How to properly cook a steak

Instructions

1. 1

   Some will advise you to remove your steak from the refrigerator 40 minutes before cooking. This is, in reality, a considerable waste of time. A thermometer applied to the steak immediately upon removal from the fridge, and again 40 minutes later, will reveal a difference of no more than 1 to 2 degrees. Simply remove it when you are ready to cook. That said, read on.

2. 2

   Salting your steak is a matter of some importance, and the timing more so. Salt applied immediately before cooking will draw the juices to the surface before they have opportunity to return, yielding a dry interior. Salt well in advance, several hours or overnight, and allow those juices to be drawn out and then reabsorbed. The result is a surface satisfactorily dry for the Maillard reaction, and an interior of exceptional juiciness.

3. 3

   One frequently encounters the counsel to cook a steak in butter, on the grounds that it will improve the flavour. At the temperatures required for a proper sear, butter will only contribute a scorched, bitter flavour and is likely to summon the smoke alarm. Use a high smoke-point oil such as grapeseed or avocado oil, and reserve a modest knob of butter to melt atop the steak while it rests.

4. 4

   The Maillard reaction is the process by which a proper crust forms on the exterior of the meat. If you are not acquainted with the chemistry of it, a brief investigation will repay the effort handsomely. In brief: you want the steak to have direct contact with a hot pan so that the proteins on the surface transform into a golden, flavoursome crust. This does not mean to forgo oil, nor to flip only once. The object is to develop the crust, not to incinerate the steak.

5. 5

   While cooking, your aim is to bring the interior to whatever degree of doneness you prefer. If a more thoroughly cooked interior is desired, treat it as a separate matter from the development of the crust.

6. 6

   Once a proper crust has formed, do not continue cooking on the stovetop. Transfer instead to the oven and bring it to the desired temperature there. You will thus have a steak with a fine crust and an interior done precisely to your satisfaction.

7. 7

   Though you may be tempted to eat the steak immediately, however allow it to rest for 15 minutes, loosely wrapped in foil with its collected juices and a knob of butter. This permits the steak to reabsorb its juices. As it cools, the moisture drawn outward by the heat is drawn back into the centre, and the butter introduced here will be absorbed to excellent effect.

8. 8

   After 15 minutes, remove from the foil, plate with care, and pour the collected juices over the top. Then, to the table.