Bobby Flay's Secret To Unforgettable Steaks Starts By Using The Right Pan

There are more than a few ways to make a great steak, and some of them actually start way before the butcher store, beginning right in your kitchen cabinets. Clever carnivorous home cooks may know to skip nonstick skillets when cooking beef, but stainless steel and cast iron pans actually both have appropriate use cases that can make it a little harder to decide. So, in moments such as these, it helps to look to culinary experts for answers. And it turns out that Food Network darling Bobby Flay gravitates toward the latter for a coveted, restaurant-quality crust that only cast iron can create.

"When you're cooking in a steakhouse, we have these high-powered broilers," Flay told Food & Wine about the professional appliances chefs use, which reach 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. Domestic equipment just can't get anywhere near that impressive temperature, which Flay said helps to develop the crisp protein exterior that always just seems harder to approximate at home. But even with a gap of hundreds of degrees between residential and restaurant ovens, every little bit of extra mercury can make a difference, and Flay's preferred metal just sizzles better than the rest. "A $20 cast-iron pan is all you need, and it will last you generations," he said. He should know: He's fastidious about cleaning his cast iron pans in order to maintain them.

Cast iron is your best bet for a perfectly seared, crusty steak because it stays hotter longer and more consistently than the alternatives. The sustained high heat is necessary for activating the Maillard reaction that creates your beef's lovely browning. Anything less might threaten to steam rather than sear those beautiful T-bones and porterhouses.

Steaming, of course, is anathema to a steak sear. So, given that liquids promote steaming, you want to avoid excess moisture well before your beef hits the cast iron. This is why you should consider patting your protein dry as crucial as any other prep step. You'd also do well to follow Bobby Flay's advice and create a drool-worthy crust by coating your steak in a chile powder spice rub, just as the celebrity chef does at his Brasserie B Parisian Steakhouse at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

A neutral oil is also better for searing than butter because its higher smoke point means that, like the cast iron itself, it can stay hotter, longer. (You can still finish with butter at the end for some rich flavor.) Flay favors canola or avocado oil. You'll also want to flip your steaks frequently to ensure their interiors are evenly cooked. After all, a beautiful, cast iron sear is an excellent achievement, but a truly delicious steak is more than just crust deep.