Thread: Cooking Steak in a Cast Iron Skillet

If you have never used cast iron for cooking you are missing out. Tonight i did a few rib steaks and they came out so good. here is a link to a great basic way to do the best steak you ever had.
Cooking Steak in a Cast Iron Skillet

Cast iron - nature's teflon. A well-seasoned cast iron skillet is the joy to cook with. The recipe for steaks you noted is how I do them at home and how I did them when working as a chef.

Prep some herbed butter - let a stick of butter come to room temp, then in a small bowl, mix the butter with some garlic, thyme, oregano, rosemary, white pepper or garlic and herbes de Provence, using a fork. Spoon the butter into a shot glass, one for each guest or scoop it out using a melon baller. Chill to allow flavors to meld, until firm (30-40 minutes). Before cooking the steaks, remove from the fridge and place on the table so it can warm up to room temp.

Get oven-proof plates (Crate and Barrel, etc.) - make sure they say oven proof. Heat the oven to 500 and let the skillet come to temp (10-15 minutes should do). Remove and place on high heat on a gas stove. Prep your steak (room temp please) with seasonings. Add a little oil to one side and place in the skillet, then add some oil to side facing up. Let cook for 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, add the oven proof plates to the oven and switch the oven to broil. Flip the steak, let cook 1-2 minutes, then return to the oven under the broiler. I cook to under medium rare - around 130-135F....they steak will continue cooking with carry over heat and the hot plates. This is normally 5 min each side...use an instant read thermometer to check (one of the chef needle-types).

As the steaks are ready, check your plates. When a drop or two of room temp water sizzles on them, remove them and place them on heatproof trivets or pads. Wood trivets like with a fajita skillet are fine). Add a blob of butter to the plate and place the steak on the sizzling butter. Normally , you let a steak rest for 5 minutes so the juices will reabsorb into the meat. If you want to do this, leave the plates in the oven until you are ready to put the meat in them. If not, when the meat is cut, the juices run out and mix with the butter. Each bite can be dipped in this, so no dry meat. Serve to guests immediately. They can add more butter if they want. If the meat is a bit undercooked for some, the plate is hot enought o cook the meat further, bite by bite.

With the hot plate, your steak stays hot until you are finished.

One of the tricks a chef friend told me: when cooking with "sitck" cookware (ie, not non-stick), remember hot skillet plus cold fat equals non-stick. I've never tried cooking things in a pan in the oven, but my sensei does it regularly and says it's the way to go.

man i am starving now .... !


great info, thanks

You just might want to try one of these: Amazon.com: Le Creuset 10-1/4-Inch Square Skillet Grill, Red: Kitchen & Dining

Other than a grill, perhaps, cast iron is the best way to cook a steak. Alton Brown showed a great way to do it:

Pre-heat your CI skillet in a 500 degree oven. Apply some oil, salt and pepper to your steaks (inch thick steaks or so). Then put the skillet on the stove top over a high flame. Sear the steaks 30 seconds per side (the pan is dry, but you have oil on the steaks). Put the skillet back in the 500 degree oven for 2 minutes flip the steaks and let them cook another 2 minutes. Then you're done for Med. rare.

Jordan

Cast iron is supposed to be the best to cook everything in.Teflon is awful. If you have a bird at home and burn your teflon pan you could kill your bird. Just imagine what it is doing to us but we can't feel it. I use only cast iron and stainless. No teflon at all.

I love cooking with cast iron. I have a whole set. I try to use those almost always. Everything seems to cook better. They are a joy to work with. Especially on steaks. Yum........

I totally agree with all of the above for cooking steaks.

If you don't have oven safe plates you can add some herbed butter to the hot pan just before plating, and when the butter starts to bubble, spoon the bubbly, herb infused, buttery goodness on top of the steak. The heat adds a little more dimension to the herb flavors then you would get if you just topped the steak with the butter.

Oh, and homemade cultured butter would be preferable (The Traveler's Lunchbox - Journal - Getting SomeCulture ).

I tryed WireBeards herbed butter recipe..wow.. Thank you for the tip