haha.. def. sauces are great

For those searing stovetop then moving to the oven:
Do you put the same pan in the oven? I've always removed the steaks from the heat and put them in a ceramic baking dish in the oven. Anyone else?

use the same pan if its oven-safe (keep a towel over the handle for gripping to remind yourself it is hot when it comes out). you can sometimes lose some of the crust if you transfer it in a cold dish. You can get away this from resting it on a bed of herbs or some veggies, which would be good for extra flavor too. Either way i'd say both methods are fine as long as the adjustments are made.

I made a strip steak with the over-salting method last night. It was fantastic!

ok well obv. season the meat and coat with oil, or put a thin layer of oil in a pan (you can preheat with or without the oil, doesnt really matter). My preference is canola oil. Make sure the oil is thin and volatile but not burning. If you can't tell perfect searing oil then you can try take a tiny pinch of flour and drop it in the oil. If it doesnt dissolve then oil is too cold. If it starts burning, the oil is too hot. If it dissolves fully without burning, the oil is probably right.

Drop your steak in and tilt the pan to make sure the oil is working under the meat. If you are on a gas stove you probably need to maintain a mid-low to mid temperature. If you are using an electric you probably need to maintain just a touch above medium. Let it sear until you start to see the meat cook up a little and the crust start develop around the edges. Could be anywhere from just under a minute to three minutes depending on specifics everyone needs to learn to look for. Flip the steak. Do the same on the other side, though it will probably take a little less time to sear than the first side. Then with tongs lift the steak and sear all its sides for about 30-40 seconds each. Your steak is probably done to rare now after a little rest so it can be taken off and preferably put on something like a rack without much spacing. Feel the steak though. It should have little resistance. A good test for steak when you dont have a thermometer and dont trust the feel is to take a meat fork or some metal piece that is thin and sharp. Then pierce the meat with it while trying to get the end in the middle of the meat and hold it for 10 seconds. Take it out and touch it to the underside of your wrist. If it is totally cold, the meat is still raw. If it is luke warm, you're good to go. If it is pipping hot, your steak is charred through.

Anyways, if you still sense it is too raw then give it no more than one to three minutes back in the pan at a lower temperature while giving each side another 15-25 seconds or so. You can also throw it in a 375 degree oven for one to three minutes.

what are you noticing that is different/better from your usual results?

nice tip, thanks!

my method is pretty close to this, I will try cranking the heat up a little, thanks for the suggestions

def leave it in the same pan, or if you can't then maybe put it on a broiling pan that's already in the oven and hot. or have yoru ceramic dish be already in the oven and already hot.

but you can get a preseasoned cast iron skillet for under $20 from Lodge, and if you don't already have one they are great for other stuff as well

cast iron is ideal for this because it retains so much heat. the idea is to preheat it on the stove to ripping hot, then put the steak on it and build a crust both sides, then put in an oven if it needs to cook thru more. if you don't use cast iron (or enameled cast iron pan like a Le Creuset which is $$$) the problem is other pans don't have nearly as much mass and the cold steak sucks too much heat out to build a sufficient crust of sear

I rubbed mine down with ancho chilli powder, onion power, garlic powder, pepper, sea salt......and then dip it in a mixture of ground ginger/garlic paste and soy sauce.....

Um, sea salt is much coarser and adds a crunch and texture to a lot of dishes, and the salty note hits you more then just regular salt.

I also dislike eating inorganic compounds. Rocks are not tasty.

In Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain talks about how the chefs in NYC set aside the bad pieces of meat for those who order their steaks well done....highly recommended to read this book if you haven't already, good stuff.

isn't salt a rock?

that is not surprising at all. I've frequently also found sushi restaurants using less than perfect pieces of meat in their combo dinners, and saving all the good stuff for individual orders.

No. It is a mineral. It can be found in rocks but salt is not a rock.

It was more tender than usual, it had a better sear than usual, and the salt flavor was retained nicely throughout the meat but not in an overpowering way.

QUESTION: If step 1 of a good steak is bringing it up to room temperature, how do restaurants do it? I assume they don't have piles of meat sitting out.

Whole foods is the best value for steak I know. I haven't tried their dry aged meat yet, though.

Bringing steak to room temperature isn't that important. It just means it cooks faster, so presumably it will be more juicy since the water has less time to evaporate. But I suspect you won't be able to tell the difference if you let the steak sit out for 2 hours or 20 minutes.

Also, re the meat thermometer discussion: the temperature of meat varies depending on where you put it. I've seen people who depend on one mess things up over and over. I would say feel is much more consistent once you get the hang of it.

i made a strip today. put a pre-made steak rub on it along with a little freshly ground pepper. let it sit for 20 minutes. then melted some butter in a pan and rubbed that butter on the steak. added some oil to the pan and let it get really hot. 2 minutes a side and it was perfect. nice sear with a little crunch.

it's amazing how quickly you can make a steak in a pan.

Just watched the steak episode of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. She says that you only need to leave the steak out for 20-30 minutes. So her restaurant puts the steak out as soon as it is ordered.

On another subject, what do you drink with your steak? If wine, what variety? If beer, what brand?

made a ny strip tonight using the extreme salt method. after i wiped off the kosher salt i applied my usual salt/pepper rub......turned out wayyyyyyyy too salty. i still ate it.

question for people searing then using the oven. do you turn it when it's in the oven? alton brown does but i feel like most don't.

I stumbled upon this thread and tried out some of the techniques. My tastebuds thank the suggesters.