Cooking steaks is a real art, which every person who is fond of cooking can master with the proper desire.
As in the preparation of any other dish, in the preparation of steaks there are a number of nuances, the knowledge of which will greatly facilitate the culinary task. It is about such little secrets of cooking delicious and juicy steaks that will be discussed in this article.
A traditional steak is prepared exclusively from beef, and the meat should not be ordinary, but have a sufficient amount of layers of fat. Such beef is called "marbled" because of the pattern formed on the meat by fat layers.
The fillet is considered the best and, of course, the most delicious part for preparing a steak. However, since the sirloin will be quite expensive, ordinary cooks usually purchase the thigh or back of the carcass. It can be very difficult to find fresh and tender meat in modern supermarkets, so if there are doubts about the tenderness of purchased meat, then it is better to use it not for a steak, but simply bake it, for example. If it was decided to cook a steak, the meat can be marinated for 5-7 hours or the whole night, making it softer and more tender, but it should be noted that marinating meat is not included in the traditional steak recipe.
The most common mistake when preparing steaks is beating the meat. In no case should you do this! Such a mechanical effect disrupts muscle fibers, destroys the structure of the meat, making it crumbly and causing it to lose juices, which are extremely important for a steak. Before slicing, the beef is removed from the film and the tendons, if any, are removed. It is imperative to cut the meat across the fibers, and salt only during cooking, so that the salt does not draw juices from the meat before frying. The meat should be cut into pieces two and a half centimeters thick, each piece should be 400 grams, plus or minus 50. To preserve the juiciness of the steak, the meat should be quickly fried on both sides in a hot frying pan without oil for one minute on each side, sealing the juices inside. It should be borne in mind that the frying pan must be exactly hot, and not warm, otherwise the meat will lose some of the juices. Having "sealed" the meat, you can begin to bring it to the desired degree of readiness. Steaks "with blood" may not be cooked to the desired degree of readiness - they need to be cooked for about 1-2 minutes on each side. Medium-rare steaks should be cooked for three minutes on each side, and well-done steaks will be obtained with a 4-minute fry.
