Steak is meant to be raw in the middle. If you don't like that, then your cuts are either too thick or your cooking temp is too high (or both)

Good tips in here, brining to room temperature is a must :)

www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-cook-perfect-steak

I now really want steak :)

Try cooking each side until you start to see blood gathering in the side that's facing you in the pan. When it starts to bleed turn it over. Don't move it once you have stuck it in the pan until it's time to turn over. Cook on a fairly high temperature in oil and a little butter.

Seasoning is important

I've seen so many opinions on heat.. some say ring should be full wack, some say medium, others full wack then turn down

You need to think about the heat and what you want to achieve. Full whack will cook the surface quickly but heat transfers through meat quite slowly, so the outside burns before the inside cooks. Hence the requirement for the steaks to be room temp, so the inside needs less heat to cook than if cold.
If you want the whole cooked evenly then you need a lowish heat throughout, if you want the outside more cooked than the inside, a higher heat, then reduce.

Never underestimate the need for seasoning - chuck a good big pinch of salt on to your room temperature steak before cooking. Heat the pan until it's searingly hot, then put the oiled steak on to cook - it should sizzle. Cook it for long enough for the outside to get properly browned, with some crispy bits - the browning is the Maillard reaction, which is what gives the steak its distinctive flavour. Turn over and repeat. Rest the steak for at least 20 mins somewhere warm before serving, and drain off the juices that come out of it. I use them for cooking sliced mushrooms in (same pan as I cooked the steak in). You have to have the pan at a really high heat (over 140 degrees C) or the Maillard reaction can't take place, and the steak won't taste right. HTH

What do you do with ridge of fat?

You eat it.
Or cut most of it off.
Ultimately you buy fillet steak (no fat) and cook it fast and furious so it is black on the outside, blue on the inside.

So it doesn't get cooked?

How are you wanting it cooked? Medium, medium rare, etc?

Medium I think

Good advice from FurryDogMother. The key is fierce heat then rest to allow the muscle to relax.

It's meant to be rare in the middle!
Take it out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking
Marinade it with olive oil and freshly ground black pepper
Cook in a preheated griddle pan for about 4 minutes each side
Use tongs, don't prick it with a fork or knife
Oh and use decent steak to start with

If you want to render the fat, start with the pan on hot, and hold the steak on its side with the fat part down so it cooks off and crisps up, then turn the pan down a bit brides you put the actual meat into the pan surface.

The meat is the most important part of cooking steak. 28 day dry aged from a good butcher will be very different to wet aged supermarket steak.

The cut is also important, again fillet is much softer than something like sirloin or rump.

As for cooking, it takes practice - basically its balancing the heat intensity with thickness of steak & cooking time. As a rule of thumb you want the heat to be somewhere between medium to high, the thicker the cut the lower the heat. A thick cut fillet of beef is probably the hardest cut to cook to perfection (ie medium rare). Also you'd want to keep the heat consistent throughout so when heat is on medium high on an empty skillet as you add more pieces pan temp would drop and therefore you'd need to up the temperature. Grilling in oven would yield more consistent results.

Here is a couple of ways to cheat for more consistent results. Cut thin slices of fillet or ask butcher to do it (2/3 of an inch cut perpendicularly) that have been prepped in a coat of olive oil and crushed black pepper corn &/or crushed chilli for a few days (depending on how tender the meat is to begin with) in air tight steel or glass container. Then you just flash fry them and serve straightaway with no resting.

I am not a fan of resting steak unless it's a really thick cut as I like my steak hot.

Another favourite is thick Cote de boeuf (bone-in ribeye) I brown it on all sides on medium heat in a skillet and then place it in pre-heat oven for approx 45-60m at a temp of 160c. You will need to rest this for 10m and then slice partially and serve on a nice thick wooden board.

You can also make an old fashioned steak sauce by adding some Worcestershire sauce to the skillet with steak juices as well as some butter then pouring the mixture on the steak.

If you have a tough steak to begin with then you could always cook it in a slow cooker and then browning it off at the end on a skillet.

We prefer rib-eye steaks, the fat marbling gives them a lovely flavour and they're very tender. Just cut any large pieces of fat off as you're eating it (and give it to the dog who loves me forever!)

Take them out of the fridge an hour before cooking, pinch of sea-salt and ground black pepper and oil them, pop in cling film and give a little bash with a meat hammer. Not too much though.

Griddle pan on high heat, use tongs and hold the steak on its side so the strip of fat renders then a couple of minutes on either side for rare, another couple of minutes on either side for medium. Don't forget to rest the steak for 5 minutes after cooking.

Should add those cooking times are for a steak about an inch and a half thick. Thinner the steak the less time it needs.

And as if by magic....
www.mumsnet.com/food-content/top-tips-for-the-perfect-steak