It looks difficult but it's actually very easy! A butcher teaches you how to cook a thick steak

If you've tried to grill a thick steak at home but it turned out too rare or overcooked and burnt, we want you to know this!
We'll show you how to grill thick steaks safely, deliciously, and easily, even for beginners.

*This is a guideline for when you are grilling a 2-4cm thick beef steak at home. Please note that the grilling time and ideal cooking temperature will vary for meats other than beef.

Common mistakes people make when grilling steak

① High temperatures for short periods are not recommended

To prevent the juices from escaping from the meat, you heat the frying pan to maximum heat, sear the meat over high heat from the beginning, then lower the temperature to cook it medium rare...I think there are many people who think that steak is all about cooking in a short amount of time!

However, The Meat Guy doesn't recommend this method because it's very difficult to get the right doneness, and it's easy to end up overcooking the meat and ruining it.

The meat is desperately trying to keep the juices contained, but if you cook it over high heat from the beginning, the meat will shrink and the juices will be squeezed out.

So, you might be wondering, does this cooking method not work? The answer is no. If you are cooking a steak that is less than 1cm thick, this cooking method is the best.

② Eating it right after it's cooked is a waste of the juices!

The delicious aroma of a thick steak that's been nicely browned... You'll want to eat it as soon as it's done, but please hold off for a little while! The reason is that if you cut into it fresh, the juices will overflow and ruin the juiciness of the steak as a whole. Therefore, once it's done, we recommend wrapping the entire steak in aluminum foil and letting it rest in a warm place for the same amount of time it was cooked.

Preparing for grilling thick steaks

Steaks less than 1cm thick can be cooked thoroughly in a short amount of time, but if they are more than 1cm thick, you may be concerned about whether the heat will penetrate all the way to the center. Also, to cook them to the ideal doneness (medium rare, well done, etc.), it is important to prepare them properly first. This will make a big difference in the finished product. Here are four key points for preparing thick steaks!

●Point 1: How to defrost

The best way to thaw meat without losing its flavor is to thaw it in ice water! Using the following method, a 1-pound ribeye steak can be thawed in about 12 hours.

1. First, place the unopened meat in a thick plastic bag and place it in a bowl about twice the size of the meat. At this time, even unopened meat may have small holes due to shock during transportation, so be careful not to let water get in through the opening of the plastic bag.

2. Next, fill the bowl with ice and add water.

3. Check the ice from time to time to make sure it doesn't melt completely, and add more ice when it starts to get low.

In addition to thawing at ice temperature, we also recommend thawing in the refrigerator or chilled room. It takes two days for the food to be completely thawed in the refrigerator, so plan your thawing accordingly. For more details, please refer to the article below!

・If you make a mistake, it will be ruined! How to defrost beef to keep it delicious
https://www.themeatguy.jp/blogs/recipe/56_thawing

●Point 2: Meat temperature

Now that the meat is thawed, you want to grill it quickly! However, if you grill the meat while it's still cold, even if the surface is cooked, the center may not be cooked through and the meat may end up undercooked. Take it out of the refrigerator and leave it for about 10 minutes (about 30 minutes even in cold winter temperatures).

●Point 3: Cutting the tendons

To prevent shrinkage during cooking, cutting the meat along the tendons will result in a more beautiful and tender finished product. Use the tip of a knife to cut the meat along the tendons (the area between the lean and fatty parts) in several places.

●Point 4: Seasoning

We recommend seasoning the meat with salt and pepper 10 to 30 minutes before grilling. By leaving it for a little while after seasoning, the salt on the surface of the meat will dissolve just enough, so when you grill it, the salt won't burn and the saltiness will penetrate all the way to the inside of the meat. Also, aim for about 1% of the weight of the meat as a guide. And... The key is to apply salt evenly to both sides of the meat. In addition to point 2, it's also efficient to season the meat once it's thawed!

Tips for cooking thick steaks

Once you've done the prep, all you have to do is grill it! When grilling a thick steak, the key is to take your time and not just cook it at a high temperature!

The Meat Guy's recommended doneness is "medium rare." We'll show you three ways to cook it to a medium-rare level where the outside is golden brown and the inside is still cooked through but still pink, so be sure to check them out!

The Meat Guy recommends this! How to cook meat to a true medium rare

If you are using a frying pan, cook the meat on the lowest heat setting. Also, using a frying pan that is slightly larger than the meat will help cook it better. (If you are using a grill, do not place the meat directly over the fire, but place it off to a position where it is not directly exposed to the fire.)

Place the prepared meat in a frying pan thinly coated with your favorite oil (salad oil, olive oil, beef tallow, etc.) and cook slowly over low heat. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes on each side until the meat turns white all over. Turning and moving the meat will help distribute the heat evenly throughout. The meat will eventually rise from room temperature to 52-53°C.

It takes about 20-30 minutes to cook the steak, depending on the thickness and the heat source. Finally, cook both sides at maximum heat. You can also use a gas burner at this time!

By browning the steak, the proteins on the surface undergo the Maillard reaction*1, creating a delicious, fragrant, and indescribable, unique aroma.

Once the steak is cooked, remove from the heat and let the meat rest.

We recommend wrapping the steak in aluminum foil and letting it rest. Even if you let it rest in the frying pan, the temperature will rise due to the residual heat. It's best to remove it from the heat at 52-53°C and let the residual heat bring it up to 55°C! After that, the meat will maintain a constant temperature and gradually cool down.

By leaving the meat to rest for a while, it becomes relaxed, allowing the juices to easily accumulate in the meat, preventing them from escaping when you cut the meat, and allowing the juices to spread in your mouth for the first time. Meat that has just been removed from the heat is in a tense state, so all the juices will escape when you cut it. What a waste of that precious juice!

The outside is crispy and fragrant, and the inside is evenly cooked. This is The Meat Guy's recommended method for cooking a medium-rare steak.

*1 The Maillard reaction is a non-enzymatic browning phenomenon in which sugars and amino acids react with each other to produce a unique aroma.

The relationship between the Maillard reaction and deliciousness: When the sugars and amino acids contained in meat are heated, the Maillard reaction occurs, creating a very complex aroma. People are misled into thinking that foods with complex, delicious aromas are "delicious." This is why steaks that have undergone the Maillard reaction taste delicious.

An easier way to cook thick steaks

Our top recommendation is to cook it to medium rare as mentioned above, but for those who think it seems difficult and aren't confident they can cook it well, we'll introduce an even easier way!

First, lightly coat a frying pan with your favorite oil (salad oil, olive oil, beef tallow, etc.) and heat it over medium heat. Next, add the prepared meat, close the lid, reduce the heat to low, and steam-fry for 10 minutes. Flip it over and continue steam-frying for another 10 minutes over low heat.

After steaming, remove the meat from the frying pan and drain off any juices that have accumulated in the pan. Add your favorite oil and cook the surface of the meat over high heat until browned.
To finish, wrap the steak in aluminum foil and let it rest, just like when cooking it for medium rare. This method requires about 10 minutes of rest.

If you don't want to waste the juices you removed during cooking, try making a sauce by combining them with wine, soy sauce, and mirin.

Cooked in a slow cooker

With the help of a convenient low-temperature cooker, you can cook thick steaks even more easily! By continuously exposing the meat to the minimum necessary temperature, bacteria living in raw meat are killed, resulting in a safe and tender steak.

If you want to cook a 2cm thick piece of beef to a medium-rare state (cooked through but still pink when cut) using low-temperature cooking, you can do so by heating it at 58°C for 2 hours! Even if bacteria have penetrated the meat, it is possible to reduce the bacterial count to less than 10,000 times. For a 5cm thick block of meat, the standard is to heat it at 58°C for 4 hours and 40 minutes.

Please refer to the following article for detailed recipes and instructions on how to use it.