Sear ***
I’ve been working on cooking great steaks for the last month. My current method is below
- Steak to room temp
- Well seasoned Smithy cast iron pan with grapeseed oil heated with high heat until smoking
- Season with salt, garlic, pepper
- 2 minute sear on each side
- Transfer to a 9×13 pan and into a 400 degree oven until 125-130 degrees
- Pull out and let rest with a pad of butter
Today I hit a new problem. I usually create a pretty decent crust but not this time. The crust stuck to the pan for both of my steaks as you can tell in the photo. I suspect it’s either because I moved the steaks a little to better center them in the pan or I didn’t give enough time between seasoning the steaks and going into the pan.
I also noted that the interior doneness of the steaks was not even. I cooked until 130 this time and as you can see I didn’t achieve an even color inside. Not sure why this may have been the case.
Any suggestions from the fine folks in this community?
by DngrDan
31 Comments
I would do oven first then sear to finish so the sear doesn’t get ruined
The interior being uneven I believe is from the 400 degree oven. It will cause the pan to also cook the steak so whatever side you put down pan side will cook faster. If you have the time, I’d do like 250 F in the oven till it comes to 120-130 depending on your preference then sear after.
There’s plenty of other ways to cook a steak if you don’t want to do reverse sear. If you do stove top, just flip multiple times for even cooking
Paint me like one of your French girls.
I see the Virgin Mary
Steak sear on the right looks like Jim Morrison
A reverse sear would get you a drier exterior to assist with the sear. I also find that a protein press helps. It’s just a little bit of weight that helps the contact with more steak surface area.
I’m almost 100% certain this is because you put on too much seasoning then put it in the pan.
Season with a little salt but save anything else to lightly dust the steak after it’s done cooking.
I’m not a fan of reverse sear. And the people recommending that aren’t telling you how to properly cook the steak on the stove top.
Oscar Wilde looking steak
hey, uh— i think you have a spirit in the piece on the right
Try different oil or more oil?
I see Dr. Frankenfurter from Rocky Horror Picture Show
Are you seasoning your steaks heavily before searing? The sear coming off like this shouldn’t really be a thing unless something else on the exterior of the steak is cooking rather than the steak itself. I’d also suggest a press or putting some weight on it while it sears to get a more even sear in case that’s the issue
Looks like Ace from One Piece
The unevenness could be:
• You focused on getting a good crust, leaving it in the pan long enough on one side that it overcooked that side. This suggests to me the pan was not hot enough.
• Not putting the steak on a wire rack in the 9×13 pan. If the 9×13 is metal, a conductor, the bottom would overcook when compared to the top, and if glass, an insulator, it would undercook the bottom when compared to top. Having it on a rack promotes air circulation on all sides, especially if a shallower pan, perhaps a rimmed cookie sheet, is used.
Otherwise:
• The sticking suggests not enough oil was used and/or the pan was not hot enough. I see others think it’s too hot; however, I disagree.
• When you run out of grapeseed oil, switch to avocado oil, which has a 100° higher smoke point. (I made the same mistake. 😖) I got mine off Amazon, about $17/pint. Ouch!
• If your oven has a convection mode, use it to promote airflow to improve uniformity
Someone needs some of that ol Hexclad. Beautiful product to be honest.
Did you do the rookie “rip it off before it’s ready?”
Give it a little time and it will sear and release itself from the pan.
Is that Jared Leto?
Pan too hot and too much seasoning. If u wanna use a super hot pan season after the sear
Dry bring in fridge first. This looks like maybe do moisture steamed it off.
No. It’s Prince!
I usually sear on a pan that is just about to start smoking since too high heat can scorch steaks. Use enough oil to fully coat the pan and maybe more than that if the surface of the steak is uneven to get the full surface of the steak hitting either the pan or the oil. I prefer using just salt on the steak and then season after searing to prevent any garlic or pepper from burning as that can be both bitter and can mess with the sear by raising the steak up from the pan with pepper getting the heat and not the steak, extra oil can help with this issue.
And the number one issue that can mess up a sear is any little drop of moisture left on the pan can and will ruin the sear by locally dropping the surface temperature of the steak until the water has boiled away, effectively steaming the steak in that spot. I’ve found that salting a steak in the open air on a rack in a refrigerator for at least an hour is the most foolproof way of preventing and removing moisture. If you don’t have the time to let it sit in the fridge, the quicker method is to pat dry every possible speck of water with a paper towel until the towel comes away dry and then salt the steak with a fine salt seconds before searing.
Do you need a new pan?
was your steak fully defrosted?
Too much garlic. It caramelizes and insulates the meat prevents the actual Millard reactions from happening on the surface of the steak.
Make sure the streak is dry before it hits the hot pan. Optimize contact between the bare meat and the pan.
The one on the right is smiling at me
I like using aldis vegetable oil
OMG! I was about to say that the steak on the right looks like Jim Morrison! And it was the 1st comment. That is the funny thing I needed right now,! Thank you Reddit!
Salt only before you sear. Let it absorb into the meat (at least 20 minutes). Season as soon as it’s off the pan. My guess is that the garlic and pepper created a “rub” of some sorts that caked on and it fell off the steak as a chunk when you moved/flipped.
Only salt before you cook, rest of the seasoning after.
Get a good 3ply stainless pan and cook using tallow instead of seed oil. Grapeseed is high temp but the flavor profile is rank
Do you pat the steak dry with a paper towel before hitting the pan?
I’d say use more oil, little less heat
Cast iron casts bad steak cooks