During cooking, aim to cook your steak medium-rare to medium – any more and you'll be left with a tough piece of meat. Turning it every minute or so will make sure you get a really even cook. After cooking, leave it to rest and rub with a little extra virgin olive oil or butter for an incredible, juicy steak.
Sear-Roasting
When both the skillet and oven are piping hot, you put an oiled or buttered steak in the skillet, sear it on both sides, then slip it into the oven to finish cooking. By searing first, then finishing in the oven, sear-roasting poses less problems than pan-frying and broiling.
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.
WHICH IS BEST FOR COOKING STEAK: BUTTER OR OIL? Unlike butter, many oils have higher smoke points, making them the better option for cooking steak. Furthermore, there are some oils e.g. olive oil or grape seed oil that are healthier alternatives to butter. However, don't expect oil to taste better than butter.
Adding butter to steak adds extra richness and can also soften the charred exterior, making a steak more tender. What is this? But a good Steak Butter should complement the flavor of a steak, not mask it.
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.
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.
A restaurant's wood-fired grills can reach upwards of 700° F, and fancy steakhouses use infrared grills that can get over 1,000° F. The best way to replicate those conditions is to use a charcoal grill, but a smoking-hot cast-iron skillet works in a pinch, too.
What spices go well with steak? There are many spices available for seasoning a steak, with salt and pepper topping the list. However, other spices, like thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, and minced onion, are also good options to enhance your steak's flavor.
Add 1T butter and 2T olive or canola oil to the pan and watch for the butter starting to brown. Place the steak into the pan and reduce the heat to medium, cooking the first side for 4-6 minutes. Turn the steak gently with tongs, then tilt the pan and baste the cooked side with pan juices.
This is why it is so important to rest meat before serving: As the meat rests, the constricted muscle fibers begin to relax. The pressure on the juices is slowly released and they redistribute towards the edges of the meat. By letting the meat rest, you achieve an evenly moist and flavorful steak.
During cooking, aim to cook your steak medium-rare to medium – any more and you'll be left with a tough piece of meat. Turning it every minute or so will make sure you get a really even cook. After cooking, leave it to rest and rub with a little extra virgin olive oil or butter for an incredible, juicy steak.
Cooking slowly therefore is really the best way to naturally tenderize the meat and maintain a juicy texture.
While there are several ways to velvet, a pound of meat needs about two teaspoons of cornstarch and two teaspoons of oil, says Leung. You may also include two to three tablespoons of water. For beef, add a 1/4-teaspoon of baking soda for tenderizing. Additional seasonings are optional and vary from recipe to recipe.
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.
Steaks should always be cooked on high temperatures to sear the outside and trap the juices and flavor inside. Steaks should almost always be cooked on a grill or in a pan on high heat: all cooking guidelines below are for one-inch thick steaks. Rest your steak for five minutes under aluminum foil before eating.
The best oils to fry with have the highest smoke points which are all 450°F or above. These include peanut oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, palm oil and avocado oil. I generally use peanut or sunflower oil. PRO TIP: To sear a steak, your pan should reach a temperature of 400-450 degrees.
Good oils for searing steak are: Ghee (clarified butter), avocado oil, olive oil (but not EVOO), and grapeseed oil. Can you use olive oil to sear steak? You can use olive oil to sear steak, but do not use extra virgin olive oil, aka EVOO.
Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Pour 1 tablespoon olive oil into the skillet and sear steak in the hot oil for 30 to 40 seconds on each side, including the sides. Slice and serve immediately.