How To Make The Best Steak

What Temperature Should Steak Be Cooked To

Whether you like your steak practically raw on the plate, or dry as a bone, this steak doneness chart should help you out. The chefs standard level of doneness is medium-rare. At this point it will be tender, juicy, and if you do it just right the steak will melt in your mouth. With practice you can tell how cooked a steak is just by feel alone. Every steak has a different cooking time due to varying thicknesses of the cuts. Be wary following anything that tells you a cooking time rather than a temperature. Use an instant read meat thermometer for the most accurate results.

Pro Tips For The Best Steak:

• Preheat pan 5 minutes before adding steak for a great sear with good color and flavor.
• Press steak down just as it hits the pan to ensure steak makes contact with the surface of the pan.
• Loosely cover and rest steaks on a cutting board 10 minutes before slicing so they dont dry out.
• Dont slice too thin, or the steak cools too quickly.
• Slice steak against the grain and at an angle for a steakhouse presentation

Want More Cooking Help Try Gourmet Nutrition: The Cookbook For The Fit Food Lover

If you want to eat well while getting in the best shape of your life, check out our cookbook, Gourmet Nutrition. Its the only cookbook designed specifically for the fit food lover, with over 120 Precision Nutrition approved recipes, each with detailed instructions and a full-color photo.

In fact, on page 88, youll find the recipe for The Perfect Steak. And theres plenty more where that came from. For more info, and to order a copy, go to www.gourmetnutrition.com

Read Also: How Do I Track My Omaha Steaks Order

Grilling The Best Steak

I wanted a juicy steak with a nice crust that was big enough to slice and serve family style, and that had a little finesse.

While cooking, I basted the steak in an herbed butter sauce. The sauce added a fresh, light flavor that balanced the richness of the meat. In the end, I had a steak everyone raved about, and that felt special but not overly fussy. It was the perfect main course for my Fourth of July party plans.

Grilled Vs Cast Iron Steak

The secret to cooking restaurant-quality steaks at home? A trusty ol cast iron skillet! While it may seem bold to state that cast iron steak is so much better than grilled steak, I stand behind it 100%! Heres why Theres no disputing that a grill absolutely imparts steak with wonderful smoky flavor. However, the beautifully golden & crusty sear you expect on a steakhouse steak is created when the steak comes into direct contact with an extremely hot surface . Thats a job for which cast iron is built.

A good cast iron skillet will retain its heat well & evenly. When you place a steak in a very hot cast iron skillet, its entire surface takes on a beautifully caramelized sear. When you grill a steak, the only part of the steak that takes on the sear is the little bit that comes into direct contact with the grill grates.

Cast iron steak cannot be beat.

You May Like: How Long Can Omaha Steaks Stay In Shipping Cooler

The Best Cuts Of Steak

There is nothing like a big and juicy steak. There are cuts of steak for every occasion. The more laid-back family dinner roast beef with french fries, or the five-star ribeye paired with Italian wine and shallot-roasted red-skinned potatoes.

Regardless of the occasion, steak is a favorite protein among meat eaters, and when given the proper cuts, its buttery tenderness goes above and beyond any other type of poultry or fish.

We are excited to explore some of the most famous and best-known cuts of steak to present you with our top 10, ranked from the best cuts for home cooking to those served at five-star steakhouses.

Read on if you want to test your steak knowledge or simply affirm what you already knew!

Lets Marinate Some Steak

The aroma this mix gives off before you add the meat is insane. You know its going to be incredible just from by the smell of it. Mix in a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, pepper, salt, and a pinch of red pepper. Add steaks to a resealable zip lock bag or large bowl and pour the marinade on top. Marinate for 2 hours or overnight.

Recommended Reading: Canada Steak Burger In Chula Vista

What To Serve With Steak

If youre after the full, luxury steakhouse experience, serve this steak with Béarnaise sauce, its mashed potato counterpart, Paris Mash, and a side of Garlic Sautéed Spinach.

For a low carb option, serve it with Creamy Mashed Cauliflower you will be amazed how delicious this is with the help of some extra flavourings!! And a few more options:

• Crispy Smashed Potatoes pictured! Im a little mad about these theyre crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside

• Potato Dauphinoise good make ahead option, and also if youre serving a group of people

• 5garlic cloves, peeled and smashed to split

Get The Latest Recipes Right In Your Inbox:

Here are my tips and tricks I promise though its so easy! And that melted garlic butter on top is to die for!!!!

Perfecting that steak can be a bit tricky.

Sometimes that sear is just perfect but the inside is nowhere to be cooked. So by the time the inside is cooked, your crusty exterior is basically, well, dead at this point.

So here it is that juicy, crisp steak cooked just the way you want it, topped with a garlic compound butter that is off. the. hook.

Really.

You can put that butter on anything and everything dinner rolls, toast, chicken or seafood. You name it. You can also prep the butter ahead of time and freeze as needed.

I mean, you never know if theres going to be a butter shortage so lets just play it on the safe side.

You May Like: Seasoning Steak Overnight

Did You Make This Recipe

Tag on Instagram and hashtag it #playswellwithbutter

Recipe & Food Styling by Jess Larson, Plays Well With Butter | Photography by Rachel Cook, Half Acre House.

Follow along with Plays Well With Butter on , , & for more easy, modern recipes & fun!

Thank you so much for reading & supporting Plays Well With Butter. This post includes affiliate links for products I truly love & use on the reg in my own home. All opinions are always my own! Should you make a purchase using one of these links, PWWB will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps me continue to bring you great original & free content.

Parmesan Roasted Green Beans

The most amazing way to cook fresh green beans SUPER QUICKLY! Roasted Green Beans tossed with garlic, sprinkled with breadcrumbs and parmesan, then roasted OR broiled/grilled until the parmesan is golden and the green beans are tender crisp.

Youll love how these are crispy yet juicy, savoury and salty. but the crowning glory is how the topping ends up like crunchy parmesan wafers!!!

Recommended Reading: Pee Dee Steak House On 125

Tips For Grilling The Perfect Steak

• Season, then chill: I apply the same technique I use for getting crispy chicken and turkey skin to grilling this steak: season, then let it chill in the fridge uncovered for up to 48 hours. This essentially dry brines the steak while also letting it air-dry. This approach allows the surface moisture to evaporate while the seasoning has time to penetrate the meat resulting in deeply flavored steak that sears beautifully and develops a nice crust on the grill.
• Start with clean grates: Just like you use a clean skillet with a little oil to cook dinner on the stovetop, you want to start with clean and oiled grill grates.
• To flip or not to flip? Flip your steak to your hearts content. Harold McGee, food science writer and author of On Food and Cooking, discovered that frequent flipping creates a steak that cooks more evenly and quickly than those flipped only once.
• Grilling directly on coals: Raichlen seemingly knows an infinite number of ways to grill meat, and theres one in his new book, Project Fire , that I particularly like: he cooks steak directly on hot coalsno grill grates necessary. I love the idea, and its on my list of things to try in the near future.

Keep Your Tools Simple

The beautiful thing about cooking steak is that you need so little to do it, says Dunsmoor. All you need is a grill or cast iron skillet, tongs, spoon and and sharp knife. A thick pan like a cast-iron skillet will ensure even heat distribution while you cook. Youll also need a thermometer nearby throughout the process. Keep a thermometer on hand, says Shim. It is a great practice to use them to check for temperature of the steak.

You May Like: Mcdonalds Steak Bagel Sauce Recipe

How To Grill The Perfect Steak

Grilling the perfect steak sounds rather ambitious, doesnt it? Almost like finding an ancient spell buried in a dusty book. Or discovering a piece of divine knowledge obtainable only through a spiritual journey through time to commune with early man cooking over fire. Or a Wait, no its actually not like that at all! Anybody can grill the perfect steak, and all they need is some salt, pepper, butter, and a grill. Dont take our word for it just follow Grill Master Randys step-by-step tutorial for grilling the perfect steak. No sacred rite of passage required!

Storage And Reheating Instructions:

Steak is best eaten fresh. You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat in a skillet on the stove over medium heat until warmed through, however it will be more well done than when first cooked.

If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious steak recipes:

You May Like: Sam’s Club Philly Cheese Steak

What Are The Different Grades Of Beef

There are three grades of beef steak that you will find in a US supermarket: Select, Choice, and Prime. Select is generally the grade of sale-priced, or advertised meat. Select grade is just above what the USDA deems edible. So if you buy Select grade meat, dont be surprised when it isnt that great. It will always be worth it to pay the extra money per pound for the Choice grade. If it is choice grade, it will be advertised as such and marked somewhere on the label or packaging. If your supermarket carries Prime grade, lucky you!

Buy Choice or Prime Grade steaks for best results.

Choose Your Steak Wisely

It all starts with choosing the right steak for the job. A thick steak will take forever to reach a well-done temperature, and its almost impossible to hit a perfect medium-rare with a thin steak. When in doubt, ask your butcher for 1- to 1.5-inch thick steaks theyre easy to cook to any temperature.

If you do end up with a super thick steak, dont worry: we also know the secrets to grilling thick steak.

Also Check: Mcdonalds Steak Egg And Cheese Bagel Recipe

Expert Tips Perfect Steak Medium Rare Steak Temp Every Time

• Dont put the steak in until the pan is HOT. When cooking steak on the stove, the oil should be almost smoking at this point.
• Season well. It wont come out too salty or too peppery. Seasoning both sides of your steak very well will ensure it gets that brown crust that you love from the steakhouse.
• Dont overcook it. This is so important! Steak needs to come out of the pan before it gets to medium rare temperature. It will keep cooking after you remove it. And no, it wont get cold if you loosely cover it with foil while you let it rest.
• Learn how to choose the right cut of meat.

See below for the steak cooking chart. Cook your steak according to the times below to reach your desired steak cooking temp whether its the standard medium steak temp or my personal favorite of medium rare. Steak cooking times will vary depending on your method of cooking at your desired temperature.

Barnaise Sauce Worlds Finest Steak Sauce

Béarnaise Sauce is considered by many to be one of the finest sauces to serve with steaks. A variation of Hollandaise sauce, one of the 5 mother sauces in classical French cookery, its notoriously difficult to make by hand. But this recipe uses a much easier method that yields exactly the same result in 2 minutes flat!

Its so fast, you could even make the Béarnaise while your cooked steak is resting!

Don’t Miss: Omaha Steaks Delivery Tracking

Try Cooking Your Steaks Using The Restaurant Method

Everyone loves grilling, and of course you can get a great steak that way. But theres another way The Restaurant Method and its a dead-simple way to get a perfectly cooked steak, indoors, year round. And thats something that any steak lover who lives in a true four-season climate can appreciate.

The Restaurant Method is easy:

Heres how to do it:

How To Season Steak

Beef purists may prefer to take in the unadulterated, rich flavour of a quality steak by adding nothing more than a sprinkling of salt and a generous twist of pepper. Contrary to popular belief, seasoning your steak with salt ahead of time doesn’t draw out the moisture but actually gives the steak time to absorb the salt and become more evenly seasoned throughout. Salt your steak in advance 2 hrs for every 1cm of thickness. For a classic steak au poivre , sprinkle lots of cracked black pepper and sea salt on to a plate, then press the meat into the seasoning moments before putting it in the pan.

Some people like to enhance flavour and tenderise meat with a . Balsamic vinegar will reduce down to a sweet glaze, as will a coating of honey & mustard.

See our easy steak marinade to use on a variety of cuts.

Lots of chefs add whole garlic cloves and robust herbs like thyme and rosemary to the hot fat while the steak is cooking, which adds background flavour to the steak subtly, without overpowering it.

You May Like: Country Fried Steak Sam’s Club

How Do You Know Your Steak Is Done

Everyone loves their steak done to different degrees and using a thermometer is the way to go to make sure you cook it just right. Remember too, when your steak is taken off the heat it will continue to cook for a minute or two, raising the temperature about 2-4 degrees more. I often remove my meat right before it reaches that perfect temp.

How To Check Steak Is Cooked

Use your fingers to prod the cooked steak when rare it will feel soft, medium-rare will be lightly bouncy, and well-done will be much firmer. Our picture guide to checking steak is cooked shows you how to use the ‘finger test’, or a meat thermometer inserted into the centre to ensure it’s done to your liking.

Blue: 54C

Well done: 75C

You May Like: Seasoning For Ribeye

Serve On A Warmed Plate

This is one of the easiest things you can do to make any hot meal taste better.

Know how the waiter at your favorite restaurant always gives you that warning, Careful, this plate is hot?

Thats because for warm dishes, restaurants often warm the plates too. They understand that serving food at the right temperature is one of the most important factors in your enjoyment of a meal. Put hot food on a room-temperature plate and the plate itself will cool off the food and ruin the effort you put into cooking it just right.

Easy solution? Put your plates in the oven for a few minutes. If you use The Restaurant Method then your oven is already at 350 °F. Just pop your plates in for a minute right at the end.

But:

• Dont use anything too delicate to withstand the heat, like fine china or plastic.
• Dont leave the plates in for more than a minute, because theyll be scorching hot.
• Remove them with an oven mitt.
• Remember to warn your guests that the plate is hot and heed that warning yourself!