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medium-rare

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There is a culinary law: the less the steak is roasted, the juicier and tastier it will turn out. That is why medium-rare is recommended for high-quality beef with pronounced marbling. In this article, we’ll share professional tips and proven recipes on how to make a Medium Rare Steak in your home kitchen.

  1. To begin with, the classic steak is made from aged beef, which has a layer of fat. Moreover, the higher the marbling of the meat, the higher the degree of its roasting can be. Accordingly, if there are few fat layers in the meat, it is better to cook it quickly, choosing the degree of roasting no higher than medium.
  2. A medium-rare steak is not raw meat, as some people think of it. This is a properly cooked steak with a soft pink core inside and an abundance of red juice. Those who call such a steak “meat with blood” do not know that the red liquid is meat juice. Just under the influence of temperature, the protein myoglobin stains it in a reddish tint.
  3. The classic boneless marbled beef steak is fried for 2-3 minutes on both sides. Add to this time another 20 minutes for the steak to heat, and another 5 minutes for the steak to “rest” after cooking.
  4. Most chefs recommend taking steaks from marbled meat, at least 2 cm thick, optimally 2.5 cm. It is believed that this height will not allow the cut to dry out in a pan or grill. Most of the recommendations on how much to fry a medium-rare steak are based on the assumption that the steak is 2.5 cm thick. Fast frying for 4 minutes in a pan instantly seals the meat with a crust, but at the same time, it has time to warm up from the inside. The beefsteak turns out to be juicy, not overdried, and appetizing in appearance.
  5. Our tip: By lengthening the cooking time of the steak, increase the rest time as well. Use the versatile formula by dividing the cooking time in half – this is how much the finished meat will need to evenly distribute the juices.
  6. With a well-heated skillet, cook steaks 2–2.5 cm thick for a couple of minutes on each side. Steaks 4 cm thick – 6 minutes in total, and cuts over 4 cm – 8 minutes. The medium-rare roast has an internal temperature of 54-55 degrees. Another couple of degrees, the meat “picks up” when it is resting. Fully cooked medium-rare steaks have an internal temperature of 57 degrees.
  7. To prepare a classic beef steak, we recommend buying Ribeye marbled beef. Use chilled meats that are moist or dry. It is better to refuse frozen. If there are no options, take blast-frozen meat. With this method of freezing, it retains the maximum useful properties and its excellent taste.
  8. This is a very important point. Observe it if you want to get a juicy medium-rare beef steak. By allowing the meat to catch its breath, you will give it time to distribute the meat juices, which accumulate in one place during the frying process. The average “rest” time is 3-5 minutes. It is better to keep the meat under foil so that there is no sudden temperature drop.

It is not at all necessary to book a table in a steakhouse to taste a steak, because cooking it at home is not as difficult as many might think. You just need to remember a few rules for preparing this dish:

  1. The first and, perhaps, the main point is choosing the right meat. You cannot cook a medium-rare steak from pork or chicken. It is only beef. When choosing meat, you should pay attention to the breed and age of the animal. In most cases, the market sells the meat of an elderly cow that gave milk during its lifetime. Such meat is suitable only for stewing, as it is quite tough and does not have “marble” veins.
  2. For steaks, cuts of special breeds of gobies, for example, Black Angus, are suitable. These animals lead a sedentary lifestyle and are specially fed (grass or grain). The breed in combination with a special diet allows us to buy marbled beef – it is tender meat with thin layers of fat.
  3. The beefsteak must not be frozen. Ideally, this will damage the fibers of the meat during the freezing and thawing process, and as a result, it becomes less juicy. But if the beef steak has been frozen correctly (blast chilled at a very low temperature) and thawed just as correctly (in the refrigerator), then you can still make a decent meal.
  4. Don’t buy fresh meat. The cut must go through a wet or dry maturation stage, then the meat is fermented, softened and its taste will be much improved. For steaks, we recommend buying dry-aged beef.
  5. Do not cook all cuts in the same way. For example, the classic rib-eye steak does not require any preliminary intervention, while the alternative Flank steak should be softened with a marinade.
  6. Once you’ve selected and purchased the right meat, dry it off with paper towels. Before sending the cut to the pan, it must be dried so that the evaporating droplets of moisture do not transfer from the frying process to stewing.
  7. An important rule of thumb: Only cook aged beef steaks that have reached room temperature. So there will be no sharp drop and the meat will retain more juices. Salt should be immediately before cooking, or at least 40 minutes before, by including salt in the marinade. Make sure to pepper the marbled beef steak. Do not feel sorry for dry spices, as they crumble during cooking. If you are cooking a medium-rare steak in a skillet or grill pan, do not pour oil on the surface. Just brush on the cut with a cooking brush; that should be enough.
  8. The best way to cook a medium-rare steak for the first time is to get a cooking thermometer. The temperature inside the cut for medium-rare should be 55-60 ° C. The classic steak thickness is about 3 cm. It should be cooked in a hot skillet for 3 minutes on each side. If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, you can try to feel the roast by touch, just remember to wear rubber gloves to avoid getting burned. Connect the thumb and middle finger of your left hand, and with your right, feel the stiffness of the muscle on the thumb – this is how a medium-rare steak should feel to the touch.
  9. Well, after cooking the steak, he must be given time to rest, during which the juices are evenly distributed throughout the cut. Divide the cooking minutes in half and place the medium-rare steak under the foil during this time. You can put a small cube of butter on top for a delicate, creamy flavor.