There are two main ingredients without which it is impossible to create a great steak. The first is excellent meat. And the second is the skill of the cook. But don't be discouraged if you are not the chef of a Michelin-starred establishment.

Steaks are in constant demand in restaurants because they are more difficult to prepare at home than other dishes. In fact, making the perfect steak is not so difficult, you just need to know some subtleties and follow certain rules. They concern not only the cooking process itself, but also the correct choice of meat. Any chef will confirm that the right choice of meat is 80% of success.

We've put together the top tips to help you create a delicious steak that will impress anyone.

How to choose meat for a steak

For the steak to be tender, the meat must be aged. If you use fresh meat soon after slaughter, the steak will be tough, because the muscle in the piece of meat is not relaxed.

When you buy meat in a supermarket, look not at the date of packaging, but at the date of slaughter (it must also be indicated), count 20-25 days from it - this will be the date from which you can fry the steak.

Of course, we are talking about pieces of meat in vacuum packaging (for example, Lipetsk marbled meat or New Zealand beef).

How to cook a delicious steak

1. The steak should be no thinner than 2.5 cm. If you are preparing steaks from the tenderloin (filet mignon), cut it into pieces at least 5 cm thick.

2. Before frying the steak, let the meat stand at room temperature for 1–2 hours. This will make it much easier for you to control the process and the degree of roasting.

3. For frying steaks, use a cast iron ribbed grill pan, which heat until a slight smoke appears. Do not add oil to the pan to avoid smoke in the kitchen.

4. The surface of the steaks must be perfectly dry. Use paper towels to dry the meat. And do not try to wash the steaks, you can only wipe them off.

5. Just before placing the steaks in the pan, season them with salt and pepper on both sides and then begin to fry. Do not put more than two steaks in one pan, otherwise the temperature inside the pan will drop sharply, and the meat will begin to stew in its own juice instead of frying, forming a golden brown crust that reliably preserves all the meat juices inside the steak.

6. Cook the steaks for 1.5-2.5 minutes on each side. If you want a nice mesh on each side, fry on one side for 1.5 minutes in a grooved grill pan, then turn clockwise 90 degrees, fry for another 30–45 seconds, and then turn over to the other side.

7. Turn steaks only with tongs and never with a fork, so that the juice does not leak out.

8. Before turning the steak to the other side, make sure that the first side is sufficiently browned and the steak is nicely colored. If the meat does not lag behind the pan, it means that the crust has not yet formed and you need to give the steak a little more time.

9. When the steaks are fried on both sides, place them in a baking dish, cover the container with foil and place in an oven preheated to 190 degrees for 10-12 minutes (filet mignon, 5 cm thick) or for 7-8 minutes (steaks ribeye / sirloin). If you want a more pronounced frying, you can for all 15 and 10 minutes, respectively.

10. After this time, remove the steaks from the oven and, without removing the foil, let them "rest" for a minute, then boldly serve.

Primitive people, frying meat on fire, did not assume that they were at the origins of the steak culture, because in those days it was the only way to cook meat. Later, the priests of Ancient Rome offered to the gods in the ritual of sacrifice thick pieces of meat, fried on both sides on a grate right in the temple. However, the first steak recipe officially published in a cookbook was born in Great Britain in the 15th century, and soon all of Europe was grilling steaks in different ways, depending on the culinary traditions of different countries. After Columbus imported high-quality cattle into America, steaks began to be cooked on the American continent, and in a short time this dish became part of the national cuisine of the New World. It is in America that steak cooking has become a real art, and every American chef knows how to fry a steak deliciously. There are certain subtleties that relate to the choice of meat and various culinary methods of toasting, the knowledge of which will help in mastering this virtuoso art. So, let's try to cook meat at home!

What are the steaks

There are many types of steaks. For example, a thick piece of beef without bone, with a layer of fat, cut from the rib eye, is a ribeye, and a thin layer of boneless meat from the back is a strip-loin, which has an almost triangular shape. The New York steak is similar to a strip-loin, but there is no fat in it. "Portehaus" is the largest steak from the lumbar part, and filet mignon is the most expensive, juicy, tender and delicious steak from the only round muscle in the body of a bull. T-Bon steak is T-shaped meat on the bone and combines two types of meat - fillet and thin rim. Angleterre is made with meat from the inside of a shoulder blade, while a Café de Paris steak is made from a piece of the softest meat from a shoulder blade. Quasimodo steak is cut from the lumbar region of the back, while Montevideo is a rump steak. Roundmba steak is made from the upper part of the hip, club steak from the back of the thick rim, sirloin from the thigh of the carcass, and rum steak is a very thin and well-beaten tenderloin. As they say, choose a steak for every taste!

Steak is made only from beef

The most important cooking rule is choosing the right meat. Initially, steaks were prepared from beef, so if they say "steak", then they mean exactly a dish of beef. For other meat, clarification is required, so in this case they write: pork, chicken, salmon steak, and so on. But true steak connoisseurs argue that steaks made from any meat other than beef are not steaks.

Naturally, select beef is needed - it is believed that for an ideal steak, you should take the meat of young bulls aged 1–1.5 years of the breed Hereford, Shorthorn, Angus and Longhorn, fed by grass, wheat and corn. Gobies that have grown on grain crops, and not only nibbled on the lawn, acquire an unusually delicate layer of fat, evenly distributed in the piece. This is how the elite marbled beef is obtained, from which the world's best steaks are prepared. Interestingly, for classic steaks, they usually take meat of gobies, and the same dish made from cow meat is called a steak.

How to choose meat for a steak

The method of cutting the carcass is also important, since it is better to use meat fibers cut across, 2.5–4 cm thick for steaks. Such cutting allows the oil to penetrate into the pores of the meat pulp, so the steaks are cooked quickly and are more juicy. By and large, only up to 10% of the carcass is suitable for steaks, so the meat intended for this dish is considered elite and expensive. The dorsal muscles are most suitable for steaks - the fact is that the pieces from the areas of the body where the muscles are at rest are better fried and are softer. It doesn't matter if the meat is on the bone or without it, the main thing is that the piece is finished and you don't have to cut off unnecessary pieces of fat or veins from it. And also the meat should be fresh, dry, rich dark shade, with a smooth and silky surface. They say that the most delicious steaks come from lightly dried meat. The most important thing is that the meat is not steamed, otherwise the steak will turn out to be tough, and its taste, which just fermentation provides, will not be so rich and rich.

Cooking meat for frying

About an hour before cooking, the meat should be removed from the refrigerator to warm up to room temperature. This is necessary to evenly grill the steak. If you will be cooking frozen steaks, then in the evening they should be put from the freezer into the refrigerator so that they thaw gradually. But experts say that steaks made from previously frozen meat lose a lot in taste.

Some housewives marinate in lemon juice with salt and spices for softness and juiciness, although the choice of marinade is a matter of taste. Before frying, pieces of meat should be greased with olive oil and pepper, but when to salt the meat is a moot point. Some argue that you need to salt before frying, while others are sure that it is more correct to salt after the appearance of a golden brown crust, and even better - already in the plate. How best to do it is up to you, in accordance with personal taste preferences.

In what dishes is steak cooked

You can quickly and deliciously cook a steak in the oven, the Josper charcoal grill oven, on an open grill and in a grill pan in which the meat does not burn and acquires an appetizing pattern. Fat, flowing into the hollows of the frying pan, is not absorbed into the meat, and the dish turns out to be dietary. But after the oven, the meat is always juicier and softer, because it is cooked not only due to the high temperature emanating from the metal dishes or grate, but also due to the enveloping heat. If you are using a regular pan, it should be with a thick bottom, although it is believed that the steak is not cooked in ordinary pans and in a slow cooker - only grilling is suitable for this purpose.

The grill pan or oven should be as hot as possible before the start of frying, and you can use both butter and vegetable oil. However, if you use butter, then you should not heat the pan too much. In this regard, frying in vegetable oil has its advantages, since it has a higher combustion temperature. Some cooks mix the two oils for the best result, but steaks are ideal in ghee that does not burn and is mild in flavor. By the way, ribeye steak is most suitable for frying in a pan, which is universal. The fat layer in the meat flesh melts quickly, soaking the steak and making it very juicy, tender and tasty.

How to make a delicious steak: fry quickly

The main rule for cooking a steak is that at first it is fried very quickly in a hot frying pan until crusty, and then it is brought to readiness over a slower heat. The fact is that the protein curls up under the influence of high temperature and does not allow the juice to flow out of the meat. Some cooks dry the steak for an hour in the oven at 60 ° C before frying, since the dried meat instantly gives a dense golden brown crust when frying. If you neglect this rule, the steak will be dry and tough. When doing this, do not forget to fry the sides of the steak as well, holding it for convenience with meat tongs. A steak covered with a dense crust on all sides will cook well and remain juicy. This is one of the main steak cooking tricks. Do not overdo it with the fire and do not bring the pan to the point that it starts to smoke, because if the steak burns, you will not be able to continue frying, and it will turn out soggy.

How long to fry a steak, how to turn

A steak about 3 cm thick is fried on each side for 4-5 minutes, and if you have pieces of meat of a different size, add or subtract one minute for each centimeter. How to cook a steak correctly - turn it over often or rarely? This is one of the most common questions for novice cooks. There are two options here - either turn over every 30 seconds (of course, after the initial frying), or change the position of the steak no more than 4 times at a time. In the first case, you will get an evenly fried and not overdried steak, in the second case, the steak will turn out to be very beautiful, with a pattern from a grill pan or wire rack.

It helps a lot in frying and cutting pieces across the fibers. Heat flows through the meat, continuing to heat it even after the steak is removed from the heat. That is why there is no need to fry the steak for a long time - it will come to readiness on your plate. However, if you are afraid to serve raw meat on the table, cook the steak for about 15 minutes, but not more, so that the beef does not lose its tenderness and juiciness.

Determine the degree of steak cooking

There are six degrees of roast, the choice of which depends solely on your personal tastes. When fried, a blue steak is bloody, rar is a very lightly fried steak, but already without blood. Medium rare steak - lightly fried meat: there is a crust on the outside, the meat is only heated inside. Medium steak - medium rare, when the meat is pink in the middle, but still damp. Medium well steak - well done with pinkish meat and well done - very hard done, perfectly cooked.

Experienced chefs know how to determine the degree of roasting visually, but this method requires a lot of experience and skill. You can do it easier - slightly cut the meat and look at its color inside, or press on the piece with your finger - a damp steak is usually soft, and the finished piece becomes firm and dense. If you don’t trust your feelings, you can cook on time - a steak with blood is fried for 2 minutes on each side, 2.5 minutes for light frying, 3 minutes for medium roasting, and a perfectly fried steak takes 4.5 minutes per side. each side.

If you have a needle-shaped cooking thermometer, the task is easier - just measure the temperature of the steak to understand at what stage of cooking the meat is. Blue steak is cooked at 46-49 ° C, rar - at 52-55 ° C, medium rare - at 55-60 ° C, medium - at 60-65 ° C, medium well - at 65-69 ° C, well done - at 71–100 ° C. If the meat is over 100 ° C, the steak is overcooked.

"Rest" and steak tasting

An important secret of steak preparation is to give it a “rest” and recover from intense frying. To do this, place a piece of butter on the steak, cover it loosely with foil and leave for 10 minutes. The longer the steak "rests", the tastier, more aromatic and tender it will turn out. Do not rush to taste, because when frying, the meat fibers tense and slightly shrink, but gradually they relax, and the juice is evenly distributed inside the steak. In other words, meat "rested" after heat treatment is always softer than freshly removed from the fire. The steak can be served whole or cut into slices, on a preheated plate with any sauce, vegetable stir-fry cooked in the same pan, with fried potatoes, vegetable salad and herbs.

Marinated steak with tequila and lime

This Latin American steak will add variety to your daily diet and uplift your spirits. Make a marinade with 3 tbsp. l. tequila, 3 tbsp. l. olive oil, 2 tbsp. l. lime juice, 2 drops Tabasco sauce, 4 finely chopped garlic cloves and 1 small onion. Marinate the beef steaks for 2 hours, after placing the dishes with the marinade in the refrigerator, and after 1 hour the meat should be turned over.

Half an hour before frying, turn on the grill, remove the steaks from the marinade, dry them well, rub with pepper and salt. Fry the steaks for 3-4 minutes on each side and let them rest for 10 minutes, then cut the slices across the grain into thin slices.

Spices from the Eat Doma branded online store

Various recipes for meat steaks with photos and step-by-step instructions are published on the Eat Doma website. Once you have mastered the art of cooking meat steaks, you will learn how to choose beef on the market, and the degree of meat readiness will be determined by eye. Of course, up to this point there is a lot to learn, but the simplest recipes can be mastered right now, delighting loved ones with tender and juicy steaks, with which life seems more fun and tastier. Well, from the Eat Doma brand store they will add flavor to your dishes!

This is the most important requirement for a correct and tasty steak. If in kebabs we can fix not the best choice of a product with marinade, and in cutlets - add spices and other ingredients, then in this case no tricks will work. A steak is generally just a piece of good meat. The maximum that you will need besides it is a little vegetable oil, salt and pepper. That's all. So now you should understand why steak meat, like this dish in restaurants, is so expensive. This is a product of elite animal husbandry. For steaks, only meat of bulls aged 1-1.5 years is suitable and only certain breeds, the best of which are Angus and Hereford. They are very carefully grown and fed with selected wheat or corn. Only a few parts of the carcass are suitable for steaks - these are ribeye, fillet and rack. This beef is also called "marbled" due to the thin layers of fat inside the muscle fibers. Note also that steaks are never steamed beef. The meat matures in special cabinets for 2-3 weeks to become more tender.

The ideal option is to immediately select ripe and chopped steaks in the store. Their thickness must be at least 3 cm.

2. Before frying

You bought good expensive steaks in the store, brought them home, hid them in the refrigerator until X. And then it came. Do not hurry! The meat should not be cold. Steaks are rarely completely fried - this is not the meat. So that those who eat it do not seem cold in the middle, the steak must be warm before cooking. So take it out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 1.5-2 hours.

3. What to cook on

The best option is grill... However, even if the grate and coals are at your fingertips, cooking a steak on a live fire the first time is not an easy task and requires experience. The chefs cook it according to a strictly defined technology: first, very quickly, for some 20 seconds, fry on both sides on a surface heated to 250 degrees, and then bring it to the desired degree of frying on the surface with a temperature of 200 degrees. Agree to understand how to do this on the grill grate is quite problematic. Steak lovers who want to master the art of cooking them at home should take a closer look at electric grill... The beauty of this gadget is that the heating temperature is very easy to adjust. In addition, if you have not skimped and invested in a double-sided electric grill, then you do not even have to turn the pieces of meat. Adjusted the distance between the heating surfaces for your piece, set the required temperature, put the meat, covered- and in a couple of minutes you have a real steak with characteristic dark grill stripes.

If you cook on electric grill, then you can not even use fats, unless you want to get an additional crust on top, then lightly grease the meat with vegetable oil.

4. What should be the roast?

This is purely a matter of your taste. There are several classical and familiar degrees. By the way, we advise you to remember your favorite option so that you can give instructions to the waiter in the restaurant. So, there are seven degrees of roasting in total:

1. Blue raare(or extra rare or just blue) - almost raw piece of meat, but hot. The steak is heated on the grill so that it only slightly "grabs" on both sides. The temperature inside should be 46-49 degrees.
2. Rare- so-called steak "with blood"... The meat is fried on top, leaving the inside soggy to such an extent that red juice continues to flow out of the steak. Frying time will take 2-3 minutes at 200 degrees. The temperature inside the steak should be 49-55 degrees.
3. Medium Rare- the most popular roast level in the world. The steak is fried from the top to the crust, but inside is weak, but it is not blood that comes out, but pink juice. This will take about 4-5 minutes at 200 degrees. The temperature inside a piece of meat should be between 55-60 degrees.
4. Medium- medium-fried steak, pink juice almost does not stand out, and the temperature inside the meat is from 60 to 65 degrees. The frying time will be approximately 6-7 minutes.
5. Medium Well- instead of pink juice, a transparent one stands out, and in the cut, the middle of the steak almost does not differ in color from the edges. Cook for 8-9 minutes at 200 degrees, and the temperature of the meat inside is 65-70 degrees.
6. Well done- a piece of meat that is well and completely fried inside, already without juice, you will first need to fry for 8-9 minutes on a grill or electric grill, and then bring the steak to readiness in the oven so that the middle is baked well. The temperature inside the steak is above 70 degrees.
7. Too well done or overcooked- very heavily fried meat, the temperature inside is above 100 degrees.

And it was not in vain that we indicated the temperature inside a piece of meat for each degree. Determining by eye how well your steak is cooked is not a task for beginners. However, modern gadgets make it possible to cook meat correctly, even for people without much culinary experience. Just stock up temperature probe for meat... It is enough to stick it into your steak so that the tip is in the middle, and you will immediately know the temperature inside and, accordingly, the degree of doneness.

5) When to salt and pepper the steak?

Just remember - you can pepper and sprinkle the steak with various dry spices to taste even before frying. Salt is only already fried meat!

6) After frying

Take your time to pounce on your steak with a knife and fork, no matter how delicious it looks. He must first "rest". Transfer the cooked steak to a microwave-heated plate (so that it is warm and does not cool the meat), and cover the top with a sheet of foil or a dome of it. Leave for 5-7 minutes, and then serve your steak to the table.

What is a steak?

A steak is a whole piece of meat of sufficient quality to quickly grill or pan until tender. A steak can be made from any meat: beef, pork, lamb, game, etc., but most often the steak is beef. Often this meat is from the premium part of the carcass - the back or loin, and these parts are called premium because the meat in them is softer and rich in fat layers. With the advent of high-quality beef gobies, it has become possible to cook steaks from the so-called alternative parts: shoulder, shoulder, leg or flank.

Across the fibers

You've probably heard that steaks are cut across the grain. What does this mean in general? The fact is that muscles are made up of fibers that are parallel to each other. One muscle fiber is no thicker than a human hair, but the fibers are collected in bundles that are already clearly visible to the naked eye. Muscles are designed in such a way that it is very difficult to break fibers lengthwise, and it is easy to separate individual bundles of fibers or fibers from each other. So it turns out that if you cut the meat in such a way that the length of the fibers in the piece is minimal, then it will be easier to chew.

For example, the longissimus dorsi (longissimus dorsi) and the spinous muscles (spinalis dorsi), which form the backbone of the dorsal portion known as the ribeye, are cut across the spine because these muscles have fibers running along the spine.

Excerpt

So, we cut out a piece of meat, or bought a pre-cut one. What's next? It's time to tell you about the excerpt. No, not about resilience and self-control before the temptation to eat meat, but about the fact that meat benefits greatly from keeping it at a certain humidity and temperature for quite a long time. Dry aging, that is, aging of uncovered meat in the refrigerator, noticeably changes the taste of beef (to a lesser extent - pork or lamb), I've already talked about that. But at home, it is difficult to do the correct dry exposure: a regular household refrigerator does not allow you to control humidity.

Nevertheless, you can keep the steak at home: to do this, sprinkle it on all sides with ordinary table salt and leave it on the wire rack in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. What it will give: the salt will draw out a little moisture from the meat, and its surface will become dry, which means it will be ready for frying; fermentation will slightly change the taste of the meat, not as dramatic as in 2 weeks, but still. The salt will suppress the bacterial activity on the surface of the piece, and the meat will not spoil in 2-3 days, but you should not keep the steak longer this way.

© villagemoon / iStock

Fire

As I said before, a steak is a quick-cooked piece of meat. Depending on the thickness, size and quality of the piece, the steak can be cooked from 5 minutes to almost an hour. But one way or another, the main condition for cooking a steak is a strong fire, whether it be hot coals on the grill or a well-heated frying pan. A strong heat is needed to make the crust - a crispy toasted layer, the aroma and crunch of which we associate with the taste of fried meat. Here, as with all other food: in the taste we like the contrasts - in this case, the contrast between the half-baked steak flesh inside and the crispy aromatic appearance.

In order for the crust to form, the so-called Maillard reaction must begin, a chemical reaction between proteins and sugars, as a result of which the meat turns brown and the characteristic aroma of roasted meat appears. This reaction begins at a temperature of at least 120 degrees, and for this reason, the steak must be dry when it is grilled or pan, because evaporation of moisture takes too much energy, the pan will cool down, and the appearance of a wet steak will boil rather than fry ...

If you followed my advice and kept the steak in the refrigerator, you can immediately put it on a preheated grill or frying pan, after having slightly greased it with vegetable oil. If the steak is fresh from a store or a vacuum bag, dry it with a napkin first.

Fry the steak over high heat until a crust forms over the entire surface, but the meat begins to burn. If the steak is ready at this stage, great, you can remove it from the heat. If the steak is large and thick, you need to bring it to readiness by wrapping it in foil and moving it to the less hot side of the grill, or by placing the pan with the steak in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.

Temperature and readiness

You need to check the temperature inside the steak using a kitchen thermometer, preferably an electronic one (it is more accurate). A well-known trick with bending of fingers on the hand is biased and generally does not work: not only are different steaks not the same to the touch, but also everyone's hands are different, and so is tactile sensitivity. Chefs are disingenuous when they say that they can unmistakably know the readiness of a steak in this way, or only if dozens of the same steaks are prepared every day.

Despite the fact that meat looks like a rather coarse substance, from a cooking point of view it is a delicate substance. In the range from 50 to 70 degrees, that is, only 20 degrees, many changes occur with it from almost raw to completely shriveled and dry. The ideal core temperature for most steaks is 54–56 degrees.

Approximate temperatures for different degrees of doneness of beef steaks

Bleu - 50 (raw)

Medium rare - 54

Medium well - 60

Well done - 64 (completely ready)

What does it mean, the temperature inside? When a steak is roasted over a fire, the outer layer is exposed to extreme heat and the meat on the outside is rather overcooked. The laws of physics were created at least to comply with them - meat has a certain thermal conductivity, and heat penetrates into the thickness of the meat gradually, from edge to center. When we talk about the temperature inside, we are talking about the coldest part inside the piece, that is, the most distant from the surface. But there are subtleties here: if there is a layer of fat on the side of the steak lying on the grill, then from this side the heat will penetrate inside more slowly: the thermal conductivity of fat is lower than that of meat.

You can make sure that the meat is perfectly cooked not only in the center of the steak, but throughout its entire thickness. Unfortunately, special equipment is indispensable here - for this you need an immersion thermostat, colloquially known as sous vide, a device that allows you to cook at a constant low temperature.

© grafvision / iStock

How often should you turn it over?

There is controversy about how often to turn a steak during frying: there is an opinion that the less often the better. And here physics comes to our rescue: the more often the steak is turned over, the faster and more evenly it will cook. Faster because the side farthest from the grill will not have enough time to cool down, but more evenly because the side lying on the grill will not overheat too much.

Rest before serving

When the temperature in the center of the steak remains a couple of degrees to the desired one, it must be removed from the heat (removed from the foil or from the oven) and left alone on a plate for a few minutes. This is usually called rest, but in fact at this time the steak will reach readiness by inertia, and the fibers pulled from the extreme heat will relax and will not actively squeeze out juices as soon as the steak is cut.

To salt or not to salt is the question

Another reason for controversy among steak lovers is when should a steak be salted - before or after cooking? You can just before frying, you can after, you can in the process. The main thing is not in advance, because a salted piece of raw meat in just a minute or two will become wet and not ready for browning. If the steak has been refrigerated as described above, then during cooking it may not be salted at all.

If this is not enough

It is better to fry the steak over an open fire, on coals, the temperature is higher there, and among other things, the steak will be more aromatic - smoke, everything. In a frying pan, you can use this trick: after the initial frying from all sides, throw a weighty piece of butter into the pan, melt it to sizzle, tilt the pan slightly and, scooping up the boiling oil with a spoon, pour the steak on top of it. Not only will the steak brown faster, it will also be enriched with the aroma of fried butter. This should be done when the steak is almost ready, so as not to burn the oil until black and bitter. Ghee is also suitable instead of butter.

Conclusion

Cooking a steak properly at home is not only easy, but even simple. But you still have to buy a thermometer.

In the summer of 2014, on the instructions of Ivan Shishkin, the chef and co-owner of the Delicatessen and Yunost restaurants, Petya Pavlovich went to study at the American School of Butchers in New York. Since then, in the kitchen of the Yunost cafe, he has been cutting meat, making ribs and steaks, and from the rest he cooks pastrami, roast beef, sausages, smoked ham and jerky. Since March 2016 Petya has been keeping a funny and smart blog

Steak does not tolerate compromise. Therefore, in order to properly prepare it (fragrant, soft and moderately fried), you should follow the basic rules. Let's talk about this and talk about it in this article.

In the photo there is a ready-made steak of medium rare (Medium rare)

The content of the article:

Steak was first invented in the distant times of Ancient Rome. Millennia later, in the 15th century, it became famous in Great Britain, and was published by one of the books in 1460. Well, then, the technology of its preparation began to spread throughout Europe. Nowadays the Americans have popularized the steak and raised it to the rank of the national dish. Although it is used and loved in all countries of the world.

Nowadays, many people mistakenly call a steak a whole fried piece of meat. In fact, a real steak is a whole algorithm of actions that allows you to truly enjoy the original meat dish. This is a piece of meat that is cut across the grain and roasted on a grill or pan. Steak meat is suitable for those areas of the carcass where the muscles have not been actively used to move the animal. Of the whole carcass of an animal, no more than 10% is suitable for cooking steaks, and this is the main reason for the high cost of the dish.

Today in the culinary world steaks are prepared from fish, veal, pork and other meats, but beef is still considered a classic dish. A flawlessly cooked steak can be a difficult task even for a seasoned cook, as sometimes the meat comes out dry and tough, scorching on the outside before being cooked on the inside. To prevent this from happening, and the dish turned out to be correct and truly tasty, you should know some subtleties.

• For the steak, choose a beef tenderloin of a mature animal, but not old or young. The meat should be red or dark red in color, but not pink or burgundy. It is advisable to choose parts of the carcass with fewer tendons and powerful muscles, with fat evenly distributed throughout the entire piece.
• You can determine the softness of the steak with your finger by pressing on the raw meat - the finger easily sinks, leaving a deep hole, which, after pressing, returns to its original position. If this happens, then the meat is good. If the hole does not expand, the meat is not fresh enough, and if it is difficult to press on it, the steak will be tough.
• For a tasty steak, the meat should be properly prepared - remove the film and upper tendons. Cut a piece that is not too thin, and at least 7 cm long. Otherwise, the meat will lose moisture, shrink and become dry. Then, in the center of the piece on the side where the fibers are located along, an incision is made to the middle of the thickness, and the meat is opened like a butterfly.
• The steak is marinated from 12 to 48 hours, and before going to the fire, it is well dried with a paper towel. The traditional marinade mixture is vegetable oil, soy sauce, wine vinegar, salt and seasonings.
• The frozen stack is thawed in the refrigerator for 12-14 hours. After that, it is wiped dry and left for 20 minutes before marinating, so that it warms up to room temperature. It is not recommended to defrost the steak in the microwave. Since the top layers of meat are already starting to cook in defrost mode, the middle remains cold. Subsequently, it will be difficult to get an even roast. Also, it is not advised to defrost meat at room temperature and in warm water.
• Meat is fried exclusively in a well-heated heavy frying pan or grill pan. In this case, the pan should not smoke, otherwise the steak on the outside will burn, but inside will not have time to cook, which will turn out tough. During frying, the protein quickly curls up on the surface of the piece and prevents the liquid from escaping, so the steak is first fried over high heat for 1 minute on each side. This will "seal" the fibers and the meat will retain the juice, which means the steak will be juicy and soft. Next, the dish is brought to the desired degree of roasting at a lower temperature.
• The finished meat should be left to lie down for a while. During this time, the juice will be distributed inside the piece, the temperature inside and outside will equalize, and the steak will become warm, tender and juicy everywhere.
• Serve the steak on warm plates, then it will not cool down so quickly. For use, you need sharp knives without chipping so that you can evenly cut the meat.

How to roast beef steak?

Making the perfect steak is not difficult, if, of course, you know some of the rules and follow certain subtleties.

• When buying meat in a supermarket, pay attention, in addition to the date of packaging, also on the date of slaughter, it should always be indicated. Count 20-25 days from it, which will be the date from which you can start frying the steak.
• It is advisable not to wash the steaks, but to wipe them with a paper towel until they are completely dry.
• Do not put more than 2 pieces in one pan, otherwise the temperature of the pan will drop sharply. The meat will begin to secrete juice, in which it will be stewed, and then the golden brown crust will not work.
• Use the cooking tongs to turn the steaks over, not with a fork, or the juice will leak out.
• If the meat cannot be turned over, and it does not lag behind the pan, then a crust has not formed. Then the steak needs a little more time to fry.
• Another important tip: the meat for the steak is not beaten, otherwise, it will lose all juices and structure.

How much to fry a beef steak?

The degree of roasting of steaks can be varied to your taste by increasing or decreasing the cooking time. According to the American classification system, there are 5 degrees of roasting. Here are examples of the approximate cooking time for a 2.5 cm thick steak. For thicker pieces, the cooking time must be increased, and vice versa.

• Very rare (raw) - a piece can only be stewed on each side for 10-15 seconds.
• Rare (with blood) - cooked on each side for 1-2 minutes, then rest for 6-8 minutes.
• Medium rare - cooked on each side for 2–2.5 minutes, rest 5 minutes.
• Medium (medium roast) - cooks on each side for 3 minutes, rests for 4 minutes.
• Well done - cooked on each side for 4.5–5 minutes, rest for 1 minute.

It will also be useful to fry the edges of the steak, holding them on the sides for a short time the first time you turn it over. It is convenient to do this with special tongs designed for meat. Also, for different degrees of roasting, certain types of meat are needed. For frying from medium rare to medium well, you need fatty steaks, from rare to medium - with a low fat content (for example, filet mignon).

It should be noted that the most accurate determination of the degree of roasting of meat can be done with a thermometer, which will allow you to achieve the ideal consistency and taste of the steak. An electronic thermometer will pierce the surface a little and indicate the temperature of meat readiness.

• Rare (with blood) = 120 ° F (48.8 ° C)
• Medium rare = 130 ° F (54.4 ° C)
• Medium = 140 ° F (60 ° C)
• Medium well = 150 ° F (65.5 ° C)
• Well done = 160 ° F (71.1 ° C)

4 recipes for making beef steak

And now that we are familiar with all the cooking rules, let's cook a delicious steak at home.

1. Recipe for beef steak in a pan

• Caloric content per 100 g - 190 kcal.
• Servings - 2
• Cooking time - 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Selected beef steak - 2 pcs.
• Vegetable oil - for frying
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Spices "French herbs" - 1 tsp. and at will

Preparation:

1. Coat the meat around the perimeter with medium-ground pepper and season with salt.

Spread the spices liberally with your hands and pat them into the meat.

Brush the prepared steak on both sides with vegetable oil.

Pour oil into a cast iron skillet and heat well.

Place the steak in a skillet and cook for 1 minute, then quickly turn over and cook for 1 minute.

Then, turn the piece over again and fry until tender.

2. Recipe for cooking steak in a ribbed grill pan

Well, for now, let's cook a steak with a beautiful "mesh" at home on a ribbed grill pan.

Ingredients:

• Beef steak (boneless portions, 3-5 cm thick) - 2 pcs.
• Salt and pepper to taste

Step by step cooking:

1. Wipe the pieces of steak on both sides with a mixture of salt and pepper.
2. Heat a cast iron ribbed grill pan well without adding oil until a slight smoke forms.
3. Place the steaks in a skillet and fry for 1.5 minutes. Then, turn 90 degrees clockwise and fry for another 30 seconds.
4. Then turn it over to the other side and follow the same procedure.
5. Place the fried steaks in a baking dish, wrap them in foil and send them to an oven preheated to 190 ° C for 10-12 minutes. If you want a stronger roast, then hold them for 15 minutes.
6. After this time has passed, remove the steaks from the oven and, without removing the foil, leave them on? minutes.

3. How to cook beef steak?

Contrary to loud ridicule from the lips of "professional" chefs: they say, it is impossible to cook a delicious and tender beef steak in a pan at home - we will prove the opposite.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cm steak - 1 pc.
• Salt, pepper - to taste
• Cooking fat - for frying
• Butter - 2 tablespoons

Preparation:

1. Salt the steaks and leave for 40 minutes to come to room temperature. The salt will draw moisture to the surface, where it will settle in puddles. During this time, the salt will soften the meat, break up the protein and, drawn out by the salt, will begin to be absorbed back into the steak. This technique will make the meat tender and juicy.
2. Place cooking fat in a well-heated skillet and let it smoke a little.
3. Lay out the steak, fry it on both sides for 1 minute and season with pepper.
4. Then, bring it to the extent that you want to get it.
5. 1 minute before the end of cooking, put 2 tablespoons in the pan. butter, it will fill the steak with a rich flavor.
6. Before reaching 2 ° C to the desired temperature, remove the pan from the heat and leave the steak to rest. During this time, it will reach the desired temperature, because will continue to cook in the switched off hot skillet.