How To Cook A Perfect Steak At Home

You see you get that deeply caramelized crust

all over the steak,

and then that perfect medium-rare pink center?

I'm gonna show you how to make my version

of the perfect steak.

♪ Woo ♪

[groovy music]

My perfect steak happens on the stove top

in a really hot pan.

No kind of fancy gadgets.

No cryovacing, no seasoning it days in advance.

It's something that you all can do at home

after you see this.

[intense Western music]

So, the key to this method

is choosing the right cut of meat.

There's something about the New York strip

where it's well marbled,

but it doesn't have a tremendous amount of fat

like the ribeye.

It also is better portion size,

and I like the texture of it more.

So, first thing, I just want to pat this steak dry,

because water really is the enemy

when it comes to getting a good caramelization.

Not only will it not get that kind of sear that we want,

but mixing that water with the oil,

it's gonna likely splatter.

Now I'm gonna let it rain with salt.

I prefer to use diamond crystal kosher salt,

just so I can see how much salt.

It really sits on the surface.

That gives you a good sense.

I want that salt so you can actually taste everything.

The salt is really the only thing

that a cut of meat will absorb.

Spices and pepper, it's always gonna sit on the surface.

Salt, on the other hand, will actually properly absorb.

I'm gonna do something that most people don't do.

And I'm just gonna lightly score this, very lightly.

Piercing the fat just allows it

to quickly render a little bit faster.

I'm gonna let this chill in the fridge.

You want to at least let it sit

until you don't see any more salt on top.

You can see how it's already starting to dissolve.

I keep it uncovered so that the state can dry out,

preferably even on a wire rack, which I see right there,

which now I'm thinking of using.

We're going in.

[intense Western music]

My reason for going with a cast iron,

it just reacts to heat so quickly

and it gets hot faster than most other pans.

A black steel also will do that.

You also have the entire surface of the meat

having direct contact to the surface of the pan,

unlike a grill where it's only touching the grates.

I would not go with a non-stick

'cause I'm just never gonna get that kind of bark-like,

deep crust that I'm going for.

We have our steak ready.

I'm going on medium high heat.

It's quite hot, see how it's smoking?

That's great.

I want to rub a little bit of oil on the steak directly,

not in the pan.

The reason why I'm using neutral oil

versus let's say, an olive oil or butter,

butter has the milk solids, which will burn.

Olive oil, you don't really need that flavor in here

in the steak.

Also, I want to get a hard sear

and I think it's better to do that with a neutral oil.

I'm gonna just gonna put this steak away from me.

[steak sizzling]

And I'm gonna press it down.

You can use tongs to this point.

You need to hit a certain temperature

in order for it to have the Maillard reaction.

And that Maillard reaction

is that kind of caramelization of the meat hitting the pan.

That's why I go on medium high heat.

High heat, it'll tend to burn too quickly.

You'll notice that I'm just gonna be occasionally

pressing on the meat

so that it does have direct contact to the pan.

I could see around the edges that it's starting to brown.

What I tend to do is press on the steak occasionally

and move the pan around

just so that it is getting an even amount of heat.

So I try not to peek until I'm pretty sure.

I usually will go about three to four minutes on one side

before I flip.

When I see a deep kind of caramelization,

it's ready to flip.

So you'll see around the edges, it's starting to brown,

this at the very bottom.

That's a good indicator.

I'm gonna flip it.

Now, I'm gonna throw some things into the pan.

I'm just adding a head of garlic

and maybe a sprig of rosemary.

You could add any kind of hard herb,

bay leaf, thyme, sage.

I'm gonna flip this and just start searing the edges.

That's kind of the forgotten part.

People just think to sear the kind of two sides,

but you really want it to caramelize all over.

So what I'll do is about a minute per side.

You could see like, compared to the grill,

you're developing a fond, the brown bits on the bottom,

and you could bring the pan out after the steak is done

and make a pan sauce.

I'm gonna add my aromatics.

My garlic head, let that sizzle a bit.

A sprig of rosemary.

And then, probably need about three tablespoons of butter.

I'm gonna be using this fat to baste.

And I want the flavor of the butter,

rather than the flavor of the oil.

Now I'm gonna scoop my steak further away from me.

Let that butter melt.

You can see I'm just scooping up and using a Kunz spoon,

scraping up the fat that is rendered,

and pouring it over like that.

You're basically doing this infused, almost brown butter,

garlicky, rosemary flavor from the steak.

I'm gonna remove the steak now.

I'm gonna let the steak rest for at least 10, 15 minutes,

just so the juices can redistribute.

If I were to slice it right now,

so much of the juice is gonna release

and not actually stay within the steak.

Done-ness indicators, I use a Thermo pen.

I'm looking for around 115 to 120 ,

and you just kind of go insert on the side of the steak,

and you just, it instantly gives you that 115 mark!

[jazzy percussive music]

If you just want a steak that's well-seasoned,

and that's it, then you're good.

Just let it rest and slice it up.

I kind of want a little bit more than that:

something herby and acidic go along with the fatty steak.

This is a very, very simple sauce.

It's kind of my go-to.

So, I have my chives all chopped, packed.

Parsley, just giving it a rough chop.

I just liked the kind of texture you get.

I'm also gonna get some of the stems of the parsley.

It has a more concentrated grassy flavor that I like.

Dump that.

I'm gonna add a few squirts of oil, some salt.

I'm gonna give it a splash of this sherry vinegar,

and then add some very coarse pepper, lots of pepper.

I want pepper forward.

It's only gonna get better as it sits.

I could even add everything besides the vinegar

an hour ahead, and then add the vinegar towards the end.

You don't want to add the acid too early.

Otherwise the greens will start to darken and oxidize.

Very bright, lots of texture, peppery, herby.

[quirky jazzy music]

I don't want to press on her too much to extract the juices,

but you can see the grains,

the lines of the steak they're going across like this.

So I'm gonna be going against the grain.

If you went with the grain,

you're gonna create a mouthfeel that ends up becoming

more chewy and less tender.

All right, so I'm just gonna start at the kind of lower end.

And I did this kind of little piece for myself here.

And then I go about half an inch

and then I'm gonna season with salt,

just for that added crunch and texture.

Sometimes I want a little bit more pepper.

That's how you make my steak, excuse the fussy plate.

I don't think it's fussy.

You get that medium rare, beautiful kind of center,

really crunchy on the surface.

I really vinegary herby sauce to go along with it.

Lots of black pepper,

and all done on the stove top, it all happens so quick.

[festive music]

Super tender.

The fat cap is still attached,

but so much of it has rendered and it's become soft.

Now, if it was seared really hard

and you didn't kind of score it at all,

then it would have gotten hard a little bit,

and become more chewy.

But it's become, it's almost creamy inside.

Perfectly seasoned, I think, even, again,

just because this wasn't too big of a steak,

seasoning, even if it's just 20 minutes ahead,

does a big difference

until the steak fully absorbs the salt.

And I think also a thing to remember

is that you don't want your steak

to be sitting at room temp for a while

before hits the hot pan.

You want that really hot pan to get that sear and that crust

on the outside.

But if your steak is sitting at room temp,

it's gonna be kind of soft,

and like, it's not retaining its shape.

It's a little bit loose.

And so it's likely to overcook quickly.

I think I made my perfect steak.

Please, please, don't kind of going rogue on this.

There's not a lot of ingredients.

There's not a lot of steps.

So just try to like, stick with it.

Don't me send me photos of you working on the non-sick pan

'cause that's not gonna work.

Please try this at home.

I promise you'll love it.

[bright music]

I just do that, and I take...

[fire alarm beeping]

[Producer] You started the fire alarm.

'Cause it's hot in here. [fire alarm beeping]