All You Need to Know to Get Perfect Steak

Many a memorable summer night between friends starts with this invitation: “Bring your steaks, we’re taking care of salad and potatoes.” It may seem simple and yet, we often end up with either severely overcooked or practically raw meat. What are the basic rules to get perfect steaks every time? Find the answers to your questions below.

1. Choosing the Right Cut

Perfect steak must be both tender and juicy. Juiciness depends on the way it’s cooked, while tenderness is all about the cut and quality of the meat. Collagen, which is a sort of elastic sheath that surrounds the muscle fibres and holds them together, is what can make the meat rubbery. The less collagen, the softer the cut of meat. The best cuts for grilling are ribs, tenderloin, strip loin, rib eye and T-bone steak. Flank steak and beef belly are also excellent choices, as long as you don’t cook them too much and serve them sliced against the grain.

2. Selecting the Quality Level

Look for meat that has good marbling, i.e., a good web of thin, white fat lines throughout the muscle fibres. A nicely marbled piece of meat is believed to be juicier (fat stimulates salivation), more tender (fat separates the collagen from the muscle fibres) and tastier (fat contains aromatic molecules that flavour the meat).

In Canada, beef is graded according to four levels of marbling: A, AA, AAA and Canada Prime. All beef sold in butcher shops and grocery stores is either AA or AAA, even if this information is not always included on the packaging or sales counter. Make sure to ask your butcher for AAA beef, or trust your eye and choose the pieces with the best marbling. Don’t look for the most marbled category, Canada Prime, in grocery stores: the production is almost entirely reserved for restaurants.

3. Think Thickness

Thin steaks cook very quickly and are more likely to get incredibly tough. It’s time to splurge and buy steaks that are at least 1 to 1 ½-in (2.5 to 3 cm) thick. Yes, these steaks are sold in bigger sizes, but simply cut them in half to get reasonable individual portions. That way, you’ll benefit both from the pleasure of a perfectly grilled steak and one with a nicely rare and juicy middle.

4. Add Salt Before Cooking

Yes, yep, your eyes are not playing tricks on you! Forget the myth that salt dries out the meat, toughens the outer layer or prevents the meat from browning. Everything is in the timing! Indeed, it’s now recommended to salt meat at least 30 minutes before cooking it. Tests have shown that, when a steak is salted far in advance, not only does it taste better, but it’s also juicier.

Why is that? Salt does indeed cause a small amount of water to escape the surface of the meat, but this salty liquid is eventually reabsorbed into the meat. And that’s when salty magic happens: salt interacts with the meat proteins, so that they retain their juices better while cooking. We suggest using ¼ tsp (1.25 ml) of ordinary table salt per steak. You can even add the salt the night before. If you decide to salt your steaks on the day, let them rest for 30 to 45 minutes at room temperature. That way, you’ll kill two birds with one stone (see the next step). You forgot to add salt in advance? Then add it just before putting the meat on the grill.

Now that your steaks are well prepared, all you have to do is find your inspiration: