Truthfully, my first ever steak, and even sometimes now, don’t end up as intended, maybe its a lack of care, or the ingredients I have to work with, but here is an overview of how you can cook your first perfect steak.
It all starts with the equipment, a char grill or barbeque is perfect, if you don’t have that or want to cook at home, a stainless steel pan will do the trick. I recommend starting simple, get a nice cut of steak like sirloin or filet mingon, then use butter or any oil on hand once the pan gets nice and hot, I usually use butter as the oil can get everywhere when it’s hot. Season the steak with salt, and pepper if you fancy and only then place it into the pan and add rosemary and whole garlic cloves for taste, sear each side for 4-5 minutes or until core temperature reaches around 60 degrees Celsius (medium), take it out of the pan on a paper towel to rest for a few minutes to let it keep cooking and settle all the flavours, then plate up and enjoy!
You might be wondering why you would listen to some 16 year old, well, I have been working in kitchens for almost a year, and been an amateur cook for 3+ years, recently I have been taught great tips from my head chef about steaks, he has 35+ years of experience in kitchens and I want to share what he taught me with you.
A great tip to know if your steak is cooked to the desired rareness without a thermometer or to double check is to touch the steak, then put your hand into a loose fist, and feel the spot between your thumb and index, that’s how medium rare should be, if you make the fist tighter and then feel the same spot, that’s how a medium to medium well steak should feel.
If blood grosses you out I recommend to cook your steak to medium or medium well so it’s not over cooked and still get a good experience, if you don’t mind and want the best steak experience, I recommend cooking your steak to medium rare, as that’s when you can taste the most flavour and take advantage of the tenderness of the cut.
P. S. The next blog post will talk about how you can start your professional career in a kitchen and should be out in the next few days!
