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Different cuts will deliver different levels of tenderness and flavour. Our handy steak infographic shows you what to expect from each cut and gives advice on how best to cook it. Sirloin: Considered to be a prime steak, like fillet, but with more flavour. T-bone: To make sure everything cooks evenly, it’s best finished in the oven. Bavette and flank steak: Cheap cut that’s best served no more than medium and is great for barbecuing.

Fillet: Prized as the most tender cut, it’s also the most expensive. It has little fat, and is best served as rare as you like. Rib-eye and tomahawk: There are two cuts to note: rib-eye, boneless and usually serves one, and rib on the bone, also known as côte de boeuf. Flat-iron: This steak is cut from the shoulderblade, and is great value and neatly shaped, but it needs to be cooked no more than medium or it will be tough.

Onglet: Also called hanger steak, this rope-shaped piece of meat has lots of flavour but will be tough if cooked beyond rare. Rump steak: The least expensive of prime steaks, it will be tough if cooked anything beyond medium. See our classic recipes for sirloin, rib-eye and fillet steak or check out our full steak recipe collection. For indoor cooking we’d recommend frying your steak, although you can grill it if you’d rather. A heavy-duty, thick-based frying pan will achieve the best results. A heavy griddle pan or cast iron skillet is another great option for cooking steak. These types of pan get really hot and retain their heat, making them ideal for getting that charred, smoky finish on the surface of your steak.

Cook them one or two at a time and leave them to rest as you cook the rest of your batch, or cook a much thicker steak and carve it and divide the slices to serve. Beef purists may prefer to take in the unadulterated, rich flavour of a quality steak by adding nothing more than a sprinkling of salt and a generous twist of pepper. Contrary to popular belief, seasoning your steak with salt ahead of time doesn’t draw out the moisture but actually gives the steak time to absorb the salt and become more evenly seasoned throughout. 2 hrs for every 1cm of thickness. Some people like to enhance flavour and tenderise meat with a marinade. See our easy steak marinade to use on a variety of cuts. Lots of chefs add whole garlic cloves and robust herbs like thyme and rosemary to the hot fat while the steak is cooking, which adds background flavour to the steak subtly, without overpowering it.

A nice touch if you’re cooking a thick sirloin steak with a strip of fat on the side is to sear the fat first by holding the steak with a pair of tongs, then cooking the beef in the rendered beef fat. For this to happen, the pan and the fat need to be hot enough. The conventional way is to sear it on one side, then cook it for the same amount on the other side. This gives good results but the second side is never as nicely caramelised as the first. Our cookery team have outlined what you can expect from each category of steak. Blue: Should still be a dark colour, almost purple, and just warm. It will feel spongy with no resistance.

Rare: Dark red in colour with some red juice flowing. It will feel soft and spongy with slight resistance. Medium-rare: Pink in colour with some juice. It will be a bit soft and spongy and slightly springy. Medium: Pale pink in the middle with hardly any juice. It will feel firm and springy.