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Achatz on How to Cook Steak
After the Next restaurant's latest Steakhouse menu, it seems that chef Grant Achatz is getting pretty good at cooking steak.
In the latest Chef Shortcuts series from The Huffington Post Achatz offers up his quick and simple tip on how to cook steak perfectly every time.
His tip on how to cook steak is nothing revolutionary but just how far he pushes the technique of high heat cooking may shock a few home cooks. It involves the practice of cooking steak in a cast iron pan that is as hot as possible, as Achatz explains: "The pan isn't hot enough until canola or grapeseed oil shoots up white smoke immediately upon contact with the surface."
The chef suggest letting a pan sit on top of two stove burners for as much as half an hour before adding the steak. The idea is to encourage the tasty caramelization that takes when meat is cooked at very high temperatures.
Achatz also notes that you need to be using a cast iron pan for the best possible results. This method of cooking meat kicks out a serious amount of smoke, often filling the house, but this is quickly overshadowed by just how great the finished steak tastes on the plate.
