Don't Break The 6 Golden Rules Of Cooking Steak
Steak is the Rolls Royce of food. Rich and luxurious, you canât beat a perfectly cooked piece of ribeye. And while cooking steak can be simple, itâs also easy to mess up. Whether itâs overcooked, under-seasoned, or mysteriously dry even while still pink in the middle (how is that possible?!), a badly cooked steak is always disappointing. So how do you make sure you get it right?
As the developer of our cast-iron skillet steak recipe, Iâve cooked my way through pounds of steak and learned a lot along the way. For this story, I also chatted with Ashley Lonsdale, chef-in-residence at ButcherBox, to get her perspective. Hereâs how to cook the best steak of your lifeâevery time.
1. Choose the Right Steak
Picking a great steak might seem like a no-brainer, but there are several things to keep in mind. If youâre newer to cooking steak, Lonsdale suggests opting for a boneless cut. âItâs just a little less complicated,â she notes. âYouâre not going to have to worry about the meat near the bone making contact with the pan.â She also recommends looking for a steak thatâs at least 1 Âœâ thick, so youâre able to âget a crustâ while also âgetting the internal temperature exactly where you want it to be.â
Youâll also want to make sure youâre choosing a type and cut of meat that youâll really enjoy eating. Ribeye and New York strip are both classic choices, but ribeye is much richer, while a strip eats slightly leaner but still delivers full beef flavor. Lonsdale also recommends going with grass-fed over grain-fed meat âfor better flavor and nutrition.â Itâs a lot to consider, but with a dish thatâs so stripped back (pun intended), success largely rests on the quality of the product youâre using.
Cast-Iron Skillet Steak
Grilled Tri-Tip
Carne Asada
2. Choose the Right Pan and Get It Screaming Hot
A great pan is key to getting a caramelized crust on the bottom of your steak. A large metal pan works, but cast iron is even better. According to Lonsdale, cast iron is ideal because âprovides a really even heatâ and also retains that heat: two factors which will lead to a âbeautiful crust on your steak.â
Whichever pan you use, set it over medium-high heat and get it very hot before you even think about picking up that steak. The oil in the pan should be shimmering across the surface, and the meat should sizzle loudly when it hits the pan, signaling the start of a fantastic sear. If you put the steak in the pan and the sizzle sounds more like a whisper, yank it out quickly and wait for the pan to heat up some more.
3. Let It Be
Searing anything is a masterclass in patience. You want to move the steak, youâre dying to move the steak, but you CANNOT move the steak or youâll disturb the formation of that gorgeous crust. Resist the urge to touch the steak for at least four minutes. After that, you can gently lift the very edge with your tongs and peak underneath. The steak should be deeply browned on the bottom. If itâs not, let it ride for another minute, and check it again. Donât flip until youâre sure youâve got that perfect sear.
4. Give It a Brown Butter Bath
Full disclosure: you donât have to do this. But if youâre cooking the best steak of your life, you wanna give it the love it deserves. So to really hone in on maximum flavor, I highly recommend finishing your steak in the last few minutes of cooking by basting it in some garlicky, herby brown butter. Lonsdale agrees: âThe flavor of the butter helps to reinforce the crust...I think thereâs nothing better.â
To get the butter bath started, add a large hunk of butter (weâre talking 2 tablespoons minimum) to the pan along with a few crushed garlic cloves and a sprig of herbs (Lonsdale and I both prefer thyme, but you do you!). Grasp the pan handle with an oven-gloved hand, tilt that pan slightly toward you, and use a large serving spoon to spoon that butter pooling in the bottom of the pan up and over the steak. Itâll foam a little, and thatâs okay. Donât stop spooning it until the steak is absolutely shimmering.
5. Get Out the Thermometer
You know that whole âtouch the steak to check if itâs doneâ thing? Donât even think about it.
Unless youâre a professional chef whoâs worked at Peter Lugers for the last 20 years, the best way to check if a steak is done is to check it with a thermometer. I personally like to pull my steak between 125 and 130 degrees so it rests up to a perfect 135 medium rare as it sits. If Iâm giving it the brown butter spa treatment, Iâll usually make sure itâs temping around 120 before I add the butter. Is a probe thermometer glamorous? No. Does it guarantee youâll end up with a perfectly cooked steak? Yes.
6. Let. It. Rest.
This is crucial. You MUST wait at least 10 minutes to slice into your steak after you pull it from the pan. According to Lonsdale, this resting time âallows the muscle fibers to relax and the juices to redistribute within the meat.â This way, the steak will retain maximum moisture and won't flood its best flavor onto your plate when you cut into it. Youâve just cooked the best steak of your life: you want to be able to enjoy every bite to the max.
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