Steak is one of the most delicious foods on earth. But cooking a steak like a restaurant can be challenging, especially if you are not well versed in how to cook a steak. Fortunately, this article will give you some advice and tricks that will make your next steak experience just as amazing as when you go out for dinner. Manuka kitchen will show you how .

Stage one: the prep 

First, be sure to use a lot of salt. For every steak you cook at home, it is recommended that you add two teaspoons of kosher salt for each pound before cooking the steak. This will ensure that your meat stays juicy and tender. Additionally, make sure to season with pepper (fresh ground black pepper) and not just salt because the flavor will get boring very quickly. Secondly, don’t stop at just spices, try  herbs like rosemary or  thyme! Try dry rubs like dry mushroom powder or garlic powder.

These spices will make your steak extra delicious and they also contain a lot of health benefits.

Lastly, cook the steak from room temperature to get the best results possible. To do this, take out of the fridge for about 20 mins  before cooking. This will help the steak to cook evenly and get a better result and juicier.

Stage Two the cooking 

The preparation for the steak is done, now its time to cook the steak. At Manuka kitchen we cook the steak in two stages.

Stage one of cooking the steak,  warm up the pan, add a little of vegetable oil to the pan, wait until it’s very hot and cook each side of the steak until it’s caramelised, leave the steak alone and flip it only once.

Once you achieve the dark brown colour add butter on top of the steak, stick a fresh sprig of rosemary on the butter and place it in the oven for stage two of the cooking.

Here’s a quick guide for how long to leave the steak in oven 

2 mins for Rare

4 mins for Medium rare 

6 minutes for medium 

Stage Three

Let it rest; it’s the easiest way to guarantee you have a good steak. The meat will relax, the juices will go back inside the steak  and keep the flavour.  Resting time is anything from 4 to 6 mins.

Know your Steak

1. Choose a thick cut,  specially if you like your meat on the rare side it will hold on its juices and flavours better than a thin steak.
2. Know your steaks. 

1. Ribeye:  Everyones fav with lots of fat in the middle and little texture. The fat need to be cooked and melted to get the most of flavours out of this steak. This cut is recommended on the Medium rare to medium. 
2. Skirt: this steak is thin and recommended for a Fajita
3. Bavette: this one is gaining popularity and has lots of texture and very lean (no fat at all ) recommend Rare 
4. Sirloin : has to be the most popular steak, start with cooking the edge of the steak ( the fat edge) then each side. Usually recommended medium rare 
5. Tbone is the king of steak: its two in one . the small side has the fillet mignon and the lare side is the sirloin 

The golden rule here is start with a good piece of meat, you cant get a good steak unless you start with a good steak. Choose your butcher and choose which farm it comes from.

The benefits of a steak cooked well done are it won’t be tough and chew like leather. 

An easy way to get a medium-rare or rare steak is by using the touch test; when you press your finger against the top of the steak and feels soft then its cooked rare but if you can still feel some resistance then its better for medium rare. one last secret, cook at least once a week. Practice is the best teacher.

Enjoy your steak tonight!!