How Long To Let Steak Rest?

For some people, including me, perfecting the method of cooking steak is such a challenge. You can follow all of the steps and it still doesn’t turn out the way that you want. The problem is that it is not just about the way you cook the steak.

For the perfect steak, you have to prepare the meat, and leave it to rest after cooking it! By doing this, I can guarantee that you will have that juicy, tender and tasty steak every single time! So, How Long To Let Steak Rest?

Best Way to Cook Steak

The best way to cook a good steak is to pay attention to the prep. It helps a lot to choose a steak that has nice fat marbling and thickness. Before you start, you will need to get the steak out of the refrigerator, and leave it to come to room temperature before cooking.

This will ensure that the heat will penetrate the steak in the middle, rather than just sizzle the outside, which can cause a burn on the outside, but a raw steak in the middle!

Once your steak is at room temperature, you will have to rub the steak all over with a good helping of olive oil, along with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper for seasoning.

You also have to preheat the pan or grill before putting the steak in, so that you get that good sizzle once it is in. Make sure that the pan or griddle is super hot before you put the steak in!

When your pan is ready to go, put the steak in. Then, aim to cook the steak either medium or medium rare, otherwise it will be too tough when served.

So, cook for about 6 minutes, turning every minute or so to cook it evenly all over. Keep in mind that you may need to alter the cooking time depending on the thickness or thinness of the steak.

Once the cooking time is up, remove the steak from the heat, and leave it to rest on a warm plate or board. This part of the cooking process is paramount to how your steak turns out. In addition, you should rub the steak with a little extra virgin olive oil whilst it rests to make it even juicier!

Why Should You Let a Steak Rest?

Leaving a steak to rest after cooking is essential in creating a good, juicy steak. This is because the resting process gives the meat the chance to reabsorb and distribute the juices that have been produced during cooking.

If you just remove the steak straight from the grill and place it on the plate to serve, you will see the juices spill out and pool on the plate, which will result in a dry, tough final product.

The main purpose of leaving a steak to rest is to ensure that the meat retains its moisture, and keeps all of its juices inside, so that you can have the most flavorful, soft and tender steak.

However, you can rest it as long as 10 minutes (or maybe longer for a tomahawk steak), as long as you keep it in a warm place or on a warm plate, as this will ensure it is moist, juicy and delicious. On the other hand, some cooks say that you should rest your meat for a minimum of 5-7 minutes before you cut it.

In addition, if you have a thick cut of meat, or a very thick steak, then you can leave it to rest for at least 10 minutes or more before serving. For the most part, you should be resting the meat for 5 minutes per inch of thickness, as long as you can wait that long before digging in!

How to Rest a Steak?

The most traditional method of resting a steak is by removing it from the pan or grill, and placing it on a warm plate, or a serving plate that has been pre-warmed. To keep it warm during the resting period, you can place a little bit of foil around the plate loosely.

However, it is not recommended to tightly wrap foil around the steak as this can make the meat sweat due to the heat, and it will lose its moisture, which is the whole point of resting it in the first place! Further, you could lose some of the crispiness on your seared outer crust.

You can also rest a steak on a cutting board or chopping board, however, it does work better when it is rested on a warm plate or platter, as this will ensure that it stays warm for eating, but not too warm that it becomes tough, or keeps cooking.

Summary

To summarize, resting a steak after cooking is the secret to a juicy steak. If you’ve tried your hardest to perfect a delicious steak to no avail, then you probably need to rest it. This is a step that should never be skipped!

All you need to do is remove the steak from the pan as soon as the recommended cooking time has passed, and place it on a warm serving plate, wooden board or pre-heated platter.

By resting the steak before serving, you are allowing all of the cooking juices to stay inside of the steak, keeping all of the moisture, juice and delicious flavor packed inside. After using this guide, you will never have a tough, dry steak ever again!