I barely get a crust, I've tried reverse searing, double searing, dry brining, differnt oils, using binders, nothing seems to work for me.
If I turn the head up higher I burn the crust off, if I lower it I don't get a crust at all. Then the butter ruins my crust, I have it foamy if I turn it up anymore it's going to burn. I just can't figure it out the crust has always been the hardest thing for me.
by ImFinnaBustApecan
29 Comments
Make sure the pan is at 400°, add a small amount of oil to the pan, pat dry the meat, and make sure you press it down to get full surface contact with the pan. Add butter to the pan and baste if desired, this shouldn’t inhibit the crust formation.
extremely hot pan, pat the steak dry. leave it on there until it looks crusted. If it’s too cooked in the middle, your heat isn’t high enough.
You need like 500 degrees on your pan, then let it sit.
pans not hot enough
Are you literally holding the ENTIRE steak in your hand?
Also sear 1-2 minutes undisturbed on each side if you reverse seared first. Maybe try a cast iron pan if you can get your hands on one
First things first: heat. 400° ain’t hot enough. 500° ain’t hot enough. My grill approaches 700° when I’m searing. Your pan material can also affect this— if you’re not using cast iron, consider getting some (that pan looks like cast iron). Make sure the meat is entirely dry and at room temp when you sear it (if it’s been in the fridge or freezer, give it plenty of time on the counter before searing). Salt the meat liberally before searing it. Do not add oil to the meat itself, just the pan. Try using avocado or something with a very high smoke point. You really don’t need much oil, and in fact too much of it will interfere here. Based on your images this may be your central problem. Just add a bit of oil to the pan and then drop in the steak. Use a spatula to press down the steak to maximize contact with the pan surface. If none of that works…reread this and check that you’re really doing all those things lol.
Do you let it get to room temperature before you put it on the pan? If not, let it rest for an hour out of the fridge, then dry it with paper towels
Don’t ever hold your steak like you did in pic 1 ever again…. Side note, steak looks good and if you truly want a better crust you’re most likely just not drying out the steak enough. Really pat that steak out with a paper towel and soak up all that moisture on it. See if that helps on your next cook.
Squeeze it harder
in addition to everyone saying 1) pat dry, 2) dry brine beforehand, 3) searing hot pan, i also recommend putting some weight on it to make sure all surfaces are touching
Bacon press!
Why are you handling your meat like that?
Preheat pans on medium heat and then add oil after doing a water test. Then let the oil begin smoking. You don’t want a lot of oil because you want to introduce the steak directly to the pan.
You can also use weights for an even sear. I prefer using weights for fatty cuts like ribeye. Lean cuts almost never.
For butter basting you want to see the butter begin foaming and then control the temperature.
If ur smoke detector isn’t going off it’s not hot enough
Are you preheating the pan? A big thing with Cast iron is it needs to be preheated for a decent amount of time to retain heat, I personally preheat mine for around 13 minutes in varying levels. I don’t drop my steak in the pan until my temperature gun reads 500F in the middle of the pan, and while searing my pan can get as high as 700F.
Beef tallow and dry preferably salt 24 hours but at least 30 min then dry it off and as soon as your oil starts smoking add the steak
Food surface has to be dry. Without getting all 7th grade science, Water is literally in the way of the crust-forming reaction
Your steak looks wet. Make sure it’s dry as fuck before you sear it. Make sure heat is high enough when you sear.
You’ve gotten consistently solid advice from the comments, I’ll add a minor observation. If you’re going to use butter I wouldn’t as a replacement for a neutral oil with a high smoke point, as butter at those high temps can burn and give you undesirable flavors. Better to just melt some on top and use it to baste the already crusted steak in the last minutes of cooking.
My method is just
https://preview.redd.it/c9a23zifjj2e1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae6e5569f7277cd4ef0870b1771c7c604a4718dd
medium high heat (on my stove it’s 65% of the way dialed) on stainless steel, flip every 30 seconds, shallow oil. Pressing it as lightly as possible just to make sure it isn’t rising anywhere. After about 3 minutes on each side, the crust is good. WTWMR with basically no visible grey.
I’ve gotten perfect crusts by just keeping it on one side for 2-3 minutes as well. But generally there’s a worse grey band in my experience (heat is probably just too high for that method). But both work. Crust isn’t really rocket science.
You just need to understand temperature control really. Higher heat = faster Maillard reaction. Lower heat = slower Maillard reaction. If a steak is on too long even on a lower heat, it will create a grey band. Which is why most ppl recommend high heat.
Make sure your steak is as dry as possible and sear it at a high heat.
Bunch of fan boys in here. You want super dry meat exterior. Super hot pan. Oil/fat type doesn’t really matter. That is all. Hold your meat however you want.
Dry it out more before cooking, perhaps try dry brine
Try salting them the night before & leaving on a drying rack in the fridge overnight
Make sure the steak’s surface is properly dry before searing.
https://youtu.be/IZY8xbdHfWk?si=J7zcUzGupBLzrS8I
Straight to jail for holding your steak like that
HEAT SON
Well seasoned cast iron skillet. Like toss it in your oven for half an hour so the whole pan gets hot. Add a little oil and toss that steak in the pan to desired doneness. I do about 90 seconds a side depending on thickness. I do use a sprig of tyme and Rosemary and mount with butter after I’ve turned the heat off. About 30 seconds a side.
I only salt my steaks prior to cooking. If I have time I’ll salt them in the morning and place them on a rack and into the fridge. About a half hour before cooking I pull them out and pat dry. Any pepper or other seasonings are added after cooking as I don’t like burned peppercorns.
Better yet deglaze your pan with some booze I like brandy toss in some heavy cream and a crapload of cracked pepper, a good hit of Worcestershire sauce and some maybe some sautéed shallots if u have some kicking around and you have a great peppercorn sauce.
If you wanna cheat and get a crust 💯 you can always just deep fry your meat. It will sear your meat in about 20 seconds and then you can finish it off in your pan. I worked in a steakhouse and we used to do this with our thicker steaks all the time and people would ask how we always got such a perfect sear on our meats . It’s not the most technical way to get a sear but it’s fool proof, works every time. Enjoy 😬👍