Steak tastes better if you sprinkle 1 simple ingredient

A professional chef has revealed the ultimate technique for cooking steak to achieve a “restaurant-quality” result. Culinary instructor Frank Proto took to YouTube to demonstrate how to produce the ‘best’ steak at home in a video that has amassed over two million views.

Within it, he highlights one ingredient that people commonly reach for when seasoning steak, which he describes as “horrible”. In its place, he prefers an alternative product, typically found at artisan food shops or purchased online through retailers such as Amazon.

At the start of the video, he states: “We’re talking how to go from a sad, grey, flabby piece of meat, to a perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked, happy piece of steak. This is Steak 101. My perfect steak is a really nice marbled piece of meat with some fat in it.

“It’s seasoned and crusty on the outside and it’s soft and juicy in the middle. There’s two secrets to getting your steak right, seasoning it properly, and then cooking it to the proper temperature. I want you to take a second, relax, be patient, season your meat right and you’re gonna get it right.”

When it comes to cooking steak, Frank insists that “patience is key”. From browning the meat to allowing it to rest, he maintains his approach means “steaks will never be sad and dry again”

Explaining the importance of seasoning steak before cooking, Frank states that only two ingredients are necessary. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these are simply salt and pepper. However, the chef advises using only a particular variety of salt. He also emphasised the significance of seasoning ‘high up’ using his ‘sprinkle’ method.

He told viewers: “Before we cook this, we want to season it, and I’m gonna show you what I feel is proper seasoning. I like to start out with salt and pepper. I go light on the pepper. You’ll notice that I’m seasoning high up.

“When I season higher, I get a better dispersion of the pepper. Don’t forget the top and the sides of your steak please. I like to go light on the pepper because it tends to burn, so I’m not gonna put too much on, I just want a little bit of that flavour there.”

Disclosing which salt is ‘best’ to use, Frank said: “And then I have kosher salt here. People will say, ‘I use table salt’. I think that that’s horrible. I think that table salt is too salty, believe it or not. So I get a nice handful of salt, go up high. It looks like a lightly snow-covered field.”

Frank recommends ensuring every surface of the steak is thoroughly seasoned. He said: “I’m gonna season the outside generously, but none of that salt gets inside the steak. So I’m gonna get a nice salty crust on the outside, the inside is basically unseasoned.”

Outlining his reasoning for this technique, he said: “So when I take that bite of the crusty outside and the juicy inside, it mixes in my mouth. The seasoning turns out perfect, it’s not gonna be salty.

“I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to seasoning my steak. I don’t really do any rubs or marinades with my steak. For me, I spent the money on the steak, I want to taste the meat.”

In the comments beneath the clip, one viewer said: “This was a beautiful demonstration. Now, I’m really craving some steak!!” A second wrote: “This is the best steak cooking tutorial! Thank you!”

A third said: “My son and I have been experimenting with cooking steak for a couple of months now. I found this video and this one is it! The steak was amazing. It topped anything we did before. No more searching needed.”