Cooking beef isn’t as easy as people think—the meat requires a delicate touch to make it shine. You can instantly tell if someone has made a mistake when you bite into a piece of steak. It’s important to learn the common issues people have when cooking beef so you can avoid them in your beef dishes—here are a few mistakes to avoid.
Choosing the Wrong Cut
The first and most common mistake is choosing the wrong cut of meat for a particular dish. Certain meat cuts cook better under different conditions—for example, you would grill a T-bone steak and cook ribeye in a pan. Choosing the right cut for your meal will give your final dish a better flavor.
Improper Seasoning
It’s difficult to season meat as it has such an intense flavor, and many people use too little seasoning. While it’s possible to overseason, it’s far easier to underseason your steak as you can’t add seasoning to the center of the meat. Marinate your beef if possible, or season it in advance to let the flavor soak in.
Burning the Outside
Beef is a hearty food, but that doesn’t mean it’s not delicate. High heat will cook it quickly but also burn the outside of the beef. This is an important tip when cooking grass-fed beef, as it’s even more delicate.
Don’t cook your meat on high heat—instead, use medium to medium-low heat so the inside can cook at the same rate as the outside.
Cutting Too Early
Many people cut right into the meat once it’s off the heat, but beef needs time to rest because the juices inside the meat are loose immediately after cooking it. Cutting it will cause all those juices to leak out and make the meal much drier than necessary. Leave it to rest for 5–10 minutes to reabsorb those juices.
These are just a few common mistakes people make when cooking beef and steak. Knowing them will help you avoid them and make your beef dishes much more delicious.