- Hey everybody, it's Brooke. I'm in the Delish Test Kitchen and I'm gonna make the most mouthwatering pan-seared steak I've ever seen before. If you're one of those people that's a little bit intimidated by that sort of thing, stick around. This one's for you. The key to a perfect pan-seared steak is getting a good cut of meat and keeping it super simple. So I'm gonna show you how to keep it foolproof, and we might even debunk a myth or two along the way. We're talking about pan searing. Rib eye is the perfect cut for pan searing. It's got great marbling, so you'll get tons of beefy flavor from all that fat. This piece is about an inch and a half thick, which is awesome for pan searing as well cause you won't overcook it, but it's not something you really wanna stick in the oven because it's really not worth your time. Last thing, this piece is boneless. I know people say keeping the bone in add so much flavor, you should always keep the bone in. To be honest, it's kind of negligible, so just go ahead and get the boneless piece because it cooks faster and we love that. The best part about this recipe is that it's incredibly simple. You only need four things. Obviously, you need the steak. You need some good kosher salt, you need a little bit of canola oil and you need butter and that's it. The most important part of cooking the steak is gonna be seasoning it. You wanna use salt and you wanna use plenty of it on both sides of the steak, and make sure you get the edge too where that extra bit of thickness is. Right before you salt a steak, make sure you grab a paper towel and pat the outside dry just to remove any excess moisture that the salt might stick to. (soft music) (upbeat music) As you can probably see, I've got a pretty coarse grind of salt here. It's kosher salt, and the reason I wanted to go with a coarser grind is because this will actually stick to the steak. If you use table salt, then it'll just bounce right off. Also, table salt's a little bit too salty, so if you sprinkle table salt all over your steak it'll probably come out kind of gross. After you get your steak all nice and seasoned up, it's time to give it a little bit of a nap. You're gonna stick it in the refrigerator uncovered for about 45 minutes to an hour to give the salt some time to really dry out the surface of the steak. What that's gonna do is give you the crispiest crust ever once you sear the steak. So I wanna show you guys what it looks like after I've let the steak sit in the refrigerator salted for a little while, versus what it looks like as soon as I salt it. As you can see on the one that I just salted, it's already starting to get wet on the surface because the salt is drawing out some of that moisture from inside of the steak and pulling it to the top. The one that's been sitting in the refrigerator for about an hour has had a chance for that moisture to wick off and dry out, so the surface won't be nearly as wet as the one that I just salted. And that's why we let our steak rest. Now that my steaks had a chance to sit in the fridge and get nice and seasoned up, it's time to just cook it off. We're gonna do that in a medium sized cast iron pan. Cast iron pans hold heat so well. It's gonna ensure that you get that amazing crust on the outside. In this hot cast iron pan we're gonna add about two tablespoons of canola oil. The reason we're using canola instead of something like extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil, the smoke point's a little bit higher on canola oil and you also won't get any extra flavor from the kind of oil you're using. This one's nice and neutral. I'm gonna go ahead and add the oil to the pan and wait till the oil is nice and hot before you add the steak. The reason we do that is because you wanna make sure that initial contact actually sears the outside of the steak instead of steaming it. To make sure your pan is as hot as it needs to be, make sure you see the oil start to ripple a little bit and then see it let off a wisp of smoke or two. It only needs to cook for about seven minutes on the first side. Then we're gonna flip and cook for another five minutes on the second side. After we do the first flip we're gonna add the butter to the pan, let that melt and get nice and foamy. Then we're gonna use a spoon to baste the butter over top of the steak until it's done cooking through. (upbeat music) This smells so good y'all. The butter's starting to get nice and nutty, and it's about two or three minutes from being done, so I'm gonna start checking the temperature to see if it's getting where I need it to be. For medium rare, you want it to be between 125-130, but for good medium you want about 135-140. Y'all don't be afraid to use a probe thermometer. There's no shame. Nobody's looking at you and you don't wanna ruin this piece of meat that you just paid a lot of money for. So break out the thermometer, use it. It's totally fine, I promise. (upbeat music) I am so excited. It smells like beef in here and the steak is just so juicy and I even cooked up some french fries for a little side for myself. All that's left to do now is give it a taste. That is actually the perfect steak. It's got this little crust on the outside that I was actually almost sad about cutting into because it was so perfect. But I'm really glad I did because the inside is a perfect medium rare, a little bit red, a little bit pink in there, and just absolutely tender and flavorful. For more simple, foolproof recipes like this one keep it right here at delish.com. (upbeat music)