Steak is delicious when properly cooked. Broiling is a great method to get that perfect piece of meat, especially when you don't have access to a grill. Unlike a grill, your broiler provides consistent temperature control and the convenience of indoor cooking.
Step 1
Select your steak. At the grocery store or butcher's shop, choose a steak that is well-marbled (meaning there are several thin veins of fat running through the meat) and a rich, red color (raw beef that is brown is beginning to get old).
- Broiling will work best on medium-thickness cuts, so choose a steak that is less than an inch and a quarter thick. If your steak is too thick, the outside will burn before the inside warms through enough.
- If you choose to marinate your steak, you should do so in the fridge (40°F (4.5°C) or below) to prevent foodborne illness if you are marinating more than 30 minutes. Let the steak rest on the counter for 20 - 30 minutes to get to room temperature just before cooking for best results.
Step 2 Prepare your steak for cooking
- If your steak is a very high quality cut of beef (e.g., a tenderloin (fillet) or New York steak), a rub with coarse salt and pepper is all you need.
- For tougher cuts, such as a round or flank steak, a marinade can help make it more flavorful and tender. Soak the beef for an hour or more in a sauce that contains a combination of acids (e.g., vinegar) and salt(or soy sauce). This will help break down the tough meat fibers and soak flavor deep into the steak. Place the steak in a shallow dish or bowl, cover it in the marinade, and cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap.
Step 3
Prepare your oven and pan. Once your steak is ready to cook, adjust your oven rack so that the top of the steak will be about 4 inches (10cm) from the broiler heating element. Then turn the oven on to "broil" and preheat. Lightly grease your broiler pan with cooking spray. Broiler pans look like a cookie sheet, with an inset 'grill' top put on them that has slots on it for juices to drip down below to the cookie sheet. Place your steak on the broiler pan, allowing the excess marinade to drain.
- Note that a broiler pan is best for broiling foods, but that you can also use a shallow baking dish or cookie sheet (lined with foil for easier cleanup) if you don't have one. The downside to using a non-draining surface is that the fats that render off of your steak as it cooks will pool around its edges and possibly cause it to burn. To avoid this, try moving the steak to a different area of the pan with less fat as it cooks. Be careful--that grease is hot!
Step 4
Broil your steak. Cooking times will vary greatly based on the cut of steak, cooking altitude, type of oven you're using, and how hot the broiler runs; cooking times can range from 3 to 18 minutes. A good rule of thumb to go by is to watch it! If it looks "done" on one side, flip it over with tongs. There are several tests you can do to determine how "done" a steak is (remember to always use oven mitts when reaching into the oven):
- Listen to it. When the outside of a steak goes from cooked to overcooked, the sound of the sizzling will become louder and sharper.
- Check the edges. If you have a thicker steak, the color of the edges is often a good way to tell how done the middle is. When the edges change from red to pink to brown, the inside is probably moving from rare to medium rare to medium.
- Test the "fleshiness." Pinch the flesh stretching between your thumb and forefinger--the muscled part, not just the skin--with your other thumb and forefinger. Can you feel how it's firm, but supple? How it gives under pressure, but bounces back? That's the way the middle of a medium-cooked steak feels. To test for this, prod the steak with your tongs or the flat edge of a knife (don't pierce it with a fork). Test to see if it "wiggles" or not. If it still feels too fleshy, give it another minute or two.
- If you're still not sure, cut into the thickest part of the steak and check the color. A rare steak will still be blood red and have red juices; a medium steak will be pink and have almost clear juices; a well-done steak will be brownish gray and have brown juices.
Step 5
Remove, rest, and serve. Remove the broiler pan from the oven and test the steak once more for doneness. If it's cooked to your liking, don't be tempted to cut it up immediately! Letting a piece of meat "rest" for a few minutes before slicing it is the number one way to make sure it stays juicy. Wait until most of the steam from the steak has slowed and the juices stop running off--usually around 4 or 5 minutes--before digging in.
