So my knowledge on cooking a perfect steak has been recently acquired from Pinterest. I've only cooked a steak once (tonight) and it turned out perfectly! I was seriously amazed that I, a super novice, could so easily cook a juicy, tender steak by following a few simple instructions.
1. Buy a steak that is about an inch thick. (I just bought the manager special on new york strip steaks because I didn't want to spend tons of money on my little experiment. They turned out great!)
2. Take your steaks out of the fridge about an hour before you are going to cook them and salt them liberally with coarse salt.
3. Right before you are about to cook them rinse the salt off and pat the steaks dry. Add pepper or other seasonings but don't add more salt, there is plenty left in the meat from the hour seasoning.
4. Heat your pan to sizzling hot before you put your steaks in the pan. To get a good sear the pan needs to be hot from the get go. (I heated my pan while I rinsed and dried my steaks. I used a cast iron skillet.) Use a pan that is close to the size of your steak so that the steak gets all the heat.
5. Don't use any oil or spray but instead melt some of the fat on a side of your steak to coat the pan. Drop your steaks.
6. Cook on one side, without turning, for the amount of time it takes to reach your preferred doneness. 2.5 minutes for rare, 3-4 minutes for medium rare, 4 minutes for medium, 5 minutes for medium well, and 6 minutes for well. Flip and cook for the same amount of time on the other side.
7. Let your steak rest for 10 minutes.
8. Enjoy your delicious, tender steak.
I cooked our steaks to medium but since mine was slightly thinner it was closer to medium well. It was still so tender though! I am still amazed that I was able to cook a wonderful steak on my first try. Don't be afraid; buy a steak and follow these steps and your won't be disappointed!
