There’s nothing better than a perfectly cooked steak. And there’s nothing worse than a poorly cooked one. In theory, nothing’s simpler than cooking a steak; it’s a layup. On the other hand, cooking steak perfectly, every time? Not so easy. Few things carry the pressure—steak’s one of the most expensive meats, and there’s no fixing an overcooked one.
Even the pros miss layups. While working on this book, I was in New Orleans for a night and found myself at a steakhouse, where I was treated to one of the worst steaks I’ve ever had. Aged for thirty days, it cost well over fifty dollars. I understand that it was New Orleans, which is touristy, but this was inexcusable. It wasn’t a bad piece of meat; it just wasn’t cooked properly. Actually, that’s being nice—it was defiled! The outside was gray and striped with cheesy, dark grill marks. The inside was tough and flavorless. For this, there can be no excuse.
People think you have to go to a steakhouse to get the highest quality experience, but, as my experience in New Orleans shows, that’s no guarantee. Steakhouses used to have access to the best meat. But in the age of the Internet, when high-quality beef is just a click away, none of this stands any longer. The goal of this chapter—of this book—is to show you how to make classic steakhouse-quality steak at home.
The only thing most people don’t have at home is a steak broiler that sizzles the meat at 800 degrees. In a restaurant where, during the busy times in an evening, we’re putting out dozens of steaks an hour, the steak broiler is the best way to get a deep sear on a piece of meat without overcooking the inside—and doing it really fast.
But at home, the ability to do multiple steaks at once isn’t much of an issue—and you don’t need a broiler. So what are the advantages of cooking steak chez vous? One, obviously, is that it’s better. You can get meat of supreme quality from trustworthy sources nowadays and cook it as you wish with convenience and minimal effort. Two is control. Many steakhouses bathe their meat in butter, add flavorings, and have dull side dishes. At home, you can craft the meal as you want. You can keep steak healthier with a drizzle of olive oil or nothing at all. The final advantage is price. What you can simply make at home can equal the quality of many a steakhouse at just a fraction of the price, especially when you throw in the cost of sides, tip, and wine.
But most important is cooking it to juicy, crusty, meaty perfection, and the surest way I know how to do this is the method I call Back to the Pan. Cooking a steak in a skillet is, in some ways, old fashioned. But guys like me, who’ve been around the block a few times, are here to remind you that sometimes the older generations knew what they were doing. Back to the Pan is a classic method that I update with some tweaks that will result in the best possible steak you can make at home. And you don’t have to take the time to build a coal bed or get your hands dirty in a bag of charcoal. It’s quick, simple, and the key to the best steak you’ve ever put in your mouth.
