How to cook the perfect steak
One of the reasons so many people order steak when they eat out is that they’re not confident about cooking it at home. But you don’t have to be a chef to cook the perfect steak.
The rules are actually pretty simple. You just have to choose the right cut of meat, get it nicely seasoned, cook it quickly on a hot grill and make sure you let it rest because that’s what’s going to give you the most succulent and tender result.
First, choose your steak. This one is my favourite – the porterhouse, which is also known as sirloin steak. I reckon this has got the most flavour, it’s my idea of the perfect steak. You could go for a scotch fillet or ribeye steak, which has fat marbled through it that makes it a bit more tender. Or the classic T-bone, which has the porterhouse on one side and the fillet on the other – it’s big but you can slice it up and share it between two people or save the rest to put in a steak sanga.
All of these tender cuts are ideal for quick cooking over high heat, rather than those tougher cuts that you want to cook more low-and-slow.
So when you’ve got your steaks at room temperature, the first thing to do is season them with salt and pepper. Do this on both sides – it’s an important step because when you get the steaks onto a hot grill it’s going to sear them and you’ll get a delicious crust on the outside.
Then just drizzle them with oil and rub it all over. I like to do it this way but some people prefer to brush the grill with oil. You don’t need a lot of oil to cook a steak perfectly.
Now here I’ve got the barbecue nice and hot. It’s up to you whether you cook steaks on the barbecue plate or the grill, it depends if you want to see those grill marks, which I love. Either way, what you want is to get that beautiful caramelisation on the meat.
These steaks are quite thick so I’m going to cook them for about two and a half minutes on each side. A thinner steak will cook more quickly than a thick steak or a bone-in steak like the T-bone.
Halfway through, flip it over, just like that. Put it back down on a different part of the grill to help avoid any flare-ups.
Now these steaks are cooked, I’m going to let them rest before serving. Don’t skip this step – it’s the key to a perfectly succulent and juicy steak. A good rule is to rest the steak for at least half the cooking time. This lets the juices at the surface be distributed back through the meat. If you cut into it straight away without resting, those juices will run out, you’ll lose that flavour and the steak will be dry.
Now the steak has rested, we can cut it into slices. Look at that – juicy, rosy, medium-rare steak. That’s just the way I like it.
That’s all there is to it. Perfect steak, cooked at home on the barbie. Be confident, follow my tips and you’re all set for a delicious steak dinner. You can serve the steak on its own with a salad or veggies, or whip up a simple sauce to go with it – I love it with a herb sauce like chimichurri or a little bit of flavoured butter.
Beautiful.
