Dry-Aged Strip Steaks Without Drying or Aging

FASTER

GLUTEN-FREE

Makes 2 servings (can be doubled)

Dry-aging steaks gives them a mineral, earthy flavor—not sweet, but more savory, even umami—that is highly prized among steak lovers. It’s ordinarily a many-months process in a special, humidity- and temperature-controlled chamber. Having someone else do it for you quadruples the price of the steak, but you can do it on your own tonight with this easy rub that mimics those flavors.

1½ ounces dried porcini mushrooms

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon granulated white sugar

½ teaspoon ground white pepper

Two 10-ounce boneless New York strip steaks, about 1 inch thick

2 tablespoons soy sauce (gluten-free if that is a concern)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1. Grind the porcini, salt, sugar, and pepper into a fine powder in a spice or coffee grinder.

2. Rub the steaks with the soy sauce, then coat with the mushroom powder. Set aside for 20 minutes at room temperature.

3. Meanwhile, position the rack in the center of the oven; heat the oven to 400°F.

4. Set a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the butter, wait a couple of seconds until it melts, then set the steaks in the skillet. Sear well without moving the steaks for 3 minutes.

5. Flip the steaks and transfer the cast-iron skillet to the oven. Roast until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of each steak registers 125°F for rare or 130°F for medium-rare, about 4 or 6 minutes.

6. Transfer the steaks to serving plates. Pour the vinegar into the superhot skillet and scrape up any browned bits. Drizzle this mixture over the steaks and serve.

Test Kitchen Notes

• You must use a cast-iron skillet for this technique. The temperatures will go well above any regarded as safe for nonstick coatings. Even a more standard skillet can begin to warp under these temperatures.

• The steaks must be boneless—indeed, must be flat—so all the meat rests against the hot cast iron.

• The meat should also be fairly well marbled since the fat helps carry this flavor trick forward. Look for thin but noticeable fat caps around the sides of the steaks.

• You must use ground white pepper, which has a far muskier flavor than black pepper.

• You won’t get the soy sauce to stick to a wet steak. If there’s any surface moisture, blot the steak dry with paper towels.

Voilà! Clean out spice or coffee grinders by grinding raw white rice to a fine powder, then wiping it out with a damp paper towel. As a bonus, the ground rice powder will absorb any oils that may lurk in the corners or under the blades.