While many think it’s no problem to roast a steak, the art of preparing this royal piece of meat with all its natural flavors and juiciness is still a bit more subtle.
There are various methods used to control the adequacy of a grilled steak – by touch, by measuring time or by using a thermostat.
Depending on the geographical location and the level of culinary skill, there are different ways of storing steaks. Chef Čepek uses 7 different (bleu, rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, well done, very well done) in his kitchen, in most restaurants you will find 5 ways, and housewives who know and apply 3 different ways (rare, medium, well done), we can consider excellent cooks!
Aging the meat ensures softness
The meat used for steaks differs depending on the climate, so our beef is different from e.g. world-famous agnus beef, which is known as a very high quality meat that does not need to be prepared before roasting. For this reason, all beef or beef steaks are aged vacuum-packed (usually flavored with olive oil) for 21 days at a temperature of 0 to 4 degrees Celsius, after which they are ready for roasting.
This stabilizes the meat proteins, which makes the meat much softer and tastier in the end. Of course, such conditions are difficult to achieve in local cuisine, so this is mostly the practice of quality restaurants.
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- Start with a good piece of meat cut to a thickness of 4 cm. Never put steak directly from the fridge on the fire. Give it some time to temper.
- Salt the steak on each side.
- Grill the steak either on a well-heated grill, electric grill or on a thick goose pan, with a minimum amount of oil. For medium roast beef, follow formula 2 for 2 min. grilling on each side, for a total of 8 minutes. It is important to strictly follow these instructions and never turn the meat more often, nor squeeze it with a fork! You should not turn the meat to the same place, but always to the next free (warmer!), So grill a maximum of two pieces at once on the pan. Otherwise the meat releasing juices cools the pan and it is impossible to find a free hot spot to turn.
- During grilling, you can lightly coat the surface of the steak, on both sides, with a sprig of rosemary dipped in olive oil. This caramelizes the proteins and the steak gets a nice brownish color.
- Before serving, let the steak “rest” for 2-3 minutes, so that the juices stabilize, which will ensure a special juiciness of the steak.
- After resting the meat, put a few drops of olive oil or (spicy) butter on the steak, and serve it.
- You can serve the steak in pieces or you can cut it into thin pieces (tagliata).
To increase your safety and be a real barbecue, take a look at our barbecue gloves that are resistant to high temperatures and cuts. You can see more information here.