By Aaron Hutcherson
The Washington Post
I love going out to a steakhouse as much as the next person. The mere thought of creamed spinach, buttery mashed potatoes, a bottle of bold red wine and a beautifully browned, thick-cut steak has my mouth watering as I type. But my wallet is a bit more apprehensive: The best steaks where I live range in price from $62 to $79 per pound.
If you’re willing to cook your own steaks at home, however, you can get a comparable cut of beef from the grocery store for at least half of that. Choose a cut with the best marbling — the creamy white strands of fat weaving throughout the meat — that you can afford. And you’ll want steaks that are at least 1 inch thick, which allows you to easily achieve a good crust on both sides without overcooking the interior.
There are many options when it comes to how to cook steak, including grilling and slow-roasting, but my preferred, weeknight-friendly method is cooking it on the stovetop. It’s quick, can be accomplished rain or shine, and yields impressive results when done correctly. To help you get there, I’ve got three tips to guarantee a better stovetop steak, including one that just might counter everything you’ve been told about searing meat.
Let the steak rest at room temperature before cooking
There is some debate about whether it helps to take a steak out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter — between 30 minutes and 2 hours — before searing. Is it 100 percent necessary? No. Do I do it all the time? Absolutely not. But in developing this recipe, I found that doing so led to slightly more even cooking results, so I highly encourage it. For such expensive cuts of meat, better safe than sorry.
You are also welcome to sprinkle the steak all over with salt while it comes to temperature (at least 40 minutes to allow for the salt to be absorbed into the meat), but I find it unnecessary when serving with flaky sea salt to sprinkle on each slice. (While early salting, aka dry brining, generally also aids with meat tenderness, in this instance, that good marbling is already doing the heavy lifting.)
Get the skillet ripping hot
When it comes time to actually turn on the stove, you need a skillet that can handle the heat to achieve the best crust. That leaves you with three options: cast iron, stainless steel and carbon steel. Cast iron is my choice for its superior heat retention, which prevents the skillet from cooling down too much as soon as the meat hits the pan.
But before that happens, you need to preheat the skillet. Note that I said ripping hot, which usually takes several minutes. With cast iron, you will start to see a few whispers of smoke wafting off its surface. This is your signal that it’s ready for the oil to be added to the pan, followed by the steak.
Caution: There will be smoke. Don’t be alarmed. Turn on an exhaust fan, if you have one, and maybe open a window while you’re at it. Also consider taking the batteries out of your smoke alarm to prevent it from going off in the middle of cooking — just be sure to replace them as soon as you’re done.
Flip and move the steak around the pan frequently
You may have heard somewhere that you want to touch steaks as little as possible as they cook. That is a myth. Flip and move them as much as you want — and don’t forget about the edges and fat cap, if present. Flipping steaks more frequently leads to more even cooking and helps reduce the time spent on the stove.
“This is because with multiple flips, neither side is exposed to intense heat for too long, nor does it lose much heat to the relatively cool air above,” cookbook author J. Kenji López-Alt wrote for the food website Serious Eats. “It’s the equivalent of cooking it from both directions simultaneously.”
And when you do flip, move it to a different part of the skillet, which is hotter than where the steak previously was, to help with crust formation. (Turn down the heat if the steak ever starts to get too dark.)
If you absolutely need to multitask, it isn’t the end of the world if you only flip the steak once or twice. But on the flip side (*wink*), you’ve probably spent a nice chunk of change on a good piece of meat, so try to dedicate the 15 minutes of active cooking time that steak requires to devote to it your undivided attention.
When you’re done flipping, I recommend finishing cooking the steak by basting it with butter and aromatics, such as garlic and herbs, for more flavor. Remove the meat from the pan when it is about 5 degrees below your desired serving temperature — to take carryover cooking into — then let it rest, during which time the temperature will continue to climb.
While the steak is resting, you can saute vegetables in the same skillet to round out the meal. Then slice the steak, sprinkle with flaky salt and enjoy the delicious, succulent results — all from the comfort of home.
Stovetop Strip Steak
To make a great stovetop steak at home, you need to pay attention to time and temperature. Don’t skip letting the steak rest on the counter before searing — this step will help your steak cook more evenly. Additionally, the best way to determine doneness — and prevent overcooking — is to use an instant-read thermometer. If you don’t have strip steak, you can use rib-eye, porterhouse or T-bone. The steak needs to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours before cooking. To round out the meal, serve the steak with a baked potato and vegetables cooked in the same skillet, such as wilted spinach or sauteed green beans, while the meat rests.
Makes 2 to 3 servings
INGREDIENTS
One (1-pound) strip steak, about 1 1/2 inches thick
Fine salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon neutral oil, such as peanut or vegetable
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Crushed garlic cloves (optional)
Fresh thyme, rosemary and/or sage sprigs (optional)
Flaky sea salt, for serving
DIRECTIONS
1: Let the steak rest at room temperature for 30 minutes and up to 2 hours before cooking.
2: In a medium (10-inch) or larger cast-iron skillet (see Notes) over medium-high heat, heat the pan until it is very hot and just barely starts to smoke. Pat the meat dry and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. Add the oil; swirl the skillet to distribute the oil; add the steak; and cook on all sides (including the fat cap and edges), flipping with tongs every minute or so until the meat is deeply browned and the internal temperature on an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the steak reads about 10 degrees short of your desired serving temperature (about 10 minutes to reach an internal temperature of 120 degrees for medium-rare). When flipping the steak, move it to the other side of the skillet for better browning, and adjust the heat as needed if the steak starts to get too dark.
3: Add the butter and the garlic, thyme, rosemary and/or sage, if using, and cook, frequently tilting the skillet and using a large spoon to baste the steak with the butter, until the meat reaches an internal temperature about 5 degrees short of your desired serving temperature (125 degrees for medium-rare), about 2 minutes. Halfway through cooking, flip the steak.
4: Remove from the heat, transfer the steak to a cutting board, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for at least 5 minutes and up to 15 minutes. (During this time, the internal temperature of the meat should rise to 130 degrees, which is considered medium-rare.)
Slice the steak across the grain, transfer to a platter or individual plates, sprinkle with flaky salt, and serve hot.
Note: While you can use a stainless-steel pan, cast iron is preferred for its superior heat retention.
Storage note: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Recipe from Aaron Hutcherson.
