Rubbish. I doubt you'll find a single chef in the the whole world who says you don't need to rest meat.

I had a steak tonight and followed the advice given in this thread.

It was a sirloin steak and I must say it was definitely juicier than normal.
Not sure if it tasted better, the jury is still out on that.

Next time I will try a ribeye which probably is my favourite.

Thanks to all that contributed.

Your steak needs to be at room temperature.

Your pan needs to be hot, very hot

Season steak with salt then throw into pan

Cook for about 1 to 2 mins a side depending on thickness and how rare you want it.

Let it rest a while on a warm plate

Enjoy, maybe with some chips and Bearnaise sauce

What type of paprika? Hot might be a bit dangerous if you're a bit too liberal with the rub.



I oil and season my steak before putting it in the man, but apparently you should only add salt after the steak is cooked*, as adding it pre-cooking draws out the juices.

*ETA This is from Donald Russell's guide to meat.

I've read his guide as well and while I think his steaks are some of the best out there I think he is wrong on this. I've always salted my steaks before cooking and believe it adds to the flavour of the crust. Salting afterwards gives a raw salty taste IMO. I've asked many restaurant chefs, including the chef at Gordon Ramsays place at The London in New York and at Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa and they all agree on salting before cooking. If you think about it , it's not going to have time to draw any juices out in the 2-4 minutes it takes to cook.

Yeah, I still go with seasoning first (as you may have noticed from my dreadfully embarassing mis-typed sentence just before that edit ). I tried leaving the seasoning off before cooking only the once - I didn't think the steak was any juicier than normal, though I didn't bother salting it afterwards and didn't miss that either.

I've done steaks with no seasoning as an experiment, and yes, if it is a really lovely piece of meat it can stand alone. In general though, i truly believe salt brings out the flavour of any food.

Chefs tend to disagree on the seasoning, but Ramsay and several other top chefs go with seasoning first and it's what I've always done.

Buy good quality steak (min 21 days hung)
oil the steak, not the pan
season well
cook as required
serve on a hot plate
(imho freezing steaks, while not ideal is ok for good quality steaks)
cook the steak from room temp

I use just standard paprika, like Schwartz brand. I have also used Hungarian sweet paprika and works just as well. And your right, hot would be too intense. I also oil my steak and then massage it with the rub, wrap in cling film and let it come to room temperature before putting it in a very hot dry frying pan. I like to use my heavy duty grill type frying pan so I get the grill lines on the steak. By using this rub I don't need to add salt as the mix already contains it. You can also adjust the salt in the recipe mix to your liking or dietary needs.

I usually measure everything out into my little food processor and give it a whiz to make sure the ingredients distribute well and then transfer it to an clean empty spice jar. It lasts a long time and is good on all types of meats.

Edit: I should add to be cautious the first time using it so you don't overdo it. It doesn't need to be coated. You can always sprinkle a bit more on once your steak is cooked, rested and ready to eat.