How well do you know your steaks?

How different can one steak be from another steak? Answer: very. Go to the meat section of any supermarket, a butchers shop window, or look at a pricey restaurant menu, and you’ll find a range of different steak options going for various prices and with differing cooking suggestions.

It can be confusing, especially if you’re just looking for something new to make for dinner. But don’t fret. We’re here to guide you through the most common types of steak, as well as how to cook them and where to buy them, so you don’t end up spending too much money on a subpar slice of beef.

Where to buy a good steak?

You need to look in the right places if you’re going to find a really fine quality steak. Supermarkets may be convenient, but it can be tricky to know the origins of the meat you’re buying (free range or not; grass fed or grain fed; local or imported). If you have a local butchers shop handy, then by all means go in to discuss your steak options with a professional. But for that perfect mix of quality and convenience, you should consider buying your meat online.

Steak delivery might seem like a strange idea if you’ve never bought meat over the internet before, but there’s a reason why it’s becoming more and more popular. Companies like the Dorset Meat Company deliver a wide range of steaks from 100% grass fed, free range cows. This natural diet means the meat is packed with vitamins and minerals, as well as unbeatable flavour, and the fact that it comes from one of twenty small farms around Dorset and Wiltshire means minimal carbon footprint.

All their meat is prepared by a master butcher before packaging, and will be delivered at a time and date chosen by you. Getting a high-quality steak on your dinner table has never been easier.

How to cook a steak

So now you’ve got your delicious steak, how do you cook it.

Different steaks suit different types of cooking (more detail below), but some things are true of all of them. All steaks should be room temperature before they hit the searing hot pan, grill or barbeque. This means taking them out of the fridge about an hour beforehand. If chilled meat hits hot metal, the surface will contract, making it tough, and the middle might not be heated through thoroughly, which does not make for a tasty meal.

As soon as you take it out of the fridge, you should also season it with salt, pepper, and perhaps some olive oil. This give it time to absorb the seasoning beforehand, and means the salt won’t form a crust across the surface.

Turn your steak every minute it is cooking to ensure an even cook. For a rare steak, cooking for 4-6 minutes. For medium, 7-8 minutes. For well done, around 10. Whether you grill, fry or barbeque your steak, the pan/grill should be heated before the meat is placed upon it.

Different kinds of steak:

Rib Eye

Also known as a cowboy steak, rib eye steaks are perhaps the most popular steak, due to how tender they are and how intense their beefy flavour is.

Unsurprisingly, rib eye steaks come from the ribs of the cow (6 through 12 typically). You can get them boneless or with a rib still attached, which some people believe intensifies the flavour further, though it does make it harder to cut. It’s the abundance of fat both marbled through the meat and capped on top that makes it so tender and flavourful.

As for cooking a rib eye, they can be fried, grilled or barbequed, it makes little difference. The fat in them means they can be cooked well done without becoming tough.

Filet Mignon

From the cowboy steak to the white-tablecloth steak. Filet mignon is a smaller, more gentle cut of meat which comes from the lower back of the cow.

What sets it apart is how tender it is, and its mild, buttery flavour. It’s tender because the muscle does very little work in the cow. It does have very little fat, so if you want a really strong beef flavour, you’re better off with something like the rib eye.

It’s versatile enough to be cooked via whichever method you prefer, though its low fat content means it’s easy to overcook, so it’s best to eat it rare to medium.

New York Strip

The New York strip steak is a staple of steakhouses because it is a jack-of-all-trades. It’s not as tender as filet mignon, or as flavourful as the rib eye, but this makes it less expensive than both, giving you the perfect mid-week dinner steak.

It comes from the short loin of the cow, which means some parts of the New York strip have greater fat content than others. It does have a solid beef flavour in these fattier parts, as well as a fine-grained texture.

Like the rib eye, New York strips can be cooked any way. However because some parts run a little leaner than others, they are easier to overcook.

Porterhouse and T-Bone

Why choose between filet mignon and New York strip when you can have both? A porterhouse steak is simply a New York strip steak and a filet mignon separated by a bone shaped like a T. It’s the best of both worlds!

This steak is not for the inexperienced, as it can be difficult to cook evenly (also it can be quite pricey). Don’t try to pan fry it if you can help it, as the heat makes the meat shrink, or you’ll end up burning the bone as the meat starts to lift off the pan’s surface. Instead grill or broil it, making sure the filet mignon side is exposed to less heat to prevent it overcooking before the strip side is finished.

Hanger

This steak, also known as onglet steak, used to be a hidden gem of the butchers shop, often discarded rather than sold. It comes from the front of the cow’s belly, and while it might not be as affordable as it once was, it’s still relatively cheap, especially considering its gorgeous savoury flavour and tenderness. Sometimes it does come covered in a tough silver sinew, but most butchers will remove that before selling it.

The soft texture of the hanger steak makes it ideal for soaking up sticky marinades and dry rubs. However it is also the Goldilocks of the steak world. Too rare and it can be unpleasantly chewy, too well done and it will dry out and become tough, so be sure to cook it just right.

Flank

Flank steak is another popular cut, especially for dishes like stir fry or fajitas. It comes from the underbelly of the cow. You might think this would make it a fatty cut, but actually it contains very little fat. It has many fibres, which can make it tough. It should therefore be cut against the grain after cooking in order to maximise its tenderness.

It does pack a lot of flavour, and as a large cut it’s ideal for a buffet or barbeque. Due to its relative thinness, it should be cooked quickly over a searing heat to char the outside before the centre dries up.