How To Cook The Perfect Steak

It seems like everyone has their own method for cooking the perfect steak.

You can grill, oven broil, or even pan-fry. Depending on who you ask, you’ll get a myriad of different answers on how to cook a perfect steak.

Usually, the biggest questions to tackle are which cut of steak to start with, how to marinate or season it, whether you should salt it before or after, and long you should let it cook for. We’ll address these issues here and show you exactly how to cook the perfect steak – every time.

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Cuts of Steaks

If you imagine you’re looking at a cow from the side, the portion of meat directly behind the head (at the shoulder) is called the chuck. This is where most slow-cooked roast cuts will come from, as well as some inexpensive top blade steaks.

A little further back you’ll find some of the most tender cuts of meat, such as rib steaks, short loin steaks, and sirloin.

Short Loin Steaks

If the short loin steaks you buy have the bone in, they’re called shell steaks. If the bone is out they are called New York strip, Kansas City strip, strip steak, or even sirloin strip steak.

Another cut that comes from this area is the tenderloin, which is then cut into the chateaubriand and filet mignon.

The last types of cut that come from the short loin are the t-bone and the porterhouse. The t-bone is made up of meat from the top loin on one side of the bone, and meat from the tenderloin on the other, while the porterhouse is really just a t-bone with a larger piece of the tenderloin attached to it.

Sirloin Steaks

The sirloin area of a cow is the hip. These types of steaks are usually thin, large, and moderately tender. Famous cuts from here are top sirloins and tri-tips. You can also get round-bone, wedge-bone, flat-bone, and pin-bone steaks from here.

Flank Steaks

From just below the hip, on the cow’s belly, is the flank area. This is where flank steaks come from. This type of steak needs to be cooked to rare quickly and sliced thinly against the grain for the best flavor.

Marinades and Seasonings

Whether you marinate your steak has to do with if it is a grilling steak or a marinating steak. Either type can be grilled, but the marinating steak needs to – you guessed it – be marinated first to help with tenderness. Marinating steaks are usually from the short plate and flank sections while the best grilling steaks are from the loin, sirloin, or rib sections.

If you go with marinating steaks, they do best in an acidic liquid for up to 24 hours. Additionally, this type of steak should be grilled to medium at the most to avoid toughness.

The best steaks need only salt and pepper for seasoning, although you can make a pan sauce, compound butter, or delicious spice rub if you want to kick it up a notch.

To Salt Before Or After?

If you’re going to salt before you cook, either do it at least 40 minutes before you cook the steak, or directly before you put it on the pan to sear. If you do it between 10 and 30 minutes or so before you cook, the juices that the salt causes to come from within the steak will ruin the sear and just lower the temperature of your pan.

There’s really no reason to salt after you cook the steak; the point is to have it seared or cooked into the surface of the steak.

Cooking Time

There are several ways to know how cooked a steak is; some people cut into them, although that isn’t really recommended. Instead, you can do the press test or check with a meat thermometer. A thermometer is the most accurate way, obviously. You can also cook it a certain amount of time per side according to thickness depending on how cooked you want it.

Press Test

The press test requires you to press the center of the steak with your finger. A rare steak will be quite soft. Medium-rare will have some resistance but still lots of give. Medium steak is firm but still has some give in the center. Finally, a well-done steak feels very firm.

Thermometer Test

If you’re using a thermometer, cook to between 115 and 120F for an extra-rare or “blue” rare steak, 125 to 130F for a rare steak, between 130 and 140F for a medium-rare steak, between 140 and 150F for a medium steak, between 150 and 155 for a medium-well steak, and to between 160 and 212 for a well-done steak.

Generally, the best flavor comes when you cook a steak to medium-rare, medium, or medium-well.

Cooking Time Per Side (Grilling):

Oven Method

Everyone knows how to grill a steak, right? It’s pretty much a given. We’re going to tell you how to use an oven instead. This is great in the event that the weather is too bad to grill outside, you run out of propane for your BBQ, or someone steals your BBQ. Seriously – it happens.