Any suggestions on cooking a 2" strip steak, not on the grill.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

I'm not in the mood to grill, but I want to cook these steaks. What are some suggestions for maximum tenderness. I like them rare. I can braise them on a covered iron skillet, broil them, or bake them. Would searing them on high in the skillet then slowly baking them for a while work out well?

[Warpy]

1. Restaurants do that a lot

They sear them in a skillet and finish them in the oven. If you've got a meat thermometer with a probe that you can use on meat while in the oven, you can pick your level of doneness perfectly.

If you don't have one of those gizmos, now is the time to order it for your next 2" thick steak in wintertime.

[cbayer]

2. This is what I do.

Let steak come to room temperature.

Melt butter in cast iron skillet.

Once very hot, cook for about 3 minutes a side. Remove from heat and spoon butter and drippings on top.

Cover and let sit for at least 5 minutes.

If you want a little more flavor, you can put a sprig of rosemary or other fresh herb in the butter.

You can do the sear and then oven route, but if you like rare, you really don't have to.

[grasswire]

5. I agree with cbayer

I would also season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper before searing.

The hot heavy pan, butter makes a terrific sear.

My favorite steak: New York strip.

[japple]

3. My (late) husband always seared them in a cast iron skillet with a bit

of bacon grease, when it was too cold to BBQ. Everyone loved his steaks.

[Jenoch]

4. Although I'm sure you've already cooked

your steak, but if you have not, cbayer's ideas are what I would do. If you fi d yourself in this situation again, be sure you do not braise a strip steak, it's already a tender piece of meat.

[Major Nikon]

6. Here's how I do it when not grilling

Take the steaks out of the fridge and oil them with either peanut oil, light olive oil, or clarified butter and sprinkle them with a good amount of kosher salt (about one good pinch on each side). Let them come up to room temperature for about 1-2 hours.

Heat a big cast iron skillet up on about medium to medium low for about 10 minutes. You want the surface temperature to be about 400F. Cook the steaks for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until you get a really nice sear. At this point the steaks will hopefully have an internal temperature of 130F which is on the low side of rare. They will come up a few more degrees while resting. If they aren't there yet you can pop the skillet in a 350F oven until they are done.

While they are resting, deglaze the pan with bourbon or brandy. While the alcohol is reducing, scrape the pan to incorporate the brown bits and add a few slices of butter along with some freshly ground peppercorns.

Slice the steak across the grain in 3/8" slices, then drizzle your pan sauce over the steak.

[BobUp]

7. You're hired!

Great method described by you.

Since we're poor, we opt for chuck steaks at our local Piggly-Wiggly store, usually run about $3.49 a pound, and when we buy, there's usually 2 large sized ones per package.

I'm not as healthy as you though.

I use scissors (Thanks Julia Child) to cut off excess fat and membrane-muscle, and cut them into thin strips, about 1/2" wide.

I heat a cast iron skillet with bacon fat rendered from previous bacon cookings in it, and then lay the steak strips into the skillet and turn just once. I'll occasionally season our strips before frying, Larwry's garlic salt, black pepper & oregano. Served w/ BBQ sauce or ketchup, mmm mmm good.

I also use your cooking method, in the cast iron skillet, but sometimes I'll do an overnite marinade of soy, terryaki & worcestershire sauce and chopped onion. This is perfect if it's too cold to BBQ outside, if you're lazy, or end up with cheaper cuts of beef.