Beef steak medium rare. How to fry beef steak in a frying pan
Over the past few months I've been mastering the art and science of cooking steak. The perfect steak.
Along the way, I collected a lot of notes - from websites, cookbooks, interviews with chefs and my own personal experience - to then lay out a set of simple tips that will help you cook the perfect steak.
So, let's begin.
1. Buy meat from a butcher, not a grocery store.
The key to preparing any delicious meal is a selection of quality ingredients. When it comes to buying meat, it's best to skip the supermarkets and head straight to the butcher. There you will find the best quality meat, without harmful artificial additives.
2. Try ribeye (classic beef steak)
Most people choose lean cuts of beef to cook their steak, which results in a rather dry and tasteless steak. Cuts with a little more fat, on the other hand, add flavor even with relatively short cooking times.
From a nutritional point of view, saturated fats, such as those found in beef, are quite normal. Of course, you shouldn’t use a lot of them, so cut off the excess during cooking. In addition, instead of eating a large, but lean piece, you can get by with a small, but more filling one.
For me personally, ribeye seems ideal for steak.
3. Add a clove of garlic
Adding fresh garlic makes the steak even more delicious! Cut the garlic clove in half and rub it all over the steak.
(Bonus tip: To get rid of garlic smell on your hands, wash them and rub them on the inside of your stainless steel kitchen sink.)
4. Season with plenty of sea salt.
If you don't already have a salt and pepper shaker, buy one and fill it with sea salt and pepper.
Grind sea salt and fresh pepper and add the resulting mixture to each side of the steak, forming a kind of “light crust”.
5. Freeze steak for 45 minutes before cooking.
A great steak is one with a nice brown crust, usually cooked on the grill or broiler at a steakhouse, where the temperature is much higher than typical home ovens.
However, with a little trick you can get a very close result! Place freshly salted, uncovered steak in the freezer for 45 minutes just before cooking. The freezer environment is incredibly dry, so the steak will also dry out very quickly. Do not leave the steak in the refrigerator for more than an hour to prevent it from freezing.
After 45 minutes, take it out and start frying.
(Most chefs also advise against starting to fry a steak until it's at room temperature, since searing cold meat can easily burn the edges and still not achieve the desired tenderness. Here's a method for doing this to avoid).
6. Choose the right oil for frying
You should not use extra virgin olive oil to cook steak, as its smoke threshold is too low. Unless your goal is to sanitize your kitchen by fumigating or send smoke signals to distant relatives, you're better off with something more suitable. For example, organic butter is a good choice - it has a higher smoke threshold, but it tastes just as good as olive oil.
7. Use a digital meat thermometer
Steakhouses spend a lot of time preparing steaks to the desired doneness, since overcooked or undercooked steaks are the No. 1 complaint in such establishments. Cook the steak to the desired doneness and you are 90% close to the perfect steak.
A digital meat thermometer makes this process much easier. Place the appliance over the edge of the steak and into the middle, making sure it does not touch the fat or pan.
Each doneness level roughly corresponds to the internal temperature of the steak being cooked. For example, a half-cooked steak has a temperature of about 55°C.
Since the steak's internal temperature will rise even after you remove it from the pan, it's best to finish grilling when the temperature is a few degrees below cooking temperature. For example, for a medium-rare steak, stop at 52°C - after it sits for 5 minutes, it will reach the desired 55°C.
Below is a table indicating the degree of readiness and temperature:
Personally, I like to buy large cuts of meat and cook them until medium done and crispy. But to each his own.
8. Use the restaurant method for preparing steak.
You can grill steak the usual way, or you can use the restaurant method, which will be useful for cooking at home and all year round.
The restaurant method is very simple:
- Fry the outer part of the steak (crust) in a frying pan.
- Bake the inside of the steak in the oven.
Detailed instructions on how to do this:
- Preheat oven to 177°C.
- Heat a large skillet moderately.
- Place a tablespoon of organic butter in the pan and wait until it melts.
- Fry the steak on each side for 2-5 minutes until browned (but not black!).
- If you like your steak medium rare, you can stop here. However, be sure to check the doneness temperature of your steak using a meat thermometer.
- If you prefer your steak well done, place it in the oven for 5-15 minutes (again, using a thermometer will help you know when it's time to take it out).
9. Use a sprig of rosemary
A little trick from James Oliver - use a sprig of fresh rosemary to collect the liquid in the pan. Then brush the steak on all sides. This is an incredibly easy way to add flavor to your steak.
10. Cook the edges well.
Very simple advice, but few follow it. Once each side of the steak is cooked to desired doneness, use tongs to sear the edges.
11. Serve the steak on a warm plate.
This is one of the simplest rules to follow when it comes to preserving the flavor of any hot food.
Remember how the waiter at your favorite restaurant always warns you that the plate is hot?
For warm meals, the restaurant also serves warm plates. People working in the restaurant industry understand that the temperature of food is one of the most important factors influencing whether the customer will be satisfied with the quality of the dish or not. Placing hot food on a plate at room temperature will undo all the effort you put into preparing the dish.
An easy solution to the problem? Place the plates in the oven for a few minutes. If you are using the restaurant method described above, then your oven is already heated to 177 ° C - in this case, a minute will do.
- Don't use anything too thin to withstand the heat, such as plastic.
- Do not leave the plates to heat for more than a minute or they will become too hot.
- Remove plates using an oven mitt.
- Warn your guests that the plates are hot (and don't forget!).
(Note: If your plates are microwave safe, you can reheat them there at a high temperature).
12. Let the steak rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Place steaks on heated plates, cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Why is this being done?
- To ensure that the steak reaches the desired temperature. The outside of the steak is hotter than the inside. Therefore, the outside will continue to "cook" the inside for several minutes after you take the steak out of the oven. It is at this moment that an increase of several degrees occurs to the desired temperature.
- To allow the internal liquid to distribute evenly throughout the steak. When cooking a steak, the liquid under the influence of heat is directed in the direction opposite to the heat source - into the middle of the steak. Leaving the steak alone for a few minutes after cooking will allow the liquid to spread to the edges and not just sit in the middle. This way, the liquid will remain in the steak as you bite into it, rather than spilling onto the plate.
13. When finished cooking, add a little olive oil and basil
Another James Oliver trick is to pour a little olive oil on a wooden cutting board. Place fresh basil on top of the butter and cut it into small pieces. Then use a fork to rub the oil into the basil.
Apply the mixture to each side of the steak. You can also cut the steak into pieces and add a salad of fresh greens dressed with vinaigrette.
14. Practice regularly
Remember that cooking is not an exact science; results vary depending on the temperature of the ingredients, the equipment you use, and even the weather in your area. The more you practice, the more you will understand how products react to the specific circumstances to which you expose them.
The only way to cook the perfect dish is to practice over and over again. Buy the same beef from the same butcher and repeat. With due diligence and attention, you will achieve amazing results.
You don't have to buy beef tenderloin to cook steaks. They come out just as good from pork. The main thing is to choose the right meat, and then fry it correctly.
Pork steaks in a frying pan: subtleties of cooking
- A quality steak comes from pork neck. Pork should not be fatty. But the small layers of fat that marbled meat has make the steak very tender and juicy.
- Steak is not prepared from meat from a freshly cut carcass. It should ripen in the freezer for twenty days.
- Steaks are prepared from meat at room temperature, otherwise during heat treatment they will not have time to warm up and will remain half-baked. To do this, they resort to long-term defrosting: frozen meat is placed in the plus compartment of the refrigerator and left for several hours. Defrosting time depends on the size of the piece.
- Steak fillets are cut across the grain. This helps them cook evenly.
- Before heat treatment, pieces of meat must be blotted with paper towels.
- The steaks are fried over high heat so that they quickly become covered with a thick crust, which will “seal” the juice inside them.
- Place the meat only on a hot frying pan greased with oil. But most often the oil is applied with a brush to the steaks themselves. In this case, do not grease the pan.
- Fry steaks without a lid. But when finished, they are covered with a lid or foil so that they reach the required condition.
- Pork steaks are not cooked lightly, as this is dangerous to health due to infection with helminths (in particular, pork tapeworm). Therefore, the meat is well fried. The degree of readiness is determined by the meat juice: it should be clear.
Pork steak in a frying pan: classic recipe
Ingredients:
- pork pulp – 500 g;
- salt - to taste;
- spices - to taste.
Cooking method
- Wash the meat and dry well with paper towels. Cut across the grain into 3 cm wide pieces.
- Grease them with oil and sprinkle with spices. Leave to marinate for a few minutes. Add salt just before adding to the pan.
- Place the frying pan on the fire and heat it well. Place the steaks on it. Fry over high heat until a crispy crust appears. This will take you approximately 3 minutes. You cannot check their readiness at this time by piercing them with a fork or knife so that the juice does not leak out.
- Once one side of the meat is browned, carefully flip the steak over to the other side. Fry for another 3 minutes.
- To ensure the steak is completely cooked, reduce the heat to medium and cook the meat for another 3-5 minutes, turning it over again to the other side.
- Turn off the stove. Cover the pan with a lid and leave for 15 minutes. Then transfer the steaks to plates.
Pork steak with soy sauce in a frying pan
Ingredients:
- pork – 1 kg;
- black and red pepper - to taste;
- soy sauce – 1-2 tbsp. l.;
- vegetable oil – 2 tbsp. l.;
- dry mustard – 0.5 tsp.
Cooking method
- Wash the meat and dry with napkins. Cut across the grain into 3cm wide slices.
- In a bowl, mix soy sauce, pepper and mustard. Coat the steaks with the mixture. Leave to marinate for two hours.
- Squeeze out excess liquid from pieces of meat. Grease them with oil. Place on a dry hot frying pan.
- Fry over maximum heat until golden brown (about 3-4 minutes). Carefully turn over to the other side and fry for the same amount of time.
- Reduce heat by half and cook steaks until done. This will take you another 4-5 minutes.
- Transfer them to a warmed plate, cover with foil and leave in this position for 5-10 minutes.
Pork steak with rosemary, thyme and basil in a frying pan
Ingredients:
- pork – 1 kg;
- vegetable oil – 2 tbsp. l.;
- salt;
- dry spices (rosemary, thyme, basil) - to taste;
- black pepper - to taste.
Cooking method
- Wash the pork and dry it. Cut across the grain into pieces 3-4 cm thick.
- Grease the meat slices with oil. Sprinkle with pepper mixed with spices. Place on a cutting board and leave for half an hour.
- Heat a dry frying pan. Place steaks on it. At maximum heat, fry the meat for 3-4 minutes, first on one side, then on the other. It should be covered with a thick golden brown crust.
- Reduce heat to medium. Bring the meat to readiness, heating for a few more minutes.
- Turn off the fire. Cover the pan with a lid and let the steaks sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve.
Note to the hostess
- After preliminary heavy frying, the steaks can be cooked in the oven at 180°.
- Serve steak with any sauce or side dish.
- The meat can be fried immediately with vegetables: carrots, peppers or onions. To do this, clean them, cut them into circles or slices, place them in a single layer along with the meat in a frying pan, having previously greased it with oil. They cook quickly, so remove them from the pan before the meat.
I’ll tell you how to quickly and easily fry a piece of beef or steak at home. This recipe is a salvation from hunger when you need to cook quickly and eat quickly! There are literally 20 minutes left, no more. A simple and understandable method for anyone in an ordinary home kitchen. We will fry in a regular frying pan with a non-stick coating. When I buy a frying pan with a grooved bottom, I will definitely write a review about frying a beef steak in it.
Let's cook a steak!
So, let's start frying a piece of beef. Let's discuss the ingredients. Naturally, first we need a piece of beef. Normal beef, the fresher the better. And the younger, the better too. It is advisable to choose meat with streaks of fat. It's perfect. It is better if it is a piece of one muscle. But in general - take what is at hand. To get the perfect steak you have to run too much. And I want to eat quickly.
Ingredients
- piece of beef
- oil (olive is ideal)
- vegetables to taste (optional)
And it's all. In fact, you only need one ingredient - meat. No salt, no spices, nothing else is needed.
It's just not possible. Why are salt and spices not necessary? Yes, simply because the meat has its own taste. And if the steak is not very fried, but is, as they say, “rare,” then the taste will be absolutely amazing. And believe me, you won’t want to add salt yourself. If salt seems necessary, salt a piece of steak after frying before serving with coarse salt. This is quite enough.
As for other spices, please don’t use them! Give yourself the opportunity to enjoy the taste of meat!
Cooking process
Preparation takes a few seconds - remove the meat from the refrigerator. All.
By the way, I suggest one way to try if you have already frozen the meat. Get the frozen meat and, of course, cut it in advance (before freezing) into the desired pieces. And just immediately, in this frosty wooden form, throw it into the frying pan.
Heating will cause the ice to further tear the flesh, and the piece will come out soft even if you overcook it a little. Place the frying pan on the fire, add just a little olive oil and throw in our meat.
Decide for yourself over the frying time. From experience I will give the following figures. To cook a beef steak medium rare, closer to medium rare, you will need the following frying times.
- if the meat is not frozen - from 2 to 3 minutes on each side
- if the meat is frozen - 4 to 5 minutes on each side
In the case of frozen meat, you can hold it for 4 minutes on one side. Then turn over and fry at maximum heat for another 4 minutes. Turn back over and give another 3 minutes. That's all. Juice from the meat will begin to fill the pan towards the end of frying. This is fine. In a frying pan you will not be able to create a strong outer crust, as you can on an open fire, which will not allow the juices to actively flow out of the meat.
About roasting meat and rare steak
I like it when the meat is rare or a little “bloody”. A well-done steak has no flavor. Try it and you will agree that it is so. Slightly undercooked meat, when juice comes out of it, is the most delicious thing you can think of. I repeat, but no salt or spices are needed. Beef has its own taste. If the meat is from different sources (cow, calf), then the tastes will also be slightly different. Such meat (as if undercooked) itself is a little salty.
About blood in steak
Separately, I will say about blood in meat. She's gone. Not at all. The term is not correct. What flows from such a steak is not blood - it is meat juice. In general, if there is blood in the meat, it means the animal was not slaughtered correctly. The presence of blood in meat worsens the quality of beef, its preservation and safety for the consumer. I don’t know why they started saying that the steak is “rare”. Probably such an error was simply fixed in the language, maybe for beauty.
Eating process
Destroying a steak is a matter of just a few minutes. This is generally the fastest thermally processed dish. Don't overcook the beef. Eat it when “blood” oozes out of it, or rather intercellular juice, moisture. Let the cut be a little pink - it's very tasty! And forget about spices! Snack on meat with herbs and vegetables. Ideal with dry red wine. Bon appetit!
Thank you for reading the article to the end. I would be grateful if you share it on social networks!
and add the site to your bookmarks! There will be a lot of interesting things!
7 reasons to move to Kaliningrad... I’ll tell you about some of our personal reasons for moving to Kaliningrad. Before moving to Kaliningrad there was a reconnaissance trip, after which it was decided...
We have all heard the saying: “How many people, so many opinions.” When it comes to our favorite steaks, it can be paraphrased like this: “There are as many rules as there are chefs.” In my never-ending quest to find the perfect steak, I've scoured the seas of top-notch recipes published in respected publications and those used by chefs at iconic establishments like New York's Hawksmoor and The Spotted Pig. And this is what I found out step by step.Preparation
All the chefs I know who have eaten dog on steak emphasize: there are only two secrets to a great rib-eye steak. The first is to warm the meat to room temperature before cooking, the second is to turn it regularly in the pan. And if everything is clear with the second, let's dwell on the first in more detail. It turns out that the fastest way to warm meat is to wrap it in cling film and run it under running warm water for 30–60 seconds. But the fastest does not mean the best. If you have time, it is better to remove the steak from the refrigerator an hour before cooking, and ideally two. This way, it will not only warm up to the ideal internal temperature, but also get rid of moisture on its surface, drying naturally.Drying
Respectable publications like The Wall Street Journal and Cook's Illustrater, as well as the folks at New York's famous Hawksmoor, recommend patting your ribeye steak dry with a waffle towel before cooking, which I think is great advice. Moisture on the surface of the piece will add an unappetizing aroma of boiled beef to the meat. Dry steak will also brown faster.Salt and pepper
The debate around the topic of “when to salt meat” seems to last forever. For example, the author of the book Kitchen Mysteries, Frenchman Hervé Tiz, recommends not doing this before cooking - according to the chef, meat juices in this case leave the steak through the open fibers of the meat. However, many other authors, in particular The Wall Street Journal, as well as Ducasse and the guys from Hawksmoor, unanimously disagree with him.April Bloomfield of The Spotted Pig recommends letting the steak sit in salt for 10 minutes before cooking - this will ensure the meat is cooked evenly, she says. And Hawksmoor advises to sprinkle salt boldly - “more than you think is enough.” This approach will create an appetizing salty crust on the outside of the piece. “We've heard people tell you not to salt your steak before cooking. Well, it seems to us that this advice is nonsense,” they say. And after all my culinary experiments, I probably agree with them. The salted crust only allows the steak to gain in taste and does not have a noticeable effect on its juiciness.
Temperature
At what temperature should you cook steak? The chefs are divided in their opinions here. Some (Hervé Tiz and Hawksmoor) advise frying over very high heat. Others (Bloomfield and The Ginger Pigs) recommend a more moderate temperature. And Cook`s Illustrated suggests heating a frying pan, then turning down the heat and adding the meat. Choose your method depending on how you like the flavor of a well-cooked, slightly charred crust. Some believe that it distracts from the taste of a good steak, while others believe that it adds zest to it. Like me, for example - that's why I advise getting the pan as hot as you can before adding the meat. I check the desired temperature simply: you must not hold the really hot frying pan with your palm for more than 2 seconds.Of course, a lot depends on the thickness of the steak. You need to understand that the thicker the steak, the longer it can withstand high temperatures without drying out. Ducasse suggests using steaks 4cm high, April Bloomfield, Cook`s Illustrated and Hawksmoor - at least 6cm, and Nigel advises choosing a piece of meat as thick as your thumb. In my opinion, no matter how big your finger is, there is no way to make a steak this thick that is truly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. And this is important: the steak does not have to be black on the outside, as the chefs at Slater’s do, but it simply must have a crispy crust.
Perfect Ribeye Steak
So, here is the recipe - step by step - for the perfect steak, which I developed after a detailed analysis of all the points described above.For one serving you will need:
- 1 ribeye steak about 4 cm high,- sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper,
- 25 grams of butter,
- 1 crushed clove of garlic,
- a sprig of thyme.
1. Remove the steak from the refrigerator two hours before cooking and let it come to room temperature.
2. Take a heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet and place over medium-high heat. Pat the meat dry with a waffle towel, then brush with a small amount of refined oil on both sides. Meanwhile, sprinkle salt and pepper evenly on a plate, coat the steak in the mixture, and return to the pan. Cook for 60 to 90 seconds on each side, pressing with tongs, until evenly browned.
3. Reduce the heat slightly, add the garlic, butter and thyme to the pan, and when melted, stir and pour the mixture over the steak. A 4cm ribeye will cook for about 6 minutes until medium rare.
4. Remove the ribeye steak from the pan and place it on something warm - a heated pan or board - to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Bon appetit.
Are you planning to treat yourself and fry a marbled beef steak in a frying pan? The first and most important thing that a good steak requires is a tasty piece of marbled beef. Alas, you will have to give up the illusion of impressing someone with a cutout from the butt of a dairy cow. But how beautiful is the Aberdeen Angus beef bull! Thick and thin edge, tenderloin and rump for amazing classic steaks. Shoulder, diaphragm and flank for distinctive alternative steaks. Mmm, a delight for a real gourmet!Another important rule: each cut needs its own approach. Don't expect the shank to be soft and tender after seven minutes on the grill: it requires braising or baking in the oven with aromatic herbs.
And finally: although we have talked about this more than once, let me remind you that “fresh meat” is a myth. Only meat that has undergone high-quality aging for 14 days or more fully reveals its taste and aroma. In our butcher shop we offer to buy wet and dry aged marbled beef meat, which has been in ideal conditions enough to be completely ready for the cook's hand.