The arrival of Spring brings one of Australia’s favourite past times back into our backyards: barbecuing.
Director of the Richmond Good Food Market, James Williams, shares some tips on how to grill your meat to perfection.
■ Choose good beef: Buy the best quality beef you can for better flavour and texture. If you like your steak butter-soft, choose eye-fillet; or go for rump skirt or hangar if you want super-tasty and don't mind a bit of a chew.
■ Preparing your steak: Let the steak warm to room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking. Remove all excess moisture with a paper towel, then use your hands to rub the steak evenly with a good quality olive oil before generously seasoning with salt and pepper.
■ Where to cook?: Having a decent barbecue that goes from very hot to medium-hot temperature is the best. Move thick steaks to a medium heat after the initial searing on high heat. Or finish cooking it in the oven after searing.
■ Turning steak: I like to turn my steaks between three and five times depending on the thickness. I find that this way the meat cooks evenly and ends up tender and juicy inside.
■ When is it ready?: If you're a novice, cutting into the steak to see if it's cooked is a practical option. Move the steak off the heat, rest for two minutes then make an incision into the thickest part.
■ Resting your steak: As a simple rule of thumb, allow an equal amount of resting time as the meat took to cook. You can always warm through for 30 seconds on each side.
■ Richmond Good Food Market, every Saturday, 7am-1pm.
■ Farmers & Fine Food Market, Castle Hill, 2nd and 4th Saturdays, 8am-noon.
■ Parramatta Farmers Market, every Friday, 7.30am-2pm.
■ Penrith Farmers and Fine Food Market, 1st Saturday of month, 8am-1pm.
■ Organic Food Markets, Rouse Hill, Saturday, 8am-2pm.
