Should i pan sear steak

To hear people balk at the fork-flippers, you'd think that a steak is something like a water balloon, ready to shed all its moisture from a single puncture. This is not how a steak behaves. Rather than a balloon filled with liquid, a steak is actually a series of many many thousands of long, skinny balloons filled with liquid. Puncturing a single one will have no effect on its neighbor, and the amount of juice contained in a fork-poke-ful of punctures is small enough not to be noticed.

Still, I find it easier to turn steaks with a combination of spatula-and-tong or spoon-and-tong or check out our favorite kitchen tongs and decide for yourself.

Basting is the real key to a perfect pan-seared steak. It performs two different functions. When Ed walked by the kitchen in the office the other day and saw the big fat steak I was about to cook, his first question after hearing I was planning on cooking it stovetop was, "Isn't it going to burn before the inside cooks? And the answer is yes— IF you cook it the traditional one-flip, no-baste way, that is. See, the problem, as Ed pointed out, is that with a screaming hot skillet, you end up overcooking the outside to a black crisp before the center has had a chance to even warm up.

A combination of flipping and basting—that is, spooning hot fat over your meat—will help cook it more gently, and more importantly, from both sides simultaneously , drastically cutting down on its cooking time. A basted and flipped steak will hit its appropriate internal temperature a good 35 percent faster than a single-flip, no-baste steak. How's that for fast food? Basting also performs one more important function: It's a perfect way to perform touch-up jobs on your crust.

Remember those pale spots that appear around the bones when you try and sear a bone-in steak? Spoon hot melted butter over them, and they'll quickly color in. The easiest way to baste is to tilt your pan slightly so that hot butter collects near the handle, then use a spoon to pour it over the top of the steak. Did I say that that's all basting does? There's one more function: distributing flavor from your aromatics. After the butter is melted, I add a handful of herbs such as thyme or rosemary, along with some sweet alliums like shallots or garlic.

They pop and sputter, releasing their aromas and rapidly infusing the fat with their flavor. When you baste, you're adding that aroma with each spoonful. I can't possibly emphasize this one enough. Use a thermometer! Yes, you may look a bit less macho when you whip out a nifty Thermapen from your back pocket, swing out the slender probe and insert it gently into the very center of your steak to register a reading, but believe me: Perfectly cooked meat will earn you more praise and appreciation than macho posturing any day of the week.

Many folks like their meat rare, but to me, that's a waste of a good, well-marbled cut of beef. You want your fat to be warm enough that it starts melting a bit, lubricating your meat and adding flavor and juice to every bite. With meat that's too rare, your fat remains solid. You end up with all the calories and not nearly as much flavor. On the opposite end of the spectrum with medium-well to well-done meat, not only have your juices been squeezed dry like water from a sponge, but your liquefied fat has already bought itself a one way ticket to the bottom of your grill.

Remember: Thick steaks will continue to rise in temperature after you pull them off of the grill. Heat from the exterior layers will travel in as your steak rests.

Make sure to pull it off the grill a good five degrees before you reach your final target. But what if I don't have a thermometer? I get it. Thermapens are pretty expensive. With the amount of use mine gets pretty much every time I cook , it's worth the price, Though you can check out our favorite more affordable instant-read thermometers here. But what if you're stuck in the woods with no thermometer in hand?

Is there anything you can do? Yes: Just go ahead and cut the sucker open to take a peek. I know that everyone tells you you shouldn't poke the meat lest you "risk losing valuable juices," but honestly, the loss is not much. Certainly not enough for you to notice once the steak is done. And given the alternative overcooked meat that will have lost a noticeable amount of juice , it's the best alternative out there.

More on that subject here. Since I last wrote about resting your meat, there have been some questions called as to the validity of the science behind it. Here is the prevalent theory as to why resting your steak is important pulled from an older article of mine :. However, Nathan Myhrvold of the James Beard Best Cookbook winner Modernist Cuisine see here for some behind-the-scenes shot of their lab says otherwise. His claim is that it's not so much about redistribution of moisture, but that it's about the relative viscosity of hot vs.

The juices stay in place because they've managed to thicken up a bit as they cool. In either case, the fact remains: Resting your meat works. If you want to jump straight into the action, check out the step-by-step illustrated slideshow ». Actively scan device characteristics for identification.

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To change or withdraw your consent choices for SeriousEats. Great BBQ is all about sharing:. You may have heard that you need to sear meat in order to seal in the juices. How Searing Works Searing caramelizes sugar and browns present in the meat in what is known as the Maillard reaction to develop a more appealing color and flavor. To start, remove steak from refrigerator at least 30 minutes before grilling. Remove excess moisture from the surface of the meat by patting it dry with a paper towel.

Sear each side for approximately 2 minutes. Flip no more than 2 times to produce a mouthwatering crust and those grill marks everyone loves. Use an instant-read thermometer to accurately gauge temperature and doneness.

For steaks less than an inch thick, cook them entirely over the hot side until a good crust forms. The steaks will be about medium rare. Using an oven mitt grasp pan and tilt pan so butter pools to one side, spoon butter over steaks and continue to cook until steaks registers temperature of desired doneness, about 1 minute longer.

Transfer to a plates, let rest 5 minutes before slicing. Tips for the Best Steak Start with a good quality steak. Prime or choice cuts, and this recipe works well with Ribeye or New York Strip and go with boneless NYT says they cook more evenly, besides only a small portion would barely be flavored by the bone anyway. Use a cast iron skillet to cook the steak.

This heavy pan will hold heat well, brown nicely and cook evenly. As with just about any recipe be sure to preheat the pan and use the largest burner on the stove. In this case really let the pan it heat. This gives the steak a great sear. My gas stove takes about 3 minutes to preheat the pan whereas an electric stove may take upwards of 8 — 10 minutes. The oil should be shimmering, near smoking.

Dab the steaks dry with paper towels. A drier exterior means a crisper exterior in the end. Use an instant read thermometer to test the center temperature. No one wants an undercooked or overcooked steak. Let it rest at room temperature 5 minutes after cooking before slicing into it. Rare cool red center — degrees not recommended Medium rare warm red center — degrees Medium warm pink center — degrees Medium well slightly pink center — degrees Well little or no pink — degrees What to Serve with Steak?

Print Pin. An easy, straight forward method that uses basic ingredients to cook an excellent steak! A recipe everyone in the whole family will love.