(Daily Mail) Every home cook might have their tried and trusted method for cooking the perfect steak.
But science suggests you’ve probably been doing it wrong.
Physicist George Vekinis claims that most people’s steak cooking techniques result in dry, chewy meat.
Instead of opting for the grill or a frying pan, Mr Vekinis claims that the perfect steak should be microwaved – and never salted.
Salting the steak draws water out from the meat and produces something that is ‘tough and inedible’.
Science says you’ve been cooking your steak all wrong. To get the perfect bit you should ditch the salt and pre-warm the steak for a few minutes in the microwave
While it might not seem appetising, science suggests that the best steaks should be unsalted and microwaved before frying
‘Salt must never be put on a steak before frying,’ Mr Vekinis said, speaking on the BBC podcast Instant Genius.
‘Salt has this osmotic ability to drag out as much water as possible from the meat and you’re going to get tough and inedible.’
If you want your steak seasoned, Mr Vekinis advises that this is best done after the cooking process has been completed as to avoid drawing out any more water.
The other big mistake people make is that the steak is cooked while still cold from the fridge, which he says is a ‘no-no’.
‘When you cook it directly from the fridge, essentially what you’re doing is not heating up the meat from the inside,’ he explained.
Because steaks are only heated directly for a short time, the energy from the pan does not have long to transfer into the meat.
While the meat’s surface may cook just as fast, the interior of a cold steak will take much longer to cook, resulting in a burnt exterior or raw interior.
To avoid this, Mr Vekinis recommends warming the steak in the microwave for a while before frying.
‘It’s always a good idea to heat the meat first in a microwave oven,’ he said.
