Quick to cook and big on satisfaction, a good steak just can’t be beaten – and we’ve taste-tested everything the big shops have to offer to find the best around.
What you need to know about steak
Sirloin: This lean cut comes from the hip. Well-flavoured and juicy.
Rib eye: Cut from the mid-rib section and marbled with fat, this is a tender, tasty cut.
Fillet: This seldom-used muscle, from alongside the backbone, is incredibly tender.
Rump: This well-worked muscle can be tough, but it’s really tasty – and cheap, too.
Dry ageing: A maturing process reserved for only better-quality meat with a fine marbling of fat all the way through. An expensive process for two reasons: first, the meat must be hung for 21 or 28 days at a low temperature, and second, as moisture is evaporated, it loses weight. The upside is that the connective tissue breaks down, making the meat super-tender. Most other beef is wet-aged in sealed bags for just a few days, so that there’s no weight loss.
Cooking times
These are hotly disputed but here at delicious. we favour minimal cooking. Cook room-temperature steaks brushed with vegetable oil in a very hot, ridged, cast-iron griddle pan or heavy frying pan for 2 minutes each side for rare, 3 minutes each side for medium, and 4 minutes each side for well-done. Times will also vary with the thickness of the meat.
Best sirloin
ASDA Extra Special 28 Day Matured British Beef Sirloin Steak, £17.98 for 1kg (average £5.39 per 300g steak, to serve two) Those extra days of maturing add to the rich flavours of this steak, reared by George Richardson at Throwley Hall farm in the Peak District.
Best fillet
Marks & Spencer Organic British Beef Fillet Steak, £41.99 for 1kg (average £12.17 per 290g pack of 2 steaks) Eye-wateringly expensive, but what a treat. Prime British beef at its best, cut into thick nuggets – perfect as they are or even wrapped in streaky bacon for flavour and juiciness.
Best Rump
ASDA Extra Special 28 Day Matured British Beef Rump Steak, £12.98 for 1kg (average £3 per 230g steak) Tender, succulent and tasty – with maximum meaty flavour. A sensible size, compared to some of the monsters we tried, and cheap as the chips you’ll eat it with.
Best rib eye - EDITOR'S CHOICE
Marks & Spencer Dry Aged Rib Eye Steak, £26.49 for 1kg (average £6.62 per 250g steak) A superb piece of meat, dry aged for 28 days and so tender you could almost eat it with a spoon. A fine marbling of fat right the way through makes this Irish beef extra succulent.
Best dry aged (21 days)
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Slowmatured Ultimate Dry Aged British Beef Sirloin Steak, £21.89 for 1kg (average £6.78 per 310g steak, to serve two) Great depth of flavour achieved with careful ageing for a minimum of 21 days. Mouthwateringly juicy meat from Ian Alderson’s Shropshire farm.