Many students have recently asked me about how to cook a proper steak, whether on the grill or a sauté pan. My answer is to just keep it simple, both in terms of ingredients and technique. A nice cut of beef requires nothing more than salt, pepper, and a hot grill or pan. A recent article in Bon Appetite summed it up nicely. Below is a summary of their suggestions as well as a few of my own.
One, know your beef. Is it grain fed or 100% grass fed? The difference is in the overall fattiness of the meat. Being from Argentina (which mainly raises grass fed beef) I can tell you there is a big difference. They both are very good though. In fact the first bite from grain fed is better because of the incredible marbling running throughout the meat offering a rich buttery taste. The grass fed though has a flavor that is deeper and lingers in taste. The amount of fat is less but the flavor definitely lasts longer. The main reason for wanting to know the difference is that fat content affects cooking times. Grass fed, as lean as it is, can be overcooked if not properly regulated. Finding 100% grass fed beef is not as easy as grain fed but it is becoming more and more available to consumers who seek it out.
Two, consider the thickness of the steak. This is important to know for a couple of reasons. First of all, the thickness of the steak will guide your cooking time. Thinner cuts can be cooked quickly all the way through whereas thicker cuts take longer. This leads to the other reason thickness is so important. The 2 inch thickness of ribeyes and ny strips is so often seen to assist the cook in attaining the crusty exterior and juicy interior. A thinner cut of meat, if cooked long enough on a grill to create that crust, would be completely overdone on the inside. The thickness allows the steak more time on the grill creating a crusty exterior and an interior that is pink and juicy!
Three, always let the meat come to room temperature before cooking. You can do this about 1 hour before grilling. Yes it is okay to have raw meat sitting on your counter an hour before cooking! Any bacterial growth on the surface of the steak will be quickly killed when grilling. Follow this tip and it will ensure an even temperature throughout the steak so that when you cook it, it not only cooks faster but also distributes the heat evenly making the interior more uniform in color.
Four, drying the meat right before placing on the grill is pivotal. Any extra moisture on the surface inhibits the development of a crusty exterior. The solution is to take a paper towel and thoroughly pat dry the meat. You can then proceed with seasoning the steak and placing it on the grill. This will ensure you a nice crusty exterior that is full of flavor!
Five, always use freshly ground pepper. I have a heart attack when I see people pull out that plastic can of pepper dust. You know the one! That can that has been sitting in your cupboard for a year or two collecting dust. It has absolutely zero taste and is so powdery that it does nothing to create a flavorful crust on your steak. If you don’t have a pepper mill, just put whole peppercorns in a sealable plastic bag and crush them with a heavy bottle or pan. The result gives your steak some spiciness as well as that nice crunch on the exterior that tastes so good.
Six, salt, salt and salt again. Salting steak has been the topic of debate for some time but it is now known that salting your steak when coming to room temperature is a widely accepted practice. The salt draws moisture out of the meat which then is reabsorbed back into the meat thus flavoring it. The salting done right before grilling is done with coarse salt thus ensuring a nice crust on the outside of the steak. Salting done after grilling is up to you and may not be necessary. Many people love to sprinkle some fleur de sel, a quality sea salt from France, right on top of sliced steak for even more flavor.
Seven, let the meat rest! After cooking let the steak rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting as this allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat and thus produce a juicier taste. After all the hard work you went through to ensure a great tasting steak the last thing you want to do is lose all the flavor when the juices run all over your cutting board. Be patient, pour a glass of wine and get your plate and utensils ready. Then enjoy!
