Succulent steak still sizzles

As restaurateurs know, a picture of a perfectly cooked succulent steak is still an image that’s known to entice diners through the doors of their establishment.

Although it’s not as popular in Asia or Eastern European countries, beef steak is still consumed in vast quantities throughout the US, Australia, New Zealand and Western Europe. A sizzling steak is a firm favourite on menus across the UK, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Of course, this depends on your idea of perfect so we got in touch with Fresh Food Guru Andrew Gordon who comments, “My preference is to let the steak come to room temperature and then oil & season it or brush with an oil based marinade. I am also a fan of cooking dirty which is straight onto the coals on the BBQ”

How long you cook your steak depends on taste. As a guide, these are the times we were recommended for a 2cm thick sirloin.

1. Rare: approx. 1½ mins each side
2. Medium rare: 2 mins each side
3. Medium: about 2¼ mins each side
4. Well-done: 3+ mins

Obviously, this is only a general rule, and cooking times will depend on the thickness and density of the meat. So how do you know if your steak is ready to serve? You can use a meat thermometer, though you’ll have to poke a hole in your steak to do this.

To put all this “chef stuff” to the test we take a novice cook from the MWS team and invited a few hungry lads around for a bit of world cup action. Steak and nothing but steak was on the menu and with a ‘Man vs Machine’ theme, we use the good old frying pan and the Tefal OptiGrill.

Tefal OptiGrill – On first impression we wondered if a machine could get it 100% right and if all the flavoursome juices would be kept, especially since we’re using steak cuts at different shapes and sizes.

“THE MACHINE IS SUPER EASY TO USE AND HAS ‘AUTOMATIC SENSOR COOKING’ TO WORK OUT THE THICKNESS AND TEMPERATURE OF EACH OF THE MEATS”

Thankfully it’s fool proof since at each stage of the cooking process, rare to well-done, an LED Indicator changes colour and beeps to inform you it’s ready.

Amazingly the steaks were 100% perfectly cooked according to each preference with all the tasty juices remaining as if it had been served at a fancy restaurant by a top chef. A lot of the fatty juices are drained into a drip try (for all you health conscious guys) too.

Read the ful review here:
http://www.menswearstyle.co.uk/2014/07/31/succulent-steak-still-sizzles/1225