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Photo: mrjoro / Flickr

When it comes to frying, it’s important to keep your eye on the pan before you begin to cook. ‘If your pan isn’t hot enough and you add in a lovely piece of fillet, it will heat slowly and eventually stew in its own juices,’ says Nick Nairn, explaining the importance of frying in a ‘happy pan’. Avoid using a non-stick pan as it ‘will curtail the development of the crust’. Read on if you want to save your bacon – or steak, in this case.

Your pan

When your pan is at the right temperature, you should be able to hold your hand above it. The temperature shouldn’t be so hot that your hand burns and it shouldn’t be too cool – if your hand feels warm it’s just right.

When adding oil, it should easily spread. Swirl the oil over the base of the pan for an even coating. If the oil remains in the middle of the pan, the temperature is too cool. If the oil starts to give off a ‘haze’(or discolour), it means that the pan is too hot.

Controlling the temperature when you add your product is important. Use the right size pan for whatever you are frying and work with your best burner. Nairn advices to cook two steaks at a time in a medium pan rather than four at once.

Sizzling

‘Get your pan to the correct temperature, add your oil and allow it to heat. Test the heat of the pan using a corner of the steak. Once the steak is in the pan resist the temptation to move it around the pan when it’s cooking, or it won’t build up a nice caramelised crust, and may stick,’ continues Nairn.

Caramelisation

A caramelised crust will start to develop around the edges of your steak after a few minutes. This is the sign to turn your steak over. You’ll notice a good crust on the underside – avoid moving the steak around once you’ve turned it over.

Cooking the centre

Once both sides are caramelised, turn the steak over again so that the first side cooks for a brief period. You can add butter for extra flavour at this point and baste the steak.

Rare or well done?

A thermometer will give a good indication of readiness – insert it immediately after removing the steak from the pan. A rare steak will read 40 degrees Celsius, a medium-rare steak will read 52 degrees Celsius, medium will read 63 degrees Celsius and well done will read 74 degrees Celsius.

Resting the steak

Nairn believes that resting the steak is as important as cooking it: ‘Resting the meat in a warm place allows the fibres to relax and the juices to re-distribute throughout the meat.’

He says that a perfect steak should have a caramelised crust and should be ‘cooked to your preference in the centre when cut open’, and that no juice should run out of the steak.

Tags: cooking