Description
This complete guide to cooking steak in cast iron will set you up for success to cook a restaurant quality steak at home in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 10″ cast iron skillet
- 2 ribeyes, New York Strips or Filets
- 2 tsp Salt (or to taste): I like a nice kosher sea salt for steaks
- 2 tsp Pepper: fresh ground!
- Butter: for cooking the steak in, start off with a pat, and then finish with a stick for a nice pan sauce at the end
- Garlic: for adding to the pan butter
- Sprig of Rosemary or thyme (optional but so good)- for adding to the pan butter
Instructions
- Take your steaks out of the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before cooking with them. Then, right before you put them on the cast iron, pat them dry and add a generous amount of salt and pepper. Don’t do this too far ahead of time because the salt will draw the moisture out and you will not get that crust you are looking for.
- which makes for the perfectly sweet crunchy bite. The Same happens with steaks in cast iron.First, you want to heat your cast iron on medium high heat for at least 5-7 minutes and get it nice and hot. Add a drop of water and if it sizzles, it is ready! Next, add a pat of butter (I recommend butter or ghee as my preferred fat for high heat cooking.
- After you’ve seasoned your steak generously on both sides, add it to the hot pan and let it sear for 2 minutes. Next, flip the steak over and let it sear for another two minutes or until a nice crust has formed. Now, you can add more butter! Now that the steak has developed its nice crust, you can now spoon the remaining herbed garlic butter over the steak while it sears and now transfer the pan to the oven.You can also add crushed garlic and rosemary sprigs to flavor the butter if you want to take this pan sauce butter to the next level!Note, if this is a thinner steak, you might skip this step entirely! The oven part is completely contingent on the thickness of your steak. For super thin steaks, you will just sear on both sides and be done. The important thing is to NOT overcook your steak!
- Place the steak in the oven to continue cooking until its internal temperature has reached your desired doneness. You should be using an internal temp thermometer to reach your desired doneness and make sure to pull your steak out of the oven about 5 degrees less than your desired temp because it will continue to cook. To avoid overcooking I always remove from the pan and place on a cutting board and tent it under foil for 10 minutes so the juices have time to redistribute. Keep in mind that your cast iron is still hot when you take it out of the oven so if you keep the steak in the pan, it will continue to cook and you DON’T want that!
- We all know how satisfying it is to cut into a juicy, medium-rare steak, but did you know that letting your meat rest for a few minutes after cooking can take your steak game to the next level? Resting allows the juices to redistribute, resulting in a more tender and flavorful steak. If you cut into your steak too soon, all the juices will spill out and you’ll be left with a dry, tough piece of meat. So, let’s show some patience and give our steaks the time they need to rest and reach their full potential. After slicing the steaks, pour remaining pan butter over the steaks before serving. Delicious!!
Notes
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- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5-7 minutes
- Category: Steaks in Cast Iron, Cast Iron Steaks
- Method: Cast Iron Cooking, Grill,
- Cuisine: American