The Biggest Mistake You Can Make When Searing A Steak

There's nothing like a ripping hot cast iron skillet to give a steak a good sear. Sure, cooking your steak out on the grill is sometimes easier (and in any case won't make your kitchen feel like it's come straight out of "Backdraft"), but even if you have a grill, which is hardly a given these days, it's not always the right weather to cook outside. How can you give your steak a reliable sear without accidentally ruining an excellent cut of beef? The Takeout spoke exclusively with Douglas Keane, the head chef and co-owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant Cyrus based in Geyserville, California, and he told us the long and short of it: make sure the pan gets hot enough.

One of the biggest mistakes a cook can make with steak, Keane says, is "not [using a] hot enough pan and using an oil/fat with a low smoking point." Really, it makes intuitive sense. If you want to get your steak hot enough to sear, you need to make sure your pan is getting up to the right temperature. If you use an oil with a low smoke point, such as unrefined coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil, that fat is going to burn well before your steak is ready.

How do you make sure your pan gets hot enough, then? According to Douglas Keane, "500-600 degrees Fahrenheit" is just about the right temperature. He suggests that you "keep it on high until you see a little smoke,"  and a cast iron pan is the best tool for the job. If you only have nonstick, Keane offers some words of caution. "Nonstick is not a 'no-go' but it's harder to get a great sear," he says, "You need to get it very hot and keep the meat in direct contact with the pan long enough to get the sear."

For further tips, Keane suggests butter basting at the end of the cooking process to "[push] the Maillard reaction a little further," and that aromatics like garlic and thyme can "add a beautiful flavor." But what about using cornstarch, the same ingredient that gives you extra crispy air fryer wings, to get a nice crust on your steak? "Although cornstarch can help with the sear," Keane says, "it's not my favorite because it creates more of a crust from the actual starch than just straight searing does." So long as you do it right, just a regular Maillard reaction will be more flavorful and satisfying. If you'd like to know more, you can learn when it's a good idea to reverse sear your steak, as well as the steak you should only cook rare.