Medium Rare Steak in a Cast Iron Skillet
I'm about to reveal a dirty secret they don't tell you about cast iron cooking. There are at least a thousand videos out there on YouTube, all saying how you can get a wonderful steak when you sear it in a blazing hot cast iron pan. And they're right, too – you get a wonderful tasting steak that rivals anything cooked in a restaurant. However, there's a danger to cooking a steak this way that you need to know about, but almost none of those videos tell you. If you've never cooked a steak in a hot cast iron pan, there are two things you need to know.
Nearly every recipe for pan-seared steak will tell you to heat up your iron pan. They'll say, "Get your pan hot! Screaming hot! Blazing hot!" That's certainly true…BUT, it's actually possible to heat up your pan too hot, especially if you're cooking on an electric stove. If you let let a cast iron pan sit on a stovetop range at its highest setting, it's going to keep absorbing heat and getting hotter and hotter and hotter…until it can actually become TOO HOT. What's needed here is temperature control. You want your pan good and hot, so as to give your steak a good sear. However, you also want to keep it under control to avoid setting your stovetop on fire!
And if that's not enough...when you slam your steak down onto a screaming hot cast iron pan, it creates an incredible amount of smoke...enough smoke to fill your entire home, and it's guaranteed to set off your smoke detector. There are many videos out there showing steaks cooking in the kitchen, and almost always these videos show the kitchen filling with smoke. So, what can we do about this? Only grill outside?
Fear not! Especially if you're beginning your journey on the road to cooking great meals in cast iron, here's a simple tutorial on how to cook the best steak you've ever made, in your kitchen, in a cast iron pan.
Pans needed: A large cast iron skillet. The additional tools listed here are optional but highly recommended. You don't have to use any of these to cook a good steak, but any one of these will improve your cooking experience exponentially:
- An instant-read thermometer
- A rack to rest your steak as it's drying in the refrigerator
- String (butcher's twine or baker's twine) to shape your steak into an oval or circular shape
- Foil, or a cover, to place over the steak when it's resting after cooking
- And a thermal temperature reader (a temperature gun) to check the temperature of the cast iron pan as it is heating!
Choose The Right Steak
Things to look for with a good steak are the cut of beef, thickness, and marbling.
The local supermarket often sells steaks that are sliced very thin, maybe half an inch thick or even less. If a thin steak is placed into a hot cast iron pan, it will cook very fast...even too fast...and will suddenly become well-done or even overcooked in far less time than you would expect. The heat penetrates the entire steak and cooks the inside as well as the outside, resulting in a steak that's grey or even dry, all the way through. You don't get the moist, juicy and delicious inside that happens when you cook a steak to medium-rare or rare. For this reason, I always try to choose a steak between one and one and a half inches thick. If the steak is thicker than that, the inside may be undercooked when the outside is done. A charred outside can taste good, but it may be hiding an inside that's still undercooked or even raw. See below for a suggestion on how to cook a really, really thick steak such as a tomahawk or a roast.
The most popular cuts of steak to look for include:
Top Tier
- Ribeye - the most popular and probably the most expensive cut
- New York Strip
- Tenderloin (filet mignon)
- My local Price Chopper also sells a "Delmonico" steak at a very high price. This is apparently from the same cut as ribeye or strip, but it could also include chuck eye.
- At this time I've never had wagyu steak. It's far, far too expensive for my budget, and I'm suspicious that wagyu may just be another food fad, the way "angus" was everywhere about a decade ago.
Mid Tier
- Chuck - some folks consider chuck to be too chewy for a steak, but I love it! Chuck is definitely more chewy than a tender cut such as ribeye, but it's not too chewy: you can chew and swallow a piece of chuck in a few seconds or more. Chuck is also packed with flavor and the taste won't disappoint. The "heart" of a chuck roast, where the line of fat runs through the center of the cut, is the chuck eye, which can be as tender and tasty as a ribeye.
- Sirloin
Lower Tier (generally not recommended for steak)
- Round -- generally tough and chewy. This cut can be roasted to produce roast beef, but it needs to be sliced very thin.
Dry Age Your Steak
Yes, it's possible to take your steak right out of the package and cook it in your hot cast iron pan. However, if you take the time to dry brine your steak in the refrigerator and marinate it with salt, you'll get two results that are certain to keep you using this method time and time again. First, the dry surface of the steak produces far less smoke when you cook it in the pan. Second, it gives you an exceptional crust on your steak..with a flavor you won't soon forget!
If possible, prepare your steak several hours in advance. This is a method of preparing meat known as a dry brine, because it tenderizes the meat and also helps preserve its juices, to keep it from drying out as it cooks. Some folks dry their steak a full 24 hours in advance. Folks who dry brine their steak regularly say you should only dry brine your steak up to 48 hours in advance, because after that the meat begins to spoil! However, you don't have to wait that long. I've found a waiting time of anywhere from 3 to 12 hours is sufficient to properly dry your steak. You can prepare your steak in the morning, go to work, and cook the steak for supper when you return home in the evening.
The method for preparing your steak:
- Place a rack or trivet on top of a plate, and place your steak on the rack. The steak should be elevated so both the top and bottom can dry out.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of kosher salt, about 3 teaspoons (or one tablespoon) over both sides of the steak. Sprinkle the top side of the steak with salt, turn it over, and sprinkle salt over the other side.
- If you want to add other seasonings to the steak at this point, you can do so. I usually add ground black pepper in addition to kosher salt.
- Place the plate, rack, and the steak in the refrigerator, uncovered. Let it dry out in the refrigerator over the course of several hours. The salt will be absorbed into the steak and cause it to release its inner juices, then absorb those juices back into the meat. (This is known as osmosis. Yay, science!) The outside of the steak (top and bottom) will dry out, but the inside won't. The inside will still be juicy and tender.
Use A Cast Iron Pan
Maybe I'm biased, but cast iron is simply the best surface to use for cooking a steak. Yes, I even prefer it over grilling! I especially prefer using a thick and heavy piece of cast iron, because heavy iron can retain and hold an insane amount of heat and give your steak a sear like nothing else. I was lucky to receive a Finex cast iron skillet for Christmas in 2014, and it has been my go-to pan for searing a steak ever since. A thinner cast iron pan, such as Wagner and Griswold, will also give a superb sear on your steak; so if that's all you have for a cast iron pan, don't hesitate to use it!
It's important that you slowly heat your cast iron pan when preparing to cook your steak. About ten to fifteen minutes before it's time to cook, place your cast iron pan on the stovetop and turn the burner setting to a little more than medium. Be sure to wait for ten to fifteen minutes before cooking the steak. That's all you need to get the pan hot enough! Cast iron is renowned for its heat retention, but cast iron is a very poor heat conductor. If you turn the burner up to its maximum setting, you will get a very hot spot in the center of the pan...but the areas around the center will be much cooler. They will not quickly or instantly heat up to the right temperature. This is why you must turn the burner to only a little more than medium, then wait for ten to fifteen minutes for your entire pan to gradually heat up to the right temperature. (If you regularly blast your stovetop burner at its maximum setting again and again, this can even cause a cast iron pan to warp!)
I like to use a thermal temperature reader (a temperature gun!) to check the temperature of the pan as it is heating up. When the cooking surface reaches 500 degrees Fahrenheit, it's hot enough to cook your steak. If you're patient, you can even let the pan heat to 600°!
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Cook To The Right Temperature!
After drying in the refrigerator, the outside of the steak will be slightly discolored and will look different from a fresh, moist steak. This is what we want! You can keep the steak in the refrigerator right up to the moment it's placed in the hot pan.
Many persons say to let the steak rest outside the refrigerator for up to an hour before cooking, to bring it up to room temperature. This is actually not necessary. The theory states that frying a cold steak produces uneven cooking, with some parts of the steak warmer and colder than other parts. A long rest in the refrigerator will chill the steak to an even temperature on the inside, so the temperature difference will be minimal. What's more important is the thickness of the steak: if the steak is thicker on one side than the other side, the thin side will cook faster than the thicker part.
At last, we're ready to cook a steak!
Once the cast iron pan has heated to 500° Fahrenheit, add about two teaspoons of oil to the pan, then wait for at least 30 seconds for the oil to heat up. I prefer a high smoke point oil, especially corn oil or canola oil. I enjoy using lard as a cooking oil, but lard produces a lot of smoke. Be ready for that.
And in goes the steak! Place the steak into the pan and watch it sizzle! Wait at least a minute before flipping the steak. You can flip your steak as many times as you want! Yes, I said that. Some folks flip the steak every 30 seconds, others wait at least 3 to 4 minutes before flipping. I'm somewhere in between, flipping the steak every 2 to 3 minutes.
The golden rule for cooking any meat, especially steak, is this: COOK TO TEMPERATURE, NOT TO TIME. I am sick and tired of seeing videos telling you to cook your steak for exactly 8 minutes, or to flip it after 4 minutes, or only flip it once on each side. The best way to tell when your steak is done is to use an instant read thermometer and check the temperature of the steak, and when it hits the right temperature then it's done. You can keep on flipping it to get a good crust, or do whatever you want as the steak is cooking. (But don't poke and prod the steak and let the juices out!) This is also why I like to cook my steak right out of the refrigerator: this allows more time to sear the steak and get a good crust on each side, while the temperature inside the steak is rising.
When the temperature of the steak reaches somewhere between 90 and 100° Fahrenheit, you can add extra ingredients to the pan to cook in the oil. (This is optional but many folks recommend it.) Sprigs of rosemary, cloves of garlic, and 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter are some of the most popular ingredients to add. The butter will melt very quickly, of course. Use a teaspoon and start basting (splashing) the melted butter onto the steak as it cooks, to add flavor.
I prefer to pull my steak from the pan when the temperature reaches 123 degrees Fahrenheit -- but that's my preference. Your may be different. I had a girlfriend who preferred her steak well-done, and she sent it back any time she saw pink in the meat.
When it's ready, remove the steak from the pan and place it onto a plate. Let the steak rest for 5 to 10 minutes. This is not optional; this is mandatory! Cutting the steak too soon will produce a flood of juices, because the steak needs to rest and let the juices settle and be absorbed into the meat as the steal cools. You may want to place a cover over the plate, or a sheet of foil, as the steak rests.
While the steak rests, its temperature will continue to rise a few degrees. That's why I do my best to pull my steak from the pan at 123 degrees if I'm aiming to cook a medium rare steak.
Despite the way many professional cooks look down on well done steaks, many people prefer their steaks well-done without any pink on the inside. All I can say is, I do my best to cook a steak for the preference of the folks who'll be eating it. These are the internal temperatures for each level of cooked steak:
- Extra Rare (Blue): 110° F
- Rare: 120° F
- Medium Rare: 130° F
- Medium: 140° F (If you're trying to cook a steak without any pink in the center, about 145° Fahrenheit will work.)
- Medium Well: 150° F
- Well Done: 160° F
Serve your steak!
The "Reverse Sear"
YouTube: Cast Iron Tomahawk Ribeye Steak
It's possible for a steak to be too thick to cook entirely on the stovetop! Even with a screaming hot cast iron pan, the heat doesn't penetrate immediately to the center of the steak. A thin steak will cook very quickly in a cast iron pan -- maybe even too fast! -- but if your steak is more than an inch thick, it may not be thoroughly cooked on the inside. Cooking a really thick steak on the stovetop can result in a great crust on the top and bottom, but the area immediately beneath the surface can be overcooked, resulting in two bands of grey color; while the inside of the steak is still pink.
The way to cook a very thick steak is this: cook it like a roast. That means slowly cooking the steak at a low temperature, in the oven, until it reaches your preferred temperature. THEN, after the steak has been cooked on the inside, sear the top and the bottom on the stovetop, in a hot cast iron skillet.
It's called the "reverse sear" because searing the steak is the final step before serving! Typically when a roast is cooked, you sear it first to brown the top and bottom and produce the Maillard effect, then roast it in the oven. Here, you cook it in the oven first, and then sear it at the end to get that wonderful crust.
For the reverse sear:
- Pat the steak dry, coat it with kosher salt, and let it rest in the fridge.
- When you're ready to cook, heat your oven to only 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use the rack that the steak rested on: place the rack into your cast iron pan.
- Place the steak onto the rack.
- Insert a probe thermometer into the steak.
- Place the entire setup -- cast iron pan, rack, and steak -- into the oven.
- Gently roast at 225 degrees until the internal temperature reaches your preferred temperature.
- Take the cast iron pan out of the oven, and turn off the oven.
- Place the steak and the rack onto a trivet so it can rest, and the rack can cool off.
- Turn on the stovetop burner to a little more than halfway -- that's all you need to sear a steak in a cast iron pan! Wait about five to ten minutes until the pan is hot and smoking.
- Add a small amount of oil to the pan, maybe 2 teaspoons of oil. Wait about 30 seconds for the oil to become hot and smoking.
- Sear that steak! Place the steak in the pan and let it sear for only about one minute! Flip the steak over and let the other side sear for only one minute!
- Remove the steak from the pan...and serve it hot!
The steak has already rested as you were heating up the pan to sear it. You can serve this steak right away!