How to cook steak…

This isn’t really a recipe… it’s more of a guide.

I was once given the amazing birthday gift of an afternoon’s course in how to prepare and cook steak, by an ex Michelin starred chef.

…I now charge £680 a pop and go by the name of Salt Bae. (Welcome to dad jokes😬)

Steak is one of those foods we all pay top dollar for when we’re out wining and dining, but it’s incredibly simple to replicate at home. I’d even go as far to say there aren’t many other restaurant-dish type foods you can replicate as well because there’s really not much to it.

Here are some GOLDEN* RULES and a bunch of GREAT TIPS that’ll have you mastering a classic piece of steak in no time…

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YOU’ll nEed

Steaks

Sea salt flakes

Freshly ground or cracked black pepper

Good olive oil

Bulb of garlic

Sprigs of rosemary

Sprigs of thyme

Butter

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the golden rules

the cut

The three high-end cuts you want to be working with are:

Ribeye

Sirloin

Filet

Different countries, different ways of cutting, different recipes etc. give rise to a whole variety of names which are either other terms for these cuts or combinations of them…

Côte de Boeuf (ribeye on the bone)

Tomahawk (ribeye on a full length rib-bone)

T-Bone (sirloin and filet separated by a t-shaped bone)

Porterhouse (similar to t-bone)

Strip (sirloin)

Tenderloin (filet)

Filet-Mignon (filet)

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cooking times and temperatures

Some useful tips and techniques to get the cook time on your steak just right…

The thickness-minutes rule of thumb

Ignore the weight of the meat… your cooking time is all about how thick the meat is. So when we talk about inches, we’re talking about the thickness of the steak.

As a general rule of thumb, without any special equipment or techniques, 3 minutes per inch per side (plus resting time) will give you a great medium rare finish (slightly less for a filet steak).

It’s not an exact science. Every pan and heat source is different. Try to use the same pan every time you cook steak so that you have some consistency when cooking it.

The meat thermometer

When cooking a cut big enough for more than one person, a meat thermometer is undoubtedly the best way to travel. If you don’t have one, they’re pretty cheap and easy to find online and it’s a really handy tool to have in the kitchen in general.

For these large cuts, your best bet is to prep it in a pan (or bbq) at first, keeping to the golden rules above, before transferring it to the oven to come to your desired temperature. You want to keep it in the pan until you’ve got a caramelised sear on both sides, then pop it in with your thermometer stick.

Always remember to allow for a rise in temp of 5°c during the resting period.

Final temperature for medium rare is around 57°c.

The fleshy bit under your thumb

You may have heard of this trick, comparing how the steak feels to a little bit of flesh under your thumb. Here’s how it works…

With an open hand, gently bring the tips of your thumb (t) and one of your fingers together to touch, without pressing too firmly. With your other hand's forefinger, press the fleshy bit under your thumb to get a feel for how soft it is and compare to the feel of the meat.

The softness/firmness you feel for each represents…

t-1: Rare

t-2: Medium-rare

t-3: Medium

t-4: Well done

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Tips

Resting

If you don’t rest your steak sufficiently after cooking, you waste all the effort you’ve put in to cooking the perfect steak. The meat spends its time in the pan