Hilary Duff’s rare steak 'hack' resurfaces as fans left divided

Former Disney star Hilary Duff has sparked discussion online after revealing exactly how she cooks her rare steak, with some claiming it’s not exactly foolproof.

Earlier this year, the Lizzie McGuire star appeared on the beloved First We Feast show, Hot Ones, with host and interviewer Sean Evans to eat a selection of spicy wings.

After the interview, Duff admitted that chowing down on the extremely hot chicken was ‘harder’ for her than home birth.

"The home birth was much harder," she admitted on Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast.

"But [Hot Ones] once you get to ... like eight and you get to Da Bomb, you're like, 'Not okay.'"

A clip from the mother-of-four’s Hot Ones episode is doing the rounds online again - and it’s all because of her steak confession.

“I’ve heard you say that you like your steak very rare - to the point that friends won’t even share with you when you’re having one. Can you give us the do’s and don’ts of making the perfect steak at home?,” Evans asked.

In response, his guest said: “I grew up with my mom and dad saying they like their steak to where a good vet could get it back on its feet. Isn’t that horrifying?”

Whilst being visibly wiped out from the hot sauce, Duff continued: “I like to salt it on both sides. I want my cast iron pan really hot. And I put beef tallow, like a butter situation.

“And I wait until my pan is smoking and I season my steak and then I weight it and I do that for four minutes on each side. Take it off, let it rest, slice it, big pinch of salt on top. And then we are eating steak,” she confirmed.

Duff’s steak cooking technique has drawn ire on social media, with many commenting that four minutes on each side does not constitute a rare steak.

“4 MINUTES EACH SIDE!!! That’s not mega rare,” one Instagram user claimed. Another said: “How do you cook your steak for eight minutes and make it rare?”

“4 mins is not rare unless this steak is 4 inches thick,” alleged someone else.

Others have defended the Cadet Kelly actress, with one user typing: “That actually sounds perfect.”

“Apparently we are sisters because my mom said the same thing about steak,” a second replied.

A third added: “’If it ain’t mooing I ain’t chewing’ -me.”

How chefs cook a rare steak

If you’re not convinced by Duff’s eight-minute steak cooking method, then perhaps you’ll be more inclined to follow a celebrity chef’s method.

Steven Raichlen

Steven Raichlen claims that you should always cook a well-marbled, relatively soft cut that's around 1.5 inches thick on high heat. For rare, this is apparently 120 degrees.

“Cook the steaks until beads of blood appear on the surface, about 3 to 5 minutes per side for a thick steak,” he wrote via his website.

He also wrote that, as Duff does, you should let your red meat rest after pulling it from the grill.

“Don’t worry about the steaks cooling; they won’t cool by more than a few degrees (actually, they usually continue to cook for a bit, raising the temperature by 3 to 5 degrees). And the juices, forced to the outside of the meat by the high heat of the grill, will reconvene near the centre,” he stated

Curtis Stone

Australian chef and TV favourite Curtis Stone once told US Weekly that he has his steak on the grill for a very short time.

"I try to cook my steaks for maybe 60 to 90 seconds on either side, and then you can pull it off and let it rest," he explained to US Weekly.

Five minutes later, he repeats the steps - and he’s more bothered about what the steak looks like, rather than its temperature.

“That's how you get that beautiful, even pinkness through your steak, and of course giving it that last rest before cutting into it is really key," the expert added.

Giada De Laurentiis

Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis agrees with Duff that steak should always be cooked in a sizzling cast-iron pan.

She also claimed in an Instagram post that it should be seasoned with kosher salt and left to sit in the pan, rather than being moved around a lot.

“Do not move it around, do not flip it early. You want to wait to see a little crust on there, that way the meat is suspended above the cast iron pan,” she claimed, adding that between three to five minutes a side is ‘perfect’.