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Cooking
the Perfect Steak
Cooking
the perfect steak is a question that is often asked and invariably
receives a different answer from each chef that is asked. The answer
is that it depends on the meat, equipment available, the technique
used, and the skills of the chef.
I
think it's suffice to say that most of you will be at home, using a
pan or barbeque. So I won't go into chargrills, silex grills or
mirror grills.
The
pan must be hot, so a heavy skillet style pan is preferred rather
than a thin cheap fry pan from the supermarket. The reason is simple,
a heavy pan will take longer to heat, which means it takes longer to
cool, thus giving a sustainable heat. If cooking on a BBQ, hot coals
in the middle, to seal the meat and cooler coals at the edge for
finishing. Add the oil to the hot pan and wait until the smoke begins
to rise.
The
steak must be allowed to breathe. Don't cook a steak straight from
the fridge, allow it to get to room temperature. Meat is built up in
fibres, so allow it to relax. This is known as resting, and is done
both before and after cooking.
Your
steak must be seasoned, and there are many ways to do this. The
standard is to use salt and pepper, you can go sea salt and cracked
black pepper, or maybe a la cart, where you use table salt and ground
white pepper and finish with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Some
say that using different oils, such as peanut oil or sesame oil can
give a richer flavour, or using animal fat. Using fat or oil to
flavour is a technique to enhance what is known as the Maillard
reaction.
When
the meat hits the heat of the pan, the amino acids and sugars are
heated and interact with each other in a process known as the
Maillard reaction. The molecules of the amino acids and sugars
combine, thus creating the cooking aromas and flavors. The Maillard
reaction is also responsible for the brown colour of cooked foods, or
caramelisation.
I
was
taught by an old school chef who would say to me 'Cooking
steak is about salt, fat and acid'
He
taught me that a marbled steak has enough fat in it to cook evenly
and caramelise beautifully. He would oil and season, then allow to
warm for a couple of minutes, sometimes he would sear the meat and
let it rest for twenty minutes, and they would be dressed with lemon
juice and oil before serving.
Some
steaks can carry quite a lot of fat, such as large rib-eye. Some
chefs like to use a rub on such steaks, especially if it's a 16oz or
even a 32oz.
When
the pan is hot, it will start to smoke, a little oil in the pan or on
the meat, and place it in the pan, don't be too eager to turn the
meat, it should sizzle nicely, and be allowed to caramelise to a fine
crust. Gently lift the edge of the meat to inspect, and after a
minute or two, turn your steak. At
this point you want to press on the meat with your finger to see how
soft it is. Different steaks have different density and fat content,
so by doing this, you can monitor the steaks progress. As the
heat is penetrating, the more the meat is cooking, and
the will become firmer.
I'm
not going into cooking times here, I'll just give a rule of thumb to
give you a frame of reference. A bleu steak is when the meat has been
heated to kill bacteria, sealed, but essentially, almost raw, and
very soft indeed. A bleu can be as little as 30 secs to a minute on
each side and seal the edges
Rare
is about
1 – 1 ½ mins each side. Red
in
colour
with a
fair amount of
juice. There will be some resistance when you press the meat but it
should still feel soft and tender.
Medium
Rare is about 2 mins per side. Pink meat with juices. Soft and
spongy
Medium
is 2.5 mins per side. Steak is mostly cooked with some pink in the
middle. The steak will feel quite firm, but tender.
Steaks
shouldn't be cooked beyond a medium in my book, but if you have to,
Well-done
is
4 to 5 mins.
Cooked
all the way through and
the meat should have a bouncy, firm feel.
When
ready, remove the steak and rest on a plate in a warm place before
serving
If
you want to check out a few different styles, then here are some
video links to check out.
cooking
any meat is basically experience, so try different types of steak,
and different types of meat, such as lamb steaks, gammon, mutton
chops, etc.
visit
your butcher, see what's available and have fun.
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