5-Minute Crafts
5-Minute Crafts

How to Cook a Steak

Food
----

Steak is a dish that is easy to cook if you know its principles and basics. It’s important to choose the right meat, and know the temperature of cooking as well as several basic rules.

We at 5-Minute Crafts decided to tell you what degrees of meat doneness are there, how to cook steaks correctly, and what meat to choose in order to have the opportunity to cook dinner at home like you would in a restaurant.

Kitchen utensils

  • frying pan (you can also use a grill pan, electric grill, or fry the meat on a barbecue bar)

  • cutting board

  • knife

  • meat thermometer or timer

How to use a meat thermometer

  • The meat thermometer is an essential thing when cooking steaks, especially for newbies. Of course, you could use a timer as well, without measuring the temperature, but in this case, it might be difficult to “catch” the desired degree of doneness.

  • The cooking thermometer has a metal probe and cord that are heat-resistant. Don’t forget to clarify in the instructions what temperatures it can withstand if it touches a hot surface.

  • The probe should be inserted into the steak during cooking to measure the temperature in the middle of the piece of meat.

  • Electric thermometers usually have a function that allows you to set the desired temperature. Once the meat reaches this temperature, you’ll hear a sound signal. Thus, in the photo, we showed that we set it to 74°С (165°F), the temperature to make a well-done steak (the digit on the right), while the digit on the left shows that the meat has reached this temperature.

  • Read the manufacturer’s instructions carefully before using your thermometer.

Ingredients

  • beef (a piece suitable for making a steak)

  • salt

  • pepper

  • sunflower or olive oil for frying

How to prepare meat

  • There are many types of steaks and each of them has its own specifics. They all differ by price, softness, and meat structure. The most widespread ones are Ribeye, Skirt, Flank, Top sirloin, Flat-iron, and Porterhouse. We cooked the top sirloin steak. It is quite dense, juicy, and aromatic.

  • Steak should be cooked from cooled meat. If it had to be pre-frozen, then it is better to defrost it for 10-12 hours in the refrigerator.

  • Before you start cooking your steak, make sure to keep the meat out of the fridge and warm it up to room temperature. This trick will make your meat more aromatic after it’s cooked and make its taste more saturated.

  • Only cut the steak across the fibers (see the photo).

  • The steak’s thickness should be about 1-1.5 inches.

  • Before you fry steaks, coat them with vegetable oil. It’s not obligatory to pour oil into the frying pan.

An important note: After having been cooked, a steak should “rest” on a warm plate so that the juice distributes evenly inside the piece of meat. The exact time depends on the size of your steak: most chefs calculate the “resting” time based on the formula: “One minute for each 100 g of the product’s weight.” If you don’t do it, the juice will pour out after you cut the meat and it will become dry. Moreover, the serving will look inaccurate as well.

Degrees of doneness

There are 7 main degrees of meat doneness:

  • extra rare or blue rare — it’s almost raw but not cold meat

  • rare — the meat is fried from outside but stays almost raw, with red juice inside

  • medium-rare — the meat with pink juice that is also fried from outside and is underdone inside

  • medium — medium done meat that emits light-pink juice

  • medium-well — juicy almost done meat with transparent juice

  • well-done — meat is done on both the outside and inside, and it has almost no juice

  • overcooked — completely cooked meat with no juice at all

Rare (steak that has blood inside)

  • Fry until you arrive at a temperature of 125°F — 130°F inside the steak.

  • If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, fry the steak for 2-3 minutes on each side. Pre-heat the frying pan to 375°F — 390°F.

Medium

  • Fry until you arrive at a temperature of 140°F- 150°F inside the steak.

  • If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, fry the steak for 4-5 minutes on each side. Pre-heat the frying pan to 375°F — 390°F.

Well-done

  • Fry until you arrive at a temperature of 160°F or more inside the steak.

  • If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, fry the steak for 5-6 minutes on each side. Pre-heat the frying pan to 375°F — 390°F.

----
5-Minute Crafts/Food/How to Cook a Steak
Share This Article