Do you love steak but hate the hassle and price of eating out? Learn how to cook the perfect steak at home with this simple guide!
Steak is often considered a gourmet food item whose preparation is best left to professional cooks, but learning how to cook steak at home is actually not too hard.
When trying to learn how to cook steak at home, one of the first things to know is that there are different cuts of beef that come in different thicknesses, which require different methods of preparation. Following are some of the best ways to cook cuts of beef.
How to Cook Steak: Use the Oven
One cannot expect to successfully prepare very thick cuts, such as thick Porterhouse steaks, to medium or well over an open flame, or on a grill exclusively, as the outsides of the steaks will be charred by the time the inner portions are even warmed. For beef cuts over 1 1/2 inches in thickness, it might be necessary to use the oven, which evenly distributes heat (instead of applying it to the outside, like a simple flame would do) at some point during the cooking process. Whether the steak is to be pan-seared, grilled, broiled, or sauteed, the oven is a fundamental part of ensuring that the inside of the steak cooks.
Grilling Cuts of Beef, One of the Best Ways to Prepare Cuts of Beef
When learning how to cook steak on the grill, consider the following: the steak should be somewhat warm before the grilling process begins. It should be at, or close to room temperature. Steaks less than 1 1/2 inches in width, they may be cooked solely on the grill, but the inside will be medium or rare when the outside has fully cooked for cuts between 1 and 1 1/2 inches. For thicker cuts, the grill should be used for a few minutes and then the cut should be placed in the oven.
To cook steak at home on a grill, press desirable seasonings into the meat, or use a marinade (except for on very tender cuts), and then either spray a non-stick spray on the grill, or apply a little olive oil to the steak to keep it from sticking to the grill. Then, place the steak on the grill at high heat, and allow it to cook for a few minutes on each side with the lid closed, until it looks right, but keep in mind that, depending on thickness, the inside meat is going to be on the rarer side. To avoid an extra rare steak, place it in the oven, set at 375 degrees, for about five or ten more minutes, for steaks ranging from 1 1/2 to 3 inches in thickness.
How to Cook Steak at Home by Pan Searing
Pan searing steak is actually a very simple way to cook thick cuts of beef. Again, the oven will be required for this method of steak preparation. When pan searing steak, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, and heat a skillet or pan over high heat until it has reached temperature. Take the steak, which must be at room temperature, and lightly dab some olive oil or vegetable oil on it. Then, add any seasonings desired, and place the steak in the pan.
Let the steak sear for between thirty seconds and one minute, and then flip with tongs, to sear the other side. Next, place the steak on a cookie sheet (the oil or grease on the steak should be enough to keep it from sticking) and place it in the oven, which has reached 450 degrees. Allow the steak to cook for about three minutes, and then flip it, and wait another three minutes. This will have a 1 1/2 cut done at medium, and thicker cuts will be rarer.
How to Cook Steak at Home by Baking it in the Oven
Oven-baked steak is delicious and tender, and preparing cuts of beef in this fashion is also very elementary. If using a tougher cut, such as flank steak, it may be a good idea to marinate the steak before beginning. First, set the oven to 350 degrees. Once the oven has reached temperature, place the steak on a baking sheet that has been lightly greased with olive oil, and cook each side evenly.
For cuts around 1 1/2 inches in thickness, the steak may be cooked for between five and ten minutes on each side, leaving it somewhere between rare and medium. Thicker cuts may require ten or more minutes on each side. Obviously, the longer the steak bakes in the oven, the more cooked (the more well-done) it will be. Cooking it in the oven is one of the best ways to cook cuts of beef for beginners because it is so easy.
When learning how to cook steak at home, one must know that different cuts must be prepared in different ways, depending on thickness. These are all some of the best ways to prepare cuts of beef, but some methods are better than others for certain cuts. Steak is actually not too difficult to prepare at home, but it is important to make sure that the oven is used for thicker cuts. And, naturally, thicker cuts require more time in the oven to thoroughly cook.
