Subtle, soft, and sweet flavors develop better when you start in a cold pan—think caramelizing onions or toasting nuts. Sharp, bitter, and robust flavors often come from a hot pan—think searing a steak. Doneness: Food cooks more evenly when you start in a cold pan.
Starting the steaks in a “cold” (not preheated) skillet set over high heat prevents the meat directly below the surface from overcooking and turning gray. Flipping the steaks every 2 minutes as they cook allows a rich crust to build up gradually without overcooking the interior.
When cooking a steak in a pan you need to first start the meat at a high temperature and then finish cooking at a lower temperature. In other words, sear first! By searing first we are able to remove any excess moisture from the meat as fast as possible and jump right into building color and texture.
Pan-frying is the quickest method of cooking small, very tender cuts of meat such as steaks. Browning the meat on both sides requires a very high heat, which then needs to be slightly lowered to cook the meat to the point desired.
The Chef's Way of Cooking A Steak
Just let it go. Once your steak is on your pan, let it sear and simmer down. It is very tempting to constantly check it and/or flip it – but don't. This is how a nice dark char is formed, and this is the correct pathway to your chef's steak.
Most fine restaurants age their beef to intensify the flavor and improve the tenderness of the cut. Wet aging is done by vacuum packing the meat and letting it age in its own juices. Wet aging is done by more than 90% of fine steakhouses.
You put oil in the pan
When cooking steak you need to oil the steak itself to ensure that perfect outer texture once cooked, and of course so it doesn't stick. Place your steak on a plate and drizzle the steak with oil on both sides, massaging in a little to cover all areas.
Even modestly priced olive oil can give flavour to a steak and if you like that flavour, this is definitely the way to go. Whatever you cook your steak in, as long as you get the temperature, the cooking duration and resting period right, you should end up with a very appetising steak at the end of it.
Hot and Fast: Anytime you are planning to use a thinner meat cut like skirt steak, chuck, or flank or even thin sirloin, rump steaks etc., cooking it fast on high heat will yield the best results. With a thin cut, any slow cooking method will overcook the meat and leave it with a chewy, rubbery texture.
Preheat the pan on medium and brush with oil. Using just 1/2 Tbsp oil reduces splatter. Sear steaks – add steaks and sear each side 3-4 minutes until a brown crust has formed then use tongs to turn steaks on their sides and sear edges (1 min per edge).
Recent experiments and noted food scientist and writer Harold McGee indicate that flipping a steak several times while cooking results in a steak that is ready sooner but also yields better overall results than the single flip method. Flipping your meat constantly also minimizes the desiccation zone or the dry area.
There are several steak methods that could answer the question, “What is the best way to cook a steak?” However, the best cooking method for steak, generally, is grilling. Grilling works well for most steak cuts, adding lots of flavor and allowing an even cook when you know how to grill steak properly.
Pan Searing – Indoor
Bring the steaks to room temperature as described above and pat dry with a paper towel. Place a dry cast-iron skillet in a pre-heated broiler on high heat about 6 inches from flame or heating element. Heat pan for about 20 minutes.
Whether using a surface thermometer or not, you still need to heat your pan thoroughly before you add anything to it. Do not add oil, butter, meat or anything until that pan is properly heated. That should take a good 5 to 8 minutes.
As you can see, between butter and oil, butter has a dramatically lower smoke point. Because of this, if you heat up a pan hot enough to sear your steak, putting a dollop of butter in first means it is likely to burn up. However, that doesn't mean you can't still get the delicious flavors of butter with your steak.
On seasoning:
There's nothing better than to let the natural flavours of the meat sing. I keep it simple by first coating the meat with a bit of olive oil and then adding lots of coarse salt just before cooking so it doesn't dissolve, as this helps to create a nice surface texture.
While washing meat and poultry to remove dirt, slime, fat or blood may have been appropriate decades ago when many slaughtered and prepared their own food, the modern food safety system doesn't require it. Meat and poultry are cleaned during processing, so further washing is not necessary.
As a rule of thumb (for a steak 22mm thick) – cook 2 minutes each side for rare, 3-4 mins each side for medium-rare and 4-6 mins each side for medium. For well done, cook for 2-4 minutes each side, then turn the heat down and cook for another 4-6 minutes.
A hot cooking surface is extremely important to caramelize the outside of the steak and lock in the juices and flavor. High heat also creates the textural diversity of steak-house quality steaks: crispy on the outside, yet moist and tender on the inside.
But the reality is that flipping a steak repeatedly during cooking—as often as every 30 seconds or so—will produce a crust that is just as good (provided you start with meat with a good, dry surface, as you always should), give you a more evenly cooked interior, and cook in about 30% less time to boot!