Carter I agree that grilling does great things for the flavour of steak. However, unless the meat is well-marbled, forget it!!! You will notice that I reside in Southern MEXICO;beef usually found here is anything but marbled!!! The oil used to pan fry though keeps the meat from drying out.

Jonathan J. Rothman, MERIDA -- YUCATAN, MEXICO

If the meat is vacuum packed, remove it from the packaging for at least an hour before cooking to allow the meat to recover.

Pat the steak dry before oiling/cooking.

Add butter to the pan to make a quick sauce from the juices.

Delicious.....

Graham, Hertford, UK

Carter, I tried shoe leather. They aren't at all the same.

Okay jokes aside, you can fry up steak amazingly as long as you know what you are doing. Stright from the fridge to the pan is boring. But cured even minimally will make it taste amazing.

Chris, Toronto, Canada

Why is there no mention of seasoning here? Do people in the UK not put salt and pepper on a steak before cooking. That is a basic of cooking is it not? I am just curious, because I always, without fail, put a little salt and pepper on any steak before grilling or frying it,

Bill, Philadelphia, USA

Why pan-fry a steak? All steaks should be grilled over hardwood charcoal. Fried steak tastes like shoe leather.

Carter Bradford, Baltimore, MD, USA

So far, so good -- up to a point. After cooking, I like to deglaze the pan with some red wine, then remove from heat and swirl a Tbs. of butter or marg. around the pan and spoon the mixture over the steak while I'm eating it, along with some freshly ground blk pepper & salt. It's 2 nites dinner!

Jonathan J. Rothman, Merida -- Yucatan, MEXICO

Fyringpan. Step 1 does infact state to pat dry the steaks first.
It really does help if you read the instructions first.

I only ever by my steaks from Donald Russell they really are the best by far.

Liz Bell, Sevenoaks,

Yuck, why would anyone want to eat a foal?

anne Martin, auckland, NZ

Our Pavé Rump Steaks are cut thicker than most, that is why we cook them for the extra 6 minutes.

Stefan Kolsch, Scotland,

Matt Hoare, its 11 mins for a pavé and 6 mins for a 1 inch steak

Phil, highpit,

I enjoy a few sauces with my steaks.. Also Enjoy crushing black pepper and sea salt into it before frying... You can also use different types of oils.. You can also cook it with Red Onions, Garlic and chives on top to serve... My fav is tandoori steaks the resting is very important with this... mmm

Adam Webb, MK, UK

The middle section describes medium cooked steak done in 11 minutes, and the end descibes it as cooked in 6 minutes. Which is correct?

Matt Hoare, Hove, England

Even better when you have a piece of Foal steak to cook. A commonly eaten meat here in the Italian part of Switzerland. It melts like butter in the mouth and is almost sweet to the taste as well as having no fat at all. Wonderful.

Russell, Lugano, Switzerland

Very well described: thank you.
So nice to see specified 'razor-sharp, un-serrated steak knives' at table. I'd begun to think that I was alone in finding unpleasant the residue of torn meat left by serrated knives. At very least someone shares my delusion!

Geoffrey Lake, Carbost, Skye, Scotland

Reading this is making me drool!!
Cant wait to test it out.


Oh please, please, please make the English summer arrive!

daniel, Windsor, UK

You have missed one crucial thing, which all recipes miss: pat the steak dry first. Wet meat can not reach the temperature required to achieve the Maillard effect, that lovely caramilisation that gives meat its flavour. See Michael Booth's great book Sacre Cordon Bleu for the proper way to do this.

Fyringpan, Doncaster, UK