For A Juicier Steak, Never Do This While Searing

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Cooking a steak to blissful, juicy perfection can be a bit trickier than some people sometimes think. Using a trusty meat thermometer is one of the best ways to achieve the perfect temperature, but if it doesn't have that appetizing, crusty sear on the outside, it's all for naught. Some folks take to pressing the steak into direct contact with the heat source using a press or an extra pan to get an ideal sear, but as Jeffrey Williams, the executive chef at Willowsong, told The Takeout, that's a terrific way to ruin a potentially succulent hunk of meat. 

Williams revealed that pressing down on a steak to get a quality sear is the best way to dry it out. "My honest opinion on this is do not press your steak," he said. "The reasoning behind this is pressing the steak does release the natural juices and fat that are in it."

Steak shrinks as it's cooked, and that shrinkage can occasionally cause the edges to curl upward, making it difficult to achieve a complete sear. Oftentimes, it's this very dilemma that inspires people to keep it pinned down. But Williams had a better solution that involves a bit of butchering. "If your issue is the steak curling, then my suggestion would be cut your thinner steaks that curl, into larger steaks," he said. "Instead of cutting lengthwise, cut the steak in half, then cut the same weight from the half, giving your steak more of a barrel cut."

Despite Jeffrey Williams' warning against pressing down on a steak as it cooks, there are undoubtedly some folks who will ignore his advice and do it anyway, setting themselves up for a depressing piece of beef. Fortunately, he insisted, "There are plenty of options to combat that." One involves keeping the meat juicy by adding a bit of beef's best friend: fat. "You can add additional fats like butter, duck fat, or tallow with lower smoke points than blended oils, so they'll add to the caramelization of the meat," he said. You can't go wrong with adding butter — that's also the tasty fat that Outback Steakhouse uses for its succulent steak.

However, you could also get fancy and use an underappreciated technique many home cooks would do well to familiarize themselves with. "You can sous vide with a fat and opt for a hard sear where you increase the overall temperature of your pan for a shorter, more effective sear because your steak is already at the internal temperature you want," Williams said. Folks interested in trying this approach will need the equipment to cook sous vide. This SOUSVIDE ART Sous Vide Cooker Kit comes with everything, and requires only that you have a large pot on hand. Get a perfect sear on your steak by oiling a hot cast iron pan, and use that rip-roaring heat to achieve a quick crust on that steak without having to press it.