Jamie Oliver suggests using a lid to cook the ‘perfect steak every time’

On his YouTube channel, the TV chef went back to basics and helped his fans cook “the juiciest steak”.

Jamie began: “This here is a griddle pan; we’ve got beautiful sharp-tooth ridges which are going to give you incredible bar marks, but also in my hand is a thick, heavy grill lid – you’ve got the cooking and the weight from both sides, and it’s going to give you the juiciest meat.

“We’re going to cook a sirloin steak. Now lots of people get their steaks from the supermarket and they’re thin little steaks, and it’s so hard to control the cooking.

“The way to fix it is to buy a double steak, for two people. Go to the counter at your butcher or a supermarket and ask for a steak about an inch and a half thick, that way you can get it golden, really crispy and the inside doesn’t get overcooked.”

He added: “First up, what I’m going to do is just rub this steak with a little olive oil and then I’m going to season it quite generously with pepper – I’m not going to season it with salt, I’ll do that later once I’ve sliced the meat.

“This griddle pan has been pre-heating for four, five minutes – it’s screaming hot. Turn your fan on, this lid is at hot as the bottom.

“I’m going to put my steak into the pan and put the lid on top, and now we are cooking!”

Jamie continued: “I’ll turn the meat in a couple of minutes so you get that nice criss-cross bar marking and then you can cook it to your likening; medium, medium-rare, rare, whatever you like.

“One of the things I love to do halfway through the cooking, whip the lid off and get yourself some herbs; some rosemary, bit of thyme and mop up some of that fat that’s rendered out of the steak, and use that to brush and baste the steak – you’ll smell it straight away! Does it make a difference? Yes, it does.

“Once cooked, take the steak and let it rest on a plate. As it rests the juices go back to where it came from – that’s why you get juicy meat.”

After a couple of minutes, the steak was ready to serve. Jamie said: “Get yourself a carving knife, and do thin slices – it’s blushing and it’s gnarly and crisp on the outside, so juicy. Now you take a pinch of sea salt and season the steak.”