A professional chef has issued advice on cooking a steak in an air fryer. (Image: Getty)
A professional chef has revealed his foolproof method for cooking a “perfect” steak in an air fryer, and it all comes down to doing one thing before you even turn it on. Cristian Feher, a professional chef who shares cooking tips on his Food Chain TV YouTube channel, said many people go wrong before the steak even hits the air fryer.
In a video titled “How to properly cook a steak in an air fryer using Chef Cristian’s technique for perfect steak!”, he explained that it’s absolutely possible to get a juicy, crispy steak using an air fryer, as long as you follow a few simple steps. “So you might be wondering, is it possible to cook a steak in an air fryer?” he said. “Well, I’m here to tell you that the answer is yes, as long as you follow these basic guidelines that I’m about to show you.”
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But there’s one key rule that goes against what most home cooks are taught, and it’s this unexpected step that makes all the difference.
“Anytime that I’ve done a steak cooking video, I’m sure I’ve told you guys over and over again that the most important thing is that you bring the steak up to room temperature before you cook it,” Cristian said.
“But when you cook it in an air fryer, you need to do the opposite. You want a cold steak.”
To prove his point, he held up a steak fresh from the fridge and measured its internal temperature: “It’s like 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6C) or something like that. For the air fryer, we start with a cold steak for perfect timing.”
Cristian explained why it’s so important to do this: “An air fryer cooks with air, so it actually takes the air fryer a little bit longer to make that sear on the outside of the steak.
“And if your steak is too warm on the inside, it’ll actually overcook when using an air fryer.”
The steak should go straight from the fridge to the air fryer. (Image: Getty)
Once the steak is out of the fridge, it goes straight into the air fryer, and timing is everything.
“I’m just going to put my steak in the air fryer, make sure that there’s enough room on the sides so that the air can circulate. You want to leave some gaps,” he said. “You want the air to go around and underneath the food as well.”
Cristian set his machine to its highest setting. “I’m going to turn the air fryer on and set it on air fry, which should be the highest setting, and I think mine defaults to 17 minutes or something like that,” he explained.
“I’m going to open it up and check it with a meat thermometer anyways, which you should do about halfway through cooking.”
He gave the steak a check at the 11-minute mark and said: “Look at that, you can see that butter getting nicely browned, the steak is getting a nice sear on it.”
Cristian said he aims for a final internal temperature of around 130F (54C) for medium rare, but this can vary depending on your preference.
Chef Cristian advises leaving gaps on the side so the meat cooks evenly. (Image: Getty)
“Because I put the steak in there cold, we have plenty of time to get that sear on the outside of the steak before I reach the internal temperature that I want,” he added.
After reaching 129F (54C) on the thermometer, the steak was ready to rest.
Before cooking, Cristian brushed the cold steak with butter instead of oil. “Butter is a combination of fat and milk solids and that’s going to make it extra tasty and delicious,” he said.
“We’re doing a two-pronged approach here, not only do we want to brown the fat and the protein on that steak, but we’re also going to brown that butter.”
As for seasoning, he warned against adding too many spices early on. “Salt is a mineral and it doesn’t burn,” he said. “If I were to put a whole bunch of different spices on this, they would just burn on top and not taste very good.”
Once the steak came out of the air fryer, he poured the melted butter from the tray over the top and added a little fresh cracked black pepper.
“This is art. Food is edible art,” he said. “Look at this thing. Don’t you just want to admire it and tell it how pretty it is, maybe buy it a house or something?”
When he sliced into it, the results spoke for themselves: a crispy, caramelised crust on the outside, with a perfectly pink centre.
Cristian’s final verdict? “Crunchy, crispy, nicely browned. I can’t wait to eat this.”
