Jamie Oliver's Secret For Cooking The Best Sirloin Steak

Improving our ability to cook steak is work that's never truly done, as we can always grow to become even better at the task. When it comes to sirloins — one of the four steaks you absolutely must marinate before cooking — there are a handful of practices that can make the cut as delicious as possible, and Jamie Oliver seemingly knows them all. The most notable of these tricks is undoubtedly Oliver's choice to cook the steak in its own fat, rather than using oil or butter.

Oliver, the British celebrity chef best known for his TV show "The Naked Chef" (and slightly less known for his Nintendo DS game titled "What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver"), explained his strategy for cooking sirloin on his YouTube channel, where he called cooking sirloin in its own fat "a brilliant technique to making the perfect sirloin." More specifically, Oliver cuts the fat off the outside of the sirloin and slices it into small pieces, rendering it down in the pan before adding the sirloin and cooking it to completion.

Now, as many great chefs know, killing two birds with one stone in the kitchen is often the best course of action — and Oliver's sirloin recipe is no different. While waiting for the sirloin's fat to render and become suitable to cook the steak, Oliver makes a red chimichurri, a sauce that goes perfectly with the sirloin. While Jamie Oliver's version of the sauce differs greatly from our easy chimichurri recipe, by cooking garlic, spring onions, and sliced red chili peppers in with the sirloin fat, he begins the process of making a great topping for his finished steak. After they're cooked, he removes everything except for the still-rendering fat from the pan and adds the sirloin to finally begin the process of cooking the entrée.

So, is it really better to cook sirloin in its own fat? Well, it depends. Some people prefer steaks made with butter, as the ingredient provides a contrasing flavor to the meat. However, beyond just giving your steak a more uniform flavor, cooking a sirloin in its own fat could also mean wasting less food, as many otherwise recommend trimming the fat off the steak and throwing it away.