[Closed] Sirloin steak - cooking tips!

No marinade, keep them out of the fridge and season heavily a few minutes before you cook them to your liking. If it needs a sauce or marinade it's shit steak.

Cool, easy peasy 🙂

No marinade, keep them out of the fridge and season heavily a few minutes before you cook them [s]to your liking.[/s] rare. Anything else is a waste of good cow!

If it needs a sauce or marinade it's shit steak.

This is true, however. Also, rather interesting to see that the word shit is apparently not on the swear filter. That's a bit shit if anyone's ever had a warning for using shit in the past. It might make them feel shit about it. 😉

Really hot buttered pan. Flip once only. Cracked sea salt after cooked.

cook it Heston style. It really works......

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/inspire-me-meal-ideas-for-fillet-steak

Flip [s]once[/s] regularly while coking to ensure it's evenly cooked [s]only.[/s]

Good call on the salt, though. Nom. Nom. Nom.

When i cook steaks i put oil, salt and pepper on the steaks and leave them to sit on a plate and get to room temperature. I will then get the griddle pan as hot as i can then cook as required.

Cheers theotherjonv, great thread. So many ideas 🙂

Make sure it#s room temp before you cook it. season heat pan with oil and nob of butter, cook evenly on both sides until the desired style. done.

Don't forget to let it rest after cooking 😉

Sear on both sides then bang it in the oven under tin foil.

Dribbly good!

water bath + blow torch

[url= http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/how-to-sous-vide-steak.html ]sous-vide[/url]

season heavily a few minutes before you cook

Drac has it. You can also use way much more salt than you imagine as long as you don't do it too far in advance.

As above, season with lots of salt and pepper a room temperature steak. Get griddle/fry pan red hot(and I mean RED HOT!) With a pair of tongs, sear the fat side for a few minutes to get some colour then place the steaks face down on the griddle for about 2 minutes per side(depending on thickness/level of doneness) Flip and repeat. When done take off and rest(the steaks, not you :D) while you finish cooking your chips etc. Nom nom

No steak needs a sauce or marinade! But a good sauce makes excellence even better! Don't oil the pan - rub the steak with oil and place on a non-stick griddle or in a non-stick pan.

Oh and season really well before cooking!

Crush a load of peppercorns and press them into the steak before cooking.

Fry in a mix of butter & oil

Take out & let rest. Deglaze pan with favourite spirit or wine. Stir in double cream. Voila - Steak au Poivre.

CFH - you have disappointed me. No flaming of sirloin steak? No suggestions that it's peasants food and no suggestions for fillet steak. Recession biting hard?

Glupton, men eat sirloin. Fillet is for the ladies. 😉

CFH - You've changed.

No to pepper, it burns in a hot pan. Get to room temp, season with salt and pan fry to your desired state. Rest and season.

Nope. Always been a sirloin man.

Bought here, preferably.
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As I did this weekend. Multo-nommage!

See - that there exposes a lie. I once posted a thread saying how much I'd enjoyed a big dirty sirloin steak that i'd had. Your response included all of the things I mentioned above.

tut tut tut.

Only turn once, cook the fat first then the presentation side, then turn.

pan very hot and dry, steak oiled.

rest on a warm plate for the same amount of time as cooking.

learn the done-ness test; place your first finger gently against the tip of your thumb and press the pad at the bottom of your thumb - that's rare. repeat with the other fingers and feel it going up the scale.

Don't be told how to HAVE your steak; but considered opinion does SUGGEST the best for flavour. for sir loin I like the contrasts of char outside through to rare within.

I'm a firm believer in one flip.
You've just got to be confident, get the timing right, and commit. Flip too early and you risk multiple flips resulting in a dried out old leather boot piece of meat.
Definitely no salting until after its cooked or you'll draw the moisture out of the steak again resulting in leather boot syndrome.

Robinson's are good but he is very expensive these days, I remember when he was no more expensive than the other local butchers and he still uses the same wholesaler as some of them.

Raymond Blanc's mums recipe is the simplest and is essentially what most are trying to do, plus deglazing to create a jus.

steak out of fridge bring up to room temp lightly oil(extra virgin olive oil) salt and pepper bring good quality griddle pan up to VERY high temp cook steak to prefered state turn once only allow to rest serve with good chips and salad(rocket) 😀

p.s. good red wine is a plus point 😀 8)

Yep, hot griddle... Sear fat side first then a minute or two per side.

Not normally a man to advocate steak + sauce / marinade, but some of my best efforts have sat in a bowl of teriyaki for an hour or two.

Only thing to beat the hot, hot griddle is a proper charcoal BBQ. Not briquettes or , heaven forbid, gas. Something about steak, lightly teased by glowing orange charcoal embers....

Oh, and don't bother with that overrated Aberdeen Angus. Very little to compete with Welsh Black, for flavour and tenderness....

chuck them in the frying pan for 2 minutes kinda guy

That's the best way!

Really smoking hot pan, then a few minutes each side. Extreme heat is the key - the crispy black bits on the outside are just amazing, and if it's hot enough you can get this with the inside still soft and juicy... mmm..

A lid for the pan helps though otherwise you smoke out your house.

Rkk speaketh sense re welsh black beef, best steak I ever had!

Should not waste extra virgin olive oil on something you are going to cook, the impurities in it cause a lower smoking point.

preheat the oven to about 180, get a dry frying pan really hot, oil the room temp steaks with an oil with a high smoke point - e.g. groundnut oil, don't use extra virgin olive oil, season with a bit of salt and pepper just before putting in the pan, sear it on one side then flip, chuck in a bit of butter then put straight in the oven for a couple of minutes. done.

I sometimes do mine in the wood burner .
when the wood has gone down to glowing embers steak in one of those mesh fish bbq holders and into the stove couple of mins and its done to my liking pretty intense heat in there crisps up the fat too .

Agree with many posts here already.

EDIT - I like my steak rare or even blue - if you want to (subjectively) ruin yours by cooking for longer use a less hot pan or finish in the oven as mentioned below.

Bring steak up to room temperature before cooking.
I personally trim off any 'edge' fat before cooking.
Searing hot pan (I use a cast iron skillet rather than a griddle pan).
Oil (with a flavourless oil), salt and pepper on steak just before cooking.
Into the pan for 2 or 3 minutes depending on thickness of steak (nothing worse than a steak that is cold in the middle).
Flip once and cook for slightly less time on the other side.
Rest for at least as long as you cooked it for.
Lightly season again and serve with wedges, salad and fried mushrooms.
If you're not making a sauce, pour any resting juices over the steak once served.

Only thing I take issue with is the choice of Sirloin. Rib-eye every time for me.

slainte 😀 rob

Why the insistence on such a hot pan . Great if you want it blue but if you want it medium or more then it will be charcoal on the outside before it is cooked on the inside .

good caramelisation with hot pan, then oven cook once sealed to cook through at a more even temp to your preference.

Why the insistence on such a hot pan . Great if you want it blue but if you want it medium or more

Because you don't want it medium or more. How very dare you!

As has probably been said, steaks at room temp.

Then season steak, lightly oil , then into a smoking pan.

3 mins then flip , then 3 , remove and rest for 7 mins.

Works for me

Need. To. Eat. Steak.

How can you even think of putting that in a frying pan?
Barbeque is the only way to cook it.
Take it out the fridge when you get home and chuck some Olive oil and Worcester sauce in a bowl, mix it up, chuck the steak in and cover it.
Go outside get your fire going, briquettes are the easiest to control the heat. A chimney fire lighter from Weber rocks. Wont take any longer than 20 mins to get a nice hot base of coals. As the flames die and you have a nice glow. Use the heat from the coals to clean the grid.
Fetch your steak from indoors and place in a plate put some salt over the meat just before you put it on the fire salted side down and sear.
Put some salt on the raw side and don't touch it! After 2 or 3 minutes turn it over and sear the other side. Move away from the direct heat and put the lid on your Barbie for a a few minutes. Turn it over if you have to otherwise put it on a plate and eat it with a nice glass of red wine!
If thats all too much for you bring it by my house and I will cook it for you just how you like it.
You will never eat another steak in a restaurant again.

How can you even think of putting that in a frying pan?

Cos it's the best way of cooking steak. Would it help if I called it sauteing?

You will never eat another steak in a restaurant again.

You eat in the wrong restaurants.

If you want something different season with freshly ground black pepper, leave it to come to room temp, sear for 60 secs each side, rest for 15 mins, slice thinly and drizzle with a little of the best balsamic vinegar and olive oil you can get hold of. A little parmesan maybe.

Alternatively just eat the bugger raw with a decent Malbec. Bloody lovely.

Hopeless! All of you!!! 🙄
What happened to the glass of red wine that you drink before you cook it???

SB

Yup, welsh black beef is my favourite closely followed by the beef from Herds butchers in Aberdeen which is all sourced from a farm by Inverurie just up the road. Ribeye is the only steak a man should purchase. Two minutes either side, two minutes rest then stuff it down the neck with a nice Amarone.

No idea why on earth everyone is obsessed with balsamic vinegar these days. It overpowers everything so it all just tastes of vinegar. ugh.

Ribeye is the only steak a man should purchase.

Nope. Sirloin or..... *sigh* fillet...

Red Poll rib eye is where it's at. Cut by the butchers at Suffolk food hall. Rare and succulent a one a month treat.

Regarding votes for Welsh Black, Red Poll etc.

I grow my own steaks, show cattle andwinprizes in many Wesh shows, my wife is from a family of butchers so I'm around beef a fair bit.

I'd say the way the beef is reared has as much to do with how the sirloin steak comes out as it's breed.

A good example is Welsh Black. Above me there are WBs grazing the mountain. they are small, lean and very fit and strong. Go down into the Valley and there are the same breed stood on farms on intensive feed, maizelage etc, they are larger, fatter and their muscles have not walked many miles per day.

Both will give good meat; but you might approach cooking them slightly differently to get the best, or even favour different cuts.

Blimey, another classic STW moment of brilliance 🙂

Smiffy - I have another beefy question, if I may? We're often told that grass fed beef is much better for you, but I think the advice comes from the US where most beef seems to be factory farmed. How much grass does the average UK cattle see (beef or dairy - I assume that the cows we see in the fields are dairy ones since they are mostly cows)? And how can we choose what our meat was fed on, if we don't live in a big city with access to fancy butchers?

too many questions without stright, simple answers!

UK grass-fed finishes more slowly and may not get to show-winning conformation achievable with a richer diet including cereals etc, but should achieve good marbling (essential for steak). they do some pretty intensive stuff in US that I can't really comment on with much authority.

nearly all cattle eat some grass at some stage, except perhaps the intensive bull-beef that goes into fast burgers.

In terms of what cows are in fields, the tall, skinny, usually black and white ones without calves are probably dairy. shorter, rounder varied colour herds, often with calves at foot will be a suckler herd.

For you I'd suggest James of Raglan or Rawlings of Abergavenny, or Wayne Randall of Pontypool.

except perhaps the intensive bull-beef that goes into fast burgers.

Hmm.. interesting.. so intensive beef goes into burgers. What ends up on the shelves of Tesco and Asda then?

Spent a lot of time working on the family mixed farm in Cornwall during the 80s. Mix of Friesian / Hereford crosses, Charolais crosses and S Devons.

Beef cattle were generally brought in during the winter months and fed on a mix of silage and cereals. Let out on grass during the spring, summer and autumn months. Not involved these days, but I dont think much has changed...

... except the economics. The farming side is a loss making / break even way of keeping the property together. Profits have to be found elsewhere

Cos it's the best way of cooking steak. Would it help if I called it sauteing?

They usually grill or barbecue steak in Argentina. What they don't know about steak isn't worth knowing. Served "jugosa" with a bottle of Malbec - perfect.

Why do we all have to do it the same way as the Argentinians?

Ask Bertie.

I reckon the key is loads of heat. The blackened bits are a taste you can't get from anything else, so that's the point of a steak for me. I think I'd struggle to get enough heat from my electric grill, but a barbecue might work. A lot more hassle though than 3 mins in a pan.

Why do we all have to do it the same way as the Argentinians?

You argued that frying is the best way of cooking steak. The Argentinians don't fry their steak. Their steak is fantastic.

Their steak is fantastic.

So's mine, and so's the fillet at the Aviator in Farnborough.

So's mine, and so's the fillet at the Aviator in Farnborough.

It's unlikely to be as good as Argentinian steak. You should try it.

You should also try the Aviator.

Maybe there's room in this crazy world for both fried fillet AND grilled ribeye?

Hang on I'll ask the wife....

You should also try the Aviator.

What do they do that's different to other top quality restaurants in the UK?

Fillet's a poor choice in my view.

I dunno, I have been to very few top restaurants 🙂

I love fillet. Am I wrong?

Coincidentally i was just looking up a Jamie Oliver recipe that was awesome.
It involved making a huge ciabatta sarnie with steak, rocket, jar of roast peppers, horseradish. Lovely stuff.

Buy rump instead!

It's cheaper, and IMO has a better taste.

Heat the pan up, chuck it in for about 5-6 minutes, turn it over a few times and serve!

Marinade 'in-stomach' with a nice bottle of ale or lager or a glass of red wine.

Just before you think I'm a total peasant, sometimes less thought and more straight forward is the way to go.

Take fish for example - my fave is still a nice 'steaky' hunk of halibut, brushed with a mix of olive oil and lemon juice and topped with a little bit of pretty much any leafy green herb you have around and grilled. Simple but delish.

Basically anyway is the correct way, every chef/expert seems to have a different opinion, even on the basics such as:
1). seasoning - some say salt and pepper before frying, others say salt only before as the pepper will burn and some say season after as the pepper burns and the salt draws out the juices
2). resting - a guy from a steakhouse in London that had just won some award said when interviewed they serve it straight from the grill without resting as it makes no difference
3). pan temperature seems debatable (most are in the hot as you can get it camp others in the medium camp - I think the former only works for a medium-rare if you finish it in the oven)

So basically no right answer, do what you want with it...

Gordon Ramsey says fry at high heat on both sides to sear then put under the grill to cook for however long is required in the skillet you fried the steak in. I would guess this is a fairly good way of cooking steak. Also Season after.

Interestingly the same for eggs though without the flipping; unless you like over easy eggs

Agree with a lot of the above.

However I have never managed to get any where like the bit of steak I had from Fischer's (Michelin) resturant in Derbyshire. It just melted in the mouth and tasted amazing...

If ever I have a steak in a restaurant and they bring out a steak knife, I know its going to be a bad steak!

I always ask what's wrong with the steak when the do the stupid ritual of swapping your cutlery around.

If a sirloin needs a steak knife you shouldn't pay for it.

I do own a steak knife.

I forgot to add earlier - de-glaze(?) the pan when it's still hot.

Just after you've lifted the steaks out, splash about 100ml of red wine into the pan, let it sizzle for about 20 seconds whilst agitating whatever juices are left into it.

Pour over steak as a 'jus'.

I now don't know if I'm a peasant, a pedant or a pretentious person!

Having drooled my way through this thread on Monday I went out yesterday, bought a huge steak from my local butcher (1.2kg 🙂 ), stocked up on Leffe and invited a couple of friends around. Inspired by some of the links and ideas posted here I went for the method of 'cooking' it in a cool box filled with hot water for an hour or so followed by salt, pepper and 30 secs each side on the barbecue

Sounds weird, raised some eyebrows but it really worked. Absolutely perfect rare steak, properly warm all the way through but not overcooked. Our only slight failure was not having the temp on the bbq cranked all the way up as we had been doing some veg just beforehand

tx to whoever suggested that way of cooking

mmmmmm. remembers, dribbles a bit more and runs off to rest of forum for more ideas....

If a sirloin needs a steak knife you shouldn't pay for it.

I half agree. Whilst steak should never be tough, there does seem to be an obession that tenderness is all. In my experience, steaks with the best flavour need slightly more chewing. If you want melt in the mouth, buy fillet, if you want flavour, other cuts are better choices.

I went for the method of 'cooking' it in a cool box filled with hot water for an hour or so followed by salt, pepper and 30 secs each side on the barbecue

Good to know thanks - I saw that recipe in he Guardian a while back, and have been meaning to try it. A great advantage is that it's impossible to overcook the steak - the middle can only get as hot as the water temperature.

A great advantage is that it's impossible to overcook the steak

Yep. We had a 3kg lump of beast once and that was a little nerve wracking on the BBQ as it was lovely but would spoil in no time. This would have solved it

drools a little more