How to Cook Steak: Cast Iron Sear, Reverse Sear, and the Temps That Matter

Steak has a reputation for being unforgiving, but the whole skill fits in one sentence: get a hard sear on the outside while hitting an exact temperature inside. Everything else — the cut choice, the salt timing, the butter baste — is refinement. Here are the two methods that cover every steak you will ever cook, plus the temperature table that ends the guessing.

Pick the method by thickness

Thin steaks (under 1 inch: skirt, flank, thin sirloin) cook through before they can burn, so they want direct high heat only — a screaming-hot pan, 1-2 minutes per side, done. Thick steaks (1.5 inches and up: ribeye, strip, filet) are the opposite problem: by the time the center is done, the outside is charcoal. They want the reverse sear: gentle oven heat first, then a fast sear. A 1 to 1.5-inch steak works either way; the reverse sear gives you a bigger margin of error.

Method 1: the cast iron sear

1. Salt early. Salt the steak at least 40 minutes ahead (or the night before, uncovered in the fridge). Salt draws moisture out, then reabsorbs it — a steak salted 5 minutes before cooking steams in its own surface water instead of searing.
2. Dry the surface. Pat bone-dry with paper towels right before cooking. A dry surface browns; a wet one boils.
3. Preheat hard. Cast iron over high heat until it just starts to smoke, then a thin film of high-smoke-point oil (avocado, refined canola — not butter yet, not olive oil).
4. Sear without moving. Lay the steak away from you, press once for contact, then leave it alone 2-3 minutes per side. The crust forms where meat meets metal; fidgeting breaks it.
5. Butter-baste at the end. Drop the heat, add butter, crushed garlic, and thyme, and spoon the foaming butter over the steak for the last minute.

Method 2: the reverse sear (for thick cuts)

Heat the oven to 250°F (120°C). Set the salted steak on a rack over a sheet pan and roast until it reads 10-15°F below your target (about 40-60 minutes for a 2-inch ribeye). Then sear it in a ripping-hot pan, 60-90 seconds per side, and serve — no long rest needed, because the gentle oven heat barely squeezed the juices toward the center. The result is edge-to-edge pink with almost no gray band, which a straight sear can never give you on a thick cut.

The temperature table (pull temps)

Pull the steak a few degrees below target — carryover cooking finishes the job during the rest. The USDA safe temperature for whole cuts of beef is 145°F (63°C) plus a 3-minute rest; many cooks prefer the lower end with quality sourcing, which is a personal judgment call:

DonenessPull atAfter restRare120-125°F (49-52°C)125-130°FMedium-rare130-135°F (54-57°C)135-140°FMedium140-145°F (60-63°C)145-150°FMedium-well150-155°F (66-68°C)155-160°F

Measure at the center of the thickest part with an instant-read thermometer. Touch tests and timing charts are folklore next to a $15 thermometer.

The rest is not optional

Rest thin steaks 5 minutes, thick ones 10. Slicing early spills the juices onto the board; resting lets the fibers relax and reabsorb them. Tent loosely with foil — wrapping tightly steams the crust you worked for.

Three mistakes that ruin good beef

• A crowded or cool pan. Two steaks in a small pan drop the temperature and the meat steams gray. Sear in batches.
• Cooking fridge-cold. A 30-45 minute counter rest before cooking evens out the starting temperature so the center cooks in time.
• Skipping the dry. Marinade or salt brine left wet on the surface is the #1 cause of a pale, sad crust — pat dry every time.

The key takeaway: salt early, dry the surface, pick your method by thickness (direct sear under 1 inch, reverse sear above 1.5), pull 5°F early on a thermometer, and rest before slicing. That is the entire steak skill.

The sear itself deserves its own study — the smoke-free searing guide covers heat management in detail. And the resting-meat guide explains what those 10 minutes actually do inside the muscle.