Perfect Steak Cooking
One of the most common things we do when we get together with friends is eat. And when we say eat, we don’t mean pizzas or souvlaki that we will order from a neighborhood store, but something that we will make with love and will surely satisfy the palate of our guests.
One of them is the steak, and there is hardly any man who does not appreciate a properly cooked steak.
However, since it is known that in a group of men almost everyone has an opinion on the correct way to grill the steak, after reading the following 5 tips, we suggest that you remove the “connoisseurs” with a concise procedure, regaining full control of the process. Besides, there will always be the preparation of side dishes for the rest.
1. Choosing the breed and cut of veal that suits us
If you want your steak more cooked, then it is better to choose a breed with a higher percentage of intramuscular fat, such as Black Angus.
The breed of meat we will choose to cook, as well as its cut, are critical characteristics both for the tactics we will follow and for the result we will seek, but the most important characteristic we must pay attention to is one: intramuscular fat .
We’re not here to argue that steak shouldn’t be overcooked (although the charring that’s common in Greece is clearly against us), however, serious consideration should be given to the percentage of intramuscular fat in the veal that will ultimately we choose to sit round on the grill or in the pan, and finally on our table.
Leaner breeds of beef, such as French Charolais, should be under-cooked. This means, medium rare or rare. If you want your steak more cooked, then you’d better choose a breed with a higher percentage of intramuscular fat, such as Black Angus, because during grilling, the intramuscular fat is what will hydrate your meat, making sure it stays juicy and delicious.
The same goes for the different cuts. If you choose a sirloin steak, then you should be sparing with your grilling, unlike a ribeye steak, which usually contains more fat.
2. Temperature before baking
The fat and its correct cooking is still a key factor, but a uniform temperature throughout the steak is also necessary. The steak should be out of the fridge for a good amount of time before grilling, with the general rule of thumb being at least half an hour per 250g of meat. So if we have a half kilo steak, we should have taken it out of the fridge for at least an hour before grilling.
3. Steak seasonings
We should always salt our steak before grilling, and with more salt than may be needed. And that’s because the juices that come out during baking, rinse and remove the unnecessary salt. Peppers, oregano and the like are recommended to be added after cooking, because otherwise they make the steak bitter. If we want to use a marinade, make sure it does not contain sugar, because it will turn into bitter caramel, with a negative taste impact on our steak.
4. Pay attention to the baking temperature
The cooking temperature is an important factor that will affect the final result of our beef steak. It is recommended that the steak falls on the grill or in the pan and meets the maximum possible temperature. So, we heat our pan very well, and then place our steak to ensure the creation of the outer crust that will shield the precious and tasty juices of our meat.
The high temperature is what will cause the Maillard reaction, which is also responsible for the exciting taste of the steak. This concerns the amino acids (the structural units of meat proteins) that react with sugars, recombining and creating new molecules, which give grilled meat its special taste.
How to continue baking depends on the desired degree of baking. For rare and medium rare roasts, the temperature remains high and the roasting time is minimal. For more intense roasting, you should lower the temperature and extend the duration. In general, the intensity of heat should be inversely proportional to the duration of cooking.
5. Frequent rotation
For even cooking on both sides, it is recommended to turn the steak frequently, always of course with tongs and not with a fork, which will injure the crust of your steak and spill some of its juices. In any case, barbecues with a lid create a closed environment with a smaller temperature difference between the two sides, but even so, we must not expose the two sides of the steak to large fluctuations in temperature.
