Do you know the true difference behind the types of steak cooking levels? Here’s a helpful guide!
Theres nothing better than a well-cooked steak dinner to start off (or close) a great night. What a steak tastes like largely depends on the cut, the seasoning, and the sauces used to cook it. But it also has to do with how the steak is cooked.
Read on for a quick overview of the type of steak cooking levels.
How to Properly Cook a Steak
The level that steak is cooked to will change the flavor and texture of the meat. The different levels of “doneness” are usually an issue of time, not temperature. Remember that different cuts of steak and different thicknesses will lead to varied cooking times, and the guidelines below are only rough suggestions.
Keep in mind that the USDA recommends that all beef is cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit for safe consumption, though studies have shown that eating steak cooked to lower temperatures is still safe. Steaks should always be cooked on high temperatures to sear the outside and trap the juices and flavor inside.
Steaks should almost always be cooked on a grill or in a pan on high heat: all cooking guidelines below are for one-inch thick steaks. Rest your steak for five minutes under aluminum foil before eating. This lets the juices within the meat be reabsorbed, leading to a tastier cut of beef.
Steak that is cooked to be blue is the least cooked level that you can reach. Blue steak is seared on the outside, usually for only a few seconds to a minute, and then served. The interior is almost completely red and raw.
Blue steaks may be tough to chew, and wont have the same amount of juice as other levels of cooked steak. The interior of the steak is unlikely to be warm at all.
Youll want to sear each side of your steak for a minute on high heat, and let rest before serving.
Rare steaks are cooked so that they are still bloody on the inside. Its a step past blue, and the inner edges should be light brown, fading to pink with a deep red center. The middle of a rare steak is likely to be just barely warm or still cool.
For a one-inch-thick steak, cook the steak in a pan for three minutes on one side and two on the other, resting the steak for five minutes or so before serving.
If you were to ask a professional chef how they would want their steak to be cooked, nine times out of ten they would tell you medium-rare is the way to go. Medium rare steaks are red only in the very middle of the steak. The rest should be various shades of pink, with the outer edges browned.
Cook steak to medium-rare on high heat for four minutes on one side and then three on the other.
A medium steak is the best choice for people with different tastes who want to share a steak. Medium steaks will usually have a little bit of charring on the top and bottom, but not so much as to dominate the taste of the entire cut of beef. It should have no red or cool parts within it, with a small to medium-sized pink and warm center.
Cooking a steak to medium doneness can be done on high heat with five minutes on one side, four minutes on the other.
A medium well-done steak wont have any red in it. There may be the slightest of a pink tinge at the very middle of your steak, but that should be it. Medium well steaks will have charring on either side, due to the longer cooking time, though the middle of the steak will necessarily be a little softer.
Cook your steak for six minutes on each side to get it to medium-well.
A well-done steak is a steak that is seared on the outside and then broiled or cooked so that the entirety of the steak is brown. This provides a crispy outside texture and a consistent cooked texture throughout, while still locking in the juices and flavor. Well done steaks are a little tougher to chew than steaks cooked to other levels.
Well done steaks are the only level of doneness that you dont have to do at a high temperature. Cooking at a lower temperature over a longer period of time can prevent burning and ensures that the steaks flavor is not compromised. Cook a well-done steak at medium or medium-high temperature instead.
While you can sear a well-done steak for seven to eight minutes each side, it may be better to broil it instead. Put the steak on a baking rack about six inches away from the heating element, and broil it for eight minutes on each side.
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