How to Cook the Perfect Steak

A reader asked about my steak technique, whether there were any secrets. Great question. My present technique is far from perfect, but I'm getting there.

I cook filet mignon or porterhouse. I tried supermarket meat twice, and have decided that it's almost always worth paying a few bucks more for at a specialty market. I season the steak with a healthy amount of quality ground pepper, a little salt and some olive oil. I use a 12 inch non-stick pan, with a little olive oil, heated to the point where the oil is almost smoking. Depending on thickness, I cook the steak on the stove for 2-5 minutes on each side.

The secret, as far as I understand it, is a meat thermometer, so I don't have to cut the steak open to see if its done, and I don't have to guess. The thermometer in itself can almost overcome any errors in technique, no matter what professional chefs may say about losing the juice. A 140 degree steak should get a nice medium rare, but consult the FDA or your thermometer's manual, because I don't need any charges of food poisoning.

Now, I've done some reading on steak technique, and my current understanding is that the ideal method for steak preparation is a combination of stove-top searing and oven heating.

Here's the skinny: pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees, heat a cast-iron pan on the stove. Sear the steak for 2-3 minutes each side on the stove top, and then put the whole pan into the oven until the meat reaches your target temperature (10 to 15 minutes).

I personally like to pair steak with a big red wine, perferably a big California cabernet. Of course, properly decant your wine (3-7 hours).

The WSJ seems to be on the DIY-great-steak train as well. Check out this recipe for the perfectly cooked steak from superstar chef Laurent Tourondel, executive chef and partner of the NYC-based BLT (Bistro Laurent Tourondel) franchise. Notice how similar it is to the recipe I laid out above.

Cooking steak is simple, perhaps embarassingly so. It's almost not worth calling it cooking when it is this easy. Heat pan. Put steak in pan. Flip. Put in oven. Serve.

No man should be without this technique in his bag of tricks. Although I'll continue to enjoy great steakhouses, I'll probably never hold them in exactly the same esteem again. - Ed