How to Cook Steak in a Cast Iron Skillet

Great Steak Can Be Made at Home

With the current economy, not everyone has money to eat out. Occasionally you want to have a good steak, and this is a way to cook a perfect steak time after time, and enjoy good eating at home.If you don't have a cast iron pan, you can buy new ones at any decent store that sells cookware, but if money is an issue, you can pickup good cast iron at second hand stores, flea markets and the like.

What you will need

You need a seasoned cast iron skillet, tongs, safflower or peanut oil, sea salt or kosher salt, and I will assume you have a range and oven. It does not matter whether the range is electric or gas. Good results can be had with either. Also good oven mitts are a must. Any type steak will work, but in this example I am using a ribeye that is a bit over an inch thick. Ribeyes generally have a good flavor so they do not need a lot of seasoning.

If you just acquired your cast iron pan, you will need to season it properly. Most cast iron pans these days come seasoned, but if yours is not, it is easy. Set the oven to 450. Brush cooking oil on the inside surfaces of the pan. Put it in the oven for 1 hour. When it comes out of the oven, let it cool, and wipe any excess oil off. Your pan should look black when it is properly seasoned.

Getting things going.

Pull the steaks out of the refrigerator and let them warm up a bit. We need to preheat the oven to 450 degrees. As the oven heats up, put the cast iron skillet on a large burner and heat it up to high temperature. As things are heating up, place the steak on a plate and pour a little safflower or peanut oil on it. Rub the oil in, then add salt and pepper and rub that in. If you want to add any other seasonings, this would be a good time for dry seasonings. Sometimes I use a mixture of onion and garlic powder with seasoned salt. Turn the steak over and repeat. Now it is time to cook.

Cooking the steak

Once our skillet is nice and hot, take the tongs and place the steak in the skillet, and sear each side for 30-40 seconds. Then take your oven mitt, and place the steak in the 450 degree oven. Luckily, everyone at my house likes their steak medium rare, so all my steaks will have the same cooking time. You will let the steak cook in the oven, 2 1/2 minutes per side. If your taste tends towards medium, you will want to go for a bit over 3 minutes. At the 2 1/2 minute mark, you will pull the pan out of the oven, then turn the steak over, and then put it back in the oven and cook for 2 1/2 more minutes.

Once it has cooked on both sides for the allotted time, take the pan out of the oven and let it set for a few minutes, giving the steak a chance to rest. If you have aluminum foil, loosely cover the steak with the foil while they rest.

While you wait, you can plate your other side dishes. then once a few minutes have passed, take the tongs and put the steak on the plate and enjoy.

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