How to Cook Top Sirloin Steak in Pan and Oven Medium-rare

Last Updated on September 8, 2015 by SteakEat

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This manual explains how to cook top sirloin steak in pan and oven to medium-rare level of doneness.

Contents:

• Part 1: Ingredients & Cooking Tools
• Part 2: The Method of Cooking Top Sirloin Steak on Stove & Oven

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Part 1: Ingredients & Cooking Tools

For a delicious sirloin steak we need the following ingredients:

• 230g / 8oz top sirloin steak (see the 3 things to look for when buying sirloin)
• 1 tbsp ghee/coconut oil
• Kosher/flaked salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

And the following tools:

• Thick-walled heavy skillet (forged aluminum is great for its non-stickiness)
• Meat tongs
• Oven-safe meat thermometer (instant-read will also work)
• Oven tray (optional, if you have an oven-safe frying pan)
• Tin foil (optional)
• Paper towel

Got ’em all? Let’s SteakEat then!

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Part 2: The Method of Cooking Top Sirloin Steak on Stove & Oven

We first begin with searing steak on the skillet, followed by finishing it in oven till medium-rare level of doneness.

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1. Room Temperature

We recommend taking 1-inch sirloin steak out from the fridge at least 40 minutes before you start cooking it.

Thinner cuts will need less, while thicker cuts will need more time.

We need the steak to warm up first, so that when we start searing it on the skillet, it will not cool the skillet’s surface down and we actually get the proper surface browning.

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Pro Tip:

Have no time for this? Use the microwave at the lowest power setting (not the defrost though).

Place the steak on a plate and turn the microwave on for 3 seconds. Then open the door and flip the steak – you should notice the bottom part (i.e. the one that was in direct contact with the plate) getting warm.

Repeat the procedure until your top sirloin is slightly warm (be careful and don’t cook it inside) – usually around 4 three-second cycles.

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2. Pat Dry the Steak Using Paper Towels

To remove excess moisture, which also doesn’t make the steak surface browning easier, use paper towels – pat dry the steak using gentle tapping motions.

A word of advice – don’t use toilet paper, because its numerous layers stick to meat fairly well.

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3. Heat Up the Oven

Preheat the oven to 130C / 265F with the fan option (or 150C / 300F without the fan).

This temperature is fairly low (it actually isn’t), so it will take a bit more time to finish sirloin steak, but it will be more tender and juicy (i.e. the slower you finish beef in oven, the tenderer it ends up being).

Also, if you don’t have oven-safe frying skillet (i.e. the one with metal handle) get the oven tray covered with tin foil – it will help to reduce cleaning once you are done.

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This is Page 2 of the ‘How to Cook Sirloin Steak in Pan & Oven’ guide. Click to Page 1.

4. Season the Steak

Season the steak with salt – we recommend you begin with 2 three-finger pinches of salt (i.e. thumb, forefinger and middle finger) per side. You can adjust that quantity in future.

Leave the pepper till later, as it will burn at high heat inside the skillet, producing a burnt flavor.

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5. Heat Up the Pan

Add the tablespoon of coconut oil or ghee to the pan – these fats are ideal for high heat pan-searing.

Set the stovetop to the highest setting and start preheating your skillet until you see gentle fumes taking off the pan’s surface.

Thicker pans and old cookers will need more time to heat up – up to 10 minutes – so be patient.

Once you see the smoke, wait for another 20 seconds and place the seasoned top sirloin inside.

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6. Quickly Sear Both Sides

Because we use the oven to finish our beef steak, we don’t need to cook it on the stove top for a long time.

All we need is gorgeous browning on the steak’s surface.

That’s why we recommend searing it for no more than 1 minute per side – this should be enough for Maillard reaction to occur (i.e. the browning). Note that this is rough guideline and you might be fine with less time (the quicker the better for juiciness and tenderness).

Once you put your top sirloin inside, don’t reduce the temperature and flip the steak in 1 minute using a pair of tongs.

So, total cooking time on stove is 2 minutes.

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Pro Tip:

If you have a know of organic grass-fed butter, drop it inside 40 seconds before you are done searing the second side.

Once you do that, sear the same side for another 20 seconds and then flip the steak back to the first side – you will notice even richer browning developing on the sirloin’s surface.

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7. Finishing Steak in Oven

After the 2 minutes of searing, take the pan off the heat and use meat thermometer to check the temperature inside the steak.

We are going medium-rare, so our target inside temperature is 130F / 55C.

You will see that you are still missing a good few degrees, so let’s place the steak inside the oven and finish it there.

Use either, the same skillet (if it’s oven-proof) or the oven tray with tin foil you prepared earlier.

Oven cooking will take around 20 minutes, but you don’t want to trust anyone (even SteakEat) and check the temperature using either, oven-safe meat probe (in that case you just stick it inside the sirloin and check it through the oven door) or instant meat thermometer (in that case we recommend you check the temperature inside every 7 minutes or so).

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8. Rest the Steak & Cut

Once the steak reaches the medium-rare doneness level, take it out and use this time to cover it with freshly ground black pepper.

Then rest it for 3-4 minutes, covered with tin foil, to let the juices inside to calm down and stabilize.

Cut the steak against the grain (i.e. perpendicular to the muscle fibers) and enjoy!

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Pro Tip: While steak is being finished in oven, insert the serving plates inside as well. Hot plates will help to keep the steak warm for longer.

Pro Tip #2: Guests are late and you don’t want the steak to cool down? Set the oven to 50C / 120F and insert the plate with the steak on it right inside – it will stay nice and warm, so you don’t need to worry anymore.

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How to cook top sirloin steak in pan and oven to medium-rare? Now you know! Enjoy and have fun experimenting.

Happy Steaks!

SteakEat

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