How to Cook the Perfect Steak – A Step-by-Step Guide
The perfect steak. Pink in the middle. A beautiful sear. A caramelised, golden crust.
Cooking a great steak is an art form in itself – one that takes a bit of learning and a fair amount of practice before you really master it.
The good news? There are a handful of simple tricks that can dramatically increase your hit rate when chasing that perfect steak. So stick around, because in this article we'll walk you through exactly how to cook your steak beautifully – every single time.
Start With a Good Cut of Meat
Before you even start thinking about how hot your pan should be, when to season your steak, or whether to add a sprig of rosemary or thyme – there's one thing that matters above all else: getting your hands on a really good cut of meat.
Head down to your local butcher and ask them to cut you a few quality steaks – ideally around 2.5 to 3 centimetres thick.
The steaks you find pre-packaged in supermarkets are often far too thin, which makes it almost impossible to nail a perfect sear without overcooking the inside. A wolf in sheep's clothing is still a wolf – and no clever technique can rescue a poor-quality cut. A great steak starts with a great piece of meat.
Take the Meat Out of the Fridge an Hour Before Cooking
Now that you've got your beautiful cut of meat, you're probably itching to get cooking.
But here's the thing: about an hour before you plan to cook your steak, take it out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature.
If you put a fridge-cold steak straight into a hot pan, the pan temperature drops drastically. Instead of forming a gorgeous golden sear, your steak ends up gently stewing in its own juices – and that's exactly what we want to avoid.
Time to Cook the Steak – Here's How
Now for the main event. Time to get that steak into the pan.
- Before it goes in, season your steaks generously with a good flake salt.
- Reach for your best pan. Ideally, that's a good carbon steel frying pan or a cast iron pan – both can reach significantly higher temperatures than your average non-stick pan.
- Heat the pan gradually until it's properly hot. Add a neutral oil with a high smoke point, and once the oil is shimmering, lay your steaks in. Now leave them be. It's tempting to nudge, lift or wiggle the pan – but resist the urge. Letting the steak sit undisturbed is exactly what creates that beautifully caramelised sear, as the proteins on the surface begin to develop deep, complex flavour.
- Once a proper sear has formed, the steak will release easily from the pan, ready to flip and sear on the other side.
- From here, add your flavour elements – a knob of butter, a sprig of thyme or rosemary, and perhaps a clove of garlic. Spoon the foaming butter over the steak as it finishes cooking – this is where the magic really happens.
Steak Temperature
The absolutely perfect medium-rare steak has an internal temperature of around 52°C.
If you're new to cooking steaks, a meat thermometer is a brilliant investment – it takes all the guesswork out of the equation. As you get more practice, you'll start to feel your way through doneness purely by touch.
A reliable rule of thumb: give the steak one minute on each side per centimetre of thickness.
The Hardest Step of All – Let the Steak Rest
The steak is off the pan, and every fibre of your being wants to dive in. But hold on a moment – maybe pour yourself a glass of the red wine you'll be enjoying with dinner – because your steak needs to rest for about five minutes.
Resting allows the juices to redistribute evenly throughout the meat. Skip this step, and those wonderful juices will simply run out onto the plate, leaving you with a drier steak and a soggy plate. Patience really does pay off here.
Bonus Tip: Which Pan Should You Use?
By now, you've hopefully got the technique down to a tee – but one big question remains: which pan should you actually use?
When choosing a pan for steak, the two qualities that matter most are high heat tolerance and excellent heat retention. Traditional non-stick pans simply can't handle the high temperatures needed for a proper sear, and they tend to lose heat the moment you add anything to them.
And that's the worst thing that can happen. If the pan drops drastically in temperature the moment your steak hits the surface, you'll end up with a dull, greyish piece of meat – stewed in its own fat and juices rather than properly seared.
That's exactly what we want to avoid.
Instead, choose a pan that holds onto its heat and gives you that fantastic, caramelised crust every time.
Our recommendation? A carbon steel frying pan or a cast iron pan – both are made for this kind of high-heat cooking. Our carbon steel frying pan with dual handles is another absolutely brilliant option, especially if you like a sturdy, two-handed grip when working with heavier cuts.
