best way to cook steak on a regular electric stove? - Page 8

What if we don't have an oven? Does cover the pan and turn to low heat as a "oven"ing option work?

Hi, I'm relatively new here, but I cooked two 2" thick filets this way yesterday.

You cannot substitute a covered pan for an oven. The covered pan will cause condensation to form and your steak is then braised, not seared.

My stove top to oven method (taken from Cook's Illustrated) for two filets - rare to med rare:

1. Preheat oven to 425, with oven rack set to middle position.
2. Heat heavy 10" stainless steel saute pan/skillet (cast iron is good, too) on Med. Hi for 2-4 minutes, add 2 Tbsp canola oil - heat until oil shimmers or begins to smoke.
3. Seasoned, towel dried steaks at room temperature. Wet steaks don't sear, they just turn gray.
4. Place in pan and don't move meat for 3-4 minutes.
5. Turn and sear opposite side for 3-4 minutes. A nice crust should form on the meat's surface.
6. Hold steaks together with tongs and sear circumferential sides for 30 sec to 1 min.
7. Place face down again, and put pan in oven for 4 minutes.
8. Remove and let rest for 15 minutes, lightly cover with foil on a warm plate.

It makes one hell of a mess. Grease pops and spatter everywhere. If you don't have a real rangehood which drafts to the outside (I have a fairly useless pop-up downdraft), expect to fill your kitchen and any other adjacent room with smoke.

It tastes as good as the grill. I think grill pans are BS. You can't beat an Allclad saute pan or a well seasoned cast iron skillet.

I have an all-clad saute pan, and if I were cooking a fillet, I might use it b/c I might want to make a sauce. The thing about the grill pan is that it does not require oil.

i literally george foreman everything

Perfect. Thanks man.
Letting it sit 5 minutes is better for me though.

Anyone ever had a problem with scorching a cast iron pan when searing meat at high temp? I cooked a steak and a salmon fillet a little while back, and it seemed to scorch the center where the meat sat pretty bad, looked like down to the metal. Took a bit of cooking before I could cook eggs easily in it again.

What oil did you use? You need something with a high smoking point, like canola, grapeseed or safflower oil. Also, you can cook on high heat for a shorter period of time and finish in the oven.

intriguing read - i have tried to use my cast iron pan several times in my apartment (its square shaped with grill ridges) that i have carefully seasoned per imstructions with crisco in an oven several times, but all i seem to end up with is a smoking, sticky mess that i cant even get the meat to release cleanly from. what am i missing? i cant stink/smoke up the place like this anymore - can cast iron be used with little to no smoke?

Canola. I'm not a fan of the oven, mostly because I tend to set things on fire in it.

I cooked the steak perfectly at max temp on the electric burner. Canola oil worked decently, the entire apartment was smoked out, but the steak crusted and released well. Problem was where the steak sat, it took all of the non-stick properties along with it.

I'm in the food & wine business, and after 10 years of eating & cooking my way around the world, here is my method for producing the best home-cooked steak.
1. Buy 15-30 day, dry-aged, NY Strips, or Ribeye, from Bryan's Fine Foods in Corte Madera: http://www.bryansfinefoods.com/ . I'm not going to argue about Lobels or heaven forbid Omaha or whatever crap you can buy at Costco. If you are serious about steak, and want the very best, Bryan's Private Reserve aged steaks are where it is at. If you are wanting filet, get it from anywhere as frankly once you get to prime in filet, the differences are minimal & I find it doesn't work well for my method of steak preparation---though Bryan's filet tails are ridiculously good for an appetizer while you cook your steak.
2. Let the steaks come to room temp.
3. Heat up your oven, or preferably an outdoor grill, to 375-400 degrees.
4. Put your seasoned cast iron skillet in the oven to get hot. You'll need 1 skillet for every 2 N.Y. strips.
5. Turn on your burners, again preferably outdoors as you are about to generate a crap-load of smoke, as high as they will go.
6. Move the skillets from the oven to the burners. Let them get as hot as possible.
7. Once the skillets are as hot as possible, quickly season the steaks on both sides with your preferred salt & pepper seasoning. Personally I prefer McCormicks Montreal Seasoning as it is pretty basic & simple + avail nationwide. DO NOT USE OIL OR EVEN WORSE BUTTER! OIL BURNS & AFFECTS THE FLAVOR OF THE STEAK!
8. Gently lay the steaks on the skillets. Leave them alone for 2-3 minutes, depending on how much char you want.
9. Turn them over once, using tongs. Leave them on the skillet on the buner for about 1 minute, then quickly move the skillet into the grill/oven at 375 degrees.
10. Don't do anything else.
11. 3-4 minutes in the oven = rare. 4-6 = medium rare. 6-7 = medium.....and frankly overcooked. Do not cut into the steak to check done-ness---learn to use the touch method to determine wellness.
12. Immediately plate the steaks right out of the oven, again using the tongs. Do not cover them with aluminium foil.
13. If you prefer a bit of xtra richness, Whole Foods has a very nice butter-Blu Cheese or butter-Gorgonzola mix that works well---apply a small pat/smear of this over the top of your steak---thin is the key---you don't want it swimming in it. You could also use clarified butter or ghee. Do not use bacon fat or duck fat---it overwhelms the taste of the steak.
14. Let the steak rest for at least 10 minutes.
15. Eat & enjoy.

If you must have grill marks on your steak, the preferred method is to remove it from the skillet using tongs & put it on the grill for 1-2 minutes before removing. I'm not a fan of grill skillets as they don't seem to sear as well.

This method is fairly foolproof, and most importantly aside from some ribeyes or porterhouses, the chances of flame-ups are pretty low---I have two 20k btu outdoor burners that I use to heat the skillets & occasionally I will get some scattered flames during the searing portion of the procedure, but I've never had a flare-up once the skillet goes into the grill---a real problem when cooking ribeyes due to the high fat content.

I do not trust people who cook thier steaks in the oven.

Get your cast iron pan very hot. Sear the steak on both sides, adding a generous amount of course salt to the raw side before flipping. It should be well browned on both sides and raw in the middle. Slice, add more salt, and eat.

Steak should be 2 inches thick.