How to Cook Medium-Rare Steak Perfectly

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Here’s how to cook medium-rare steak at the perfect level of doneness every time.

Is there anything better than a well-cooked steak ? not a well-done steak, of course… I ’ megabyte talking about steak that ’ s absolutely crispy on the outdoor and juicy on the inwardly, like our top grilled steak recipes. I like medium-rare steak because it has a rich, buttery relish and a melt-in-your-mouth softheartedness that disappears angstrom soon as it ’ s cooked any farther .
It ’ s that accurate here and now of doneness that makes this task seem like a daunting feat. I ’ m a early restaurant chef, and I ’ five hundred love to plowshare how to cook the best medium-rare steak with you.

Reading: How to Cook Medium-Rare Steak Perfectly

What Is Medium-Rare Steak?

A medium-rare steak has a warm, red kernel that oozes with juicy, beef-forward flavor. You ’ ve formally reached medium-rare when you hit 130° to 135°F, a temperature at which the proteins within the kernel begin to denature but can ’ t fully finish. The leave is a steak with the perfect amount of attendant chewiness .
Since the moisture inside the steak can ’ metric ton miss at these moo temperatures, your steak turns out ampere fat as possible .

How to Tell When Steak Is Medium-Rare

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The most fool-proof way to know for sure that your steak is in the medium-rare range is to use an instant-read thermometer. sure, you could follow a time-and-temperature chart based on the thickness of the steak, or use the touch-test method acting ( the center of the steak should feel like the outer space between your ovolo and index ). But a thermometer allows you to know—not guess—that your steak has reached the medium-rare crop.

Simply insert the tip of the thermometer through the side of the steak and into the thickest part of the kernel. If you ’ re cooking a bone-in steak, be careful not to touch the bone ( which is hotter than the kernel that surrounds it ). Once it ’ mho in, slowly move the probe back and away to find the coolest pocket within the steak. When that position reaches 130°F, it ’ s finished. The temperature will continue to rise an extra 5 degrees as the steak rests .
Test Kitchen Tip : You may have heard that a thermometer will release the steak ’ south juices. This is actually a cook myth. Your steak international relations and security network ’ t a water balloon, so it ’ s not potential for all the juices to gush out from one sack !

How to Cook Medium-Rare Steak

My front-runner way to cook a medium-rare steak is in a smoking-hot, cast-iron frying pan. If you prefer char-grilled spirit or you ’ rhenium cooking a bone-in steak, take the steak outside and cook it on a preheated gas or charcoal grillroom. Either way, it should take about 4 to 5 minutes per side for a 1-inch steak. If you ’ rhenium cooking a blockheaded steak, one of our front-runner steak-grilling secrets is to use our foolproof indirect heat method .
For the ultimate medium-rare experience, you can sous vide your steak. Simply vacuum seal your steak, set the temperature to 130°F and cook for about 90 minutes. then, take the steak out of the bag, pat dry with a newspaper towel, season liberally with salt and pepper and reverse-sear on all sides in a hot cast-iron pan. love !