If music be the food of love, grill on with Richard Turner’s guide to getting your meat perfect.

Richard Turner is the founder of London butcher Turner & George and the mastermind behind legendary steak restaurants such as Hawksmoor and Foxlow as well as the founder of Meatopia here in the UK. Turner & George supply some of the UK’s leading restaurants, and customers alike

His business partner James George has been a butcher for over 20 years meaning there is little he doesn’t know about meat, all of which is ethically sourced from suppliers he knows and trusts and has worked closely with for years.

Here’s how Richard does steak. You’re gonna ‘love’ this.

“The aim is to get a good char on the outside whilst keeping the meat juicy and tender inside, this is impossible with a thin piece of meat.  Ideally each steak should be at least 350g (12oz) and 4cm thick.

Fire up the grill.  There’s a huge difference between steak cooked over real charcoal and one cooked in a pan.  Take the meat out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking to bring it up to room temperature.

Get the pan really really hot.  You need to get it to the point where it’s painful to hold your hand anywhere near it – there’s going to be lots of smoke.

At the last minute season the meat well –  use Maldon sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper.  Don’t use any oil on the meat – if the pan is hot enough the meat won’t stick.

Stick the steak on. Leave it for a couple of minutes and then turn.  Carry on turning every couple of minutes until it’s the way you like it.  If it’s really thick turn more regularly to avoid burning.   Don’t overcrowd the grill or the pan – make sure there’s plenty of space between each steak. 

It’s impossible to give exact cooking times – it all depends on the thickness of the steak, the breed of cattle it comes from, how long it’s been aged for, which cut it is, whether it’s on the bone or not and, of course, the temperature of the grill.  As an example – to cook a 600g Bone-in Sirloin to Medium Rare cook it for 3 minutes on each side and then rest it for 20 minutes at 60 degrees c.  The key thing is to take it off as soon as it’s beautifully coloured but before you think it’s ready and leave it to rest as long as possible. I’ve even rested as long as half an hour with great results.