<img height="1" width="1" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=403686353314829&amp;ev=PageView &amp;noscript=1">

Food Comics: Steak Techniques Part 2

Picture of Tom O.
Tom O.
4 min read

We are pleased to introduce Food Comics from The Chopping Block where our resident Cartoonist Tom O'Brien illustrates his cooking adventures. In this second part of a three-part series, he demonstrates how to make steak at home using two different techniques. Be sure to catch parts one and three (coming next month) for all five steak techniques. 

Hello again, Food Fans! Welcome back to our series on 5 Steak Techniques that can be done from home! This time around, we'll be looking at a classic technique for making steak using the oven, as well as a more modern technique that's popping up in more home kitchens, the Reverse Sear and Sous Vide steaks. Reverse Sear Using the reverse sear method takes advantage of the even cooking temperature that an oven offers to get a consistent cook, retain moisture, with a quick sear to finish, but it does take longer than most other methods. Just like last time, all you'll need is: 1 Rib-eye or New York Strip steak, roughly 1 inch thick 1 Tbsp garlic and rosemary compound butter (or regular, unsalted butter) salt and pepper Preheat the oven to 275 and bring the steaks to room temperature. Pat the steak dry and season heavily with salt and pepper. Place the steaks on a rack inside a baking sheet and slide into the oven. Cook until the steaks reach an internal temperature of around 130, which should take 45-55 minutes. Remove the steaks and allow them to rest for 5-10 minutes. While the steaks rest, heat a cast iron skillet with medium-high heat and half a tablespoon of compound butter per steak. One the skillet is very hot, sear the steak for 1 minute on each side, flipping only once. After both sides have seared, also sear the edges of the steak for roughly 30 seconds each edge. Drizzle another half a tablespoon of melted compound butter over the steak and enjoy! Sous Vide Sous Vide has become very popular as a home cooking method and one of the best things to make in it is steak. Similar to reverse searing, a sous vide uses consistent temperature to cook a steak over a longer period of time. By cooking this way, the entirety of a steak throughout will reach the perfect temperature, to the degree, but without the moisture loss. Again, you'll need: 1 Rib-eye or New York Strip steak, roughly 1 inch thick 1 Tbsp garlic and rosemary compound butter (or regular, unsalted butter) salt and pepper Set up the Sous Vide with enough water to cover the steaks and set the temperature to 130. Bring the steak to room temperature, pat it dry and season with salt and pepper. Once the water has hit the target temperature, transfer the steak into a Sous Vide bag. Ideally, there should be one steak per bag but two in a bag is okay. Move the bag into the water and set a timer for 2 hours. When the timer is up, remove the bag from the water, and the steak from the bag. Allow it to rest for 5- 10 minutes. While the steak rest, heat a cast iron skillet with medium-high heat and half a tablespoon of compound butter per steak. Pat the steak dry and sear for 30 seconds on each side, flipping only once. Keep the sear quick, the steaks are already completely cooked and shouldn't get a lot of additional heat. After both sides have seared, also sear the edges of the steak for roughly 15 seconds each edge. As a side note, searing a sous vide steak is mostly for ascetics, so that it has that seared look. Also, they steak will be gray all they way through, so don't think that it's over cooked because it's not pink! Drizzle another half a tablespoon of melted compound butter over the steak and enjoy! Next time, we'll finish up with part three of this series, where we'll talk about cooking steak on the grill, and options for seasonings and spices for steak. Happy Eating!

Want to learn how to cook a steak perfectly each and every time? Don't miss The Chopping Block's Steakhouse DIY hands-on class coming up on:

Love our food comics but want a text-only version for easy reference in the kitchen? Download a PDF of the recipe here.

Steak five ways part 2 promo