I fried a beef steak and there was blood or dark red/brown stuff stuck to the pan. I must be doing something wrong here, right?

I could see the red/brown stuff bubbling up as well as I fried the steak

and in case it makes a difference, I salted the steak a little bit and used some vegetable oil.

It sounds like your steak wasn't at room temperature before frying and / or the pan was not hot enough to seal the meat on contact.

so the solution is that I should cook at a higher temperature?

The pan should be searing hot til just below smoking point to seal the meat and then turned down to medium. If it isn't hot enough, it just kind of stews it rather than fry. Take the meat out the fridge for an hour before you want to cook it too.

Don't salt the steak too early. It should be salted just before it goes into the pan.


There's always the possibility when you're frying/searing meat that you will get some stickage.
After the steak is cooked you can add a touch of water and some butter to make a simple sauce with the pan juices.


If you want the best steaks then, along with buying decent meat, you also need a good pan.
I use a cast iron pan and put it on high for a good 10 minutes before frying.


Both Heston and Oliver these days recommend the regular turning method.
e.g. fry 30 seconds, turn over and fry for another 30 seconds - repeat until cooked to required doneness.

I will fry mine in butter.
I flash fry it in very hot butter to brown it off first then turn it right down and cook it slowly.
I turn it about every 30 secs also, those chefs typed about above copied my idea

Take it out of the fridge to get it up towards room temperature before cooking, and get your pan as hot as you can before it goes in.

Heston did it because it was scientifically proven in his view. I seem to remember heat recognition used to determine the best method to cook a steak and turning it often produced a more even cook.

am I supposed to maintain the high temperature or lower it?

Keep it high.

Lower!

If you keep it high, it will be burnt to f*ckery! Once sealed, the heat can be lowered. Also, resting the meat is just as important as the actual cooking.

How do you fry a steak - and not have to spend half an hour cleaning your hob and surrounding area afterwards ? This is the reason why I never buy them or fry them.

I don't let my ocd rule the nice food I eat.

Don't use too much oil/fat.

Infact just a light rub over the steak does it for me.

Depends on how you like your steak cooked.

I heat the pan for 10 minutes so it's white hot and then fry the steak for 1 minute or so per side (or 30 second bursts if using Heston's method) then let it rest on a warm plate for a few minutes.

Nicely seared on the outside and rare to medium rare in the middle (depending on the thinkness of steak, the type of steak and how I fancy it)

do you just grill it then?

how long do you do it for, and do you just flip it once?

If you like it well done all the way through, possibly, but anything up to medium it's absolutely fine.


By not using loads of oil? No idea how it can take more than about two minutes to clean the hob anyway.

Cook it as you like it.

Searing creates flavour, but toughens up the outside. It's a myth that starting off hot seals the steak, it doesn't. The heat will cause the fibres in the meat to clench, which will squeeze out blood and fat - the flavour is mainly in the fat - draining steak of fluids will risk making it tough and tasteless.

The best way to retain tenderness and flavour in a steak is to vacuum pack it and cook it at low temperature in a water bath, so that no juices are lost. But as you are frying it, try a gentle approach.

The pan needs to sizzle, but other than that, try cooking it gently in butter, and see how it suits you compared with searing.

While the steak is resting, scrape any bits left on the pan off and add some butter and black pepper, and a tablespoon of water, and simmer to make a sauce.

I do mine under a hot grill. Turn every minute or so until your preferred doneness. I like mine medium-well done so Id say about 4 mins each side in total, maybe slightly longer.

Season it before going under grill with schwarz steak seasoning abd leave to rest for a couple of mins when you take it out

Whenever I've cooked them I haven't used loads of oil, yet they seem to spit stray fat everywhere. I would have to clean not just the entire stainless steel hob, but the work counter adjacent and the floor area below. I honestly don't have OCD, but I can't give things a quick wipe-over ! I do brown meat like pot roasting joints, but I always use a high sided stock - pot to do it, which contains the spitting olive oil. Steaks are not high on my list of must have foods so not something I miss by not cooking them

Are you oiling the pan or the steak?

How old are you ? I'm asking because if you are older than 20 and still down't know how to fry a steak, maybe you should eat out.

Ive always patted the steak lightly with a paper kitchen towel just before frying, stops the bubbling up and helps the steak to fry properly. i have never tried the constant turning method. read years ago it's best to just put the steak in the pan and leave it till you turn it over.
may try turning the steak over a few times for a change and see how it turns out.

Personally i've been happy with my method of cooking steak that I described earlier and it does give me a nice sear which I like on my steak.
When I tried the Heston method I didn't get the same sear but I really couldn't complain about the cooking of the steak.