Chef's Secrets
#1 Cooking the perfect steak
The prefect steak starts with the meat itself. Buying the best quality gives you a head start.
Ever wonder why $10 Steak Specials taste different? As the bishop said to the actress, it’s in the quality of the meat.
Some of Australia’s best cattle are right on our doorstep here in Victoria, in Gippsland, & that’s where we source our meat. Your butcher can do the same for you
Firstly, if you have the time, cling film the cut & freeze it for an hour. Then take it out & let it come to room temperature (about 30 or so minutes). This really helps breakdown the protein bonds, and will make it much more tender.
If you can have a range of temperatures on the bbq/oven (medium to piping) all the better. Why? A thick cut, say ribeye, will take longer to heat to the centre, so it’s likely to burn on the outside before the middle’s done. With bigger steaks you want to move them to a medium heat after the searing over a high heat. Or do what we do at The Clarendon, transfer to a medium oven (175c) to finish.
Should you turn often or just the once? I like to turn my steaks several times so the meat cooks evenly, & if you do it at right angles, you’ll get that cross hatch effect.
Here’s what really happens when the steak is cooking:
When the meat hits the heat, the juices inside rush away from the heat source up to the surface of the meat where they eventually cooks away. When you turn the steak over, the moisture rushes back in the other direction. If you turn the meat several times as it cooks, less moisture will escape (searing) and your steak will stay lovely and juicy in the centre.
With doneness, experience is key. However, invest in a cheap meat thermometer (for thicker cuts), or use the finger method, where poking the meat with your finger also feels like fleshy part of hand (under thumb)= rare; finger to middle of palm = medium-rare; finger to back of hand = well done.
Last but def not least, when it’s cooked, it must sit in a warm spot for 2-3 minutes to let the juices to settle back to the middle so it’s nice and juicy.
Next time you’re in, ask for me if you’d like to know a bit more on why our steaks are so delicious.
Joe Howard, Executive Chef at The Clarendon