1. Steak needs to be thick

Frankly speaking, if the thickness of the steak is less than 1.5cm, it's actually more difficult to get a steak that is both "juicy" and "charred" because the window of time for a thin steak to cross over from "tender" to "dry" is so short that it may take less than a minute. The window of time for a thin steak to go from "tender" to "dry" is too short, probably less than 1 minute. For this reason, it is best to have the right thickness for the original cut of the steak.

In general, the thickness of a steak is positively correlated to the size of its cross-section, with 2.5 to 3 cm recommended for larger cross-section (sirloin, rib-eye) steaks, and 3.5 to 4.5 cm recommended for smaller cross-section (filet mignon) steaks. A thicker steak will allow enough time for the surface to caramelize and the interior to heat up quickly without losing too much juice.

2. Always bring the steak to room temperature before cooking

After the steak is completely thawed, always let it sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutesbefore cooking. The reason for this is that a steak that is too cold will use up the initial heat from the bottom of the pan, slowing down the dehydration of the top layer of the steak; at the same time, the drastic temperature difference will cause the muscle fibers to contract more vigorously and spill more juice, both of which are not conducive to the "Caramelized Crust"the formation, so fried steak surface gray as boiled pork chop, meat flavor and oil will be greatly reduced.

The best way to defrost a steak is to remove the vacuum bag, wrap it in absorbent paper, and put it in an air-cooled freezer to defrost slowly. This method maximizes the retention of juices within the steak's cells, and although it takes longer (greater than 12 hours), a good steak is worth the wait. Of course, if time doesn't permit, you can thaw the steak by immersing it in cold water, but it's a good idea to deflate the vacuum bag properly, because the steak will increase in volume after thawing, and squeezing it in the confined space of the vacuum bag will squeeze it out of the vacuum bag like a towel, losing valuable juices. The most important thing to remember is that you will lose your precious juices when you are squeezed in the small space of a vacuum pack.

3. Preheat the pan sufficiently and then sufficiently

Frying a steak gives preference to a pan that is made of a thicker material. The reasoning is simple: it takes more total heat to sear a thick-bottomed pan than it does to sear a thin-bottomed one, and by the same token, a thin-bottomed pan cools down faster than a thick-bottomed one after the steak has been seared. From the perspective of conservation of heat, thick-bottomed pans have a greater ability to sustain heat, even if the juices keep evaporating and absorbing heat, the bottom of the pan can maintain a relatively long period of high temperature, which takes advantage of the formation of the steak's caramelized crust, that is, the steak's caramelized crust. . Thick-bottomed pans also have gentler temperature changes due to heat adjustments, which again favors even heating of the steak.

If the pan is not sufficiently preheated, the overflow of meat juices will vaporize too slowly and pool around the steak, then the steak will be "cooking in the broth", the searing time will be longer, and the caramelized flavor will be reduced. The flavor will also be reduced. To get the pan hot enough, you need to reach the smoke point of the oil,which is when the oil on the bottom of the pan starts to smoke. In other words, heating the pan well is the most important step in searing a steak. Sprinkle the steak with salt and black pepper to taste before searing, which will also help the crust to caramelize, and wait for the black pepper to caramelize on one side of the pan, which is the best time to turn down the heat.

4. Don't rush to turn the steaks once they're in the pan

After the steaks have been placed in a fully preheated pan, don't rush to turn them. For example, to sear a 3cm rib eye steak, when the peppercorns are caramelized, turn the heat down to low and don't turn it over for at least 1.5 to 2 minutes, and don't turn it over if the sky is falling. Steaks like sirloin and rib eye, which are rich in fat, will dissolve a lot of their own fat during the searing process, so you don't need to worry about scorching them at this point in time. The whole point of not turning the steak is so that it doesn't interfere with the formation of a charred crust on the surface of the steak.

When the steak is about medium rare, there will be a little reddish gravy on the surface, so wait a little longer and turn it over. Generally speaking, a rib eye cut 3cm thick wants to be medium-rare to medium-rare needs to be seared for at least 3 minutes on both sides, flipping it once halfway through. Since the initial temperature of the second side of the steak when it touches the bottom of the pan is not as high as the first side, the caramelized crust on the second side is far less perfect than on the first side. For this, we can add a small piece of butter after we finish flipping to help caramelize the steak on the second side, and the melted butter can be drizzled over the steak to add a moist, oily texture.

5. Segmented cooking is better for thick cuts of steak

If conditions allow, pan searing + oven can make a more perfect thick cut steak. Pan searing allows the heat to be transferred directly to the steak through the hot metal, and the surface of the steak will quickly dehydrate under the heat, browning and giving off a charred flavor in just a few seconds. The downside, however, is obvious: you can only heat one side, so the heat shrinkage inside the steak is uneven, and the total amount of heat absorbed on both sides is not equal.

This time we can use the oven to help, the oven is a kind of indirect uniform heating tool, heat through the air convection and infrared radiation from the walls of the box from all sides of the steak evenly heated. Taking a rib eye cut 3cm thick as an example, we can sear it for 3 minutes on each side to fully caramelize the surface, and then bake it in the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes, again to achieve 50% to 70% doneness, while retaining a more plentiful gravy.

6. Pan-fried steak must stand

steak finally fried, but do not rush to eat, fried steak need to wake up for a period of time . During the frying process, the temperature inside the steak is always rising, and the muscle fibers are in a constant state of contraction and squeezing out the juices. If you rush to cut the steak when it's at its highest internal temperature, the stresses that have nowhere to go will be quickly released, and the result will be a massive loss of valuable juices.

What we need is to wait, let the high temperature of the steak slowly cool down, the muscle fibers slowly stretch to open up, the enlarged cellular gap to re-"absorb" back to the gravy, retained to the moment of entry, usually thick cut 3cm rib eye wake up 6 to 12 minutes can be . To keep the steak warm, wrap it loosely in tinfoilor place it in the oven at about 50 degrees Celsius. It's especially important to note that waking steaks are best suspended or placed on the grill so that dripping juices don't soften the precious caramelized crust, which is the essence of a hard-earned meal.