With a little know-how, you can cook a juicy tender steak to perfection on either the barbecue or in a ridged chargrill pan, following these seven secrets for steak success.
Best way to cook rump steak: Test Kitchen tips
Choosing the steak
Select a thick piece of rump steak, that is the same thickness from, end to end, for even cooking.
Seasoning is important
Seasoning the meat earlier helps tenderise the meat, which is helpful in cheaper, tougher cuts. It also allows the seasoning to diffuse evenly throughout the meat. We use sea salt flakes.
Refrigerate uncovered
We recommend leaving the steak uncovered in the fridge for the outside to dry out slightly, which improves browning and caramelisation when it comes to cooking.
How to prepare rump steaks
Cooking chilled steaks will instantly drop the temperature of the barbecue or chargrill pan, decreasing your chances of getting that burnished crust and internal temperature balance you are after.
Bringing the steaks to room temperature 30 minutes before cooking ensures that they will cook more evenly.
Why sear rump steak?
It is a myth that searing the steak over high heat will keep the juices inside the steak, as has been perpetuated in cooking lore. Instead, searing plays an important part in developing texture and flavour. During searing the heat from the pan changes the sugar and proteins in the meat in what is called the Maillard reaction, which sounds all science-y, but for you and me, this simply means a great umami flavour that comes from the dark brown crust surrounding the meat. The reason why you should ensure your barbecue or chargrill pan are heated sufficiently.
Resting
Not matter how hungry you are don’t skip this step. Resting meat is an important stage, as it will allow the juices within the meat to settle, rather than run out, which happens if you cut into a steak to too eagerly. Ten minutes is the standard time for a steak of average thickness.
A thermometer helps for rump steak recipes
While there are all sort of methods for checking steak doneness, such as prodding the meat and comparing the texture with certain parts of the palm of your hand when formed into a fist, they take practice to interpret correctly, so if you are finicky about how you like your steak cooked nothing quite beats the ease and accuracy of a meat thermometer.
To accurately cook your steak to perfection, measure the temperature using a meat thermometer: 52°C for rare, 57°C for medium-rare, 63°C for medium, 66°C for medium-well and 71°C for well-done.
