How to cook Sizzle Steak in air fryer

Truth is Sizzle Steaks are both thin and chewy if not done right, and thus air frying isn't the best course of action for cooking these complicated little steaks.

I cooked two identical size and thickness Sizzle Steaks in which I cut a slice off every 30 seconds to see how the doneness evolves over time. What I found is, air frying Sizzle Steaks with a 10mm thickness renders the best results at 90 seconds for medium rare. Air fry at a high temp in a hot preheated oiled basket.

Sizzle steaks cooked an air fryer is probably the last appliance you should be thinking about using to cook what is a food item that must be flash fried.

Air fryers cook slow in comparison to cooking steaks in a skillet or frying pan, thus the slow cooking time will mean you miss out on a proper sear. Sizzle Steaks air fried to a medium rare don't look pretty, and not at all appetizing.

You will want to attempt to cook Sizzle Steaks in an air fryer similar to how its done for real in a frying pan.

Which means getting the air fryer preheated up to a lengthy 10 minutes where oil will be rubbed on the bottom of the basket.

Once the Sizzle Steaks are added to this super hot preheated 205°C/400°F air fryer; oil will help to produce a very subtle sear but not enough to sear over red in colour raw beef - which will be seen through a layer of brownish Sizzle Steak.

Don't add any kind of lining to your air fryer on this occasion as you will primarily rely on a hot metal basket to partially sear the Sizzle Steaks.

Despite all these issues, there's certainly no harm in attempting to cook to your desired doneness in your air fryer. While bearing in mind the colour and texture of the Sizzle Steaks won't be very pleasing - but it will be possible to cook until the Sizzle Steaks are both soft and tender.

Sizzle Steaks are so small you just may be able to cook these steaks together with chips to make a quick and easy air fryer meal for one.

Achieving desired doneness

Only will your air fryer cook Sizzle Steaks to these doneness levels if the they're exactly 10 millimetres thick. One mil above or under will absolutely cook too much or to little.

Sizzle Steaks can be very chewy when not done right, which just so happened to be the case with my air frying experiment.

I know its tempting to air fry Sizzle Steaks but I really advise against it. Sizzle Steaks, like any cut of steak, really should be flash fried in a frying pan which unfortunately can't be replicated in a slow cooking air fryer... and they're compared to a frying pan.

As a result you must expect your Sizzle Steaks to not cook to the doneness you desire.

It took me 3 minutes and 30 seconds to find that out on my specific Sizzle Steak thickness. While I found medium rare the best quality, in reality a few seconds of added or reduced time, would of cooked the Sizzle Steaks to a chewy texture.

Prepare Sizzle Steaks

Treat Sizzle Steaks with respect like you would with premium steaks, where cooking steaks to a medium rare are done so with exactly the same methods. Get your air fryer hot as you can with oil rubbed on to the bottom of basket to replicate pan frying.

STEP 1:

Open packaging - Sizzle Steaks must be taken out of their packaging as they will sweat min juice if left in the plastic on top the kitchen worktop

STEP 2:

Sit for 30 minutes at room temperature - You have 90 seconds to cook to a medium rare, so you don't want to air fry super cold Sizzle Steaks; you already have an uphill battle to quickly cook these steaks before they over do

To hear a genuine sizzle - as in the name of these steaks - rub oil on the bottom of the basket during the preheating stage, in an attempt to sear the steaks as best as you can.

STEP 3:

Rub oil over steaks - Rubbing oil over the Sizzle Steaks is a must when air frying, as the oil will help to create a sear, regardless of little difference it will make due to lack of air frying time

STEP 4:

Preheat air fryer 10 Mins - Now its time to preheat your air fryer for an extraordinary 10 minutes in an effort to air fry these thin cut steaks as quickly as you can; preheating this long will ensure the chamber is as hot as it can be

NOTE: Be sure to oil the bottom of the air fryer basket prior to preheating for 10 minutes, as this will truly produce that sizzle sound you would expect to hear when a steak is placed on hot oiled metal - and just as it would when adding steaks to a frying pan.

Air fry 'Medium Rare' Sizzle Steak

Following directions are for cooking two Sizzle Steaks to a a medium rare, which is how I like my steaks. One important note, air fryers rarely count to seconds and thus you'll be better off counting down the desired time in your head.

STEP 1:

Set temp to 205°C / 400°F; time 2 Mins. - Unfortunately most air fryer don't have a second timer, and only a minute increment countdown. You'll have to set the timer to 2 minutes, or set a 1 minute, 30 second timer elsewhere - like a stopwatch app on your phone or simply use Google

STEP 2:

Sit Sizzle Steaks on one side of basket - Sit up to two Sizzle Steaks side-by-side without touching or overlapping; on one side of the air fryer basket only - opposite side will be ready for you to flip the steaks on to - because the temperature drops when turning over steaks on the same spot

STEP 3:

Cook for 45 Seconds - As soon as both sizzle steaks are sat on the oiled up basket, count 45 seconds in your head (or use a stopwatch app)

STEP 4:

Flip over, cook for additional 45 Seconds - Quickly turn over the Sizzle Steaks after 45 seconds, and air fry for an additional 45 seconds: Bringing the total air frying time to 90 seconds for medium rare

NOTE: Cooking instructions were applied to two 10mm thick Tesco Irish Beef Sizzle Steaks (21 Day Matured), with each weighing 125g.

Results depend on Sizzle Steak thickness

I can't emphasis it enough, Sizzle Steaks will only cook to the doneness I've explained, if only your Sizzles Steaks are exactly 10mm thick.

To be honest though, even though your Sizzle Steaks may be bought at the same store with the same thickness as mine were - its still difficult to air fry to a perfect medium rare or medium, by following my directions.

I don't wish to mislead you and I don't want you to think I did, which is why I am telling you this as it is.

Its incredibly difficult to cook steaks in an air fryer and to tell the truth I don't recommend you do. Depend on pan frying all types are steaks only, with an option to air fry what can be a whole joint of roast beef and other thick-cut beef produce.

More so, its difficult to air fry thin cut steaks like these which will cook slow in an air fryer, when in fact they should be flash fried in a really hot skillet pan.

What's more crazy, while the thickness of these Sizzle Steaks on this occasion were 10mm, they were just 7-8mm thick in other areas; which made the task of air frying to a perfect medium rare all the way through that little more difficult.

Expect NO sear in air fryer

Go ahead and cook Sizzle Steaks in your air fryer if you like but remember, you aren't cooking in a super hot frying pan which is the only way to cook all steaks.

I cooked my two Sizzle Steaks in my air fryer knowing full well the time it takes to cook to a medium rare - which was 1 minute and 30 seconds - it was never going to be enough to produce a beautiful sear.

Searing steaks as you may know adds both taste and texture of which, air frying Sizzle Steaks must be avoided if possible.

What you will end up with is ugly pale in colour Sizzle Steaks which will reveal the red, rare colouring under the faint brown/grey sear of the steaks.

I'm not worried about this at all as long as the steaks are soft and tender, but it isn't a nice look and could put you off your Sizzle Steaks.

Summarise

How you would go about cooking Sizzle Steaks in an air fryer to achieve your preferred doneness - in my case a medium rare - you must set the temperature to a high of 205°C/400°F - along with a lengthy preheating time of 10 minutes.

What you will do is rub oil on the bottom of the basket to heat up along with the preheat time; so when the Sizzle Steaks are added to the basket, they can quickly begin to cook.

Sizzle steaks will cook slowly in an air fryer when compared to a frying pan, and that means you won't be able to sear these steaks at all.

In fact, the colouring and texture isn't all that nice but you can still air fry to a medium rare, which will produce soft and tender Sizzle Steaks with a rich beefy flavour.

How long to air fry Sizzle Steaks to a medium rare on this day was for 90 seconds, with each Sizzle Steak just ten millimetres thick.

Unfortunately, thickness will lead to Sizzle Steaks cooked to a doneness you may not want, which is due to your particular Sizzle Steaks being a little over or under in thickness when compared to mine.

Share this article: