The Complete Guide to Perfect Steak (Buying, Aging, Cooking, Slicing) | America’s Test Kitchen
Want a steakhouse-quality sear without the smoke or giant gray ring of overcooked meat? We’re breaking down the ultimate guide to cooking steak at home, comparing traditional pan-searing, sous vide, reverse-searing, and our favorite low-mess trick: cold-searing. Plus, learn how to select the best cuts at the grocery store, how to mimic pricey dry-aged steak using shio koji, and why you might want to rethink butter basting!
Steak Cooking Methods Featured:
Cold-Searing: Get edge-to-edge medium-rare perfection in a nonstick pan without heavy smoke or splatters.
Sous Vide Steak: How to use an immersion circulator for failproof, perfectly tender results every time.
Reverse-Sear: The low-and-slow oven trick that guarantees a killer crust and uniform internal temp.
Shio Koji Hack: How to unlock rich, umami-packed, dry-aged flavor in just a few hours using koji.
Butter Basting Demystified: When butter-basting is actually necessary (hint: delicate fish) and how to make a no-waste pan sauce instead.
Dry-Aging Steak at Home:
Shio-Koji Marinated-Flank Steak Recipe:
Get our Pan-Seared Strip Steak recipe:
Learn more about cold-searing:
Butter-Basted Rib-Eye Steak Recipe:
Skillet-Roasted Chicken Breasts with Rustic Orange-Thyme Sauce Recipe:
Butter-Basted Fish Fillets with Garlic and Thyme Recipe:
Sous Vide Seared Steaks Recipe:
Buy our winning sous vide machine:
00:00 Cold-Searing Steaks
12:44 Tips for Buying Expensive Steaks
16:33 How to “Dry Age” Steak in Two Hours
29:30 How to Sous Vide Steak
40:31 Do You Need to Butter Baste Steak?
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At America’s Test Kitchen, we investigate every aspect of cooking—recipes, equipment, ingredients, and techniques—with a goal to empower and inspire home cooks. Since 1992, our team of 50+ cooks, editors, and culinary creatives ask a lot of questions—and do a lot of testing—so that you get dependable, delicious recipes, comprehensive guidance, and thorough and unbiased equipment and ingredient reviews. You can find us in the pages of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, on our television shows America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country, in dozens of best-selling cookbooks, and via the 14,000+ recipes, reviews, and classes available on our website and app. Whether you’re in search of a great weeknight meal or an impressive dinner-party dish, we’ve done the testing to deliver reliable recipes and comprehensive cooking info to your home kitchen. Bring your curiosity, and we’ll make you a better cook.
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I've tried all of these methods. I still prefer the reverse-sear as it dries the surface, which further enhances the Maillard reaction.
Doesn’t the pepper burn when you put it on the steak before cooking it with the cold seer method?
chapters/timestamps are off
খুবই ভালো রেসিপি
If the enzymes do that to the proteins in the meat, what's it doing to the proteins in your fingers and hand as you touch it?
So cold sear isn't good for thin steaks? what then?
Oh boy, yet another video about steaks? The one thing YouTube doesn't need is another video about steaks to add to the 5 million of them. ATK itself has so many.
This is great. I have been using ATK's older method for a long time…super hot pan flipping every 2 minutes. The steaks are perfect and fool proof. However, I always have to do it outside in cast iron on the charcoal grill b/c it's too smokey inside. If I can do this indoors, 12 months a year, rain or shine in my non stick, that is the proverbial game-changer. I'm probably already full of teflon anyway so screw it. Thanks for always innovating.
Yeah, Im here for Lan. Even if it may be something Im not personally inro cooking or preparing, I'll srill watch an ATK video she's fronting.
Lan Lam is the best teacher!
Lan’s cold sear method has been shown on a previous episode last year. I followed the process quite successfully, adding any extra step of butter+herb basting at the end. However, it’s not easily done when you’re cooking more than 2 pieces of steak using 1 pan: (1) not enough space to fit, (2) not enough time in between to let the pan returns to “cold” state for next batch, and if you wait too long, the first batch is “over-rested” and becomes “cold”, and your guests will be screaming at you to hurry up. So, only 2 steaks at time, not for a party. 🤪
I have tried this was not successful but the steak was not exactly inch and a half..
I do really like Lan Lam. But. . .what I can't seem to find anywhere (ATK or some other site) is suggestions for steak that is smaller to feed ONE person without left over steak
In the first section, the cold sear, what was the starting internal temperature of that steak.
Thanks
What about cry-searing! 🤣
Nice! Are the steaks cold or brought to room temperature first? I'm referring to the first recipe.
I really enjoy her presentation style. Calm and informative. Thanks!
The First side was on High Heat but the 2nd side was on Lower heat
She is the best cooking instructor currently on YouTube (imho)
I thought you were never supposed to use a non-stick skillet on high heat. Something about the heat breaking down the Teflon and causing it to off-gas into the air and your food. Is that a myth?
I will try this on a choice strip before I try it on a prime ribeye or filet, but try it, I will.
J Kenji Lopez-Alt definitely did not invent the reverse sear, but I'll bet you he looooves taking credit for it.
Lan needs her own channel. She's the best.
I've been using this method for years and it truly works and is wonderful.
oooh you were a chemistry major – no wonder you have such a grasp of the cooking process! bravo