7 Steps to Cook a Perfect Steak!

Foreword

It’s been a long time since I last wrote about steak. In this post, I’ll distill the key steps I’ve previously shared in bits and pieces about cooking steak. It won’t be too long, so you won’t feel overwhelmed—you’ll be able to grasp the core cooking knowledge in just a few minutes.

At the end, I’ll string everything together and tell you exactly how to handle thick‑cut and thin‑cut steaks. Follow along, and you’re guaranteed to learn and master it.

Of course, all of this assumes you start with the right cut of beef.

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Cooking a perfect steak boils down to seven steps!

What are they?

1. Thawing; 2. Patting dry; 3. Heating the pan; 4. Using oil; 5. Searing; 6. Resting; 7. Seasoning…

Each step is anything but trivial—every one has a purpose and a recommended method. Yet each step is also quite simple: with a little extra understanding and one or two practice runs, it becomes pure muscle memory. No thinking required, just a few minutes to turn out a great steak—arguably the easiest impressive dish you can make at home.

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1. Thawing

Do you have to thaw the steak? Absolutely, especially for thick‑cut steaks.

Not thawing leads to two serious problems:

• The juices that should have drained during thawing end up leaking out during searing, which drops the pan temperature and ruins the crust (browning).

• Even if you sear and rest the steak to reach medium‑rare, the internal temperature starts too low because it’s still frozen, resulting in a raw centre.

So how should you thaw? I recommend slow thawing: move the steak from the -18°C freezer compartment to the 4°C fridge section for 24 hours, then take it out to room temperature for 2‑3 hours.

Slow thawing prevents uneven thawing between the exterior and interior, which minimises juice loss.

If you’re really short on time, leave it in the vacuum bag and submerge it in water. Even quick thawing is far better than cooking it frozen.

Key takeaway: slow thawing > quick thawing > not thawing at all.

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2. Patting dry

Why do restaurant steaks have that rich meaty aroma and beautiful char?

Because many restaurants use pre‑cut chilled steaks or fully thawed frozen steaks that have been air‑dried in a cool display case for a while. The surface becomes dry—even slightly tacky—but definitely not wet.

This ensures that when the steak hits the pan, there isn’t excess moisture to interfere with the Maillard reaction. If you put a wet piece of meat into the pan, you might think you’re searing for 1 minute per side, but for the first 30 seconds you’re actually “boiling” the steak because of the moisture.

That yields a steak with much less depth of flavour.

At home, however, we rarely have a clean fridge to air‑dry steaks, so the only option is: pat them dry.

After the steak has fully come to room temperature, thoroughly pat the surface dry with paper towels before heating the pan.

Golden rule: once fully thawed and just before cooking, make sure the steak’s surface is as dry as possible.

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3. Heating the pan

Many people ask: “I followed every step online, but why did my steak turn out like this?” (no crust at all). What went wrong?

There are three possible reasons:

1. The pan wasn’t preheated;

2. The pan is too thin;

3. The pan conducts heat too slowly.

In essence, the pan isn’t transferring high heat to the steak quickly enough.

Steak is not a thin slice of meat for stir‑frying. Because it’s thick, if your pan doesn’t have enough heat retention and conducts heat poorly, the pan temperature plummets as soon as the steak goes in.

Without diving too deep into heat transfer, here’s an analogy: if your steak is at 10‑15°C and your pan is only 100°C, the pan temperature may drop to 70°C the moment the steak hits it.

But we actually need the contact surface to be around 200‑220°C. If you sear the first side for 1 minute and the pan still stays at 200°C, that first side will be a failure.

That’s what happens when the pan isn’t preheated enough.

On the other hand, if your pan is thin—even if you heat it to 200°C—it holds little heat. Once the steak (10‑15°C) goes in, the pan temperature can crash to below 100°C.

The result is the same as not preheating at all.

Of course, if your pan is thin but has excellent conductivity and you have a very powerful burner, you can partially compensate for the above issues.

So you have two options:

• Buy a heavy pan with high heat retention and preheat it thoroughly;

• Buy a pan with superb heat conductivity.

Cast iron skillets (often used for steak) fall into the first category; copper skillets (used in many Western restaurants) fall into the second.

For occasional home use, I think a Lodge (around $15‑20) is perfectly fine. You can heat it empty for 3‑5 minutes—sprinkle a drop of water and if it sizzles away instantly, you’re ready to go.

If you have a thermometer, even better.

This section’s advice is simple: get a Lodge, heat it empty for 3‑5 minutes, then add the steak.

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4. Using oil

Two questions here: which oil? and how much oil?

For which oil, remember that pan temperature exceeds 200°C. Oils with a smoke point below 200°C are out—they’ll fill your kitchen with smoke and give you a bitter, burnt steak.

Common mistakes:

• Butter: smoke point 130‑140°C

• Extra virgin olive oil: smoke point 160‑180°C

These are not suitable for direct searing. If you insist on using them, you’d need to clarify the butter or use refined cooking olive oil.

At home, I recommend a neutral‑tasting oil like pure corn oil (Grade 1). It’s easy to find, inexpensive, and doesn’t interfere with the steak’s flavour.

How much oil? I suggest: enough to cover the entire pan surface.

Don’t underestimate the amount. If you use too little, parts of the steak will be “suspended” above the pan, and since air conducts heat poorly, those areas won’t sear evenly—you’ll get patches of brown and white.

Even for high‑grade steaks, oil is still necessary. Otherwise, you’ll be “air‑searing” for the first 20 seconds until the steak’s own fat renders out.

What if you use too much oil? Almost no downside, apart from wasting oil.

At the extreme, you’re essentially shallow‑frying, which actually gives very even browning in a shorter time—some foreign bloggers have tried it. Feel free to look it up.

But we don’t need to go that far; just enough to coat the pan surface evenly will produce a beautifully uniform crust.

Conclusion for this step: use a high‑smoke‑point oil like Grade 1 corn oil, and make sure it covers the whole pan surface.

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5. Searing

Searing—many think it’s the hardest part.

No, it’s actually very simple, as long as your steak is at least 2cm thick (not paper‑thin). Just put it in the pan and sear each side for about 1 minute, then remove it.

You might ask: “But different thicknesses and desired doneness require different times!”

From my experience with thousands of steaks, my advice is: do not vary the searing time to change doneness.

If you’ve achieved a good crust but the centre is still very rare, and you keep cooking to reach medium‑rare or medium, the outer layers will become well‑done and tough, ruining the texture.

So the right approach is:

1. Use resting time and temperature to adjust final doneness;

2. Sous‑vide / low‑temperature cooking beforehand to lock in doneness.

Sous‑vide is easy if you have the equipment—buy a circulator if you can, or DIY one like I did (check my earliest post for that).

Resting methods are explained in the next section.

Thus, the searing step is the simplest: about 1 minute per side, until you get a nice crust.

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6. Resting

If you understand the purpose of resting, you’ll realise how crucial and technically interesting this step is.

As mentioned, pan temperature exceeds 200°C, so the surface in contact with the pan heats up very quickly, and after moisture evaporates, it becomes brown and fragrant.

But what about the interior? Heat travels from the outside in. The internal temperature never exceeds 100°C during searing.

According to heat transfer, the efficiency is proportional to the temperature difference. So heat transfer inside the meat is much slower than from the 200°C pan surface to the meat surface.

Therefore, for a steak 2cm or thicker, if you cut into it immediately after searing, the centre will likely be very rare because the heat hasn’t reached the middle.

So you need to lift the steak and let it rest for a while, allowing surface heat to gradually conduct to the centre.

Now you know the theory—but at what ambient temperature and for how long?

This is the trickiest part.

For a 2cm steak, at room temperature (20‑30°C), 3‑5 minutes of resting is enough.

In winter, or for slightly thicker than 2cm, I often put it in the oven with the fermentation setting (40°C) for 5 minutes.

For steaks approaching 3cm or thicker, and if you seared directly without sous‑vide, you’ll need a tool: place the steak in a 50‑55°C oven, insert a probe thermometer, and monitor the centre temperature until it reaches your target doneness.

Here’s a reference table for centre temperatures (final target):

DonenessCentre TemperatureRare52‑55°CMedium‑Rare55‑58°CMedium58‑62°CMedium‑Well62‑68°CWell Done68°C+

Note: This is the final target temperature, not the sous‑vide temperature. Since sous‑vide then searing will raise the temperature further, you should set the water bath a few degrees lower than the final target—the thicker the steak, the smaller the adjustment.

Of course, you can also cover the steak with an inverted plate, put it on a warm plate, etc.—whatever works to bring the centre to the desired temperature.

If you’re a beginner tackling a thick steak, I recommend buying a thermometer—it makes doneness much more intuitive. One successful steak pays for the tool, since a good thick steak isn’t cheap, and it hurts to mess it up.

Conclusion for this step: For steaks 2cm or thicker, resting is essential. Adjust the resting temperature and time according to your desired doneness.

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7. Seasoning

The final step is seasoning.

The simplest seasoning isn’t some fancy sauce, but freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.

Key point: freshly ground! Freshly ground! Freshly ground!

Black pepper has bright citrus, woody, warm, and floral notes, with key aroma compounds like pinene, sabinene, limonene, caryophyllene, and piperine—many of which are volatile terpenes. So it’s best to grind the pepper just before serving and eat immediately, to avoid losing those volatiles to heat.

And coarse, uneven sea salt gives pleasant bursts of saltiness, adding a little surprise to each bite.

If you want to go further, you can baste the steak with rosemary and hazelnut butter (beurre noisette) just before serving, which adds more complexity—but you need to control the pan temperature and timing to avoid burning the butter or overcooking the steak.

I also love crispy garlic slices on the side—there’s a saying: “If you eat meat without garlic, half the aroma is lost.”

Of course, this style can become monotonous, so don’t feel bound by what’s “most authentic” or “most traditional.” Feel free to explore other seasonings.

I recommend trying some Japanese‑style options, like grated radish with ponzu (recipe link below).

If you prefer Chinese flavours, you can dip the steak in a dry spice mix or Qiqihar‑style dipping sauce—they pair surprisingly well (since the flavours are similar to grilled meat).

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How to Cook Thick‑Cut Steaks

If you don’t want to absorb all the theory above, here’s a simple, direct method. Just follow the steps.

Method 1: Reverse Sear

This is what I usually recommend for home cooks without sous‑vide gear. It has a low equipment barrier and works well for 3cm‑thick steaks (or even thicker).

Procedure:

1. Thaw: Move the steak to the 4°C fridge the day before for slow thawing, then take it out to room temperature a few hours in advance.

2. Pat dry: Use paper towels to thoroughly dry the surface.

3. Heat the pan: Heat a cast‑iron skillet to above 200°C (empty, about 3‑4 minutes, until it just starts to smoke lightly).

4. Add oil: Pour in enough Grade 1 corn oil to cover the pan surface.

5. Sear: Place the steak in the pan, keep the heat high, and sear each side for 1 minute until nicely browned.

6. Rest: Transfer to a 70‑80°C oven, insert a probe thermometer, and cook for several tens of minutes (time varies with thickness) until the internal temperature reaches 58‑60°C (medium‑rare) or your target doneness.

7. Season: Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and salt, then slice.

Tools needed: Regular oven, probe thermometer.

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Method 2: Sous‑Vide (Low‑Temperature Cooking)

The most foolproof method for thick cuts, but requires a sous‑vide circulator or an oven with low‑temperature/steam capability. Higher equipment cost, but yields consistent results and doesn’t require resting afterwards.

Example: 3cm steak, medium‑rare (5‑doneness).

Procedure:

1. Thaw: Same as above—slow thaw in fridge, then room temperature.

2. Sous‑vide: Set the circulator or oven to 55°C and cook for 1‑1.5 hours (for medium‑rare). This temperature is slightly below the final target; adjust time according to thickness.

3. Pat dry: Dry the steak thoroughly with paper towels.

4. Heat the pan: Heat the cast‑iron skillet to above 200°C (3‑4 minutes empty, until lightly smoking).

5. Add oil: Cover the pan surface with corn oil.

6. Sear: Sear each side for 1 minute over high heat until a good crust forms.

7. Season: Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and salt, then slice.

Tools needed: Sous‑vide circulator / oven with low‑temperature capability.

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Method 3: Butter‑Basting (Continuous Basting)

This is a more challenging technique for thick steaks, requiring good skill. Essentially, during the resting phase, you continuously baste the steak with hot oil (around 100°C+). It takes experience and good doneness judgement. I personally like this for ribeye cap.

Procedure:

1. Thaw: As above—slow thaw in fridge, then room temperature.

2. Pat dry: Dry thoroughly.

3. Heat the pan: Heat cast iron to above 200°C (3‑4 minutes empty).

4. Add oil: Cover the pan surface with corn oil.

5. Sear: Sear each side for 1 minute on high heat until well browned.

6. Rest: Remove from the pan and let it rest aside for 3‑5 minutes.

7. Return and baste: Lower the pan temperature to below 150°C. Put the steak back in, add a knob of butter and a sprig of rosemary. Once the butter melts to a hazelnut (beurre noisette) state, remove from heat and continuously baste the steak. Use your finger to press and judge doneness. When ready, remove and rest in a warm place for another 2‑3 minutes.

8. Season: Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and salt, then slice.

Tools needed: Your magical hands.

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How to Cook Thin‑Cut Steaks

Compared to thick cuts, this requires less equipment but more precise heat management—it’s less consistent, and even I sometimes overcook them. So the following method is for reference; adjust according to your stove’s power.

Note: “Thin” here still means around 2cm. If you have 1cm slices, I can’t help you—I wouldn’t know how to cook those either.

Procedure:

1. Thaw: Slow thaw in fridge overnight, then room temperature.

2. Pat dry: Dry the surface well.

3. Heat the pan: Cast iron to above 200°C (3‑4 minutes, lightly smoking).

4. Add oil: Cover the pan with corn oil.

5. Sear: Place the steak in the pan, high heat, sear each side for about 1 minute (less if thinner) until you get a good crust.

6. Rest: Let it rest at room temperature for 3‑5 minutes.

7. Season: Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and salt, then slice.

Tools needed: Your hands, and a little luck.

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Closing Words

That covers the most fundamental steak‑cooking methods. Although each section goes into some detail, the actual hands‑on work is just seconds to a few minutes.

Once you truly understand the purpose of each step and make slight adjustments based on your stove, room temperature, etc., your steaks will almost always turn out great—and you can serve them quickly.

When you have friends over and aren’t sure what to cook, or when you don’t have time for elaborate dishes, steak is indeed a simple, quick, and impressive showstopper.