How to fry a striploin steak in a pan. Beef steak - the secrets of cooking, the choice of meat and the degree of roasting of the dish

Meat-eaters, if they have not tried a steak, then at least once in their life they want to cook a tasty morsel, but this requires certain knowledge of how to fry a steak. If you do everything wrong, and at a fast pace, the fried meat will become dry and stiff, or the outer part will be burnt, and the inside will not be baked. Therefore, it is so important to properly prepare the product and fry it.

Selection and preparation

For a beef steak, it is better to buy imported meat, but you can also find high-quality Russian goods, but they will be with foreign terminology. It is best to opt for "ribeye", cut from the ribs, and "striploin", thin dorsal meat, or "New York", like a striploin, but this meat does not have a fat layer, all these types are distinguished by their softness and juiciness .

The loin and large part of the bull, suitable for steaks, is called "Portehouse". The round muscle of the bull is called filet mignon, its price is the most expensive, but the quality is the best, most tender and very juicy. The sirloin on the bone and the thin edge are called “T-bon”, and the inner shoulder blade is called “Angleterre”.

The softest shouldered meat of gobies is used to make pieces of Café de Paris. The lumbar dorsal region of the bull is sold with the name Quasimodo. For "Montevideo" there is a rump, and for "Roundramb" the upper hip part. The dorsal thick edge is called a club steak, and the femoral part is called a sirloin. The thinnest broken tenderloin is called a rum steak. That is, the choice of steaks for frying is huge, everyone chooses to their taste.

For a great dish, you need marbled beef, the distribution of fat should be uniform. Classically, the correct thickness of the pieces is equal to two and a half centimeters. If you have to buy ready-made cuts, you need to pay attention to the thickness. When buying a large piece of meat, you need to imagine how to cut it.

It is advisable to choose young meat for steaks, from one-year-old or one and a half year old bulls. If used according to the same recipe, but cow's meat, the dish is called "steak".

Tip: Frozen steaks should thaw overnight on the refrigerator shelf, in about 20 minutes. before frying, the meat should lie down in the room, the pieces are wiped to be dry.

To lubricate the pieces, you can use any odorless vegetable oil, then salt is poured onto the steaks to taste, as well as herbs and spices.

Tip: The steak does not need to be beaten, so as not to break the structure of the fiber, and this can lead to dryness of the piece.

Steaks are not always made from bull meat. For a delicious pork steak, neck tenderloins are suitable, as well as parts of ham pulp, in which the fat layer is minimal. You can take a part of the mother-of-pearl shade cut, on which there are no blood smudges. The uniformity and elasticity of the cut is welcomed, high-quality meat will be slightly moist, the muscle fibers are thin, and the fat is evenly distributed over the piece.

Pork meat is chosen not bright red, but slightly pinkish. It is desirable that the purchased fresh piece lie on the refrigerator shelf for 3 to 5 days, during which time the meat is fermented and infused, then the pork steak will be soft. Raw materials ready for frying, when pressed on it, quickly straighten out.

For those who do not eat high-calorie foods, you can fry cod fish steak, which we combine with different types of products. On the shelves it can be found in a frozen state. Fresh fish at home is cut into portioned chunks. Frozen cod should not be thawed in the microwave or hot water. For this, the fish lies in the room. Before you start frying, the fish is marinated for flavor saturation.

You can use northern white and sweet catfish. For a steak, the fish is divided into large pieces, sprinkled with flour, breadcrumbs, or cooked with batter.

An excellent alternative to meat dishes will be healthy and hearty salmon steaks. They can be prepared as an independent dish, or with vegetable, mushroom, cheese and any other additives. As a rule, salmon steaks can be found in the store in vacuum packaging. Frozen products are thawed in a room environment. Additionally, various marinades and sauces are prepared.

Types of roasting

Cooking a steak depends on personal preference, as well as on the type of meat, the period of time can be increased or decreased as desired. The American classification divides roasting into 5 types, it implies the classic thickness of meat pieces, with a larger thickness and time, more is needed, with a smaller cooking time, respectively, decreases.

With a degree of veri rar, the pieces remain practically raw, only slightly warming up in a frying pan on both sides for 10 or 15 seconds.

Rare steak lovers will sear rar meat when each side of the piece is seared for 1 or 2 minutes. Then 6 or 8 min. the meat should lie down.

Medium Rar is medium rare, each side is fried for a couple of minutes or two and a half, then 5 minutes. the meat needs to rest.

When each side is roasted for 3 minutes, resting for 4, this is medium done.

Well-done is a well-done steak, both sides should be fried for four or 4 and a half minutes, the rest is only a minute.

It is more useful if each edge of the steaks is also fried, when the first turning is done, the piece is kept on its side for a while. Rar and medium require low fat steaks, which corresponds, for example, to filet mignon. Medium rar and well require fat content of meat, then the steak is juicier and softer.

With the help of an electronic thermometer, roasting can be determined with high accuracy. The degree of rar corresponds to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the medium of the rar value is 130, the medium is 140, the medium of the well-done state is 150, the well-donn is 160.

Grilled

It is necessary to fry the meat correctly at a high temperature, for uniform frying, the fire gradually decreases when the steak is fried, foil is used to cover it, under which it rests for several minutes.

Tip: If steak meat is cut at home, be sure to cut the pieces across the grain.

The ribbed pan makes excellent steaks. You will need a couple of beef pieces, a thickness of 3 to 5 cm. Salt and pepper “by eye” are mixed to wipe the pieces on each side with these spices. A ribbed grill pan is heated, ungreased, until a light smoke appears.

Fry the pieces for one and a half minutes, then, turning them in a ninety-degree angle, fry for 30 seconds, turning the other side, repeat the process. Then the pieces are wrapped in foil, placed in a mold and roasted in an oven preheated to 190 degrees for 10 minutes, for strong frying for 15 minutes. After taking out the steaks, leave them in foil to rest for a while.

Fragrant steak is obtained on the coals. Beef pieces are taken 4 cm thick. Meat weighing about 2 kilos should be poured 5 tbsp. spoons of olive oil, add a little rosemary needles. Hand-rumpled steaks keep in the cold for about 12 hours, every 5 hours the pieces are turned over. Before cooking (in 15 minutes), the product is salted and peppered.

The coals are getting ready. The steaks are placed on the grill at a distance from each other. Rosemary is shaken off the meat into a charcoal over which there is a grate. Each side is fried until a crust appears. When the second side is fried, the pieces are rotated so as not to char, the roasting is regulated, guided by the tastes of the guests.

in a frying pan

Two pieces of selected meat are coated with medium ground pepper and salted. A teaspoon of French herbs is rubbed with pats on the meat. Both sides of the pieces are finally smeared with olive oil. Fry the steak in a cast-iron hot oil pan, one side for a minute, after quickly turning over the same amount of the second, turning the steak back, bring it to the required condition. At the end of frying, let the steak rest for a few minutes.

In the oven

The oven heats up to 230°. A 2 cm steak dried with napkins should be fried in a pan with rapeseed oil for about 5 minutes. The meat is sent to the cabinet without removing the pan. In time, fry for 6 minutes if you need to get meat with blood, 8 minutes if you need a medium-roasted dish.

in the marinade

It will be possible to cook delicious steaks under the marinade. Mix soy sauce with orange zest obtained by processing one washed fruit with a fine grater. Add a quarter cup of orange juice. Dip 4 pork steaks a little over a hundred grams in this mixture, the meat will marinate in 60 minutes.

Tip: Slices of steaks should be fried for 5 minutes. both sides in a frying pan with hot oil.

in sauce

The grill heats up well. Grated fresh ginger (15 g) is mixed in a bowl with horseradish sauce (30 g), ground red pepper, soy sauce and honey (15 ml each). Standard beef steaks, buttered and salted, should be fried for 2 minutes. on both sides, after turning over again, the sauce is poured on them, half the volume, the steaks are cooked for a minute, turned, the remaining sauce is added, the dish is ready in 2 minutes.

in spices

Salt and rosemary are rubbed into pieces. Fry both sides of the steaks for a couple of minutes. Having set the medium fire, repeat the coups of the pieces after 20 seconds. within 6 min. Sprinkle chopped garlic, lemon and parsley on top of the finished steak on a plate.

Tip: We combine fried steak with various side dishes, vegetables and herbs, especially lettuce.

Good day, my dear cooks! Did you know that the history of the beloved juicy steak goes back to ancient Rome? Yes, yes, it was then that large pieces of meat began to be fried on fire. True, they did it not for food, but for sacrifice. Today, steak is a popular dish. But not everyone can cook it. There are so many subtleties and nuances. But don't be afraid. This can be learned. I will tell you how to fry a pork steak in a pan.

Until recently, steak was cooked exclusively from beef. But "progress", as you know, affects all areas of life and cooking is no exception. Therefore, today you can cook it from anyone, even from an antelope. But today we will cook pork steak.

When buying pork, pay attention to its color. It should be pinkish, without iridescent tints. The darker the meat offered to you, the older the animal. Also note its "marbling". This term refers to the uniform distribution of fat throughout the meat. But fatness and "marbling" are not the same thing. For steak, try to choose such cuts of pork, where there will be an optimal amount of fat, but not excessive.

The tenderloin steak is guaranteed to be the softest and juiciest. She has soft meat that is difficult to spoil

Just pre-cut the film from the meat. It is quite easy to remove with a knife.

But the choice of pork is only part of the story. A perfect steak has 3 ingredients:

1. Take it out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before cooking. And then you get cold meat inside with a burnt crust.
2. The piece of meat that you cook should be thick. Not less than 2.5 cm, but not more than 4 cm.
3. If you have purchased uncut pork, you need to properly cut the steaks. Remember that you only need to cut them across the fibers!

How long to cook

And how long to fry the meat depends on what kind of steak you want to get. Love the delicacy "raw", which means that the fried piece can be thicker. Yes, and meat provides for different degrees of roasting:

Minimum done (very rare)- On each side, fry the meat for no more than 1-2 minutes. Pork remains bluish-pink on the cut, and the texture is tender. Cooked meat is slightly warm inside.

Rare (rare)- cook on each side for 2-3 minutes. In this case, the texture of the meat will remain soft and porous. And on the cut, the piece will have a red color.

Medium (medium)- the most common way to fry meat: it is a little bloody. Fry for about 4 minutes on one side, and then turn the piece over. And cook the second side for 3-4 minutes. As a result, the meat will have a firm texture and retain a reddish color in the center.

Well done steak (welldone) Cook each side for at least 3 minutes. In this case, pork should be fried over high heat. After that, the meat is brought on low heat for 6-8 minutes. The finished steak has a dense texture and a uniform brownish tint.

Do you want to learn how to cook steaks like in a restaurant? The recipes I prepared with photos and videos will help you with this. For softness and juiciness of meat, you can marinate it. Here is a selection of 5 proven pickling options.

Step-by-step recipe with photo of pork steak with spices

An easy way to cook pork meat. By beating the pork, the meat is so tender and soft. And it is prepared with a minimum of oil.

• 2 pieces of pork;
• salt;
• pepper;
• Provencal herbs;
• spicy paprika;
• olive oil.

Cut the meat up to 2 cm thick and beat it well with a kitchen hammer. The best way to do this is to wrap the meat in cling film. So the fibers soften and the meat will cook faster and be softer. Sprinkle with herbs and spices on both sides.

Grease a grill pan with a thin layer of olive oil. Lay out the chopped pork pieces. Fry on both sides until brown and characteristic stripes from the furrows of the grill pan.

Serve with boiled potatoes, tomatoes and lightly salted cucumbers.

How to cook pork loin steak on the bone

In order for the meat in the pan to turn out delicious, you must first marinate it in spices. In this recipe, we will prepare a marinade from lemon zest, garlic and chili peppers.

• 2 pork loins on the bone (about 2 cm thick);
• 1 tsp red chili pepper;
• zest of 1/2 lemon;
• 2 large cloves of garlic;
• ground black pepper - to taste;
• 4 tbsp. l. olive oil;
• salt - to taste.

Rinse the meat and pat dry with paper towels.

Finely chop the garlic and chili pepper. Pour olive oil into a bowl, add chopped garlic, chili pepper, grated zest of half a lemon. If you have sage leaves, tear them into small pieces and add to the marinade. Stir the finished filling.

In this marinade, roll the meat on all sides and set aside for at least 30 minutes. This way it absorbs the flavor better.

Grill in a pan on each side so that the meat is well cooked. At the end of cooking or on a plate, sprinkle with salt to taste.

Delicious and quick pork steak recipe

Juicy, fragrant pieces of meat with garlic and fragrant spices, fried in a pan. What could be better for a delicious lunch or dinner?

• 3 pieces of soft boneless pork;
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper - to taste;
• garlic oil.

Cut the pork pieces into 2 cm thick slices. If you have them in the refrigerator, take them out 30 minutes before frying. Meat should be at room temperature. Grease future steaks with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let them marinate for 30 minutes. Heat the grill pan well and lay out the pieces of meat.

Grill the steaks for about 7-10 minutes. Depends on their thickness and size. On both sides, they should acquire a golden brown hue, as in the photo.

At the end of cooking, put a piece of garlic butter on each chop. To do this, mix softened butter with chopped garlic and dry herbs. And then put it in the refrigerator. After frying, put this garlic oil on the pieces of meat for literally 2 minutes. The steaks will “rest” and acquire a fragrant taste.

Ready-made pork steaks are great friends with vegetable salad or baked potatoes. Or you can make your own delicious burger. It will turn out much tastier than store-bought 🙂

How to grill tenderloin in a grill pan

For this delicacy, take:

• 400 gr tenderloin;
• frying oil.

Delicious recipe from Gordon Ramsay

For this gourmet pork take:

• 2 steaks;
• spices for meat or just ground pepper;
• salt;
• oil for frying;
• 3-4 cloves of garlic;
• 20 gr butter;
• good mood 😉

I'll tell you a secret: this is a recipe from Gordon Ramsay. It is very easy to cook it. First of all, season the meat with spices and salt it.

For frying, you can use a regular non-stick frying pan. As soon as it warms up well, pour in the oil. And then put the steaks on the hot oil, just away from the sides of the dishes. The meat will begin to sizzle in the pan. Do not be afraid!) This is how it should be.

After a minute, turn the pork over with tongs. Literally after 30 seconds, you will see that the meat has acquired a golden color. If the thickness of the pieces is large, then put the pieces of meat sideways to the pan and fry too.

Then add garlic. You don't need to clean it. Just lightly press on the cloves and send to the pan. Turn the meat every minute to prevent burning. This way it will cook evenly. If necessary, you can add a little more vegetable oil for frying.

Next, take the butter and put it on the meat. Let it soak the steaks. Spoon melted butter over almost cooked meat. And rub the pork with fried garlic. When the steaks are ready, put them on a plate and cut.

To better understand all the intricacies of cooking, see the detailed step-by-step recipe. Here is a link to youtube

How do you fry steaks? If you post your signature recipe with a photo in the comments, I will be very grateful to you 🙂 I like something new and unusual. And if you want to be the first to know about my culinary discoveries, do not forget to subscribe to updates. I take my leave and say: bye-bye!

A classic steak is a portioned piece of beef about 3 cm thick, fried on both sides. Steaks can have different degrees of doneness, the main of which are the Rare degree (with blood, the finished steak has an inside temperature of 45°C to 50°C), the Medium degree (medium degree of roasting, the steak temperature is from 55°C to 60°C). C) and the degree of Well-done (strongly fried steak with a temperature of 65 ° C to 70 ° C).

Ideally, the readiness of a steak of one degree or another of roasting is determined using a culinary thermometer, however, in our everyday home reality, this method is used extremely rarely, determining the readiness of a dish, as they say, by eye.

When choosing the degree of heat treatment of a steak, you need to remember that with strong frying, the meat loses its juice and becomes dry and tough. However, Rare roasted meat is also liked to be eaten mainly by amateurs. The most popular around the world is the "medium" steak, which has a uniform brown color but releases pink juice when pressed.

The most common side dishes for steak are grilled vegetables or fresh vegetable salads.

Beef steak - food preparation

To prepare a real beef steak, you need beef pulp without veins and bones from the “intercostal” part, and ideally it should be “steam” meat, then the dish will turn out juicy and aromatic. Such meat should be cut into pieces having a thickness of about 3 cm.

If, nevertheless, you will cook a steak from meat that has been frozen (for example, by purchasing a portion of beef prepared for a steak), defrost it, if possible, in the main compartment of the refrigerator. It will take a lot of time, but this is how it best retains its properties. You can speed up the defrosting process by placing the meat directly in the package in cold water. But don't defrost a steak in the microwave, even on the defrost setting, as the top layers will begin to cook and the middle will still be cold. As a result, evenly frying such a steak will already be problematic. And even more so, you should not defrost meat by immersing it in warm water.

Another important tip for novice cooks: selective meat, which is usually used for cooking steak, is not beaten off, otherwise it will lose not only its structure, but also all its juices.

In addition to meat, to cook a steak, you need to stock up on any (preferably olive) vegetable oil and a set of spices or herbs. Salt the steaks only ready, already before serving.

Beef steak - preparing dishes

You need a frying pan to cook a steak. Ideally, this could be a special grill pan; however, an ordinary cast-iron skillet, which is sure to be found in every kitchen, can also cook quite a decent steak. You also need a knife to cook a steak. Again, there is a special steak knife, but in principle, any one that can cut a piece of beef into beautiful and even pieces for a steak about 3 cm wide will do. To turn the steak while frying, you need to have culinary tongs.

Beef Steak - The Best Recipes

Recipe 1: Buttered Beef Steak

A very simple recipe. Choosing the right meat, cutting it into steaks correctly and frying it for the time you need, you will get a delicious steak, eating which you will sincerely feel sorry for the vegetarians.

Ingredients:

800 gr. beef;
50 gr. butter;

Cooking method:

1. After washing and drying the beef tenderloin with a paper towel, cut it into several steaks about 3 cm thick.

2. Put the pan on a strong fire and melt the butter.

3. Having peppered the steaks on one side, put them on this side in the pan.

4. Then, after peppering the second side, turn the meat over. The frying time is determined by the degree of "roastedness" of the meat that you prefer. If it is enough for you that it is slightly fried on the outside and very little on the inside, fry for up to 3 minutes on each side; if you want meat that is well browned on the outside and pink on the inside, the frying time on each side is about 4 minutes; to get a fried crust and complete readiness of the meat inside, it should be fried for about 5 minutes on each side. Salt before serving.

Recipe 2: Oven Steak

The meat cooked in the oven is softer, and the crust obtained by frying the meat in a pan prevents the juices from flowing out of it. That is why such meat, especially if seasoned with herbs, turns out so tender and fragrant.

Ingredients:

1 kg of beef;
4 tbsp. l. olive oil;
salt and pepper to taste;
herbs (thyme, rosemary).

Cooking method:

1. After washing and drying the beef tenderloin with a paper towel, cut it into pieces with a thickness of about 3 cm (about 4 pieces should be obtained).

2. In order not to pour olive oil into the pan, marinate the resulting steaks in oil with herbs for an hour, and then send them to a well-heated (up to 250 degrees) pan and fry for about 2 minutes on each side to get a crust.

3. Then we put the fried steaks in the oven, heated to 170 degrees, and bring them to the desired degree of readiness for 10-15 minutes.

Recipe 3: Beef Steak with Red Sauce

Steaks with red sauce are a real gift for gourmets. If you like to experiment, try serving regular beef steaks with red sauce with grape juice, red wine and pepper, and you will get a gourmet dish that will exceed all your expectations.

Ingredients:

1 kg of beef steaks;
3 art. l. flour;
2 tbsp. l. butter;
1.5 cups of broth;
0.3 cups of red wine;
0.3 cups of currant juice;
2 tsp red pepper;
salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Cooking method:

1. After rubbing the steaks with pepper, fry them on both sides for about 3 minutes each.

2. Transfer them to a cast iron bowl and bake for about 15 minutes in a well-heated oven.

3. Prepare the sauce: melt the butter in a frying pan, fry the flour on it until golden brown, then pour in the broth and, stirring constantly, bring everything to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes. Then pour currant juice, wine and add red pepper, bring to a boil and turn off.

Serve steaks with this sauce and potatoes.

Cut the meat into steaks should be across the fibers, for uniform penetration of heat into the thickness of the meat during cooking.

If you fry steaks on coals, where the temperature is much higher than in a pan, then first the steak should be fried on both sides for about half a minute, to form a crust that prevents the juices from flowing out of the meat, and then continue frying, turning the steak alternately on one side to another.

It is necessary to heat the pan for cooking the steak over high heat, but it is impossible to allow the oil to smoke, because in such a pan the steak, burnt from the outside, will remain raw and tough from the inside. It is considered that the pan has warmed up to the desired temperature if the hiss is heard when placing steaks on it.

After frying, you should let the steak “rest” for about 10 minutes (after removing the meat from the heat, just let it lie down). Then it will be much softer, since the juices that have risen up during frying can be evenly distributed throughout the piece.

The readiness of the steak is checked by pressing your finger on it. Rare steak should be soft; well-done is firm, and a medium-rare steak should be a kind of “golden mean”.

Meat is an ancient preference in human nutrition. A piece of meat on the table has always been an indicator of prosperity, and the variety of meat cooking is amazing. But mouth-watering steaks remain in the group of leaders in culinary preferences for more than one century. Even Elena Molokhovets in the famous manual for young housewives, published in the 19th century, devoted a whole section to the skill of cooking steaks.

How to fry a steak so that it truly reveals the taste of meat and becomes a decoration of a festive meal? It turns out that cooking steaks is a whole science in cooking. And history attributes the very technology of cooking the dish to the Americans, arguing that steaks came to Europe from America, after elite bull-calves from Europe were brought to this America.

We will not deal with historical facts, it is more important to understand how to properly fry a steak, and what is included in the concept of correctness. First of all, there are certain requirements for meat. First, let's find out not how to fry a steak, but what to fry it from. Classical rules involve the use of beef. And not any, but well-fed young bulls with tender meat and thin streaks of fat in it. Moreover, the beef must be impeccable freshness, no freezing.

Read how to fry a steak before you go for a piece of meat. After all, not every dish is suitable for a dish. The ideal option is obtained from sirloin meat of a thin edge; for home cooking, tenderloin or rump is often bought. If you take a part of the carcass between 5 and 12 ribs, then the steaks can be cooked directly on the bone.

It remains to decide how to fry a steak at home, without special stoves from good restaurants. Under certain conditions for cooking steaks, you can cook the meat yourself on a conventional gas stove. Deciding on a frying pan: it should be with a thick bottom and a good one. Modern grill pans are also great for frying steaks.

The meat is bought, the pan is prepared - we proceed directly to cooking the steak. We cut the pieces of meat quite thickly and flatten them with our hands or with the flat bottom of the pan. After flattening, they should be no thinner than 3 centimeters. Wet each piece thoroughly with a paper towel, the surface of the meat should be completely dry. Lubricate the dried steaks generously with olive or other vegetable oil and leave on the board.

While the steaks are soaked in oil, prepare the pan. It must be well heated on fire. If the temperature is not enough, the meat will release the juice, and the steaks will be hopelessly spoiled. The task of the first minute of meat in the pan is to seal the juice inside. This is achieved if a crust quickly forms on the surface of the steak.

We put a steak on a well-heated pan, you can put two pieces, if the size of the pan allows, but in no case do not let them touch each other. Literally for a minute and a half on a very strong heat, fry the sides of the steak, then reduce the fire to medium and fry each barrel for another 4 minutes. You need to make sure that the meat does not burn at this time. Cook to the degree of roasting that you like.

A classic steak should be pink and tender on the cut. If you prefer fried meat, bring it to readiness in a non-hot oven. Remove the cooked steaks from the heat, sprinkle with salt and spices and cover with foil so that the meat inside has reached. You can apply.

It was all about beef, but how to fry. The whole technology is the same, only the meat must be fried. The concept of a steak with blood in pork meat is not allowed.

Know your steak

Decide what you need. Regular steak, juicy tenderloin or striploin? Or something fat like ribeye or sirloin? With bone or without? Or maybe a thinner cut, such as a flap steak, a thick rim of the diaphragm, or a brisket?

What animal did your piece of meat actually come from? Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn or Texas Longhorn? Has the meat been aged, and if so, for how long? Ask the clerk in your butcher shop all these questions, make him sweat. And if you see complete misunderstanding in his eyes, go to another store. If your favorite piece is out of stock, ask for another cut, but always fresh, exactly the thickness and weight you need. Don't settle for compromises.

Buy quality meat

Is this meat sourced from a purebred pasture animal, or is it sourced from a manufacturing facility where the animals are fed compound feed and hormones to reach their maximum weight in the shortest amount of time? And most importantly: inspect the meat and feel it before buying. Very often meat is sold almost immediately after slaughter. If it's wet and bleeding, if it's wrapped in plastic and has an absorbent pad on a polystyrene tray, leave it at the store. You can’t do anything with such meat, and it will splatter a lot in the pan. Good meat should be dull in color, dry in appearance, and may have a dark, rich red hue. The surface should feel silky smooth to the touch. The most delicious steaks are obtained from meat that has sagged for three to four weeks (on the bones), which makes it slightly dry, losing moisture, and becomes very tender and fragrant.

The right frying pan

Steaks are fried over relatively high heat to obtain a golden brown and crispy crust. Therefore, it is worth buying a good frying pan with a thick bottom, not necessarily expensive. The cheapest option is a steel frying pan (sheet metal) that can get very hot, the bottom of which distributes heat well, and which does not deform. Before the first use, you need to ignite it. After use, wipe the pan with paper towels and apply a thin layer of vegetable oil (to protect against rust) before storing.

You can purchase a more expensive layered pan made from stainless steel and aluminum. Such a frying pan conducts heat excellently, has excellent heat resistance and does not suffer from washing in the dishwasher. Armed with a more expensive, heavier non-stick pan, you can also fry a decent steak, but unlike a steel or stainless pan, it produces very little brown on the bottom, which can be used to make a delicious gravy or sauce.

You should also pay attention to the size. If the pan is too large, the oil and the steaks themselves will burn quickly. Ideally, a distance of 5-6 mm should be left between the steaks. For four large steaks, a 28 cm frying pan will do. For two steaks, a 25 cm frying pan will fit, and for one steak, a 21 cm diameter will be just right. A frying pan with a heat-resistant handle (not plastic) is very convenient - in case you want to bring steak until done in the oven.

frying oil

Butter gives the steak a rich flavor; You won't get that result with olive oil. The advantage of olive oil (or any other vegetable oil such as grapeseed oil or sunflower oil) over butter is a higher combustion temperature. This means that the pan can be heated to a higher temperature and the oil will not burn. And heat is key to proper roasting. Margarine (butter substitute) and liquid cooking oil have a high burning point but lack the taste of real butter. Therefore, some steak fryers prefer a mixture of vegetable and butter oils. After the meat is fried, for more taste and a quick decrease in temperature, an additional portion of butter is added. If you are careful while frying (do not make the fire too high), you can perfectly fry a steak in one butter or ghee (butter from which milk solids have been removed, which means that it can be fried at very high temperatures and it won't burn). It will turn out distinguished by a golden brown crispy crust and the most rich taste.

Before roast

Be sure to keep the steak at room temperature so it cooks evenly. You can leave the meat for half an hour or even an hour on the kitchen table, covered with foil. Do not defrost frozen meat on the table, in the microwave, or in warm water; instead, place it on a plate, cover, and refrigerate. Then you will prevent the growth of bacteria. Drain off the juice that runs off during defrosting. Pat the meat dry with paper towels, as otherwise the crisp will not turn out. Wet meat browns badly.

condiments

Sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper before putting it in the pan. There is no consensus in culinary circles as to whether meat should be salted before, during, or after roasting. The salt supposedly draws the juices out of the meat, making it tough and dry. As a rule, cookbooks warn against salting meat before roasting. Complete nonsense. Ask any of the world's top chefs, meat experts, and chemists, and they all answer with one voice: you need to season the meat first. Salt is the key to great taste (including gravy in the pan). In addition, pre-salted meat browns faster. Before frying, you should use cheap fine salt (it dissolves well in the flowing meat juice). And when the meat is already on the plate, you should season it with coarse sea salt (more expensive).

Storage

Meat covered with foil can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Vacuum-packed, it can be kept in the refrigerator for at least a week. Steaks can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. This is very convenient when you order meat online or buy a large piece from a farmer. After being removed from the vacuum packaging, the meat may change its color. Upon contact with oxygen, the color changes from dark red to a brighter red. Unpleasant odor, if present, should disappear in a few minutes.

Fast roast

For a perfect crust (and, accordingly, taste), it is important to first fry the meat on both sides until brown over a fairly high heat. It is also called "seal the juice inside", which, strictly speaking, is wrong. How to do it: Sprinkle the steaks with freshly ground pepper and salt. Preheat the pan by holding it for 2-3 minutes over high heat. When the pan is hot (check by dropping water into the pan - if the water sizzles and splatters, the pan is hot enough), turn the heat down to medium. Put the butter in the pan and wait until it begins to bubble (the butter will darken and foam). Fatty steaks such as rib-eye or sirloin can be fried without any oil at all (unless you want to make a gravy or sauce). Fry the steak on both sides until brown. Steaks with a strip of fat around the edge should first be fried on the side where the fat is. The fat will melt and flavor the dripping meat juices.

Should you turn your steak often?

You can fry the steak by making it "dance in the pan" by turning it over and over, or you can fry the steak by touching it as little as possible, that is, by turning it over just once. The first option looks good from the outside: you seem to be saying “look at me and my steak!” with all your appearance, but it’s better to choose the second method. If you constantly turn the meat, the roasting process will be interrupted, making it harder to get a good crust, and the taste will also suffer.

Listen to your steak

Most cookbooks recommend grilling steaks over high heat, which most people understand as cranking the stove knob all the way to the top. This is wrong, and as a result, the butter and steaks burn. The meat is jet black on the outside and completely cold on the inside. It's best to preheat the pan first, and then keep a close eye on the steak once it's placed in it. Watch and, most importantly, listen. During frying, you should hear a slight hiss and crackle of the meat juice flowing out. If the oil is about to start to burn, add some new oil (this will cause the pan and the juice mixed with the oil to cool slightly).

What to do and what not to do to get the perfect crust

Moisture on the surface of the meat slows down the formation of a crispy golden brown crust. Therefore, pat the steak dry with paper towels before frying. And do not put too many pieces in the pan at once. Heat the skillet and oil to the highest temperature. The higher the temperature and the shorter the frying process, the more moisture evaporates in a short time (and at the same time the steak is not overcooked inside). But be careful not to burn the fat.

Degree of doneness

The main difficulty in cooking the perfect steak is achieving the desired degree of doneness. Which steak do you prefer: rare, medium or well done? The easiest way to determine how well done is to make a small incision and see how cooked the meat is inside. Another way that requires practice is by touch. When the meat is not fried, it is soft, and when fried, it is dense, hard. The "thumb and forefinger method" is widely used. How to do it: Connect the tips of the thumb and forefinger of one hand. Now press the index finger of the other hand on the base of the thumb of the first hand from the palm side. Such is the feel of raw, not fried, but only slightly warmed meat (blue rare). Now touch the tip of your middle finger with your thumb and again touch the base of your thumb with the index finger of your other hand: this is how meat with blood (rare) feels. Now move your thumb to the ring finger: this is the medium degree of roasting (medium). And finally, touch the little finger: this is almost completely fried meat (medium well done / well done). For large pieces baked in the oven, it is recommended to use a kitchen thermometer. However, it is not well suited for steaks, as its tip is too close to the hot bottom of the pan; thus, his testimony cannot be relied upon.

How to determine readiness

The duration of the heat treatment of a piece of beef depends on its size. Old cookbooks usually say that the roasting time depends on the weight (for example, 15 minutes for 450g of red meat at 175-177°C). This is outdated and incorrect advice, since weight is not as important as the thickness of the piece. It is much safer to use a kitchen thermometer. Stick its tip into the center of the piece (not too close to the bone, because the temperature rises much faster near the bone). As soon as the desired temperature is reached in the center of the piece, immediately remove the meat from the oven. The thermometer can be tested by immersing it in boiling water. The dial should show 100 °C. Steaks from the back of a beef carcass will turn out with blood if the temperature in the middle of the piece is 49-50 ° C. Tougher cuts usually benefit from a long simmer at low temperatures (100°C) and can sometimes take up to 10 hours to bake before the desired temperature is reached in the center of the cut.

Let the meat rest

Meat (which is a piece of muscle) shrinks when heated strongly. In order for the meat served on the table to be soft and tender, it must be allowed to rest after frying. Then the juice will be evenly distributed over the meat, which will make it relax and when you cut the piece, the blood will not flow from it onto the plate. It is best to leave the meat for five minutes, loosely wrapping aluminum foil (making it like a tunnel or tent, open on both sides so that steam can escape). If the steam is not allowed to escape, the crisp will soften again. Ideally, you should put the meat on a wire rack, for example, for roasting in the oven, substituting a tray or plate underneath for dripping juice.

Proper knife and cutting

Use a sharp knife with a smooth edge, no serrations. If the knife is dull or serrated, you will end up with a bloody mess on your plate. When you order a steak in a good restaurant, you will always be served a separate table knife with a smooth cutting edge. Use a very sharp carving knife to cut a large baked piece. You can cut thick or thin slices, as you wish (thin slices are usually considered a more refined option). Cut across the grain. If you look closely at the meat, you will notice the lines. You need to cut across the lines to cut those long fibers so the meat will be easier to chew.

"The Art of the Perfect Steak", Bombora Publishing House.