Got a hankering for steak but rain ruining your grilling plans? Everyone loves a great steak on the grill, but there's no reason you can't bring it indoors when you need to. Take a look at our tips for cooking a great steak indoors.
STOVETOP
Despite its connection to the grill, the traditional method for cooking steak – perfected in fine steakhouses across the country – is on a blazing hot pan on the stove. If you have a good cast iron pan, use it. If not, any heavy-bottomed pan will do.
1) Rub your steak with a little oil and season generously with salt and pepper. (Rubbing the oil directly on the steak is better than oiling the pan, as the oil won't burn before the cooking starts.)
2) Heat your pan over medium-high heat. Once it's good and hot, toss your steak on the pan and let it sear. You only want to flip once, so let it continue to sear until you see it brown about halfway up side of the meat. After a few minutes of searing, flip it and let it continue to sear the other side. After the side of the steak is fully browned, you'll want to turn the heat down just a little to allow the inside of the heat to cook without burning the outer layer.
3) Once the steak is cooked to your preferred level of doneness, remove from the heat and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. You may want to "tent" your steak with foil to keep it hot while it rests, but it's not critical.
BROILING
Consider your broiler an upside-down grill - intense flame coming from the top of the oven. Broiling simulates grilling. It gives you a little less control over cooking than the stovetop method, but it's a great way to cook larger amounts of steak at one time.
1) Position your oven rack to the top level (about 3-4 inches from the heating element at the top of your oven).
2) Set your broiler on HI and season your steaks, the same way you would if prepping for stovetop (above). Allow the oven to heat for about 5 minutes.
3) Place your steaks on a sheet pan and place on the oven rack. You'll have to watch them by periodically opening the oven. You're looking for the same cues as the stovetop method (above) – gauging its doneness on one side by watching the browning of the side of the steak.
4) When it's 50-60% done, flip the steaks using a tongs (and oven mitt!) Return the pan to the oven and finish cooking to your desired level of doneness.
5) Remove the steaks from the oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes.