Who doesn’t love a good steak? Get it right and it’s a tender, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth meal that only a vegetarian could pass up. Get it wrong though, and it’s a tough, chewy carcass that could turn even the most dedicated carnivore off beef for life.
If you’ve seen Adrian Richardson, better known as ‘bad chef,’ in action, you know he loves a good hunk of beef. And salt, and oil and all those things that are best eaten in moderation, but also help to make the perfect steak. Adrian is coming to town very soon for the Variety of Chefs Ball on June 13, but in the meantime, he took a moment to show us how to cook the perfect steak (beef, of course). Here’s his tips:
Best cuts of beef to use:
- Porterhouse fillet
- Scotch
- T-bone
- Rump
- Ask a local expert butcher to tell you what’s best
- Grass fed beef is always best
- Leave it out of the fridge for 10 minutes before cooking
- Doing this helps the steak cook more evenly
- If you are worried about too much salt – just don’t (Adrian loves his salt!), meat loves salt
- Season just before cooking
- Adding a couple of drops of olive oil to the fry pan will help to transfer the heat evenly to the meat
- Sear for 1 minute each side then continue turning each minute until cooked
- By rotating the steak continuously you are trapping the juices inside
- Cook to the perfect inside temperature (use a meat thermometer to check):
- 35C rare
- 45C medium/rare
- 55C medium
- 42C is Adrian’s perfect steak
- Let the steak rest for half the cooking time out of the pan, this way the juices will stay in and your steak will remain tender
