Master the Art of Steak:

Restaurant-Quality Tips at Home

So how do you cook the perfect steak? In fact, how do you cook restaurant-quality steak at home? I’m going to tell you how.

Choosing the Perfect Steak

First, a big advantage that restaurants have over the average home cook is where they source their meat and how they store it. Restaurants do have a couple of tricks up their sleeve when it comes to maturing their meat that is not always practical at home, but home cooks can consider the quality of their meat when choosing their steak.

Everybody has their preference for different kinds of steak. For me, the gold standard when it comes to steak, has to be a ribeye. I find rump can be very tasty but can sometimes be a bit on the tough side. Fillet can be very tender but it can also be a bit on the bland side.

It is worth your while to shop around and experiment with different cuts of meat and cooking techniques to determine which combination suits your taste. Instead of shopping for steak based on price, buy different kinds of steak. Whenever you go do your grocery shopping, buy the different kinds of steaks and see which ones appeal to you the most.

The Importance of Marbling

I always look for meat that is well-marbled; something that has got a lot of intramuscular fat between the muscle fibres. If you’re at your local supermarket or butchery and the steak is just one solid colour, regardless of whether it is red or brown or different shades in between, you want to give it a miss. Rather select a piece of steak that has well-distributed marbling to ensure that your steak retains maximum moisture and flavour while cooking. Buying the best quality steak that is well-marbled will ensure the best results.

I know some people don’t like a very fatty piece of meat but I do- especially especially if it’s crispy and fatty and just melts in your mouth. If you don’t enjoy fat, I recommend that you cook your meat with the fat on it because it retains a lot of flavour and moisture- and you can remove the fat before serving. Although I still think it’s sacrilege to do this I know lots of people are watching their waistlines so this way you get more protein, less fat.

I like a thick, chunky piece of meat that can withstand a very hard sear and still retain moisture and flavour on the inside. If your steak is too thin it is going to dry out before the other side even touches the pan. Very often when people cook steak, they flip it left, right and centre, but one little trick that I’ve learned is you sear it very heavily as hard as possible on each side in the pan but finish it off in the oven. That hard sear caramelises the surface while finishing it off in the oven ensuring even cooking throughout.

Temperature is Crucial

You want to take a steak out of the fridge for at least an hour so you can bring it up to room temperature. This ensures even cooking. There’s nothing worse than biting into a steak that is cold in the centre- that’s because they never took it out of the fridge soon enough. Taking a piece of meat from the fridge and throwing it into a very hot pan is a shock to anyone’s system. Everything tenses and seizes. Allow your steak to relax by bringing it up to room temperature. I like to let my steak relax for a good hour, sometimes even two hours if no one’s watching, so that when it hits the pan, it’s not going from extreme cold to extreme heat.

Equally important, pat your steak dry before you cook it. When there’s excess moisture on your steak, it hinders a good sear and instead of getting that delicious charred flavour on your steak, it starts to steam, which is why you get a steak that is grey and tough and miserable and shreddy. Nobody enjoys pulling threads of steak from between their teeth when they could have enjoyed a delicate steak that melts like butter.

So, pat it dry, and sear it hard. I know some people scream when I say this: disposable paper towels. But if you don’t want to use disposable paper towels, use a clean tea towel that you can bleach and wash at a very high temperature.

The Art of Seasoning Your Steak

Some people do have very strong views on seasoning, and this is mine: you need nothing.

A great steak doesn’t need anything except salt and pepper. I get a little bit snobbish with my salt. I enjoy the Himalayan pink salt because it just has a more profound flavour profile. I like to give my steak a thick layer of salt and black pepper before I add it to the pan. And then I baste it with lots of butter. You’re probably going to need a combination of butter and oil so that the oil prevents the butter from burning.

You want to baste your steak relentlessly while it is in the pan. If you want to add some seasoning, there is no shame in adding a couple of cloves of garlic, maybe a sprig of rosemary.

In the name of all things holy, nobody in their right mind ever needs to buy one of those premade steak sauces or those premade steak marinades. The only people who need to buy pre-made steak mixes are the kind of people who can’t cook. And those are the people who probably shouldn’t be wasting their money on steak. They should be learning how to cook minced meat.

When it comes to seasoning, simplicity is best. A little bit of salt, and a little bit of black pepper, and you are technically a master chef.

The Importance of Resting Your Steak

And one final trick to achieving restaurant quality steak, and I know it’s a big temptation. The minute you finish cooking your steak, you want to rip out your knives and your forks and you want to start eating. The best thing to do is to let your steak rest. Resting is the secret that restaurants don’t tell you because resting allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, which results in a more tender and flavourful bite. When you remove it from the oven, you’re going to tent it loosely with some foil, maybe cover it up with a clean tea towel and let it rest for at least five to 10 minutes. You know your steak wasn’t well rested when you’re cutting into it and all the juices run everywhere on the plate.

So take a note from my book, bring your steak up to room temperature before cooking it, sear it on a high heat, finish it off in the oven and then allow it to rest.

How Well Done is Well Done?

Should your steak be served rare or should it be served well done? There’s also no correct answer on how steak should be served. That depends on your personal preference.

It’s like that old debate about does pineapple belong on a pizza. You know what? If you’re paying for it and you are eating it, you can do whatever it is that you’d like. I do understand that when people overcook their steak, they lose flavour and moisture but if that is how you enjoy your steak, then that is how you enjoy your steak. I don’t mind a little bit of pink, but I don’t want to see blood all over my plate. I don’t want it to be so dry that I’ve got to floss my teeth afterwards.

I do get tired of the arguments between people about how your steak should be cooked. Meat is meat and a man must eat. I like a hard sear but somewhere in between in the middle. Well done is sometimes too dry but too rare can be a little bit on the macabre side. So I always say you enjoy your steak however you enjoy your steak.

And I do have a theory. I think the reason why a lot of restaurants always insist on cooking steak as rare as possible is because there is less cooking time so they can flip it and serve it a lot faster than if they have to cook it a little bit longer. Even if people aren’t happy with their steak, you can always send it back and they can cook it a little bit longer. But if you’ve overcooked it, you can’t undo it.

The pros of having your steak slightly towards the rare side. It retains a lot more flavour and it’s more tender because the gentle cooking preserves the natural juices and the muscle fibres. And it also allows the true beef flavour to shine through.

You’ll find steak connoisseurs and purists prefer their steak to be done as rare as possible. The downside though, it’s not for everyone because some people find the sight of red meat unappetizing. And just by the way, that red colour is not blood per se. It is myoglobin, the colour that gives blood its red shade. So you are splitting hairs when you talk about blood versus myoglobin. But I understand it is off-putting for some people.

Very importantly, especially for me, it’s a safety concern. A well-done steak which is cooked at 160 degrees Fahrenheit or about 80 degrees Celsius, or it’s got a high internal temperature, is a lot safer to eat than when you’re eating raw meat but that’s a topic for another day. Consuming raw meat or undercooked meat does carry a slight risk of foodborne illnesses. However, as long as you’re purchasing your steak from a reputable source and you’re searing it properly at a high temperature, even a rare steak is generally safe to eat.

The secret is the searing process destroys the bacteria on the surface of the meat. And that is why when it’s minced meat, where you’ve got a larger surface area, that is when you want your meat to be cooked well done all the way through. But as I always say, you do you.

There are cons to overcooking your meat. The longer you cook your meat, the more it’s going to dry out. It’s going to be chewier and also toughens the muscle fibres. It is going to be slightly less flavourful because it’s going to diminish those natural meaty flavours. But if like me, you prefer the caramelised flavour of well-done meat, then trust me, that’s hardly a con, that is a pro.

If you want to enjoy your meat rare, by all means, do so. But at the same time, if you enjoy your meat well done, don’t allow other people to bully you into their choices.

I am always interested in learning how people enjoy their food, so feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.