If you live in a cold climate (or a rainy one) or maybe you just don’t have any charcoal or the grill has broken and you’re craving a steak, grilling one indoors can be just as good and borderline even better than grilled – if you do it right.
1. For best results use a thick (1 to 1 1/2 inches thick) cut of steak. For thinner steaks, such as flank or skirt steak, you will need to reduce the amount of time you cook each side.
2. Dry off the steaks with a paper towel before cooking. This will improve the searing of each side. If you have time, try putting salt on the steak and leaving it in the refrigerator overnight on top of a paper towel. This will reduce moisture inside the steak and improve the flavor.
3. Place several tablespoons of canola or avocado oil into a cold frying pan. Preheat your frying pan and oil to medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the steak on both sides then lay them carefully into the hot pan.
4. Cook approximately 7 minutes on each side. The timing depends a lot on the thickness of the steak, with thinner steaks taking as few a 3 minutes on each side. The timing also depends on whether you want rate, medium or well done steak.
5. After the steak has cooked to your specifications, remove it from the pan and let it sit for a few minutes to lock in all the juices.
There are different ways to cook a steak indoors – and while I thought I had a good method before using a cast iron pan – I’ve really seen remarkable results with this handy little electric skillet my mother bought me for Christmas a few years ago. Best of all, there is almost no clean up and the steak is seared perfectly with no burning! I seriously can’t believe I’ve owned this thing so long and only started using it for making steaks recently!
