tips for cooking a perfect steak

Here’s the thing: steak is expensive.

It’s also, in this day and age, not that cool to eat masses of red meat. It’s not good for the environment or our arteries.

For most of us, steak is a treat, so you want to make sure it’s perfect if you’re doing it yourself.

We spoke to Will Bowlby, Head Chef and Co-founder of Kricket about how to nail cooking steak at home. Here are his tips…

The cut

Will tends to go for rib eye. This is a cut that has a bit of fat, so it gets a nice crust on it when cooked medium-rare. Get that guy out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before cooking.

your pan should be super hot

Like super hot. At The Bon Oeuf, we use a cast-iron skillet.

add your oil at the last minute

Splash some oil into your super hot pan before adding your steak.

keep on moving

Some people suggest not moving it at all, but Will recommends moving it around the pan, particularly with rib eye.

turn the steak over

Once a nice crust has formed, turn your steak.

baste, baste, baste,

Add butter, along with any herbs or garlic that you want to flavour it. Keep basting until cooked to your liking. A rough guide is about 4-5 minutes cooking time for rare, 6-7 for medium-rare and 8-10 for well done. The ‘touch test’ is also a pretty good guide.

and rest…

Rest your steak for as long as you cooked it. Cutting into it straight away means you’ll lose all the moistening juices inside. And a dry steak is basically as bad as no steak.