How to Cook the Perfect Steak (Stovetop Method)

You found the perfect steak — at Force of Nature we're partial to grass-fed and regeneratively raised — and now it's sitting in your fridge and the ultimate question is staring you down:

How do you cook the perfect steak?

There are a lot of great ways. But at Force of Nature, we have a favorite. It’s the one that works year-round, gives you serious control, and produces a genuinely great crust every time. 

How to cook the perfect steak: a stovetop sear in a screamin’ hot skillet.

Why Pan-Searing Is the Best Way to Cook Steak

A commercial would have you believe the grill and open fire are the gold standard. And we don’t disagree, an open flame certainly has its appeal and if you’re a grill lover, we have a whole guide coming for that…  But a grill or an open fire aren't always accessible, and they aren't always the best tool for the job. A skillet gives you more control, a consistent sear regardless of weather or season, and a crust that rivals anything you'd get on your average grill. 

Essential Tools for Cooking the Perfect Steak

We are all about fuss-free cooking here. The best steak is the one that’s easy and mouth-wateringly delicious every time. That’s why for us the method for how to cook the perfect steak is simple and the gear is minimal. But a few things make a difference:

Best Pan for Cooking Steak (Cast Iron vs. Stainless vs. Carbon Steel)

The pan is the most important decision you'll make here. You need something that gets very hot, holds that heat, and transfers it efficiently to the steak's surface. That doesn’t mean fancy or expensive when it comes to cookware, however. 

CAST IRON: The gold standard for a reason. Cast iron heats slowly but holds heat incredibly well. This means that when a cold steak hits the surface, the pan doesn't lose temperature the way thinner pans do. That sustained, even heat is what builds the best crust. It's heavy, nearly indestructible, and develops a seasoning over time (read: gets better the more you cook in it).

CARBON STEEL: What you'll find in most professional kitchens. Lighter than cast iron, heats faster and more evenly, and develops a natural seasoning over time just like its heavier counterpart. Great control, great crust, lighter lift, and once it's broken in it's a pleasure to cook on.

STAINLESS STEEL: Heats evenly, handles high heat well, and creates excellent fond (those are the browned bits on the bottom of the pan that become a pan sauce). Food can stick on the surface more than cast iron or carbon steel, but a well-preheated stainless pan with enough fat gets you where you need to go.

The pan we’re not using to cook a steak: non-stick.

You might want to leave your nonstick pan in the dust. Coatings have forever chemicals like PFAS (a chemical we can tell you right now our meat doesn’t have in it) and don’t hold up to high heat cooking. 

Everything else:

• Tongs: all stainless, cheap is fine. You can use a fork, too. We won’t tell anyone. 
• Salt: ample. We love Redmond, Baja Gold, and Celtic Sea Salt. 
• A thermometer: optional but genuinely useful, especially while you're getting a feel for the pan and the cut.

Best Fats for Cooking Steak (Tallow, Butter, or Oil?)

You want a fat that's stable at high heat, one that can take serious temperature without burning or producing funky flavors. The fats to reach for are beef tallow (rendered beef fat), ghee (clarified butter), very high quality EVOO, and avocado oil. All four have high smoke points and are chemically stable under heat, meaning they hold up without oxidizing (turning brown and changing in flavor). And if you have a fatty steak? Sometimes you don’t even need the extra fat. Just start it with the fattiest bit touching the pan and let the fat render out. 

A note on why this matters: seed oils — canola, corn, soybean, sunflower, etc. — are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are less stable at high heat. At searing temperatures, they oxidize, which affects both flavor and the quality of what you're cooking in. For a screamin’ hot sear, a stable fat is always the better choice.

Butter on its own burns at searing temps, but add it as you’re finishing the steak and use it for basting. It's exceptional.

How Steak Thickness Affects Cooking Time

First, know your steak.

Thickness changes everything about timing. Before you heat the pan, take a look at what you're working with.

Thin steaks (under ¾ inch): move fast. You're looking at a minute to a minute and a half per side, sometimes less. The risk is overshooting — by the time the crust develops, the interior can already be well on its way to well done. Keep a close eye, use your thermometer if you have one, and pull it a touch earlier than feels right.

Standard steaks (¾ to 1½ inch): are the sweet spot for this method. Two minutes per side, maybe a touch more, gives you a solid sear and leaves you wiggle room for how done you want your steak. 

Thick steaks (1½ inch and above): are where a two-minute sear starts to have limits. The crust develops well, but to get it to the right temperature it requires flipping the steak a couple more times or throwing it in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes to come all the way up to temp. 

Extra Thick (2 inches and above): Sear it two minutes per side to build the crust, then slide the whole pan into a 400°F oven for three to five minutes, checking the internal temperature until you're about five degrees below your target. Pull it, let rest do the rest. For the most precise version of this — and the best result on very thick cuts — see the reverse sear section below.

How to Cook the Perfect Steak in a Pan (Step-by-Step Guide)

1. Temper your steak. 

Start with a room temperature steak. This will mean a more even cook and less time in the pan. Pulling out the steak an hour or so before cooking will do the trick. If you didn’t do this? Your steak will still be great. 

2.  Dry your steak (and start getting your pan hot!)

Pat it completely dry with a clean cloth or paper towels. Surface moisture produces steam in the pan, and steam is the enemy of a crust. Dry surface + hot pan + fat is the equation.

Dry surface + hot pan + fat = perfect steak. 

If you have time, salt your steak and leave it uncovered in the fridge for an hour and up to 24 hours. This will create flavor and an awesome crust. If you're working with less time, salt right before cooking and pat dry — your guests won’t know the difference. 

3. Get your pan smokin’, rippin’, crazy hot.

High heat, two to three minutes of preheating before anything goes in. How to tell if it’s hot enough? A couple of drops of water should skitter across the pan and be gone in seconds. Add your fat just before the steak, melt it enough to see it shimmer but not smoke. That's your cue.

4. Drop the steak in the pan and LEAVE IT 

Two minutes. Don't press it, don't check it, don't move it around. Stop it. Let the heat work. A properly seared steak will release naturally from the pan when the crust has formed — if you're pulling and it's sticking, it needs more time.

5. Flip according to thickness. Once for standard. More for a thicker cut. 

Two minutes on the second side. Flip it back and forth for a thicker steak or finish in the oven. 

6. Baste optional

This is when you can add a knob of butter, a crushed garlic clove, and a few sprigs of thyme. Tilt the pan slightly toward you and use a spoon to baste — scoop the foaming butter and pour it continuously over the steak. It adds crust, flavor, and makes the whole kitchen smell like dinner is a serious occasion.

7. Rest.

Pull the steak and let it rest on a cutting board for at least five minutes. More on why this matters — and why it's not optional — in the resting section below.

Steak Doneness Guide: Rare to Well-Done Temperatures

Over years behind a butcher counter, one thing has become clear: how you like your steak done is about texture, juiciness, and preference. A rare steak is soft and almost bouncy, super juicy. A medium steak has a more uniform firmness and nice moisture. A well-done steak has a significant chew. And the hot take? These are just different experiences: none of them are wrong, and none of them require defending. You like your steak how you like your steak. 

So instead of lambasting your friends for their preferences, just baste your steak to the doneness you enjoy.

Here are the ranges, stick your thermometer so the tip is touching the middle of the thickest part of the steak. 

• Rare: 120 to 125°F. Soft, very red center, a slight springiness that some people love.
• Medium-rare: 130 to 135°F. A good sear outside, tender and pink inside. A classic for a reason.
• Medium: 140 to 145°F. Less pink, more uniform firmness. Still juicy when cooked right and developing more texture. 
• Medium-well: 150 to 155°F. Mostly gray, firm chew throughout.
• Well-done: 160°F and above. Fully cooked through, significant chew. A naturally tender cut like tenderloin or flat iron is your best path here.

How to Tell When Steak is Done Without a Thermometer 

No thermometer? The pad of your hand is a surprisingly reliable guide. Hold your non-dominant hand out, relaxed and open. Press the pad at the base of your thumb — that soft, yielding feel is rare. Now touch your thumb to your index finger (touch, don't squeeze) and press that same pad — medium rare. Middle finger is medium. Ring finger is medium well. Pinky is well done. Press a finger to the middle of your steak while it’s in the pan and match the feel of your hand. It’s not perfect, but it’s tactile, fun, and gets the job done. 

A note on grass-fed and grass-finished:

Grass-fed and grass-finished beef is leaner than grain-finished beef. Less fat means less insulation, which means it responds to heat faster. This is the main reason grass-fed sometimes gets mislabeled as tough or dry, and almost always the culprit is heat, not the beef. Pull your grass-fed steak a few degrees earlier than you think you need to, rest it well, and let carry-over cooking finish the job. Once you calibrate for it, the flavor is in a different league.

How Do I Reverse Sear a Steak?

The reverse sear is the method for thick cuts and for anyone who loves precise control over the outcome.

The idea: cook the steak low and slow in the oven first, then finish with a screaming hot sear. It's counterintuitive and it works beautifully.

Here's how:

1. Season your steak and set it on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.

2. Place it in a 225 to 250°F oven and cook until the internal temperature is about 10 to 15 degrees below your target. For medium rare, that means pulling it around 120°F.

3. Rest it for 10 minutes while you get your pan ripping hot.

4. Sear for about 45 seconds to a minute per side. You're building crust now — the interior is already where you want it.

The result is a steak that's cooked evenly wall to wall, with a serious crust and almost no gray overcooked band around the edge. The low oven also dries the surface out considerably, which means the sear is even better than it would be otherwise. For thick steaks, this is the most reliable method there is.

Why Resting Steak Is Essential (And How Long to Rest)

When a steak is cooking, heat drives moisture toward the center of the muscle. Cut it immediately off the pan, and that moisture runs straight onto the cutting board. Rest it for five to ten minutes and those juices redistribute throughout the steak. What this means? You get a juicier slice, a cleaner cut, and a steak that everyone will remember. 

There's also carry-over cooking to account for. A steak continues to rise in temperature after it leaves the pan — usually around five degrees, sometimes more for thicker cuts. That's factored into the temperature ranges above, and it's a good reason to pull slightly before you hit your target number.

Rest it on a cutting board and challenge your guests to see if they can wait to dig in. 

FAQ

Why is my steak sticking to the pan?

The pan isn't hot enough. Preheat the pan fully before anything goes in, and make sure the steak's surface is dry. A properly seared crust releases cleanly from a well-heated pan — if it's pulling, it needs more time. Don't force it.

What’s the Best Fat for Cooking Steak?

Tallow is the best choice for beef — high smoke point, stable at heat, and it has a natural flavor fit with the steak. Ghee and avocado oil are excellent alternatives. Butter alone burns at searing temperatures, but added during the basting stage is exceptional.

Do You Need a Thermometer to Cook Steak?

You don't need one, but it removes a significant amount of guesswork, especially when you're getting a feel for a new pan or a new cut. An instant-read thermometer is a small investment that pays back consistently. The hand test (detailed above) is worth learning as a backup.

Can You Cook a Steak from Frozen?

Yes — and it works better than most people expect. Sear the frozen steak straight from the freezer in a hot pan for a couple of minutes per side to build the crust, then finish it in a 275°F oven until it hits your target temperature. The frozen interior actually helps prevent the steak from overcooking during the sear. It takes longer than thawed, but it's a genuinely good method for a weeknight steak that went straight from the freezer. Just note that it can give the steak a good bit more chew. 

Do Different Cuts of Steak Cook Differently?

Yes, some cuts cook differently based on thickness and a few cuts cook differently based on how they “puff up.” Bavette (sometimes called sirloin flap), picanha (or coulotte), and teres major are all prone to “puffing up” in the pan and needing a few extra minutes. Other than that, the thickness and fattiness of the cut will change slightly how long it takes to get to temperature.