Preparing a steak with the Airfryer

The Crust
The crust is created by burning the outer surface. This is called searing. The high temperatures cause the Maillard reaction. A reaction which only happens at temperatures higher than 140C. The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar.
Example of the Maillard reaction is caramelisation. Without the Maillard reaction meat should have have less flavour and will not be as tasty.

Searing
It is an absolute myth that searing your meat will help to contain the juices in the meat. Meat is a muscle buildup out of smaller bundles of muscles. Basically collagen binds all these bundles together to one big muscle (our steak). At temperatures around 52-60C (depending on the meat/muscle type) the muscle fibres start to contract forcing the juices leave the meat. The higher the temperature the more juices will flow out of the meat.
If you cook at lower temperatures more the meat contract less which helps to retain more juices in the meat. But at lower temperatures more time is needed to dissolve enough collagen fibres to make the meat tender.

Let the meat rest
When the meat is cooling down the fibres of the meat are relaxing. This makes it possible for the meat to take-up some of the loose juices. This is why it is good idea to let the meat rest for a couple of minutes before start eating. The meat is more tender and more juice after resting.

Cooking temperature
The best prepared steak is equally heated at the inside. This means that there should be a visual gradient in colour. If you like your steak medium/raw the inside temperature should be between 55-60C.
The methods described below are working for the less tough steaks like ‘Tenderloin’ steaks. More tougher meat need longer cooking time or a higher cooking temperature than 60C.

Airfryer
There is this method of preparing a steak in the Philips Airfryer which is a quick and gives quite nice results. The advantage of the Airfryer above using panfrying is that in the Airfryer the heat transfer to the meat is better. This is because the meat will be surrounded by hot air with high velocity (higher than in a convection oven). With increasing velocity of air the heat transfer increases.

The Airfyer has baking tray consisting out of a mesh to allow optimal airflow around the meat. However when the meat is position on the mesh the heat at the crust will not reaching the 140C which is needed activate the Maillard reaction as discussed earlier. To overcome this a baking tray can be place on the mesh. When preheating the Airfryer including the tray before placing the steak will make it possible to sear the crust.
Placing the tray will reduce the amount of airflow around the steak and thereby the heat transfer.
Because a tray is used and the Airfyer has one heating element placed at the top it is still needed to flip the steak during the cooking process.

Sous-vide
To get your steak equally coloured at the inside you can use different cooking techniques. An upcoming method and most of the time only use in restaurants is ‘Sous-vide’. In this method the meat is seared first. Packed in plastic and placed in a water-bath of a maximum temperature of 60C. If you keep the meat long at this temperature the core will reach this temperature and your steak is ready. This steak will never be overcooked and the internal meat will have a perfect equal colour.
The disadvantage of this method is the equipment that is needed and the long preparation time. Not a method to use to prepare one or 2 steaks.

Pan frying
When preparing the steak in a pan, the steak will be heated from one side. There will be gradient of heat. The crust will be receive most heat and the middle of the steak the least. The steak should be turned to get both sided heated, reduce cooking time and prevent a overcooked crust at one side.

Name: Steak ‘medium rare’ the fast way using the Airfryer
Author: Martijn Gijzel
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 2x 3 minutes
Total time: 11-15 minutes
Serves: 1

Read about the relation between thickness and cooking time for a steak using the Philips Airfryer.Mighty Delicious | Cooking science

• Philips Airfryer
• Baking pan that fits in the Airfryer Basket
• Timer (min.)

• Steak with a thickness of 3 cm.
  (have a thicker steak, read the Tips & tricks)
• Salt
• Peper
• Olive oil

1. Take the steak from the fridge.
2. Place the baking tray into the Airfryer.
3. Pre-heat the Airfryer for about 5 minutes
4. Coat the steak with olive oil at both sides.
5. Season the steak with salt and pepper at both sides.
6. Place the steak into the baking tray in the Airfyer.
7. Set the timer for 3 minutes.
8. After 3 minutes, flip the steak on to its other side.
9. Set the timer for another 3 minutes.
10. After 3 minutes take the steak out of the Airfryer and place it onto a plate.
11. Let it rest for another 3 minutes.