You put oil in the pan When cooking steak you need to oil the steak itself to ensure that perfect outer texture once cooked, and of course so it doesn't stick. Place your steak on a plate and drizzle the steak with oil on both sides, massaging in a little to cover all areas.
Oil the meat, not the pan
This ensures a nice, even coating, helps the seasoning stick to the steak and means you won't have a pan of hot oil spitting in your face. There's no point using extra-virgin olive oil for cooking steak, or cooking anything, really.
Put the pan over high heat, and leave it until it is extremely hot. Add 1T butter and 2T olive or canola oil to the pan and watch for the butter starting to brown. Place the steak into the pan and reduce the heat to medium, cooking the first side for 4-6 minutes.
Oil the Meat, Not the Grill.
An evenly applied coating of neutral oil such as vegetable or canola on both sides of the steak will ensure the steak doesn't stick to the grill.
Steak and olive oil
Like butter, olive oil has a distinct taste and low smoke point. It also offers immense moisture and character depending on what kind of oil you buy. Even modestly priced olive oil can give flavour to a steak and if you like that flavour, this is definitely the way to go.
To help your seasonings adhere to the steak's surface, you can brush all sides with a small amount of olive oil first. Season steak generously, especially with thicker steaks. You'll want to have the flavor in every bite, and since only the outside gets seasoned, it needs to be enough to achieve that flavor.
Adding butter to steak adds extra richness and can also soften the charred exterior, making a steak more tender.
Marinating your BBQ dishes with olive oil can help tenderize meat, as well as make the meat juicy and full of flavor.
Coat both sides of the steak, and its sides, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, so a visible layer of seasoning exists on every surface. The salt shouldn't pile up, but it should coat the meat.
A hot skillet delivers the best sear. Add 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pan (enough to coat the bottom). Immediately place your steaks in the hot skillet and sear them for 1 minute on each side.
Pan sear the steaks with vegetable oil before adding butter as vegetable oil has a higher smoking point than butter. This way the butter doesn't burn in the hot cast-iron skillet. Don't put the steak on top of one another. Arrange flat in a single layer, and leave room in the pan to be able to flip the steaks easily.
Don't Add Oil to the Pan
Fat smokes and splatters at high temperatures; minimizing the amount in the skillet is the best way to avoid those problems. Plus, well-marbled strip and rib-eye steaks don't need extra fat added to the pan to brown; they exude plenty of their own during cooking.
You should add oil to a hot pan if you are using unseasoned cookware such as stainless steel. The reason why is that the high temperature of the pan will reduce the viscosity of the oil and allow it to settle into the small little cracks and pores in the pan. Olive oil is a great choice for pan frying and sautéing.
➎ Add 2 Tbsp of butter to hot pan and baste the steaks by scooping melted butter on top of the cooking steaks. Pro Tip: Gordon tells you to check tenderness by equating the tenderness of your palm to rare, top of the wrist as medium, and just below that as well done.
A combination of flipping and basting—that is, spooning hot fat over your meat—will help cook it more gently, and more importantly, from both sides simultaneously, drastically cutting down on its cooking time.
But the reality is that flipping a steak repeatedly during cooking—as often as every 30 seconds or so—will produce a crust that is just as good (provided you start with meat with a good, dry surface, as you always should), give you a more evenly cooked interior, and cook in about 30% less time to boot!
Canola Oil: With a neutral taste and a smoke point of around 400°F, canola oil is an affordable option for searing steak. Canola is the best affordable oil you can buy to sear beef. Clarified Butter or Ghee: If you like the taste of butter but need a high smoke point, clarified butter or ghee is the answer.
Heat cast iron pan to medium-high; melt 2 tablespoons of butter in pan. Once butter is simmering (NOT smoking- don't let it get too hot otherwise your steak will burn!) add steak. Sear 2-3 minute on each side, or until 130 degrees internally.
Cook without moving steaks until a golden brown crust forms, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and cook 2 minutes more for rare, or 3 to 4 minutes more for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Slice steaks against the grain; serve with sauce, if desired.
Heat the olive oil or high temperature oil in the skillet over medium. When the pan is hot, add the steaks and sear until a golden brown crust forms, 1-2 minutes. Flip and repeat on the other side.
A heated pan, with the oil shimmering, makes sure the outside browns before the inside overcooks. If you start a steak in a cold pan, it will cook past well-done before it has a chance to fully brown on the outside.
Grill Temp for Steaks
The best grill temperature to grill a steak is high heat (450-550 degrees F.).