How-To Guides

How to Cook Spider Steak

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Two raw spider steaks on a wooden board, showing marbling and steak shape

What Is a Spider Steak?

How to Cook Spider Steak: Also known as oyster steak in the US, the spider steak (an Australian term) is taken from the hip joint. Shaped like a kidney or oyster, it is a lesser-known cut with only two per animal – one from each hip. It is marbled with a distinctive web of intramuscular fat and requires a skilled butcher to extract fully intact from inside the hip, along the aitch bone.

This small, flavourful cut is prized for its rich marbling and deep colour. In the UK, it is sometimes referred to as the Pope’s Eye, though this term is also used for the rump, which can lead to confusion. For clarity, we use the term spider steak.

How Long Does It Take to Cook Beef Spider Steak?

Excluding resting time, a quick pan sear of around 4–6 minutes will cook your spider steak to medium-rare or medium. For the best texture and flavour, avoid cooking beyond medium.

How to Cook Spider Steak

  1. Take your spider steaks out of the fridge and remove them from their packaging. Pat dry with kitchen paper and allow to come up to room temperature.
  2. Heat a griddle or heavy-based frying pan until smoking hot.
  3. Just before cooking, rub both sides of the steaks with a neutral oil that has a high smoking point, then season generously with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
  4. Place the steaks in the hot pan and sear for around 2 minutes on each side. Avoid moving them — they’ll naturally release once a golden crust has formed.
  5. Reduce the heat slightly and continue cooking for a total of 4–6 minutes, turning every 30 seconds.
  6. Remove from the pan and rest in a warm place for 6 minutes.
  7. Slice with the grain to retain tenderness.

Top Tips for Cooking Beef Spider Steak

To check how done your spider steak is, the finger test is a simple and effective guide. Gently press the tip of your middle finger to the tip of your thumb. The fleshy part just below your thumb will feel like medium-rare – soft and yielding but still fleshy. For medium, press your ring finger to your thumb; the area should feel slightly firmer.

For an extra layer of flavour, finish the steaks with a generous knob of quality butter and baste in the final minute or two of cooking. This adds a rich gloss and enhances the natural, beefy character of this flavour-packed cut. Rest well before slicing to lock in juices.

  • Let it rest before cooking
    Remove your spider steaks from the fridge and packaging well in advance to bring them up to room temperature. This helps ensure even cooking.

  • Use a hot pan and minimal oil
    Get your pan smoking hot before the steaks go in. A small amount of oil with a high smoking point (like groundnut or vegetable oil) is all you need.

  • Let the pan do the work
    Avoid moving the steak around too much. Let it sear undisturbed so a rich, golden crust can develop.

  • Turn frequently
    Turn your steaks every 30 seconds during cooking to help build an even crust and maintain tenderness.

  • Use a thermometer if needed
    Spider steak is best served medium-rare to medium. For accuracy, aim for an internal temperature of 54–55°C.

  • Add butter at the end
    Finish your spider steaks with a generous knob of good-quality butter and baste for extra richness.

  • Slice correctly
    For the most tender result, slice the meat against the grain once cooked. This breaks up the muscle fibres and ensures a tender bite.

Spider Steak Recipe Ideas

Thanks to their rich depth of flavour, spider steaks are best kept simple. Season well, pan-sear, and serve with a fresh green salad, triple-cooked chips, and something tangy like chimichurri or Dijon mustard. Alternatively, slice thinly and add to fajitas or stir-fries for an extra hit of beefy flavour.

Order meat online

For 15 years, George worked in some of London’s most loved restaurants, including Padella and Primeur, and spent five years as Head Chef at the Garden Museum Café. He earned praise for his simple, thoughtful cooking, with dishes rooted in the classics and always respectful of the ingredients.

In 2021, George realised a long-held ambition with the release of his first cookbook, A Year in the Kitchen. It celebrates the annual cookery cycle, guiding readers through the British seasons, showcasing native produce and encouraging creativity year-round.

In 2022, George left London and returned to his native Yorkshire. His passion for seasonal cooking and respect for quality British ingredients have remained central to his work. Like his food, George is led by the seasons, open to new opportunities and always following his heart.

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@swaledalebutchers
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Kindred spirits. Hot pans. Spiced mutton. Swaledale x Canton Arms supper. Wednesday 25 February. To book email Thecantonarms@gmail.com @cantonarms
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@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
Winter and its cold hands have us fully in a tight embrace right now. And so we find ourselves cooking more often than not, to warm our souls. A ham at the weekend is one such thing that does the job. It can be used for all kinds of dishes and provide your weekdays with a plethora of fine sandwiches. But this fine cut also produces something else. An excellent, warming stock that should not be thrown away. In fact, it should be used to make something just as special. A deep, hearty split pea and ham soup. And here is @grylos showing you how to do it. Like most things, if you cook with time and consideration, the by-product is often just as good as the main event.
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Ask yourself this. When did you last have a really good pork chop? This is why we keep coming back to it. Native, rare breed pork. Dry aged on the bone. Proper depth of flavour. Nothing like the pale, wet stuff you see elsewhere. These are our Pork Chops with Rosemary and Anchovy Butter. Two thick, rindless chops. Two discs of handmade compound butter. Anchovy, rosemary, lemon zest, a little shallot. Old friends. It works.
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
Ask yourself this. When did you last have a really good pork chop? This is why we keep coming back to it. Native, rare breed pork. Dry aged on the bone. Proper depth of flavour. Nothing like the pale, wet stuff you see elsewhere. These are our Pork Chops with Rosemary and Anchovy Butter. Two thick, rindless chops. Two discs of handmade compound butter. Anchovy, rosemary, lemon zest, a little shallot. Old friends. It works.
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@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
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@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
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Burns Night, 25 January. Two pastry wrapped tributes to Robert Burns. Made with chef Josh Whitehead of @finer_pleasures. A haggis sausage roll with coarse cut native breed pork. A hot water crust pie of mutton and lamb haggis, oats, onions and spice. Food for a cold night.
Burns Night, 25 January. Two pastry wrapped tributes to Robert Burns. Made with chef Josh Whitehead of @finer_pleasures. A haggis sausage roll with coarse cut native breed pork. A hot water crust pie of mutton and lamb haggis, oats, onions and spice. Food for a cold night.
Burns Night, 25 January. Two pastry wrapped tributes to Robert Burns. Made with chef Josh Whitehead of @finer_pleasures. A haggis sausage roll with coarse cut native breed pork. A hot water crust pie of mutton and lamb haggis, oats, onions and spice. Food for a cold night.
Burns Night, 25 January. Two pastry wrapped tributes to Robert Burns. Made with chef Josh Whitehead of @finer_pleasures. A haggis sausage roll with coarse cut native breed pork. A hot water crust pie of mutton and lamb haggis, oats, onions and spice. Food for a cold night.
Burns Night, 25 January. Two pastry wrapped tributes to Robert Burns. Made with chef Josh Whitehead of @finer_pleasures. A haggis sausage roll with coarse cut native breed pork. A hot water crust pie of mutton and lamb haggis, oats, onions and spice. Food for a cold night.
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
Burns Night, 25 January. Two pastry wrapped tributes to Robert Burns. Made with chef Josh Whitehead of @finer_pleasures. A haggis sausage roll with coarse cut native breed pork. A hot water crust pie of mutton and lamb haggis, oats, onions and spice. Food for a cold night.
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@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
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Winter. It felt strange being in Yorkshire, watching the news from the south where snow lay thick and sudden, while here January had arrived quietly, cold and wet, but not yet truly winter as we know it. Up here the season has always moved at a slower pace, and there is something steadying in remembering that. The idea that we should charge straight on after Christmas is a modern one, and it sits awkwardly with bodies and minds that are still tuned to pause, to take stock, to look back at the year just gone. Out on the farms, there is no rush but plenty to do. Some are already lambing, others preparing for it, working with the land rather than against it as the days begin, almost imperceptibly, to lengthen. The fields are still subdued, but there are signs, if you look closely, that life is beginning to stir again. And so, it feels right, now and then, to slow everything down and simply notice Yorkshire in January, not as something to be endured, but as a quiet and beautiful part of the year in its own right.
Winter. It felt strange being in Yorkshire, watching the news from the south where snow lay thick and sudden, while here January had arrived quietly, cold and wet, but not yet truly winter as we know it. Up here the season has always moved at a slower pace, and there is something steadying in remembering that. The idea that we should charge straight on after Christmas is a modern one, and it sits awkwardly with bodies and minds that are still tuned to pause, to take stock, to look back at the year just gone. Out on the farms, there is no rush but plenty to do. Some are already lambing, others preparing for it, working with the land rather than against it as the days begin, almost imperceptibly, to lengthen. The fields are still subdued, but there are signs, if you look closely, that life is beginning to stir again. And so, it feels right, now and then, to slow everything down and simply notice Yorkshire in January, not as something to be endured, but as a quiet and beautiful part of the year in its own right.
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
Winter. It felt strange being in Yorkshire, watching the news from the south where snow lay thick and sudden, while here January had arrived quietly, cold and wet, but not yet truly winter as we know it. Up here the season has always moved at a slower pace, and there is something steadying in remembering that. The idea that we should charge straight on after Christmas is a modern one, and it sits awkwardly with bodies and minds that are still tuned to pause, to take stock, to look back at the year just gone. Out on the farms, there is no rush but plenty to do. Some are already lambing, others preparing for it, working with the land rather than against it as the days begin, almost imperceptibly, to lengthen. The fields are still subdued, but there are signs, if you look closely, that life is beginning to stir again. And so, it feels right, now and then, to slow everything down and simply notice Yorkshire in January, not as something to be endured, but as a quiet and beautiful part of the year in its own right.
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