The AngusPure guide to cooking great steak
1. Pick your cut
When selecting your steak, try and select steaks that are thick, or have the AngusPure butcher trim some steaks for you. Ideally about 200-250g per steak.
Aged steak is the best for tenderness and flavour, which is great, as all of our beef is aged for at least 21 days.
Look for meat that is marbled with even fine, fats which add beautful flavour, texture and tenderness.
Don’t be afraid to try cuts aside from the typical Fillet Steak, as cuts such as Scotch and Rump have a wonderfully rich flavour.
2. Marinade?
This is a topic of much debate. The world’s leading chefs all seem to agree that good steak does not require a marinade, simple season with fresh black pepper and salt, we like using ground rok salt, and you’re good to go.
Just make sure you wait for the salt to dissolve and settle into the meat, and pad off any excess moisture with a paper towl.
3. Oil
Be sure to oil the meat, and not the cooking surface. This stops the steak smoking when it’s cooking.
Oils with high burning temperatures are best such as sunflower oil or avocado oil.
4.Bring meat up to room temperature
Make sure to bring the steak you’re cooking up to room temperature, which equates to about 30 minutes out of the fridge, before cooking.
This allows the steak to cook evenly.
5. Give it space
Make sure that when cooking more than one piece of steak to leave space between them. This will prevent the meat from steaming or stewing instead of searing, and will see that ensures they cook evenly.
6. Searing – the rules
It is ok to turn the steak more than once. BUT you need to ensure that a process called the Maillard reaction can happen. This is when sugars and amino acids heat together, which causes that lovely golden finish.
Part of the Maillard reaction sees the meat breifly sticking and then releasing from the cooking surface, this is what you’re after. When the steak is no longer sticking, it can be turned.
Make sure not to poke and prod the steakwhen cooking.
7. Cooking times
This a case of how you like your steak cooked.
Here are some guidelines if you don’t have meat thermometer:
Medium-rare; turn the steak as the juice first begins to appear on the surface. Then cook the flipped side until juice just begins to appear. To test, prod with your finger, it should be soft to the touch.
Medium; turn the steak when the juice begins to pools on its surface. Then cook the flipped side until juice also pools. To test, prod with your finger, it should be bouncy to the touch.
Well-done; leave the steak to cook until juice has really pooled on the surface, then turn. When done, the steak should feel firm.
8. Rest
This one step above all else, is the most important.
When a steak hits the cooking surface all of the muscle tissue and fibers tense up in reaction to the severe heat. By resting your steak, you allow for these musles to relax again which will give you a beautifully tender and juicy steak.
A good general rule is to rest the steak for as long as it has been cooked.
